Whitestone Parish Council

PARISH COUNCIL MINUTES - JUNE 2024

Minutes of Whitestone Parish Council held at Whitestone Parish Hall at 7.30pm on Thursday 13th June 2024.

Attendance:
Chair – Cllr L Fairley
Councillors T Baird, M Belt, A Evans, L Fairley, M Frankum, M Baxendale-Nichols.
Mrs P Vaughan, Clerk to the Council.
District Councillor Kevin Lake
Mrs T Taylor, Mr S Gibbons, Mr R Fielding, Mrs T Miles

Apologies:- Councillors C Galton, C Lang, P Stott, District Councillor John Parrott

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

Mr Fielding gave a very full report on the Lower Hare Farm site which is currently still under consideration and this had been distributed to Councillors prior to the meeting.

40. Minutes of the Council Meeting held on 9th May 2024 having been circulated were taken as read and signed as a true copy by the Chair.

41. Notification from Taylor Wimpey regarding proposals for a new development of up to 375 sustainable new homes on land known as Attwells Farm, on the edge of Exwick which comes within Whitestone Parish.

42. REPORT FROM DISTRICT COUNCILLOR

42.1 District Councillor Lake reported that he had received information that the grass cutting in Crossways would be dealt with by Teign Housing.

42.2 District Councillor Parrott had informed us regarding Parish Council Forums on Planning which will be held at the Council Chamber in Newton Abbot on 18th June (6pm to 8pm) and 19th June (2pm to 4pm) which it is hoped that representatives of the Parish Council will attend.

43. PLANNING - Applications can be viewed on line by going into the public access system at Teignbridge Planning following the directions giving the application reference. The following applications having been received from Teignbridge District Council with a request for comments were examined and responses were sent which can be viewed on Teignbridge District Council Planning site.

Refusal of Planning Permission

43.1   23/01928/FUL Agricultural barn at Hare Farm

Grant of Conditional Planning Permission

43.2   24/00427/FUL Construction of agricultural building at Cricket Field Barn

43.3   24/00436/HOU Removal of existing garage and stores, replace with larger garage and store block at Ashwood, Longdown.

Application Withdrawn

43.4   24/00364/FUL Provision of temporary agricultural workers dwelling at Cross Park Farm, Heath Cross

44. MATTERS FOR DISCUSSION

44.1 Completion of Annual Audit

The Clerk reported that Mr Robert Cox had now completed the internal audit for 2023/24 and he has confirmed that in his opinion, and within the audit scope, they represent a true and fair view of the financial position and as such he presents an unqualified audit report without exceptions. Additionally, he concludes that the financial control methods, systems and procedures are adequate and being followed and adhered to and therefore there are no advisory notes that he would add.

44.2 CCTV for carpark and play area

It was reported that the outside toilet at the rear of the Parish Hall had been vandalised although this has now been fixed. It was decided that quotes for cameras will be investigated and brought to the July meeting.

44.3 Bus Stop area

It was reported that this is still under improvement with pavers expected to be laid in the near future. A donation of £250 has been received from the Sports and Social Club for a memorial bench to be placed in the area.

44.4 Vehicle Activated Speed Signs

Cllr Evans provided the meeting with a full report on the speed information obtained from the signs throughout the parish and supplied copies to Councillors.

45. MATTERS RAISED BY THE CHAIRMAN

Cllr Fairley reported on the Police Report that she had received from Devon and Cornwall Police Neighbourhood Police team which stated that in the period 1st March to 31st May 2024 there was one recorded offence. This was a residential burglary which we were assured that although we were not given specifics there is no need for concern. There were no non-offence reports to the Police in this period.

46. FINANCE

46.1 Bank balances at Nat West Bank as at 1st June 2024

Current Account £200.00

Business Reserve Account 1 £32.381.42

Business Reserve Account 2 £3,487.36

£36,068.78

Income

46.2  HM Revenue & Customs (reimbursement of VAT) £1279.16

46.3  1 School Houses rental to 2nd July £950.00 - £114.00 (includes £19.00 VAT) £836.00

46.4  Donation for Memorial Bench (from Whitestone Sports and Social Club) £250.00

Expenditure

The following expenditure was proposed and seconded for payment. All in favour and the cheques were signed by Councillors Fairley and Belt.

46.5 Devon Association of Local Councils (includes £45.22 VAT) Cheque 742 £291.32

46.6 Mr L Blades (Cheque 743)(Lengthsman £284.25 + Grass cutting £170.00 £454.25

46.7 Mr R Cox (Audit) Cheque 744 £200.00

46.8 Clerk’s salary and expenses (Cheque 745) £511.63

46.9 HM Revenue and Customs (Cheque 746)

(Clerk’s income tax on salary) £101.40

47. REPORTS

47.1  It was reported that the Councillor training which had taken place in June had proved very informative. Cllr Baird raised the point that the way in which the Council was dealing with Teignbridge District Council Planning enquiries needs to be examined as these need to be discussed within the Parish Council meetings and not determined prior to this.

47.2  Cllr Belt raised concerns regarding hedges at Hackworthy Farm and the 30mph sign at Halsfordwood Lane and District Councillor Lake indicated that he would look into this.

47.3  Cllr Belt also raised concerns regarding a car which is parked in the Hall carpark which is not taxed.

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

Mrs Taylor said that she was in attendance regarding building work which she understood would be taking place within the Parish and discussion followed regarding this.

The meeting closed at 8.30pm