MINUTES OF THE PARISH MEETING HELD ON MONDAY 20th April 2009

Present: Cllr M Smith (Chairman)

Councillors: Mr P Privett, Mrs B Powell, Mr G Preston, Mrs P Blackmore and Mr M Jolly.

In Attendance: Cllr R Giles (DCC), Cllr G Brown (EDDC) 6 member of the public and
J Masters (FPC Clerk).

1. Apologies for absence:- Cllr Mrs K Tomkins

2. To confirm the Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting held on 14 April 2008.

The minutes of the 2008 Annual Parish Meeting were agreed and signed by the Chairman.

3. Report by the Council Chairman:-

Cllr Martyn Smith said that 2008 started with the Parish Plan which had just been completed and work was started on the possible purchase of the Playing Fields for the village. He praised the efforts of the Parish Councilors over the eventful year, which in the latter part of 2008 was very traumatic for the village with some villagers still not back in their homes, also highlighted was the good working relationship with Cllr Roger Giles our DCC councilor and Cllr Graham Brown our EDDC councilor and the tireless work they have put into making sure Feniton is not forgotten. Cllr Smith thanked all those involved in pushing for the funding that is needed to alleviate flooding in the future.

4. Report from the Parish Beat Manager:- The following written report from PC Jim Tyrell was read out to the meeting.

I have made a comparison for the past 12 months ending 31/3/09 compared with the 12 months ending 31/3/08. I have not included in the figures our attendance at non-crime domestic disputes as I don't believe that it is particularly relevant for the public at large to know how many domestic disputes we attend which are purely verbal arguments. Actual crime in my opinion is far more important.

  2007/2008 2008/2009
Burglary-non dwelling 4 10
Burglary-dwelling 1 1
Theft of pedal cycle 1 3
Theft from motor vehicle 2 15
Theft-non specific 5 5
Theft from automatic machine or meter 1 0
Fraud 2 3 2 3
Theft-steel in dwelling 1 2
Criminal damage including motor vehicles 2 11
Assaults 1 5
Sexual Offences 1 0
Malicious communications via telecom provider 1 0
Cruelty to animals 0 1
Make off without payment    
Total 22 54

The increase in recorded crime such as burglaries and car crime was undoubted due to a one/two maybe three man crime wave which hit Feniton last summer which was well known in the area at the time. Police patrols were increased at the time subject to Operational commitments to prevent further crime occurring and offering reassurance to local residents. All Neighbourhood Watch Co-ordinators were contacted by myself with a view to “spread the word” as it were and I trust that all residents will remain vigilant and report anything suspicious to the Police.

5. Reports from the County Council and District Council Councilors.

Cllr Brown (EDDC), commented on the Boundary Commission delays and said he would like to see the status quo. The Playing Field Association is getting closer to a lease for the fields. He praised the work of DCC & EDDC in the cleanup operation following the floods however as we do not have a river flowing through the village it is harder to get funding grants because they are based around rivers. On Friday 24th April there is a Flood Recovery Meeting at EDDC when it is hoped that £30,000 will be made available for short term work. Finally he congratulated Mr John Partridge from the Youth Centre who was sitting in the public area who had just received a grant for the Youth Centre.

Cllr Giles (DCC), usually I say how good it is working with for Feniton but with the floods it has not been such a good last year. In last years report I said the Net Work Rail is going to improve the Waterloo-Exeter Railway Line to give an hourly timetable that work should be completed by December this year also in my previous report was that £1M pound was to be spent in improving and new facilities at Kings School which are now all working.

6. Council’s Draft 2008/9 Income and Expenditure Accounts.

The Clerk read out a brief draft statement on the Parish Councils Income and Expenditure and ran through the various figures.

7. Reports were received from the following Organizations.

The written reports will be held on file.

8. To consider matters raised by the public.

Mr Partridge asked about the flooding because the water has only two routes through the village, a discussion took place on the options.

Mrs Davies expressed concern about the old drains around Feniton Junction Station especially on the road to Talaton as they were not part of the survey, because of the lack of maintenance they flooded several properties, this was not helped by large 4X4 cars plowing through the water which sent waves of water back into properties that were trying to push the water out.

Mr Lanning said that he would like to thank the Parish Council for all their hard un-paid work that they do for the village.

There being no further business the meeting closed at 21.15hrs

Last Updated 6th September 2010