MINUTES OF THE PARISH COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON MONDAY 10th November 2008

Present: Cllr M Smith (Chairman)

Councillors: Mrs B Powell, G Preston, Mrs P Blackmore, P Privett, M Jolly and Mrs K Tomkins

In Attendance: Cllr R Giles (DCC) with Tony Marshal from DCC, Cllr G Brown (EDDC) with Andy Hancock from EDDC.
23 members of the public and J Masters (FPC Clerk)

81. Questions from the public: - Because of the exceptional circumstances of last weeks flood in both parts of the village the Chairman said that the 15 minute public would be extended to everyone who wished to speak.

Mr Partridge spoke first saying that he knew that everyone else wanted to talk about the flooding in Feniton so first he wanted to let the council know his views on the planning application that was going to be discussed before the meeting this evening. Regarding letter to the clerk about 5 York Crescent about the neighbour intruding on Mr Partridge’s land and the plans for the extension. This is a boundary and planning dispute. Mr P says that the development is over 70 cubic metres and that the Conservatory is already erected which the plans don’t show. Mr P also concerned regarding a discussion at the Sports Centre which suggested encouraging the Council to sell the allotments for development to finance buying the playing fields

Rev Cate Edmonds
Asked the Parish Council if there was an emergency action plan in place – answer no. Asked is an emergency action plan a legal requirement for a council – answer not sure. Reply “it should be”.

Gary Broom
Station Road and Well’s Ave flooded because the gullies aren’t cleaned. Also concern about looting from empty properties, request more police presence.

Dave Baker
Most alarmed about the flooding in the village and more concerned that if the allotments are developed the drains won’t cope with the extra houses. People feel isolated the police need to patrol the area.

Josephine Chown
10 houses were flooded in the old village, flooding has been discussed by the parish council for the last 10-15 years and nothing has happened. Some houses have been flooded twice in the last 11 years, why all the surveys and no action?

Julianne Barress
Is this a problem with un-adopted drains? Live in Feniton Gardens and always having to take litter out of the drains. The village only has two bins and needs more to help with the litter problem. Never see Street Scene in the village, and there should not be any further development.

Francis Pyle
The pipe under the railway line to not big enough even if no more houses are built. All surface water needs to be feed down to the river. The railway embankment stops all the water draining away. Also in Mount Pleasant a hedge has been removed and an illegal wall has gone up.

Josephine Chown
Who is responsible for the pipe under the railway?

Danny Bevan
In a crisis can there not be an emergency action plan which includes traffic management including reducing car speeds through the village to stop spray? My neighbour kept getting re-flooded from the wash created by lorries and 4 x 4 cars going through the flood water opposite the Nog Inn, roads like that should have been closed.

Initialled by Chairman………………………..

Gary Broom
Put his name forward to be a volunteer in an emergency action team.
Council Responses
Problem with sand bags is storing them; EDDC does offer them now empty and the Parish Council has to fill them.
Police will be approached to patrol streets where residents have moved out.

Andy Hancock from EDDC and Tony Mathews DCC were introduced.
EDDC – a plan for flood relief has been drawn up and is with consultants for scoring, this should happen very soon.

DCC – money was available this year for flooding but as the report is not back from the consultants the money has gone. It should be available again next year.

EDDC Graham Brown – all agencies and land owners need to work together to resolve this. DCC is only responsible for the drains across the roads. There is also a problem with un-adopted drains

Andy Hancock from EDDC said that part of the problem is that EDDC do not own all the drainage pipes and it not responsible for the pipe under the railway.

Question – who is responsible for the drains under the railway line?

Julianne Barress
Grass cuttings are never removed when cut by the council on the verges; this will also block the drains

Eleanor Clarke
Is the railway responsible for taking water away, chair replied probably not?
Council Responses

EDDC gave a report on the events on the night and the response from the District Council – initially the council’s 4x4 could not access the village, gullies were cleaned and sucked and areas pressure washed. The council will take away flood damaged goods free for a limited period. Will look into why the sand quarry trap has not been emptied in the last year.

Danny Bevan
Can the residents see the plans for the flood relief when they are presented?
What can we do as residents to make sure this flood relief work goes ahead?
Response write letters to the councils and the MP.

Eleanor Clarke
What is the name of the consultants scoring the plan – response Howick?

Julianne Barress
In Ottery people went round with megaphones waking up people during the flood; we should put this into our Emergency Action Plan? Response – the council will need to rely on volunteers as if can’t employ anyone. Also need a list on contact names and numbers. Council will invite the Emergency Planning Officer to a council meeting.

Roger Giles
Need to let people know there is an emergency fund available for victims, and people unaffected can donate to this fund.

Chairman
We must pull together and get the consultants to finish the plan; this has gone on too long. Residents should express their concerns to the councils and MP to get this plan pushed through.

Danny Bevan
Thanked the council for all their efforts.

Graham Brown
On a positive note the relief fund which has been set up EDDC will match any money and residents who are uninsured will have 4 weeks to apply to the fund.

Katie Drew
Asked how will residents know what is available and where to apply?
Answer it will be published.

The Chairman thanked everyone for coming along to the meeting and closed the public participation part of the meeting. At this point all bar two members of the public left the meeting along with Cllr G Brown and the representatives from DCC & EDDC.

Initialled by Chairman………………………..

82. Apologies for absence: - PC Jim Tyrell who sent his report by Email.

83. To confirm the Minutes of the meeting held on 13th October 2008.

The minutes from the last meeting were agreed and the Chairman initialled each page and signed the last page.

84. Police Officer’s Report: - There were 3 thefts from motor vehicles in Feniton Gardens, Ely Close and The Signals respectively. These offences remain undetected at this time.

There was a burglary to a garage at a residential premise in Greenacres Close. This also remains undetected at this time.

8 incidents in total were reported to the Police which consisted of 3 road traffic accidents, flooding, a missing person, a suspicious male and a complaint of Anti social behaviour.

85. County and District Councillors’ Reports: -

As discussed during the open session.

86. Declarations of Interest from Members and Officers.

Nothing was declared

87. Feniton Flooding

This was fully discussed during the public open meeting, it was agreed to write to both DCC and EDDC for the quick response and hard work during last weeks emergency.

88. Finance: – To authorise November payments.

89. Correspondence: -

90. Planning Applications: -

91. Village Handyman’s Report.
Cut down the conifer tree that was falling down over an allotment and remove waste from allotment then chip all the material. Inspect all the swings on QE11 site. Tidy around Village Hall Car Park and repair fence.

The clerk was instructed to ask Alex to visually check Car Park for any rusty nails etc that may have been washed into the car park during the floods and discuss the possibility of cleaning up the bark that is between the allotments and the houses in Wells Avenue with the view of replanting with bushes.

Initialled by Chairman………………………..

92. Clerks Report: -

14th October spoke to Derek Smith Legal Executive at EDDC with reference to their request for the deeds to the QE11 site where the new All Weather MUGA is being sited. He confirmed that a copy of the deeds would be acceptable.

The work will start on Monday 24th November; he warned me that when the contractors dig out the surface to a depth of about 8” the spoil would be distributed around the perimeter of the QE11 playing field.

The Youth Club said they can use any surplus soil to help keep the site tidy.

16th October Attended Part 1 New Clerks Training Day in Exeter

20th October: - New Allotment Tenancy Agreement

Following the council’s decision to implement new Allotment Tenancy Agreements letters were sent to each tenant on the council tenants list passed on by my predecessor with a copy of the new agreement for 2009.

As a result I received two letters and a phone call about the new agreement:-

Mrs V Pardey, letter dated 22nd October saying that she was the tenant to Plot 17 and her husband only had plot 16 not 16 and 17. On checking older records I have updated the current records.
Mrs S J Ferris, letter dated 23rd October saying that Mr Clearsby Plot 2b had passed away and they no longer wanted the plot. I have since re-let Plot 2b to the second person on the Allotment Waiting List as they wanted a half plot.
Mr M Hill, phone call late Saturday evening 8th November
Requesting list of Allotment Holders and Allotment Waiting List, hand delivered Monday 11th November.

20th October, Site meeting with Martin McGuire EDDC & John Hopkins DCC reference the sighting of the new Dog Waste Bin at the junction of Station Road & Colestocks Road, it was agreed that it would be best sighted on the grass verge on Colestocks Road side of the junction.

I then had a further meeting with John Hopkins with reference to the Pavement Flooding opposite the School in Station Road. John explained the problem and the solution that he had come up with that should solve the problem. The work will start in the next financial year i.e. 2009/2010.

27th October: - Devotec Ltd confirmed that the replacement step has been fitted and again suggested that the Council purchase a set of tools for Alex Spry to use, he confirmed that a torque wrench is not required for the tools and that it would be better to keep the bolts tightened regularly than allow them to come loose and disappear.

30th October: - In response to EDDC request that the Village Hall be opened to accommodate people who had been evacuated due to the flooding, on reaching the Village Hall in the old village and speaking to several people it was soon established that the Village Hall was not needed in the old village and that the Sports & Social Club was being used for residents in the newer part of the village.

I received a call from a lady in York Crescent asking for Sand Bags which EDDC said I had a stock of. I explained that the council did not have the facilities for holding any sandbags.

On contacting EDDC they offered to deliver a small quantity of sandbags ready filled to me or the above address, it was agreed they would be delivered direct to York Crescent. I later learnt that when EDDC arrived the sandbags were turned down.

6th November Attended Part 2 New Clerks Training Day in Exeter

7th October Collected the Remembrance Day Reef from the British Legion in Honiton.

Visited the Bank whilst in Honiton with reference to the new signatories, they still need 3 more pieces of paper from us which I hope to collect at the next council meeting.

93. Individual Member responsibilities: -

Councillors said that they had nothing further to report.

94. Annual Finance Meeting: - To set 2009/2010 Budget

It was decided to arrange another meeting on Monday 17th November at 7.30pm to discuss the 2009/2010 Budget.

Initialled by Chairman………………………..

95. Date of next full Parish council meeting: - Monday 8th December 2008 at 7.30pm

There being no further business, the meeting closed at 21.58

………………………………………………………………………………Chairman 8th December 2008

Last Updated 6th September 2010