FENITON PARISH COUNCIL MINUTES OF THE PARISH COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON MONDAY 12th October 2009

Present: Cllr M Smith (Chairman)

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

In Attendance: Cllr Graham Brown (EDDC), Mr Colin Butler (Headteacher Feniton CoE Primary School) 1 member of the public and J Masters (FPC Clerk).

82. Questions from the public:-
Mr John Partridge asked if the Parish Council as the owners of the land that Feniton Youth Centre stands on would back their planning application for a new road access via Louvigny Close, he went on to explain if the application went in to EDDC in the Parish Councils name it would save the Youth Centre Management team £100.00. The Clerk told the meeting that he had received a letter from Mr Partridge which was on the Agenda. It was agreed to discuss the matter later in the meeting.

83. Apologies for absence: -
Cllr Mark Jolly and Cllr Roger Giles (DCC)

84. Confirm the Minutes of the meeting held on 14th September 2009:-
The Chairman asked for a small amendment in the minutes, the following sentence was added to minute’s section 80. Individual Member responsibilities: - The Chairman made an official visit to a small village in Romania called Bertea where they were celebrating the Tenth anniversary of their twinning with Louvigny. The minutes were then agreed and the Chairman initialled each page and signed the last page.

85. Declarations of Interest from Members and Officers:-
The Chairman Cllr M Smith declared an interest in Item Number 9a on the agenda, (Item 90a in these minutes) Cllr Smith said he would hand over the Chair to the Vice chairman Cllr P Privett.

Cllr G Preston declared an interest in Item Number 12a on the agenda, (Item Number 93a in these minutes) and would not take part in the discussion.

86. Police Officer’s Report:-
The following Police Report was received by Email:-
Herewith is the September Police report for next Mondays Parish Meeting.
In total there were six separate incidents reported to the Police culminating in the following recorded crimes;
1 x assault ABH following a dispute between neighbours. A male offender has been arrested and is currently on bail pending further enquiries.
1 x common assault and battery following an incident outside the school.
Enquiries into this are on-going.
1 x theft from motor vehicle in Feniton Gardens in which a Tom Tom satellite navigation system was stolen, as well as a Laptop computer and miscellaneous items.
1 x non-dwelling burglary at a farm premises in which a small amount of foodstuffs was stolen.
1 x theft from motor vehicle in Lincoln Close, Feniton. Property stolen from the vehicle has been recovered and a named suspect is to be interviewed in connection with this.

87. Feniton Church of England Primary School Headteacher Mr Colin Butler:-
The Chairman welcomed Mr Colin Butler the new Headteacher at Feniton CoE Primary School to the meeting. Mr Butler gave the Council a short background history of himself; he was appointed in March this year and fully took up the post in the autumn term.

Mr Butlers said his challenge is to keep the high grades of OFSTEd and SIAS inspections, while moving the school forward, the numbers are 240 at present. The school has also appointed the New Dept Head Mrs Amanda Parson in summer term; also three temporary teachers have been given permanent contracts plus one new member of teaching staff due to two teachers also retiring at the same time as Mr Rowland at the end of the summer term. There was an induction service at Escot Church on Friday 25th September.

Building work – Mr Butler showed the plans, the work is now due to finish mid November, two priorities were the security of entrance and office space, there was a hold up at the start with the silver birch near entrance, one advantage of the work is clearing the asbestos from those areas, however the new work does show up the rest of the school, we will be looking to do further development and improvements, plus there are plans to improve the outside environment and the computers department.

PARISH PLAN (supplied by the Parish Council), having read the plan two comments come to mind the school does have a travel plan, unfortunately it was not presented in time to be passed last March, now working on ensuring that it will be approved this year. The school is aware of parking issues and the crossing road. 2 vans seen going pass the school while the drivers were talking on mobiles, the police are to do a spot check in the near future. There is an issue with the drain by entrance at present it seems to be no man’s land as it is not on Schools plans or the Highways. ICT Wed 14th October Time Evans of COMIC, a community ICT training initiative will visit the school to discuss with the school what is possible.

The Chairman thanked Mr Butler for coming to the meeting and introducing himself and explaining the various building works. Mr Butler left the meeting at 20.00hrs

88. County and District Councilors’ Reports:-
Cllr Brown read out two reports, New Feniton Drainage and Old Feniton Drainage, both reports were a comprehensive investigation into the various problems suffered by the residents of Feniton last year, having identified various problems both EDDC and DCC can now put forward bids for funding which hopefully will come from DEFRA, it is hoped that we find out in December if the bids were successful. The Chairman thanks Cllr Brown for all the hard work he has put in on behalf of Feniton Residents. It was Resolved to publish the two reports in the Parish Magazine.

89. Finance: – The following October payments were authorized:-

90. Correspondence:- Cllr Smith has declared an interest in this item and stood down from the Chair, Vice Chairman Cllr Privett assumed the Chair.

91. Late Entry Correspondence:-

92. Casual Vacancy for a New Councillor
Only one application was received for the Casual Vacancy for a new Councillor, Mr Gary Broom, 36 Wells Avenue, Feniton asked that his name be put forward for the vacancy. After a short discussion it was Resolved that Mr Broom be appointed as a Parish Councillor for Feniton. The Clerk was instructed to let Mr Broom know and start sending information to him.

93. Planning:-
Application No 09/1912/FUL Mr & Mrs Glanville, 2 Station Road, Feniton EX14 3DY The Parish Council did not feel they could support this application.

93. Village Handyman’s Report: -
Very little to report this month, as the grass is still growing fast there was 8 extra hours grass cutting.

94. Clerks Report: -
26th September I attended the DAPC AGM in Exeter at County Hall

30th September I attended the Town & Parish Council Cluster Meeting at Honiton Town council offices where we were given a presentation by Jenny Woods of Honiton Library talking about the Mobile Library visiting local Parishes and Nicola Buckingham of AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) based in the Blackdown Hills, they are the body who are administrating a large pot of European Grant Money for projects within the area of East Devon, South Somerset and West Dorset. On the 22nd of October they are holding a meeting in Chard on how local councils can benefit from the grants that are available.

Feniton Parish Council now has 1,000 Sandbags for free distribution to Feniton residents, so far only two residents have contacted the Council and they have ordered 50 Sandbags

The two Feniton Parish Council cups have been engraved and presented to Mr & Mrs Cox ‘Best Front Garden’ and Mr John Hopkins ‘Best Kept Allotment’.

Parish Lengthsman will be in Feniton on the 21st, 22nd and 23rd October then again in February 2010.

The Chestnut Tree in the Old Village will be removed on Wednesday 14th October; some sections of the tree will be saved to turn into momentums of the tree.

95. Remembrance Day
The Council Resolved they would attend this year’s Remembrance Day Service at Payhembury Parish Church on Sunday 8th November. It was Resolved that the Clerk should purchase a wreath on behalf of the Council from the Royal British Legion in Honiton for this service.

The Clerk confirmed that two Maroons were ordered from EDDC, they will be picked up on Friday 6th November ready for use on the 11th November at the Feniton Playing Fields.

96. Individual Member responsibilities:-
Cllr Preston said the drain in Colestocks Road about 100yds north of Sherwood Cross is still flooding in heavy rain. The Clerk said that he had reported this and will chase DCC. The Drain cover at the junction of Station Road and Colestocks still has not been repaired. The Clerk said that this had been chased several times and DCC assures him that it has been repaired. The Clerk will chase it up again.
Cllr Blackmore said that a member of the Allotment Association had complained about the state of some of the Allotments, it was also reported to her that a car had reversed out of a gateway and nearly caused an accident, the gate gives access to Mill Chapel on the old A30 which is right next to the humpback bridge in a blind spot. It was understood that access to this building should only be via the Mill in Fenny Bridges. The Clerk was instructed to speak to the Highways Department.
Cllr Powell said she is also concerned about the state of the Grass next to Ely Close playing field.
Cllr Privett said he would be attending the Flood Review meeting at the Knowle on Friday, he is concerned about the number of posters put up in the village and not taken down after the event.
Cllr Smith said when he visited Bertea in Romania the Mayor gave him a very interesting book about their village; he went on to say he was approached by an Allotment Holder about the overgrown bank that runs along the western boundary of the Allotments. This area needs a good tidy up.

97. Date of next full Parish council meeting: - Monday 9th November 2009

There being no further business the meeting closed at 21.10 hrs

Last Updated 6th September 2010