Whitestone Parish Council
Minutes of Parish Council at Whitestone Parish Hall at 7.30pm on Thursday 11th September 2025.
Attendance: Chair – Cllr T Baird
Councillors M Belt, M Frankum, P Stott.
Mrs P Vaughan, Clerk to the Council.
County Councillor A Connett (left at 8pm)
District Councillor J Parrott
Mr T Tume (left at 9pm)
Apologies:- Councillors C Lang, E Purser, T Taylor, M Baxendale-Nichols.
Declaration of Interests
Councillor Frankum declared an interest in planning application for Pound Lane.
60. Cllr Baird opened the meeting and the minutes of the Council Meetings held on 10th July and 14th August 2025 having been circulated were taken as read and signed by the Chair with some amendments to the minutes for 14th.
61. REPORTS FROM COUNTY COUNCILLOR / DISTRICT COUNCILLOR
61.1 County Councillor Connett thanks all those concerned regarding the proposed road closure.
61.2 District Councillor Parrott spoke regarding reorganisation within Teignbridge District Council and also spoke on the Community Funding which is available.
62. MATTERS RAISED BY THE CHAIR
Planning proposals: We previously voted to keep our planning responses short and concise. At the moment, I feel we’re not doing this consistently. Some applications are receiving very detailed responses while others are much briefer, and when these appear in the Parish magazine and the minutes, it could give the impression that we are biased towards certain applications. From now on, we need to respect the vote that took place and provide short, concise replies for planning responses, as was originally agreed.
Meeting conduct: I’d like to ask that we show a little more courtesy to each other during discussions. That means avoiding side conversations, raising hands if we want to speak, and trying not to talk over one another. I will do my best as Chair to recognise who has their hand up and to make sure everyone has a fair chance to contribute.
Voting and agenda items: We must ensure that decisions are only made on items that are properly listed on the agenda. If something isn’t on the agenda, then we should note it for the following month. This way, all decisions are transparent and properly recorded.
Community offers of help: Occasionally we receive offers of help from the Parish to maintain various community assets in-between meetings. Although this is always welcome, and a kind offer to make, it has been discussed and decided that we need to gain approval from the Council before any major maintenance projects are undertaken. Some assets hold emotional value to different Parishioners and we must ensure that everyone is given the chance to be consulted before making any changes to our community.
63. 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 will be sent which can be viewed on Teignbridge District Council Planning site.
63.1 25/01134/FUL Construction of domestic garage and home office to be used with the main house at Glebe Farm
Whitestone Parish Council has discussed and considered this planning application. We have no concerns regarding the construction or final development. We did note that the biodiversity metric needs to be re-run following feedback from the Biodiversity Officer.
63.2 25/00887/AGRFDR Agricultural building on land at 28716693148 Pound Lane.
Whitestone Parish Council has discussed and considered this planning application. We have no concerns regarding the construction or final development.
64. MATTERS FOR DISCUSSION
64.1 Poster for Speed awareness competition
These had now been printed at a cost of £212.00 and discussion took place regarding the siting throughout the parish and Cllr Frankum undertook the distribution.
64.2 Parish Online
To be placed on October agenda for an update from Cllr Purser.
64.3 Crossway Park
It was reported that some trees had been removed and there had been an offer from a parishioner to remove the remaining stumps for free and this is gratefully accepted.
64.4 Community Garden
To be discussed early next year once funding for the year has been determined.
65. FINANCE
Income
65.1 1 School Houses rental to 2nd October £950.00 - £114.00 (inc. £19.00 VAT) = £836.00
65.2 2 School Houses rental to 7th October £1,050.00 - £126.00 (inc. £21.00 VAT) = £924.00
Expenditure
The following expenditure was proposed and seconded for payment. All in favour and the cheques were signed by Councillors Baird and Belt.
65.3 Devon County Council (Legal costs re- Lower Hare Farm) – cheque no 821 £5,000.00
65.4 L Blades (Lengthsman) cheque no 822 £231.60
65.5 Sovereign Design Play Systems (includes £11.11 VAT) cheque no 823 £66.68
65.6 Clerk’s salary and expenses (Cheque no 824) £435.44
65.7 HM Revenue and Customs (Clerk’s income tax on salary) cheque no 825 £101.40
65.8 The Menu Monkey (posters for speed signs) cheque no 826 £212.00
66. REPORTS
66.1 Cllr Belt requested that land owners now cut back hedges within the Parish.
66.2 Cllr Belt said that some parishioners had fed back to her that “they wouldn’t recognize the Parish Councillors in person” and it was suggested that photos of the Councillors be added to the Parish Magazine or noticeboard. This will be added to the agenda for the next meeting.
66.3 Cllr Stott suggested a community driver scheme could be arranged for future road closures. Details of how to become a travel buddy will be on Facebook, website and magazine.
Meeting closed at 9.30pm