MINUTES OF THE PARISH COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON MONDAY 14th February 2011

Present: Cllr M Smith (Chairman)

Councillors: Cllr P Privett, Cllr B Powell and Cllr Blackmore

In Attendance: Cllr R Giles (DCC) Cllr G Brown (EDDC) 4 members of the public and J Masters (FPC Clerk).

160. Questions from the public:-
Miss Valentine asked when the new Dog Bin will be installed. The Clerk told the meeting that a site visit had been carried out and the order was placed and it should be installed any day this week.

161. Apologies for absence: - PC Tyrell, Cllr G Broom, Cllr G Preston, Cllr M Jolly

162. To confirm the Minutes of the meeting held on 10th January 2011:-
The minutes were agreed and the Chairman then initialled page one and signed page two.

163. Declarations of Interest from Members and Officers: -
No declarations were made.

164. Police Officer’s Report: -
There was no recorded crime at all for January. There were 8 incidents reported to the Police which were as follows:- 1 x nuisance parking,1 x suspicious vehicle,1 x concern for welfare,1 x suspicious male,1 x complaint of a pothole in the road,1 x broken down vehicle,1 x parking complaint and 1x report of a confused elderly neighbour.

165. County and District Councilors’ Reports:-
Cllr Giles (EDDC) submitted a written report highlighting three items of concern; Rural Skips, because of the cuts that DCC have to make, the Skip in Ottery will be withdrawn. The DCC Budget Bus Services cuts have raised concerns over the 382 bus service which runs through Whimple, Feniton, Ottery and Sidmouth. This service will shortly be taken over by Hatch Green Coaches from Stagecoach. DCC Budget Animal Disease Prevention, it is proposed to make cuts to the Trading Standard arm that carries out work/visits to farms with a loss of 14 jobs.
Cllr Brown (EDDC) told the meeting that EDDC need to make cuts of £2.4m in staff and services. It has been reported that the Environment Agency need to make cuts for flood defenses. Feniton Flood Relief, the first round report costing £40k is nearly ready for publication, once this has been accepted then the second amount of money will be released for the design work.
The Chairman asked for item 19 on the Agenda, EDDC Neighborhood Assessment, Feniton Winter 2010, to be brought forward so that Cllr Brown could comment on it. The Parish Council was in agreement that this publication by EDDC was a total waste of money, surveyed from a small number of residents and at a time when most people were out at work. The report purports to take credit for some issues as if they were just reported; the Parish Council has been fighting for them to be resolved in some cases several years. Cllr Brown said he knew nothing about the report and has not seen a copy of it before this evening. The Parish Council would like to know from EDDC why they chose a time of day when they would get a poor response and why not all residents received copies, the distribution was random. Cllr Brown said he would report back at the next meeting.

166. Finance – The following February payments were authorized and money received:-

Money Received:-

167. Correspondence: -

168. Planning Matters:-

169. Feniton Bowling Club Rent Review:-
After a short discussion it was agreed that the rent will be increased by 10% in accordance to the agreement.
The Clerk was instructed to write to The Bowling Club informing them of the decision.

170. Up date of Village Plan:-
The Clerk reported that he has contacted by just one person to help with the Up Date.

171. St Andrews Village March 4th March 2011:-
A short discussion took place and it was agreed that at least three Parish Council Councillors would represent the Parish Council, Cllr Brown (EDDC) also agreed to join in.

172 Preparations for Local Elections 5th May 2011:-
The Clerk recently attended a Briefing Meeting on the forthcoming Local Elections and explained to the meeting the various legal requirements leading up to and just after the election.

173. Date set for Feniton Parish Meeting:-
Monday 4th April, the Clerk was instructed to write to various local organisations’ inviting them to deliver a report at the Parish Meeting.

174. Date set for Feniton Parish Council Finance Meeting in May 2011
A provisional date of Wednesday 4th May 2011 was set subject to the number of candidates seeking election.

175. Date set for Feniton Parish Council AGM in May 2011
Monday 16th May 2011

176. Up date of Website:-
The Chairman explained the problems with updating the Parish Council Website and why it is taking some time to complete.

177. Chairman’s update on the Youth Centre (Trustees):-
The Chairman explained that a meeting took place on Monday 31st January between some members of the Parish Council and representatives of the Youth Centre Management Committee about the best way to finding new Trustee’s (Land & Building) to replace the listed Trustee’s who have passed away.

178. EDDC Neighborhood Assessment, Feniton Winter 2010:-
This item was brought forward and dealt with under part 165 of these minutes.

179. Village Handyman’s Report:-
Nothing to report this month.

180. Clerks Report:-
Several Items of the Clerks Report have already been dealt with during the meeting.
Last autumn the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (CLG), Mr Eric Pickles,
‘Publicising Expenditure over £500’. The Parish Council already displays this information in the published Minutes each month.

Firework Displays out side 5th November. Private individuals do not need to notify EDDC, only public organised Events need to advise EDDC. I spoke to the police there is no specific law broken, if it was a regular event it could be deemed a nuisance but one or two times a year is not a nuisance. Both EDDC & the Police sais it would be helpful if the person whose display it is, let their immediate neighbours know when the event is taking place.

181. Individual Member responsibilities:-
Cllr Blackmore said that because of the bad weather she had not visited the Allotments to check on their condition, the Clerk informed the meeting that all the Allotment Tenants had renewed their tenancies for 2011.
Cllr Powell suggested that we ask the residents of Feniton to nominate Gardens (not their own gardens) for the Best Feniton Garden competition in July/August.
Cllr Privett asked about the progress of the new Grit Bins, the Clerk informed the meeting that he had a site meeting with John Hopkins (DDC Highways) and he did not object to the sighting of the bins but had reservations about the need for one at The Burlands.
Cllr Smith told the meeting that he had received a copy of a letter from Strategic Land Partnerships who are acting for a client who has purchased the freehold of the land which Feniton Sports Club lease.

182. Date of next Parish Council meeting, 7.30pm Monday 14th March 2011
There being no further business the meeting closed at 21.25hrs

Last Updated 10th May 2012