MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF STRETE PARISH COUNCIL HELD AT STRETE PARISH HALL ON THURSDAY 19 OCTOBER 2006 AT 7.30 PM

            At the request of the Parish Council, Mr John Halliday from Devon County Council Highways Department was in attendance to facilitate a question and answer session together with County Cllr Brazil and District Cllr Longrigg.  During this period the main topic was the entrance / exit route to the proposed new development in the village.

            The PC meeting was convened at 8.45pm. 

1615     Present; Cllr Wills (Chairman), Cllrs Buckler, Crawford, Goldring, Howell, Phillips, Pound, County Cllr Brazil, District Cllr Longrigg, Mr John Halliday (DCC), Mrs Phillips (Clerk) and eleven parishioners.

 1616     Apologies;  none were received.

 1617     To approve minutes of previous meeting; The clerk has received a letter from Cllr Howell requesting an addition to the minutes, to which all were in agreement with.  Added to the end of the first paragraph of item 1608 item 1) should read “Cllr Howell firmly defended his action and his right to communicate to constituents.  He contended his action was well intended and he feels his motive proved to be justified”. The remainder of the minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on Thursday 21 September 2006 were agreed as a true record and signed by the Chairman.  .

 1618     To note Declarations of Interest;  Cllr Wills reiterated her prejudicial interest in the Forward          Planning.

 1619     To deal with Matters Arising from the minutes of the previous meeting;

             The clerk has made some enquiries regarding the replacement of the goal posts, but is having        difficulty in finding permanently fixed ones.  Further enquiries will be made but SHDC have stated     that to continue insurance cover, they must be supplied by a recognised supplier.

             Regarding a replacement bank account, again, the clerk has some information and the matter will be          carried forward to such time as all information is to hand.

             The proposed additional bus stops were discussed, Mr Halliday announced the provision of new     flags and poles and the intention to create a new Dartmouth bound shelter when a site is found,          together with a new Kingsbridge bound stop between Skerries and the car park bays.  These will be   ideally placed for the coastal footpath.  Meanwhile, DCC are to inspect the proposed site for the new      shelter, to make a decision on whether it is viable.  It was suggested that a footpath could be            created, through the Tannen Land, through what used to be called the ‘Postman’s Path’, now        disused, down to the proposed new site for a shelter, which is opposite the kissing gate to the coastal          footpath.

             The clerk has contacted the Community Safety Officer at SHDC to find out that the sign was erected       on Strete Gate beach, only to be stolen a week later.  The PC has requested its replacement,           obviously with more secure fixings.

             Regarding the outcome of the state of the beach at Strete Gate, a thorough clean was organised by           SHDC, who did agree it was in a bad state.  No beach cleaning is carried out routinely over the            winter, and its state will be closely monitored next summer.  It is possible that larger waste bins will be installed, but the quantity of bins will not increase.

             The clerk to Stoke Fleming PC has no plans to organise a further ambulance meeting as the new   systems in place since last year seem to be working well and no complaints have been received.

             The clerk has again chased SHDC for reassurance that the covenant on the house at Severns       Cottages has been complied with, as no reply has been received by them from the owner.

             Cllr Buckler read out an address to the PC concerning the events during last month’s meeting.  In the address he summarised that there had been inference that he, Cllr Buckler, had posted a contentious notice concerning a proposal to only have one entrance via The Plat.  It has now been completely understood that this was not the case; no such ‘notice’ was ever placed in the notice board, it was     simply the questions that accompanied the parish questionnaire sent out in 2005, which was      displayed at the request of the PC by the Clerk. In consequence however, a letter has been written by       parishioners to Mrs Bagley, Chief Executive at SHDC complaining that Cllr Buckler has been taking    part in the discussions regarding the new development and has not declared an interest.  Following      this letter, the matter was passed over to Kevin Williams, the Monitoring Officer at SHDC by Mrs      Bagley, to investigate the complaint against Cllr Buckler. Following this investigation, Mr Williams      has completely vindicated Cllr Buckler and has stated that until a planning application is received, he          does not need to declare an interest and has therefore done nothing wrong.  Cllr Buckler then   requested apologies to be given to himself, as he feels the comments had defamed his character, to the clerk because of similar defamatory comments and accusation that she was not doing her job            properly and also to the council, whose reputation had been compromised.   After much persuasion   from the Chair, Cllr Howell withdrew his remarks and said he was sorry to Cllr Buckler, he             apologised to the clerk for his unfound accusations but refused to apologise to the council.

1620     Agenda Items

             1)         This item was not discussed again, as no further developments have occurred and the open                       session at the beginning of the meeting has answered all outstanding questions.

 1621     Planning Matters

             There have been five planning applications;

             54/1778/06/CU  Mrs A Clarke, Strete Lodge – change of use from former residential home for 9 persons with owners accommodation to single dwelling with holiday apartment. – following a site visit there were no objections.

             54/1788/06/F     Mr & Mrs D Dugdall, Fairfields – extension to dwelling to provide disabled accommodation – following a site visit and another objection received, it was voted 5:2 abstentions to object on the grounds that it has too large volume and mass, is too intrusive on neighbouring properties and in effect is creating three self-contained units in what is now a single dwelling.

             54/1825/06/F     Mr & Mrs Beck, 14 Crestway – minor amendment to application 54/0124/05/F for construction of block wall within garden – following a site inspection and opposition by many neighbours the PC objected with several comments, firstly, the applicant is no longer the owner of the property.  The wall is being proposed to lessen the noise from a heat pump currently installed outside the premises, which emits a noise that Environmental Health stated is intrusive and had the potential to amount to a nuisance.  It is unclear whether the heat pump needed planning consent to be installed, which it does not have.  The PC has asked for the planning decision on the wall to be deferred until such time as this point is clarified.  The Environmental Health department are to advise as to whether in their opinion the wall will indeed lessen the noise.  The PC has stated that if the wall is recommended by the EH department, it and the heat pump should be removed if the wall does not satisfactorily resolve the problem.

             54/1872/06/CU  Mr D Blackbourn, Frogwell – change of use of studio over garage to B&B accommodation ancillary to the main dwelling – other objections were also received and the PC objected on the grounds that creating a B&B unit in this location would make an increased highway hazard as the driveway is on a blind bend and there is no facility for cars to turn around in the drive.  Also the original application was for accommodation ancillary to the house and not for business use and this should still pertain.

             54/1904/06/LB  Mr and Mrs Herbert, Rose Cottage – retrospective application for listed building consent for alterations and repair to property (to include thatching, replacement gable wall and replacement of first floor structure) – there were no objections.

             There was one withdrawal of a planning application;

             54/1610/06/F     Mr R Hitchen, Close Bye – extension to existing dwelling – this application has now been withdrawn.

            There was one other site visit;

             54/1751/06/F     Mr & Mrs S Mould, Hyne Town House – amendments to approved application 54/1522/04/F for the demolition of store and erection of accommodation for residential home – following a site visit it was voted 4:3 for no objections as long as previous conditions are attached to this application and renewable energy features are incorporated.

 1622     Accounts;

             Cheque 853       £23.50              Parish Hall – hall hire

            Cheque 854       £169.99                        clerk’s salary

            Cheque 855       £141.00                        Audit Commission

            Cheque 856       £32.80              Cllr Howell – expenses for DAPC AGM

 1623     Correspondence;

             SHDC                                      mins Executive meeting 12.10.06

            Mr MacDonald                         copy letter re. planning application 14 Crestway

            Mrs Browning                           re; planning application 14 Crestway

            SHDC                                      withdrawal of planning application for Close Bye

            “                                               parish cluster meeting 8.11.06

            Audit Commission                     invoice

            Community Partnership Forum   notes

            SD AONB                                magazine

            Mr Brian Boughton                    re; MCTi

            DCC                                        re;  footpath order

            SWW                                       re; sewage works

            Slapton Line Partnership            mins and agenda 5.10.06

            SHDC                                      mins and agenda 28.9.06

            Capt Usmar                              re; planning application Frogwell

            Mr & Mrs Seymour                   “            “

            Mr Kingsley-Smith                    re; planning application Fairfields

 1624     Matters to be Raised;

             Cllr Brazil reported that there is a new scheme called ‘Community Speedwatch’ which enables     communities to operate speed cameras following training.  Cllr Brazil has suggested that Strete may         be interested in such a scheme and we await further details from Paul Morgan, the Inspector at         Kingsbridge.

            Cllr Crawford reported on the recent MCTi meeting and handed around a feasibility study on the   Dartmouth Market regeneration scheme.

             Cllr Howell is to report on the DAPC AGM next month due to time constraints this evening.

             Cllr Longrigg reported on the possible purchase by SHDC of two new smaller sized mechanical    street sweepers to be used for the villages.  These will replace a hand sweeper and the large            mechanical sweeper.

1625     The date of the next meeting is confirmed as Thursday 16 November at 7.30 pm.

 1626     The Chairman closed the meeting at 11.15pm.

            _____________________________

            Chairman               16 November 2006