Atherington Parish Council
ATHERINGTON PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of the meeting held on Tuesday 19 April 2016 at the Church Hall, Atherington at 7.00pm.
Present:Cllrs W White (Chairman), Mrs M Beauchamp,A Boyce and J Frayne.
In attendance: 6 parishioners, County Councillor R Edgell, Parish Clerk.
169.Presentation by Paul Coles, BT South West Regional Partnerships Director
Mr Young explained the background to the introduction of High Speed Internet. Connecting Devon and Somerset was the largest programme in the country.
It was planned that 90% of users would have access to high Speed Internet by the end of 2016.
Atherington would be connected by the end of May.
Phase 2 would reach smaller communities that had been missed by phase 1, connecting a further 5% of users.
BT would co-invest with communities not connected under phase 1 or 2, giving everyone the opportunity to be connected. 78% of those able to receive High Speed Internet were not taking up the increased speed with their service providers..
Mr Young concluded by answering questions from councillors and the public. He would contact those he could not answer at the meeting, if they gave their email address to the Clerk, who would forward it to him.
170.Police Report
A report for the past month had been received from the police.
Three incident had been reported in Atherington: 1 Vehicle damaged; Nuisance ASB - people throwing eggs at property, and bones found near river bank - found to be animal not human
171.Matters Raised by the Public
The owner of the Rising Sun at Umberleigh requested help from the parish council in the provision of lighting on the bridge for pedestrians walking over the bridge between the Rising Sun to the car park at the station. He considered this to be a serious safety issue.
Pedestrians used the bridge in hours of darkness for eight months of the year.
It was thought that two lights were needed – one by Murch’s, the other on the end of the bridge. The problem with speed of traffic using the bridge would be raised with the police.
He would be attending the next meeting of Chittlehampton Parish Council to seek their support.
The NDC solicitor was looking at the issues raised by the parish council in relation to the Bonds Farm planning application. It was agreed to invite the agent/developer to a meeting of the parish council to discuss the plans.
A recent incident involving a tractor losing its load on a lane was raised. Cllr Boyce agreed to report the matter to the police, including photographs. To be copied to David Whitton at DCC.
172.Apologies for absence
Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Ms C Norman.
173.Declarations of Interest
None.
174.Approval of Minutes of meeting held on 15 & 29 March 2016
The Minutes of the last meeting was agreed and signed as a true record.
175.Matters Arising from the meetings
Min. 138No response from farmers had been received regarding keeping the roads free from mud.
Min. 163.As the result of the recent public consultation, North Devon Council was looking at the North Devon Plan again, in relation to designating areas suitable for wind turbines.
176.County Council
Cllr Edgell reported on the recent HATOC meeting. Work was being put into place to upgrade the A361. DCC had set aside £1m to produce plans of possible improvements. The government was providing a further £1.5m.
Schemes would be able to bid for government funding. Two schemes in the country had already qualified. The next junction to be improved would be at Landkey. This junction would need to be able to
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accommodate an additional 1000 properties. The North Molton junction had also been identified as in need of improvement.
The busiest stretch of the road was between South Molton and Bideford.
177.Highways
No new problems were reported. The road outside Springfields was still controlled by traffic lights. It was not known when the road would be repaired.
178.District Council
Cllr White reported that a special meeting had taken place regarding the latest amendment to the Local Plan regarding Starter Home sites, and Wind Turbine development.
179.Neighbourhood Watch
No report received.
180.Planning
1.Applications:
60891Demolition of existing & erection of new dwelling Wavelands Umberleigh
It was resolved to recommend approval.
181.Finance
1.Payments:
1.Clerk’s Salary & Expenses£126.27Cheque No. 694
2.Chittlehampton Parish Council
(N Devon Communities Fund)£877.60Cheque No. 695
The two accounts were approved for payment.
It was agreed to make a donation of £100 to the event being planned to commemorate the Queen’s 90th birthday.Cheque No. 696
182.Playing Field
A meeting was being held to make arrangements for the Summer Fete on 2 July.
A grant application was being prepared for the garden area from the ‘plastic bag’ fund.
Final arrangements for the Queen’s 90th birthday celebration was still to be made. This would take the form of a birthday tea on 11 June.
On 13 August a music event would be held featuring ‘Grumpy Old Men’.
183.Correspondence
The following items of correspondence that had been received were noted:
1.Update from Barnstaple Town Council regarding the North Devon Record Office.
2.DCC – Road Closure Fishleigh Bridge Cross – Great Torrington Road, Atherington 13-15 June
3.DCC – Road Closure Bonds Farm – Andrews Park, Atherington 13-15 June
4.Minutes of meetings of the Atherington Childrens Playing Field committee.
5.Details of the new CPRE ‘Our Outdoors’ competition.
6.Details of the Devon Hedge Tree competition.
7.Healthwatch Voices magazine.
184.Matters Arising at the Chairman’s discretion.
None.
185.Date of next meeting:
Tuesday 17 May 2016.
There being no further business the Chairman declared the meeting closed at 8.55pm.
