BUDLEIGH SALTERTON TOWN COUNCIL
MINUTES of the Meeting of the Town Council held in the Council Chamber on Monday 27
July 2015, on the rising of the Planning Committee.
Meeting commenced at 7.30pm.
PRESENT
Cllr C Richards (Town Mayor)
Cllr C A Kitson (Deputy Town Mayor)
Cllr A J Dent
Cllr Mrs L D Evans
Cllr A N Gooding
Cllr S V Hall
Cllr M C Hilliar
Cllr A L Jones
Cllr Mrs M L Kenneally-Stone
Cllr Mrs C A Sismore-Hunt
Cllr T D Wright
Clerk:
Mrs J E Vanstone
Others Present:
County Cllr Mrs C Channon, two members of the public and one
representative of the press
15.136 Public Speaking Time
No members of the public wished to speak.
15.137 Apologies for Absence
Apologies were received from Cllr D J Harrison (family commitments).
15.138 Declarations of Interests in Items on the Agenda
Cllr Mrs M L Kenneally-Stone declared a personal interest in Min 15.147 – she is a
member of the Friends of Budleigh Library Committee.
15.139 Minutes
The Minutes of the Meeting of the Town Council held on 22 June 2015 had been
circulated prior to the Meeting. It was unanimously agreed they be signed as a true
record.
15.140 Reports of Committees
(i)
The Minutes of the Meeting of the Foreshore & Footpaths Committee held on
13 July 2015 were noted.
(ii)
The Minutes of the Meeting of the Community Gardens Committee held on 13
July 2015 were also noted.
15.141 Report of Neighbourhood Beat Manager
No report had been received.
15.142 Chairman’s Comments
The Town Mayor, Cllr C Richards reported:
1.
One of the posts at the War Memorial had been knocked over and he had
asked the Clerk to arrange for a contractor to repair it.
2.
He said a lot of the Public Hall maintenance budget had already been used,
although some of this expenditure had been budgeted for 2014/15. He said
he had suggested that a full list of projects be drawn up, together with costs,
and once this was to hand, the Budget could be discussed and possibly
revised.
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3.
4.
He said he had signed a cheque for Performing Rights and wondered
whether the Hiring Charges needed to be revised to take into account the
increased cost.
He and the Clerk had had a presentation from FAB – the France Alderney
Britain project. He explained that the project involved the laying of an undersea cable from Britain to France via Alderney. The preferred landfall site was
Budleigh Salterton but he reassured those present that there would be very
little disruption to the town. He explained that there would be some
exploratory drilling, possibly in late September, in the Lime Kiln Car Park and
if all the permissions were received the project would go forward in 2018.
There would be no disturbance of the beach and part of the Lime Kiln Car
Park would be sectioned off. Once finished, all that would be visible would be
an inspection cover. He then explained that the project would be using
renewable tidal energy off Alderney. He said he had asked whether the cable
could be run up the River Exe but because the seabed changes all the time,
the cable could become exposed in the future and therefore this was not an
option.
15.143 Clerk’s Report
Mrs J E Vanstone reported that she had received notification of a Licensing
application for the Spar shop in Fore Street. She would forward the information to all
Councillors, as comments were required by East Devon District Council (EDDC)
before the next Town Council meeting.
15.144 Reports of Council Representatives on Other Bodies
Neighbourhood Plan
The Deputy Town Mayor, Cllr C A Kitson reported the steering group had had two
meetings. The first part was to submit a map designating the Neighbourhood Plan
area and this would be sent to EDDC this week. He said as time went on there
would be a need for various sub-committees to help out.
The Town Mayor, Cllr C Richards added that this was a good opportunity to shape
the future of the town and he said he expected all Members of the Town Council to
get involved.
Exmouth Local Action Group
Cllr T D Wright said there was a real problem with graffiti in Exmouth and he was
pleased that Budleigh Salterton was not suffering from such trouble. He added that
he was unable to attend the meeting on Wednesday and Cllr S V Hall had agreed to
deputise.
15.145 Reports of County and District Councillors
County Councillor
County Cllr Mrs C Channon began her report by thanking the Town Council for
paying for the additional grass cutting. She thought the town looked very nice and it
was good to have got on and got the work done early.
1.
She was pleased to read the comments on the railings on Coastguard Hill,
made by the Foreshore & Footpaths Committee. She thought the railings
looked great and she was happy with the way the contractors had gone about
their work.
2.
Work at the Hospital had been delayed. She explained that half of the money
for the alterations was coming from the League of Friends and half from
Northern Devon Health Trust by selling Gardener’s Cottage. A buyer had
been found but because of the delay it was unlikely that the project would be
completed before Christmas.
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3.
Friends of Budleigh Library. She thanked Cllrs Mrs C A Sismore-Hunt and A
J Dent for their work on the steering group. She said there were over 200
Friends and 25 people had volunteered to become part of the Committee.
Ten people had been elected to the Committee and she asked Cllr Mrs M L
Kenneally-Stone who the Chairman and Secretary were. She said it was
good to have some new faces coming forward.
4.
Devon County Council (DCC) had won a national award for the Exe Estuary
Cycle Track. She said that quite a few cycle paths in the area were linking
up. She was also pleased to see the new cycle path across The Green had
been completed. She wondered how long it would be before walkers were
complaining about cycles! She was also concerned about cyclists using the
path between the library and the health centre and would be asking for “No
Cycling” roundels to be painted on the path.
5.
She had received reports of a lorry parking by the traffic lights and causing
problems for other motorists. There were already loading lines in that area
and she was not sure what else could be done. She would speak to the shop
owner to see if they could help.
6.
She and Cllr A J Dent had attended a meeting with the Knowle Village Traffic
Group. Various aspects had been discussed. She had since discussed
these points with Highways Officers and their response is below:
 Extending the 30mph limit from Knowle Roundabout down to Pretty
Corner. Officers had discussed this with colleagues but current policy
meant it could not be extended.
 Enhanced Rumble Strips at Pretty Corner. This product is no longer
available.
 Road reconfiguration at Pretty Corner.
For the amount of
probable/possible development in the area it was unlikely that S106
contributions could successfully cover the costs of a review for this
junction.
 Resurfacing delayed in favour of junction reconfiguration/removal of
Central White Lines. The planned resurfacing was scheduled for
2016/17 with pre surface dressing patching during 2015/16. The
central white lines could be removed when the resurfacing is carried
out.
 Move the Vehicle Activated Sign (VAS) from Exmouth Road to Pretty
Corner. This could not be moved because VAS have to be more than
100m from the start of a speed restriction. In this instance the start of
the 30mph area is less than 100m from the junction.
 20mph limit through Knowle Village. This is not justifiable as there is
insufficient accident data. DCC no longer has the facility of being able
to undertake cable speed checks. An alternative would be a radar
survey but currently the data team is fully committed.
 Purchase of a permanent VAS at Knowle Village Hall. No reason why
the equipment could not be purchased by the group.
 “Slow” markings have worn away. These will be replaced when the
road is resurfaced.
 Bedlands Lane Junction. The lengthsman will be asked to strim the
footpath and see if the kerbing goes right around the junction.
Cllr A L Jones asked Cllr Channon if something could be done about cars outside
Staddons waiting for oncoming cars. He said, on numerous occasions, he had seen
cars overtaking the waiting vehicles and thought it was an accident waiting to
happen.
The Town Mayor, Cllr C Richards said Cllr Jones’ comments were noted but was not
sure what could be done to help. Cllr Channon said she wished she knew the
answer! All sorts of ideas had been looked at but none were viable.
Cllr S V Hall suggested this topic be discussed at the next meeting of the Budleigh
Salterton Traffic Group.
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District Councillors
District Cllr T D Wright reported:
1.
Pegasus Homes had now signed contracts to buy the Council Offices at
Knowle, subject to planning permission, and EDDC was now engaged in
selecting a design and build team to build new offices at Honiton and
refurbish the offices in Exmouth for occupation by EDDC staff. He was on the
relocation project team and would be attending an all day meeting during the
week to discuss and plan the way forward. The group would be embarking
on a consultation process to ascertain what services residents wanted and
where, and how EDDC would be better able to service residents’ needs at
other sites away from Honiton and Exmouth. It was hoped that the relocation
would be completed by September 2017 and then significant savings on
running costs could be made.
2.
He then reported EDDC needed to make £2.6m in additional savings due to
the reduction in the government grant. This had caused EDDC to examine
how it managed all its assets and the process had started with beach huts.
Cllr Hall would update members on progress of the beach hut consultation
during his report. Cllr Wright went on to say EDDC was now examining how it
managed its sports grounds. Over the years, across the district, sports
grounds had been managed and priced in a widely variable manner. EDDC
was now seeking to establish what was a market rent for such facilities as a
base on which to set charges. Sports clubs would be assessed to establish
what is the community benefit of the facilities they run and rent reductions will
be available based on that community benefit. Some clubs, such as Budleigh
Salterton Football Club, were very much community assets providing training
for young people, etc and offering other facilities for the community to enjoy,
such as the memory café. The consultation on the project was about to start
and he had spoken to the Chairman of BSFC in order to prepare the club for
the process. The social benefit of some clubs was not so clear and there may
well be a change in the charges to those clubs.
3.
The government was proposing that all social housing rents be reduced by
1%. EDDC financial planning model had anticipated modest increases in
rents and that cash was earmarked for the building/buying of additional
council housing stock and the refurbishment of older housing stock. The
proposed changes put those ambitions in danger and EDDC would be
meeting with ministers early in August to put forward its case. Concerns had
already been expressed to local MPs. All local authorities and housing
associations have similar concerns. He said that the average EDDC rent was
just over £82 per week. In Budleigh there were 176 EDDC-owned properties
that were rented, with a total of 4243 properties in the whole district. The
turnover was roughly £18m so 1% was a significant reduction. He added that
EDDC collected 99.59% of rents due.
4.
The Boundary Commission was about to embark on a review of East Devon’s
council ward boundaries. All parishes would be asked to contribute to the
process. There had been a tendency to just consider numbers of voters but
local community cohesion must also be taken into account.
He concluded by saying the squeeze on public finances was continuing and it was
clear that local solutions may have to be found to support local issues.
District Cllr A J Dent reported:
1.
At the last Development Management Meeting approval had been given to
the redevelopment of Courtlands Hotel in Lympstone. He said this would be
a major asset to the local economy.
2.
He was now the vice chairman of the Scrutiny Committee and he explained
how joining forces with Teignbridge District Council and Exeter City Council
would be helping to make savings of approximately £2m in the future.
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3.
4.
He was on the board of East Devon CAB, as EDDC representative. He
explained that EDDC provided one third of the Bureau’s income but its
members were doing a great job and were always looking for ways to raise
money for themselves. He said they had set up a deal with Amazon which
would be beneficial.
The Scrutiny Committee was undertaking a review of the election procedures
at the last election and were hoping to come up with ways of how best to run
elections in the future.
District Cllr S V Hall reported:
1.
The consultation process on beach hut management had ended and the
results of that consultation would be considered by September. The cabinet
member leading the project (Cllr Pook) had attended a recent meeting of
Budleigh beach hut tenants. He had given assurances that no decision had
been made and he knew the idea for sealed bids was not popular. A lot of
ideas had been received and none of them would be ruled out. Cllr Hall
explained that one idea was to hand the beach huts to town councils to
control. He said BSTC did not have the resources to manage the town’s huts
and he had discussed the idea with the Town Mayor, Cllr C Richards. One
option may be to take on the huts but ask the Tourist Information Centre to
undertake the administration and keep any commission.
The Town Mayor added that all options would be fully discussed by the Town Council
before any decisions were made.
15.146 Cheques for Signature/Finance Inspection
(i)
Payment of cheques for the month of July 2015, in accordance with
Appendix A, was approved.
(ii)
It was noted that the Chairman of the Finance Committee had carried
out the monthly internal finance inspection.
15.147 Friends of Budleigh Library
A request for financial assistance, from the newly-formed Committee, was received
and considered. It was
Resolved:
A grant of £250 will be made once the Clerk has received confirmation
that the Group’s bank account is up and running.
15.148 Correspondence Received
Budleigh Salterton & District Chamber of Commerce: Letter of congratulations to
Town Mayor and Councillors
Budleigh Salterton Literary Festival: Letter concerning refusal of grant aid plus the
Clerk’s response
Local Government Boundary Commission: Thank you for submission
Devon County Council: Outcome of the Public Consultation on Proposed Supported
Bus Service Reductions plus revised proposals
Mr K Coyne and Ms A Greenfield: Letter concerning EDDC Beach Hut consultation
Otter Valley Association: July 2015
The Clerk: July 2015
Clerks & Councils Direct: July 2015
Everyone’s Tomorrow: Summer 2015
Healthwatch Voices: Summer 2015
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15.149 Any Other Business at the Chairman’s Discretion
1.
Cllr S V Hall said he had spoken to the Town Mayor regarding the possibility
of hosting meetings between the Chamber of Commerce and Budleigh in
Business. He said the Town Mayor was happy in principle but wanted to limit
BSTC involvement. Cllr Hall said there would be no more than four meetings
per year and the Clerk’s time would be purely producing notes of the
meetings. He asked if this could be discussed at a future Town Council
meeting.
The Town Mayor said he was happy to include this on the agenda if this was the only
way to take this forward.
2.
The Deputy Town Mayor, Cllr C A Kitson said he had met with the Britain in
Bloom judges at the Community Gardens. They were happy how the gardens
had progressed and the Budleigh in Bloom team were keeping their fingers
crossed when the awards were announced later in the year.
15.150 Dates of Next Meetings
Planning Committee:
Town Council:
Planning Committee:
Planning Committee:
Town Council:
17 August 2015 at 7.00pm
17 August 2015 on the rising of the
Planning Committee
7 September 2015 at 7.00pm
28 September 2015 at 7.00pm
28 September 2015 on the rising of the
Planning Committee
There being no further business, the Meeting closed at 8.23pm.
………………………………………………
Chairman
………………………………………………
Date
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