ASHPRINGTON PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of the PARISH COUNCIL MEETING on Thursday September 7th, 2023 at 7.30 pm held in Ashprington Village Hall.
Present; Cllr Rogers {Chair}, Cllr L. Stocks, Cllr S. Paterson, Cllr T. Green, Cllr K. Throgmorton.
Also present: Michael Read, Clerk. 1 member of the public
Community Connector Project: Chris Grimshaw attended the meeting and explained that he proposed to set up a scheme to enhance the physical and spiritual well being of all the people in the parish through developing a greater sense of community togetherness, participation, dependency and support. Community Connectors will be volunteers who believe in the importance and benefit of enhanced community spirit and participation.
1. Declaration of interest in items on the agenda – None.
2. Apologies; Cllr. Thompson, , Cllr S. Greaves, M. Pearey, Tree Warden, P Macey, P3 Co Ordinator, County Cllr J. Hawkins, District, Cllr J. McKay,
3. The minutes of the Parish Council meeting dated July 6th were approved and signed.
4. Matters arising from the meeting of July 6th, not on the agenda;
Remembrance Sunday:
The Council voted to donate the sum of £200 to the British Legion Poppy Appeal in October. It was agreed that Mike Pearey be approached to make a “Green Wreath”. A parishioner to lay the wreath would be agreed at the October Meeting.
War Memorial:
Work on the memorial stone “plinth” is due to start on September 13th. The Parish Council is now in a position to request a grant from the War Memorial Trust to clean up the memorial itself. Two estimates have now been obtained and a letter awaited from SHDC Planning which will enable the application to go ahead.
Purchase and wording of Commemorative Coronation Plaque:
Cllr Stocks had submitted to the Councillors a proposal for the plaque. A quotation has been agreed and approval from the Village Hall Committee to place the plaque in the Village Hall garden, will now be sought and the plaque commissioned.
Post Box at Bow Bridge:
The Clerk reported that he had been in touch with the Post Office in Totnes regarding the missing post box door at Bow Bridge. Seemingly, the door which is antique, will need to be sourced by a special Post Office unit and they are struggling to locate a replacement. It was agreed to escalate our concern if a door is not located soon.
5. P3 Report.
Nothing to report.
6.District and County Councillor Reports
County Councillor and District Councillor not present.
7.Tree Warden Report
Nothing to report.
8. Planning
1847/23/LBC Quay Cottage. Listed Building Consent for replacement of damp plaster on internal wall. Conditional Approval.
1992/23/ARC Coombe House – Application for approval of details reserved by conditions Discharge of Condition Approved SHDC.
1943/23/FUL The Old Bakehouse. Conversion of dilapidated barn into games room on first floor with storage below. Objection Ashprington PC.
2665/23/TCA Ashprington Village Hall -Works to a tree in Conservation Area T1 Willow remove. No objections SHDC.
2352/23/LBC Tuckenhay House. LBC to rebuild garden retaining wall. Support.
2303/23/PHH Dart Vale Trout Farm. Application to determine if prior approval is required for single story extension. Prior approval is not required.
SHDC 2514/TCA/23 The Hermitage. Grey leaved Sorbus. Remove. No Objections SHDC
9. Correspondence
A warning email has been received from the Environment Agency, that parts of our parish could be liable to flooding in response to very heavy rainfall. These places could experience dangerous flooding from the river levels or surface water rising very quickly in response to the very heavy rainfall.
10. Finance. Treasurers Account -Balance £26139.92. Cemetery Account – £353.84, P3 Account – £487.71. A/cs Approved and Payable – Lengthsman – £264.00, Website Hosting Package -£80.00. Cost of materials for War Memorial Repairs -£365.00. Income P£ Grant from DCC – £220.00.
11. Ash Meadow Report
Ash Meadow site:
General maintenance is proceeding, although work parties have had limited attendance for last two months so one or two items such as painting furniture and fences have not taken place. Thanks to all volunteers who have attended.
Special thanks to Nigel and Lynn for arranging machinery and completing the mowing of the long grass in the Orchard. Three volunteers assisted. Thanks to them Raking up of loose grass – assistance is still requested.
Future Events:
Tractor fest:
• Plans proceeding for rearranged date this coming Saturday. Feedback is suggesting this will be a very well attended and popular event. Thanks to Kevan and committee for the idea and arranging this new initiative for the meadow. Hopefully it will become an annual event? Profits to be donated to local and village concerns.
Sports day:
No decision yet as to the date for this event. No volunteers have come forward to take on the arrangements
Apple pressing.
• Lynn is running a trial pressing in order to make more permanent next year.
Firework night.
• Discussion continues on whether we are able to hold this again due to concerns over disruption with parking within the village and H&S concerns now that the event has been more widely advertised. The resolution may be to ensure only folk within the village are invited, as it would be a shame to lose such a popular event.
Equipment purchase.
New slide is to be installed on 14th September and shortly afterwards the mound will be turfed. William will be ordering turf and volunteers will be requested to assist with this task.
Composting site.
You will hopefully have seen the request I made in the Parish Magazine. Let’s hope that works. Your assistance as Parish Councilors in spreading the word would be appreciated.
As mentioned in the last report the composting is the one area of the meadow which almost constantly causes issues and concerns.
There is no doubt the site is still a very useful and worthwhile facility and certainly I personally favour retaining being as flexible as possible.
Unfortunately however there seems little doubt it is being abused by certain individuals who seem to treat it as a council tip. Although we do not know who, it may also be that certain contractors use the site to dump more green waste than could be reasonably expected to come from our residents. Whilst we allow contractors who take green waste from our residents gardens to use the site perhaps we should question this as they of course save a huge amount by using our site.
I have circulated updates for the committee with a copy to Mike and we are to have a meeting shortly, possibly in the days before the Parish council meeting, to agree and put in place actions to cope with challenges as soon as possible.
That said the resolution is not an easy one.
Our suggestions range from:
• Solar CCTV (which can be done legally with suitable signage).
• Limited opening say two days per week.
• Height restriction barrier.
• Extending the site (as has already been mentioned for which we are trying to get funding from SHDC)
• Membership scheme (with or without annual fee) to include an electronic locking device only accessible by members.
The quickest temporary solution is possibly locking up. This seems simple but if we did:
• What would the effect on income?
• Do we have volunteers willing to be there when we did open, say two days per week for two /three hours per day
• If locked would the same perpetrators that abuse the site just dump their waste outside the gates?
Carry forward actions from previous minutes:
• To investigate method for CIC to receive direct donations (BL)
Actions agreed:
• Lynn is to receive the plastic labels from Simon Roberts sometime this week I believe .
Finance:
Chris provided an update for the AGM for which there is no change of note. We will be paying the balance of the slide once completed and also the cost of the turf which will be about £395
War memorial restoration (Not part of Ashmeadow report but included for information)
The base is being completed this month I believe. We now have two quotes for the work on the actual memorial which are to be used for the funding application to the War Memorial Trust. That said they are vastly different. The original one being £1963 from Williams and Triggs the other from Cliveden for £4095 ex vat. These were the only company prepared to quote from the six companies we circulated. I have to say that the effort to get only 50% of the total cost from the War Memorial trust is considerable and I do wonder if we could not get it from elsewhere a little easier as their application process is one of the most complicated I have come across. (apart from the Big lottery but that was for £695K) We also need to understand where the balance in coming from as all spare funds have been used on the base works. I also awaiting a response from a contact of Stuarts within SHDC to confirm that we do not need to go for full planning permission due to be a listed structure. END
12. Other Business/Councillors Areas of Responsibility.
Debris Left at the side of roads:
Cllr Stocks reported that piles of soil were being left at the roadside in Tuckenhay and were going growing quite large. It would seem that DCC are reluctant to remove them. The Clerk will check out with Mike Pearey whether he might be able to suggest a solution.
Parking at Hill Park:
A parishioner has expressed concerns about parking in the Hill Park area. Seemingly a vehicle was parked for some time half way up the road which may have prevented rescue vehicles reaching Orchard Close. The Council therefore asks that visitors to the village, park sensibly given that at least three metres should be left for fire engines to pass parked vehicles.
Councillor Advocate:
Cllr Greaves reported that there have been no recent meetings but illegal immigrants have again landed on South West beaches. Antisocial behaviour was still an issue in the South Hams.
Next Council meeting will be on Thursday October 5th, 2023 at 7.30pm in the Village Hall. Michael Read Ashprington Clerk spooks49@michaelread.plus.com.01803 732047.
Download the meeting minutes in Microsoft Word format here: PC Minutes September 2023