CHARLETON PARISH COUNCIL.  

DRAFT 

MINUTES of the Annual General Meeting of Charleton Parish Council, held on Thursday 2^nd May 2002, at 7.30 pm., in the Village Hall, West Charleton.

Present were:-   Mr. D. Hoggart (Chairman, presiding), Wg. Cdr. J. Leigh, Mr. Smith, Mr. Burner and  Mr. Faulkner.

Also present:-    Mr. Nash (SHDC) and Mrs Raymond (Clerk)

 1.   Apologies for absence were received from Mrs Lang, Mr. Conboy, PC Bond and Mr. Masters (DCC).

 2.   The MINUTES of the previous Annual General Meeting, held on Wednesday 2^nd May 2001, were read and approved as correct.

 3.   Matters arising:-  None.

 4.   Election of CHAIRMAN:-  Mr. Smith proposed that Mr. Hoggart be elected Chairman. The proposal was seconded by Mr. Faulkner, and passed unanimously. Mr. Hoggart was therefore duly elected to the office of Chairman of the Parish Council.

 5.   Election of VICE-CHAIRMAN:- Mr. Smith proposed Wg. Cdr. Leigh for the office of Vice-Chairman. This proposal was seconded by Mr. Faulkner, and passed unanimously. Wg. Cdr. Leigh was therefore duly elected  Vice-Chairman.

 6.   Appointment of representatives:-

 (i) Coleridge Bus Committee:- This appointment was deferred to the next Meeting.

(ii) Coleridge Association:- Mr. Hoggart and Wg. Cdr. Leigh agreed to continue as representative to the Coleridge Association.

(iii) Village Hall:- Mr. Smith agreed to continue as representative.

(iv) School liaison:- Mr. Smith was appointed as representative.

(v) Footpaths Warden:- Wg. Cdr. Leigh agreed to continue as Footpaths Warden.

 There being no other business, the Annual General Meeting concluded at 7. 45 pm.

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 DRAFT MINUTES  of a  Meeting of Charleton Parish Council, held on Thursday 2^nd May 2002, immediately after the Annual General Meeting.

Present were:- Mr. D. Hoggart (Chairman, presiding), Wg. Cdr. J. Leigh, Mr. Smith,

                        Mr. Burner and  Mr. Faulkner.

Also present:-  Mr. Nash (SHDC) and Mrs Raymond (Clerk)

 1.   Apologies for absence were received from Mrs Lang, Mr. Conboy, PC Bond and Mr. Masters (DCC).

2.   The MINUTES of the previous Meeting, held on Thursday 4^th April  2002, had been circulated prior to the Meting, were approved, and signed as correct.

 3.   MATTERS ARISING;-

 (i) Tree Preservation Order:- No further information has been received concerning request to lift the Tree Preservation Order, (as noted in last month’s Minutes),  and so Wg. Cdr. Leigh will make further enquiries of Mr. Ross Kennerly.

(ii) Contact Address List:- Mr. Conboy had sent in a fairly extensive list of Contact addresses, and Wg. Cdr. Leigh provided some more. These will be printed, and copies will be available from any Parish Councillor, The Clerk, the Post Office, the Ashburton Arms and Charleton Garage. The Clerk will also request several extra copies of the A-Z Directory of SHDC from Orlando Rutter, to be collected from Follaton House next week by Mr. Nash.

(iii) The Parish Web Site:- Wg. Cdr. Leigh reported that no commercial adverts. Have yet been received for the Web Site, so fliers will be distributed to likely clients and posted in the Notice Board.

 4.   PUBLIC PARTICIPATION:-  None.

 5.   CORREPONDENCE:-

 The notice from DCC concerning the Code of Conduct to be imposed upon  all Councils was brought to the notice of the Meeting. Mr. Burner stated that he was not prepared to sign the Form of Undertaking, nor complete the Declaration of Interests form. Mr. Conboy requested further details of the Code of Conduct, which the Clerk will supply to him.

 Mr. Hoggart agreed to respond to the Devon Biodiversity Records Centre’s Hedgerow Survey request for information regarding the landowner of Duncombe Court.

 The invitation from Allianz Cornhill to renew the insurance  will be considered after the policy has been examined, and advice has been sought from DAPC.

 6.   PLANNING:-

 Applicant:                   Ms K  Macfadyen

Application number:     09/0652/02/F

Proposal:                     Conversion of attached garage to habitable room with small rear extension

                                   and pitched roof.

Location:                     17 Charleton Way, West Charleton, Kingsbridge, TQ7 2AN

 The Parish Council had no objections to the granting of CPP to this Application.

 7.   REPORTS:-

 (i) School:- Miss Lewis, the Headteacher, submitted a short written report, as follows:- There has bee4n a very busy start to this term. With National tests for the seven and eleven year old children in May the work in class has had a very serious academic bias. Our major focus this term is on the ‘wider world’ with the Infants studying ‘Islands’ (with a side interest in pirates) and the Juniors studying Africa, linking in to the History topics of Benin and Egypt, and geographical topics arising from area of the Gambia, Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa. In addition, the nine, ten and eleven year old children attended a concert given by the Devon Youth Wind and Concert Orchestras featuring international trumpet soloist Crispian Steele-Perkins at the Plymouth Guildhall; the Revd and Mrs Brighton visited to take our assembly on St. George’s Day; the seven, eight and nine year old children have had swimming lesson at the port Centre and the ten and eleven year olds have been to the Kingsbridge Lower School gym for gymnastics and tag rugby.

(ii) Coleridge Association:- Mr. Burner aid that there was nothing to report, as there had been no Meeting recently. The next Meeting will be held later this month.

(iii) Footpaths:- Wg. Cdr. Leigh said that there has been no further news of the proposed diversion of Footpath 2, which is to be the subject of an open Meeting in due course.

(iv) Village Hall:-  Cornhill Insurance have refused payment of the claim concerning the recent leak, stating that the policy doe not cover damage resulting from investigations to discover the site of the leak.

(v) Jubilee Committee:- Mr. Smith reported that the final total from the fund-raising is £3022.64. Discussions are now in progress to finalise the details of the celebration which will include game and entertainment during the day for the children, and a Ram Roast and entertainment in the evening for the adults. Tickets will be on sale until 15^th May.  The Beacon and fireworks will be lit at 10 pm.  People in the village are asked to decorate their houses appropriately, and a prize will be given for the best decorated house.

 8.   FINANCE:-

 The Clerk gave a brief outline of the new Audit arrangements, which will mean that the Audit will take place annually, and will cot £50 per year. This cost is fixed for the next 5 years.

There were no cheques for approval.

 9.   The CODE OF CONDUCT:-

Wg. Cdr. Leigh said that he was angry that Parish Councillors have been ‘steam-rollered’ into either signing or refusing to sign the forms by the requirements, since consultation did not actually take place. The system, he observed, was quite unsuitable for small Parish Councils. Mr. Nash responded by pointing out that all Parish Councillors  of small Councils know one another, and the danger is that it may be perceived that all Councillors have  vested interests.

 The new Code of Conduct was formally adopted by the Parish Council, and the form was completed for return to the Monitoring Officer. The Form of Undertaking were signed by Mr. Hoggart, Mr. Smith, Mr. Faulkner and Wg. Cdr. Leigh, and Notice of Registrable Interests were handed to the Clerk.

Mr. Burner said that Mrs Lang, who has decided to resign from the Parish Council, has served for over 30 years as a Parish Councillor, and proposed that flowers and a card be sent to her as a small token of appreciation. The other Parish Councillors agreed whole-heartedly with this proposal, and Mr. Hoggart said he would arrange it.

10. The CASUAL VACANCY:-

There is no firm news as yet of any persons interested in this appointment. A short discussion of voting procedures then followed, and the Clerk explained the rules concerning the Statutory Notice required.

11. HIGHWAY AND COMMUNITY MATTERS:-

Refurbishment of the fountain flower trough is being undertaken by Mr. Smith.

The barrier at the foot of Lyte Lane steps has been replaced.

Mr. Smith reported that he had measured some skid marks on the road surface outside the school. They were over 40 feet long. Mr. Burner observed that a small roundabout at the end of Lyte Lane would be effective in slowing traffic. Cars have been seen on several occasions overtaking vehicles on the stretch of road outside the school. Mr. Hoggart and Wg. Cdr. Leigh are discussing further suggestions which might be put to Mr. Halliday to control traffic speeds. Mr. Halliday’s original approach, of presenting plans before consultation had taken place about traffic calming measures on the A379, are now seen to be less than ideal, and further suggestions will be welcome.

Mr. Don Skinner has expressed an interest in attending Meetings of the Parish Council, but unfortunately this is impossible at present because the Committee Room at the Village Hall is not accessible for wheelchairs.

Mr. Smith said that the recent grass-cutting has been carried out in a rather haphazard fashion, with no apparent pattern. Mr. Hoggart said that he will check the routine for this work.

12. ITEMS FOR THE NEXT MEETING:-

(i) Signature of Forms of Undertaking by those absent from this Meeting.

(ii) The Casual Vacancy

13. DATE OF THE NEXT MEETING;-  Thursday 30^th May 2002.

Signed as a true and accurate Record of the Meeting,

Signature……………………………………………….                         Date……………………………