SHALDON PARISH COUNCIL
MINUTES OF THE MEETING 26th February 2008 AT 7.15PM
IN THE METHODIST CHURCH HALL
Present: Cllrs Clarance (CC) (Chair), Cllr Williams (Vice-Chair), Cllrs Steve Shelter (SS), Storton (AS), Smith (RS), Stokes (PS), Sturgess (KS)
Prayers taken by: Revd R Gilpin
In attendance: Barbara Coley (Clerk), Cllr D Cox (DC) ( County Cllr ), Sgt Russell Dawe Mr Ron Evans.
1. Apologies : There were none.
2. To approve and sign the Minutes of the Meeting of 29 th January 2008 : Prop SS Sec RS Carried
3. Matters Arising from the minutes of the meeting of 29 th January 2007:
AS: Item 9 Non-Committal response to consultation re parish council process for affordable housing has been sent
Item 10: Re dedicated bench on the Green: TDC have decided to take on ownership and maintenance of bench. A bench has been removed from Bridge Road as it was very bad condition.
Item 12: Work on the ferryboat shelter will start in March but does not include the door to oar store which belongs to the Rowing Club. AS proposed that the clerk write to the Rowing Club to ask them to repair the oar store whilst renovation works are taking place. Prop AS Sec SS. Carried. Action: Clerk to write. CC agreed to approach the owner of the Beachcomber to request a supply of power for the contracter. All agreed that a nominal amount should be offered to cover costs.
PS Item 12.2: Supplier not available to paint benches.
PW Item 10: Affordable Housing Issue: To be linked to parish plan at AGM.
RS: Item 10: The sign at top of Ness has been restored. Holes in wall at Shipwrights have finally been repaired. Pavement by Peddler's Pack: Pavement will be made parallel eventually when the development is finished.
4. Chairman's Announcements : The Shaldon Wildlife Trust has been granted planning permission for their extension. They have been made aware that they need landlord's consent (ie TDC) to take this planning application further. An advert has appeared in the press to invite objections from members of the public. The proposed area will be cleared of saplings in order to stop the birds nesting to facilitate commencement. Graeme Smith - has made contact re commencing clearing of beach on 12 th May. He will be contributing £200 for this purpose. The Chairman requested that the clerk write to Graeme Smith to request this donation. Action: Clerk
5. Devon & Cornwall Constabulary: Sgt Russell Dawe was in attendance to present the crime report on behalf of Joy Stoppard and Colin Rider: Over the last month 5 offences have taken place including a burglary at Coast View Holiday Park and a minor drugs offence. 3 have been detected and the offender arrested - 2 remain outstanding including the theft of a number plate. At the last PACT meeting priorities highlighted were speeding, parking, lack of facilities for youth community and access to Police. PACT meetings are poorly attended by the community and he encouraged attendance on 10 th March at 7pm which is at a local venue in Bishopsteignton. It will be held in Shaldon in due course.
Speed monitoring will take place and parking issues are currently being targeted by Joy Stoppard and the PCSOs. The Police will not be able to act upon parking from May as this will transfer to Teignbridge. PC Stoppard is pregnant and she is off front line policing. She is still dealing with issues and more officers will be involved. Insp Jonathan Perry leaves on 29 th of this month. Insp Chris Shaw from Exmouth/Sidmouth will be taking over. All agreed that a letter should be written to congratulate Insp Perry Action: Clerk
Sgt Dawe confirmed to AS that the results of the recent on-street survey carried out by Joy Stoppard would be available at the next PACT meeting in order to give a perspective of people's issues.
PS reported that motorcyclists had been speeding on the bridge up to 85 mph. Sgt said the Police would be enforcing this over the next few months.
7. Teignmouth Harbour Commission Consultative Committee: Mr Ron Evans confirmed he had written to the Harbour Commission letting them know that SPC were in favour of personal watercraft making use of Shaldon Beach. Mr Evans has represented the Parish Council at three meetings, since his last report. The main items that have been discussed are; new charges on a per metre basis and quality of mooring; the positioning of the new pontoon for the use of certain types of yachts and not visitors, where Boat owners can wait for the state of the tide to improve in order to get on to their mooring. Pilot error led to the MV Leonid Leonov incident, which, overnight, blocked the entrance to the Harbour. It must be emphasised that this is just one error in 3000 ship movements. AS: requested that THC update their web site. No minutes have been placed on the web site for last 6 months. RE will mention this. AS asked why minutes had not been sent to SPC and RE will let the clerk have copies of the minutes in future.
7. Correspondence Councillor's Comments:
AS T7 Conservation Appraisal: Has been reviewed by AS, PW and SS. Asked who would like to express interest in taking this forward: KS, PW agreed to meet with her to express views. AS to arrange meeting. RS will participate if he is available.
Teign Heritage Invitation to visit museum: Collective regret to be sent as this coincides with SPC meeting. AS suggested that the museum reviews its policy to post items individually all to the same address.
PW: T7 Conservation Appraisals: This is a great improvement and SPC should be congratulated as many suggestions have been incorporated. It was worth the wait.
RS: A1 Activated Speed Sign: This is effective but not working. DC informed SPC that the batteries keep running out because too many people are speeding! RS thanked DC for helping to get the Shipwright's wall repaired.
8. Devon County Councillor's Report
Speed Sign: Almost every vehicle has activated this flashing sign. The plan is to move the sign to Ringmore Road when traffic is better controlled on Bridge Road . John Smith at DCC will be prepared to pay towards a permanent vehicle activated sign. Flashing signs will be placed on Labrador bends as there have been a number of accidents. He was proud of the Shaldon Festival and had donated from his county funds to this cause. Safety work will be carried out near the Teignmouth Golf Course. He was pleased to report that Shaldon School would be included in the £25m to be spent on schools. AS expressed her disappointment that Shaldon School was installing plastic windows in the old school building within a conservation area producing a negative effect. CC commented that if the school is enlarged this will release the old building. DC said this was not a viable concern because it needs a large amount of attention and advised SPC to carry out a comprehensive survey before considering it. He reported that the new school hall could be available for community use in the evenings and holidays.
9. Teignbridge District Councillor's Report: See Appendix I
10. Parish Councillors' Reports
AS: SPC has met with Teignmouth Town Council to form The Bridge Fishing Working Party to discuss Fishing from Shaldon Bridge with DCC. (Minutes circulated) Clerk to book hall on 13 th March for next meeting. Action: Clerk
AGM of Friends of Shaldon Botanical Gardens (FSBOG): There is still a desire to progress with a pathway along the top boundary of the allotments along the Torquay Road . The road alongside the allotments is very dangerous and there is a proposal to build a pavement from Commons Road to the botanical gardens. RS commented that a former meeting held with DCC, reference to extending the pavement to provide a safe route, had yielded the result that there was no funding available. The problem lay with the allotment holders who would lose some area of allotment land and some may have to move. The road is approximately 4 - 5' higher than the level of the allotments and currently separated by a hedge. With the hedge removed there would be a drop of 5 feet but this would leave enough room for a pavement. A substantial fence would have to be erected if the hedge was removed in order to keep the allotments secure. AS proposed setting up a working party with SS as highways rep + 1 allotment rep + 1 FSBOG rep. Sec SS. Carried. RS is an allotment holder and expressed a conflict of interest.
AS proposed buying Microsoft Office for the use of the Parish Council. The clerk was asked to investigate purchase prices. Action: Clerk
KS Re Barrels on Marine Parade: Lea Park Nurseries propose reducing these to 6 because of problems with dogs. KS was asked to contact LPN to negotiate a reduction in costs.
PW : Gave an update on funding for Teign Heritage funding.
RS : Asked DC when roads at Salty, Peppery, Lamberts and Brook Lane would be finished. White markings have been placed there and were being washed away.
SS : Signal Flag Display in the Summer: DCC are not keen on SPC erecting flags in the summer as we have done historically. There are 3 main issues: We are no longer allowed to tie the flags to the lampposts. DCC must inspect each lamppost and give it a certificate for the flags but this will be at a cost. Anything across the highway should be at 5.5 metres and we are below this. Finally, DCC would want to be indemnified against any claim whatsoever related to the flags. It has been discovered that SPC cannot insure the bunting when they do not actually own the flags. CC said that ownership of the flags belongs to the businesses who had purchased them but he doubted whether they would object to SPC taking ownership. The main issue is that the correct insurance cover is obtained and SPC need to mitigate the risks and obtain the relevant answers to the three main issues. RS thought that some local organisations would be pleased to donate the help with insurance and he will ask the regatta committee. SS questioned whether SPC should continue with responsibility for the bunting. SS will obtain costs for the inspection of the lampposts and he will compose a letter for the insurance company. Clerk will ask DAPC what happens in other councils. Action: Agenda item next meeting.
11 . Proposal to Develop a Parish Plan: Proposed setting up a sub-committee to formally develop a parish plan. Sec AS Carried unanimously. PW will formulate this sub-committee. PS and SS offered to join. CC will obtain the Bishopsteignton parish plan.
12. Proposal for Vehicle Activated Sign on Bridge Road
DC's proposal is for a sign to be purchased jointly by parish councils in the Teign estuary. It would also cost £500 per year to move the sign around. Each council would share the sign but the batteries are expensive to replace and need a specially trained DCC person to do it. A permanent solar panelled sign can be requested but DCC would be strict about where it is placed. DCC is seeking potential funders. He asked whether SPC were interested. PW asked whether it would be possible to install a permanent solar powered sign on the Ringmore Road . DCC said there were no records of any accidents in Ringmore Road and therefore it may not be allowed. All agreed that they would like to explore both options. KS said that there is damage caused to cars and properties in Ringmore Road but they are not reported. People should report any accidents so that there is a better case for a sign. AS said we needed to know whether it was physically possible to erect a sign on the Ringmore Road before a decision can be made. DC will report back on this. SPC will evaluate the effectiveness of the sign in both positions before proceeding to decide whether a sign should be considered for purchase. Action : Agenda item for next meeting to evaluate both sites.
13. Sale of former old stables and more recently a redundant tourism office at The Ness , Shaldon. CC said that TDC would like to offer these stables for disposal by selling and granting a 125 year lease with restricted use as a cafe/restaurant by informal tender. TDC were giving SPC a chance to air their view and CC asked whether SPC supported disposal in this manner. PW was happy that we had been asked for a response. He said we should be aware that we had lost the café on the beach during the storm and it could not be replaced. He felt a café restaurant would add to a tourist attraction in the area. RS agreed and said the planning application would go through the SPC planning committee in any case. The next step would be to invite tenders. Proposal to reply to TDC to the effect that we are happy for them to proceed along this route and glad to be consulted and would like to be asked to respond on future disposals. Clerk to write to David Owen, TDC
Mrs Edworthy who runs at café at the Ness in the summer was present at the meeting. The Chairman suspended S/Os to allow her to contribute. She confirmed that, in accordance with the terms of the lease, nothing was prepared in the premises It was just a take away – selling drinks, confectionary and rolls etc. and not a café restaurant. The lease was with the Wildlife Trust who had obtained permission for placing seating outside.
Mr Watkins complained about the tree cutting at the Ness and was advised that the work had been supervised by the TDC tree officer. Enquiries/complaints should be addressed to TDC. S/Os reinstated.
14. Planning RS gave an overview of recent planning applications and responses. Next meeting 4 th March 2008.
15. Approval of Accounts: Prop AS Sec RS Carried
16. Next Meeting: Tuesday 25 th March 2008
17. Public Comment: Mrs Edworthy asked whether TDC would reapply for permission to upgrade to a secure golf hut. This was not known. |
