Minutes of Past Parish Council Meetings

MINUTES

August 12th 2009

Present: Trevor Moon, Mary Gliddon, Pete Jennings, Alex Beynon, Lawrence Langston, Sheila Myers (Clerk)
Apologies for Absence: Eric Burnill, Pat May, Lawrence Langston, Steve Furse, Barry Parsons

Public Participation - in items on the agenda

Ashwater Shop and Post Office

Malcolm Timney spoke in respect of the Ashwater Shop and Post Office and the proposed closure in January 2010 when the lease is up and Barry and Hazel Thomas would like to retire. The landlord of the premises is not prepared to renew the lease.
The village hall committee and Barry have spoken to Charlotte Weedon from the Community Council of Devon who has become involved with the project and the way forward.
Malcolm proposed that there should be a survey to find out if there was anyone willing to help and to know the needs of the residents of Ashwater and he is quite happy to draw up a questionnaire for residents to complete.
The survey would be along the lines of:

would people support the idea of the shop/post office continuing
are people prepared to fund raise for a new premises
if necessary, would people be prepared to run the shop on a voluntary basis.

The survey would then be distributed with the Ashwater newsletter towards the end of August and the people who distribute the newsletters would be asked if they could collect the completed surveys on the following weekend. It was suggested that completed surveys could be returned to the shop, but it was felt that there would not be a sufficient number returned. It was decided that this was a good idea for Malcom to write the survey and it would be collected as above.

Barry thought that the idea of one person to run a shop was possible he also said it could be a problem if volunteers were used to run the unit as a community shop. If a new post office was set up, then it has to run on the same principle as it is at present, as a 'partnership' with another post office but he does not think that it would be open full time, possibly 2 hours, twice a week. Lawrence Langston felt that there was not enough information at present. Perhaps a letter should be written to the post office to clarify what a partnership would entail.

Not having a post office would be a disaster. However when looking at the entire project of a shop/news agents and post office, matters such as the cost of having papers delivered to the shop which at present are around £50-£60 per week have to be taken into account. It was felt that it was the responsibility of the parish council to keep a shop going. To locate a premises would be the main concern and also to find the ideal person to run the business.

There is sufficient room to have a building in the new village hall car park and if a tenant could be found to run the project, then this might be an idea.
It was suggested that SM should contact Ken Hamlyn at St Giles on the Heath to see how they set up a similar idea. Funding from the National Lottery would take too long. LL and PJ would be happy to meet with Ken Hamlyn and report back to the next parish council meeting. SM would try and arrange a meeting for next Thursday evening.

Ashwater Website

Ivan Buxton spoke about the need for the website to be updated as the current one is too untidy and old fashioned. Ivan said that Henriette North needs to brush up on her knowledge. She has also incurred expenses in training. It is important for visitors and the local community to have access to the website. More use of the website could be used for the new parish hall, especially by adding a booking form. To make the website more interesting old parish council records could be added giving historic knowledge and also old archives could be looked up and added. He also suggested that a glossary could be added of local businesses and linked to the website for a small fee. Paid advertisements would be too restrictive. He asked if the parish council would contribute £100 to Henriette in recognition of her work. The parish council agreed that a donation should be paid to Henriette North.
Also AB said that his wife has experience of setting up websites and that she would liaise with Ivan and Henriette. One suggestion would be to look at Microsoft Office Live as they have facilities to write websites and a low cost.

PARISH COUNCIL MEETING - 8.45 pm

2. Declaration of Interest of any Agenda items and approval of the minutes of the last meeting

No declarations of interest were recorded. The minutes were then approved and signed by TM. Proposed AB, seconded PJ.
An email had been received regarding the waste bin on the village green that is not being emptied by TDC. TM has now sorted out the problem. The mats on the village green by the swings have now been fixed and also the Ashwater sign has been replaced. Dog fouling bins have been placed at various locations.

3. Planning

3.1 Elm Cottage: A letter has been received from Mr and Mrs Barrett stating their objections to the amended planning application. The parish council still do not approve of the application and will write to the planning department stating their objections.
Proposed LL, seconded PJ.
3.2 Ryme Intrinseca Farm: Approved, proposed LL, seconded PJ.
3.3 Bonzai: SM has emailed Nigel Marshall for an update and he is following this up.
3.4 East Down Farm: SM has emailed Nigel Marshall for an update and he is following this up.

4. Footpaths

Nothing to report.

5. Finance

5.1 Outstanding amount due to TM for refreshments for Annual Parish Meeting in June: TM would bring the bill to next month’s meeting.
5.2: LL said that the 2008/2009 Audit has been done and approved.
5.3: A cheque was raised for £100 for Henriette North, proposed AB, seconded TM

There is £4,075.01in the bank account.

6. Correspondence / Communications

6.1 Holsworthy Area Advisory Group: TM and AB attended the meeting where there was a discussion about the Ruby Country. Ken James spoke on the proposed cycle path. There is a delay on the boundaries decision and the subject of beavers at Roadford Lake was brought up.
6.2 Betty Batt's Resignation: A letter has been received from Betty who has resigned from the parish council due to poor health. SM will contact TDC so that the usual procedure can be followed. Also BB is willing to continue with making the parish plan if the parish council agree.
TM might know of someone who might be interested to become a parish councillor. However, the person will need to apply to become a parish councillor once TDC have advised us.
SM will also write to Betty thanking her for all her dedication and hard work.
6.3 Food and Drink Festival - Hatherleigh 4 September 2009: A poster has been placed on the notice board.
6.4 Settlement Assessment Survey: SM to check to see who the information was passed to.
6.5 Publication - Helping You to Help Yourselves - Flu Friends: Noted.
6.6 Road Closure at Broadwoodwidger 26/10/09 - 30/10/09: To be carried forward and placed on the notice board nearer the date.
6.7 Safer North Devon: Noted.
6.8 Boundaries: Noted.
6.9 Empty Homes in Torridge Parishes: Not applicable.
6.10 Planning Wind Farm - Questionnaire: SM to reply saying no thanks.
6.11 Parish Plan: SM to contact Betty Batt.
6.12 20 mph Zones and Limited: Passed to AB.
6.13 Devon Partnership Trust: Noted.
6.14 Holsworthy Area Children’s Centre Road Show: Would like to bring their roadshow bus to Ashwater, SM advised them that the Ashwater show was soon and to contact Jodi as Eric was away.
6.15 Broadband - the Devon Experience: Noted.
6.16 BT invites you to adopt your local red telephone kiosk: As far as the parish councillors are concerned, this BT box is listed and therefore no further action should be taken. SM will chase up.
6.17 Affordable Housing: TM reported that Alan Partridge has some live projects in the pipeline that are still in progress but it is taking time.
6.18 Allotments in Ashwater: Not applicable.
6.19: It was brought to the parish council’s attention that people are advertising their businesses in the notice board.
It was decided that a polite notice should be placed in the notice board asking people not to use the notice board for their advertising, but that they could advertise in the newsletter at a low cost.

The meeting closed at 9.45 p.m.
The next meeting will be on Wednesday 9 September 2009.

Minutes 08/09

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