DPC’s Annual Governance Statement and and Accounting Statements certified by the External Auditor can be downloaded here: DV0132 AGAR
The External Auditor’s 2020/21 Report and Certificate can be downloaded here: DV0132 S3
The approved minutes can be downloaded here MN_2022 February DPC Approved Minutes
or read below.
APPROVED Minutes of the Monthly Meeting of Dittisham Parish Council on Wednesday 2 February 2022 at 7:00p.m.
Due to high numbers of local COVID-19 cases and the end of the law allowing virtual meetings, the meeting started with a public videoconferencing virtual only meeting and was immediately followed by a meeting in Dittisham Village Hall.
Apologies for absence were received from Cllrs Anderson and Lloyd.
Cllr Nightingale declared an interest in Barn at Capton planning application. Cllr Neale declared an interest in Firze Park planning application.
It was resolved to approve the Minutes (unanimous resolution, proposed Cllr Tucker, seconded Cllr Neale).
It was resolved to respond that DPC does not have power to limit volume and timing of building works, it can be mindful of the resident’s concerns in DPC’s comments on future planning applications, and that DPC will look at creating a future subgroup (to report back to DPC) to consider if other action is available and appropriate.
Deferred pending the arrival of Cllr McKay.
Deferred pending the arrival of Cllr Hawkins following another meeting.
The following decisions were noted:
Support (resolution proposed Cllr Green, seconded Cllr Neale, unanimous).
Cllr Nightingale was removed from the meeting for the duration of this item. DCC Cllr Hawkins arrived during this item. Cllr Hawkins joined the meeting when Cllr Nightingale returned.
Support and ask if there is a new foul sewage connection. DPC notes that there is a plan for a foul sewage connection which is not described or on other plans (resolution proposed Cllr Green, seconded Cllr Unitt, unanimous).
Support (resolution proposed Cllr Green, seconded Cllr Unitt, Cllr Quinn abstained, voting cllrs unanimous).
Support (resolution proposed Cllr Green seconded Cllr Unitt, unanimous).
Cllr Neale was removed from the meeting for the duration of this item.
DCC Cllr Hawkins reported that the first Youth Night at the Dartmouth Leisure Centre was a success and well attended. The next is on 11 February and the Nights will then be monthly, roughly on the second Friday. Ivy Lane is reopening. It will not be charging at all. The Health and Wellbeing Centre is going up, with the second floor progressing well. The HWBC is on time to open towards end of summer. The plans for a community bid for the Dartmouth Hospital site, which includes Dartmouth Town Council, are positive at the moment. SHDC was ranked thirteenth most successful council for climate and sustainability projects which is good news. DCC will set its 22/23 budget soon and SHDC sets its next Thursday. The long-standing leader of DCC has said it is the hardest budget he has set.
Support the application and comment that DPC would recommend the replacement of trees which will be or have been felled (resolution proposed Cllr Tucker, seconded Cllr Neale).
The Clerk is to respond that DPC will not be writing to SHDC because this is not DPC core business and SHDC is the responsible authority (resolution proposed Cllr Tucker, seconded Cllr Nightingale).
DPC will make it known publicly that it is not acceptable to damage and kill trees (resolution unanimous except Cllr Green who was not present due to IT connection issues).
An extraordinary meeting will be held on 9 February to consider an application to use The Ham for a community Jubilee Lunch.
It was resolved to approve the Playground TAFG’s unanimous suggestion that it be disbanded (resolution proposed Cllr Tucker, seconded Cllr Nightingale).
The circulated update report from Cllr Neale was noted.
The request from the South West Gaffers for tents and campervans on The Ham 5-8 August 2022 for Dittisham Regatta was approved (resolution proposed Cllr Bond, seconded Cllr Neale, Cllr Unitt absent for this vote).
The circulated update report from Cllr Neale was noted.
The Clerk was instructed to ask five former DPC Chairs if they would like to go into the draw, and to have a local draw if more than one wishes to attend.
The Report was adopted by resolution.
It was resolved to approve the following payments:
The recommendation to change to Income and Expenditure accounts was approved (resolution proposed Cllr Tucker, seconded Cllr Unitt).
It was resolved to approve the 2021 Review as circulated.
The claim for 14 hours overtime to set up the accounting software was approved.
It was resolved that the consideration of installing a railing would be reviewed in the autumn (resolution proposed Cllr Unitt, seconded Cllr Neale.
The following correspondence has been addressed, for information only.
9/1/22, Resident, Construction of a wall: DCC matter
It was confirmed that the next monthly meeting of Dittisham Parish Council will be held 2 March 2022 at 7:00 pm.
The Clerk shared their screen to show councillors a copy of the list of principle or policy decisions which to be ratified in the following meeting in the Village Hall.
Meeting in Dittisham Village Hall
5/22 Confirmation of Decisions
It was resolved to confirm the list of principle or policy decisions made by the preceding public virtual meeting (resolution proposed Cllr Tucker, seconded Cllr Quinn).
The ratified decisions are as follows and described above:
4.1. Concerns raised by a resident about the amount of Building Work in the Village.
13.1 Playground – To approve the Playground TAFG’s unanimous suggestion that it be disbanded.
13.3 Ham Events – South West Gaffers’ request
15.3 Income and Expenditure Accounts
15.4 Risk Assessment Review
15.5 Overtime Claim
2021 22 Reserve Allocations at 26 Jan 22
2021 22 Summary by Cost Centre at Jan 26
MN_2022 January DPC Approved Minutes
APPROVED Minutes of a Public Virtual Meeting of Dittisham Parish Council held on
Wednesday 5 January 2022 at 7:00p.m via Zoom conferencing
Present: Councillors Anderson (Vice-Chair, meeting Chair), Bond, Lloyd, Neale, Nightingale, Quinn, and Unitt were present, as were Devon County Councillor Hawkins and South Hams District Councillor McKay, and A. Thom (Clerk).
Taking into account the COVID risks, councillors’ views, and the need to hold a face to face meeting a decision was made for the Parish Council to only meet via Zoom. This is therefore not a formal Parish Council meeting. It instructed the Clerk on operational and business continuity decisions as permitted by delegated authority. Decisions of principle or policy have been deferred.
Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Tucker and Cllr Green.
Cllr Quinn declared an interest in the Dartside planning applications.
This item was deferred.
Councillors discussed the difficulty of not being able to make all decisions in a virtual meeting – as was possible when government legislation permitting virtual Parish Council meetings was in force. The Clerk will write to government to describe the problem.
This item was deferred.
SHDC Cllr McKay said that there is there is a senior SHDC working group considering the delivery of Waste and Recycling service.
The Affordable Housing Task and Finish Group is looking at best practice, for example what other local authorities nationally are doing. It welcomes any input.
Cllr McKay has been to six parish councils about the procedure for installing speed indicator devices and found that there is confusion about the process. Devon County Council procedures relaxed in July 2020 and this can now be done via the DCC Neighbourhood Officer.
SHDC is about to set its budget.
The Local Government Association is lobbying for permission to hold virtual meetings and agrees it should be standard and an available option.
Harris and Sons hardware store in Totnes is closing down, which Cllr McKay commented is very sad.
Cllr Nightingale said that regarding business rates, councils can charge based on the rateable value or a percentage of the profit. He will pass information on to Cllr McKay.
Cllr Anderson commented that Dittisham has issues with speed in the summer.
DCC Cllr Hawkins agreed that interactive speed signs are now easy to install and said that this hasn’t been raised by DPC in the past. The community decides the location. They cost £1,500-£2,500. Signs with speed limit are not advised by DCC because drivers might drive faster to clock their speed. Installation could be achieved in six months.
The Health and Wellbeing Centre is progressing. Cllr Hawkins visited Bakers Estate on Tuesday. The first 12 residences have been moved into. There will be about 115 ‘affordable’ properties.
The first Youth Leisure night at the Dartmouth Leisure Centre is next Friday. It is required to sign up in advance and have permission.
Work is going to take place on Bow Hill in Ashprington.
The following decisions were noted:
No comment.
SHDC Officers will make a decision based on evidence provided to SHDC.
It was resolved to request a noise impact assessment and to note an anomaly in the application regarding the proposed position of the pump (resolution proposed Cllr Anderson, seconded Cllr Nightingale, Cllr Quin abstained, the vote was unanimous). DPC deferred taking a view until further information is provided.
This item was deferred.
To consider submitting a response from DPC.
The local the Operational Readiness Manager has responded to DPC’s correspondence. They have offered to discuss the areas of concern to evidence how the Service would respond to an incident. It was agreed that Cllr Unitt would meet with them and report back to DPC.
The Operational Readiness Manager also offered to talk about the importance of home safety visits, smoke detectors and other prevention work / advice that the Service provides to support our communities to try and prevent incidents from occurring. Councillors suggested that this would be a good subject to address in the Annual Parish Meeting.
No comment made.
No objections were raised to advertising the offer from an Ashprington Parish Councillor for he and some other ex-servicemen to do a one-off emptying of brown bins left sitting full in Dittisham to the Ashprington Community Composting site.
The approval of the Playground TAFG’s unanimous suggestion that it be disbanded was deferred.
The Group has circulated a Report. The meeting resolved to go ahead and do two maintenance items – to replace the sleepers across the stream next to The Ham car park and in the bus shelter to replace a damaged slat and install a larger noticeboard. A risk assessment will be carried out for the installation of the sleepers. The MWG will do the bus shelter work.
This item was deferred.
The consideration of the proposal that DPC contributes Items 7, £252 Annual cost of WiFi Internet Connection, and Item 8, £1850 Carpentry Repairs to outside Stores – including new fascia board, doors, gutters etc. was deferred.
To make the grant the Council should be confident that value for money has been obtained, so it would be very useful to have an application from the VHMC which provides that information. Cllr Neale will follow this up.
It was resolved to authorise the following payments:
Payments since the 1 December meeting were noted:
Approval of the 2021 Review as circulated was deferred.
It was resolved to approve the Clerk’s claim for five hours overtime in December.
Approval of the use of Scribe to submit the required returns was deferred.
The following correspondence has been addressed, for information only.
It was confirmed that the next ordinary meeting of Dittisham Parish Council will be held 2 February 2022 at 7:00 pm.
A meeting was scheduled for Wednesday 26 January.
It was resolved to close the meeting because of the commercial-in-confidence nature of the remaining business.
It was resolved to purchase two reclaimed sleepers from Bradfords: £41.39 each plus £12.50 delivery
It was resolved to purchase two timber slats to fix the seat in the bus shelter, £20, and cork board for the noticeboard £19.99.
The meeting closed at 20:36.
The draft muinutes of a meeting held on 1 December can be downloaded as a pdf or read below.
MN_2021 December DPC Approved Minutes
Approved Minutes of a Public Virtual Meeting of Dittisham Parish Council held on
Wednesday 1 December 2021 at 7:00p.m.
Present: Councillors Anderson (Vice-Chair, meeting Chair), Bond, Green, Lloyd, Neale, Nightingale, Quinn, and Unitt were present, as were Devon County Councillor Hawkins and South Hams District Councillor McKay, and A. Thom (Clerk).
Taking into account the COVID risks (local delta & unknown omicron), councillors’ views, and the need to hold a face to face meeting a decision was made for the Parish Council to only meet via Zoom. This is therefore not a formal Parish Council meeting. It instructed the Clerk on operational and business continuity decisions as permitted by delegated authority. Policy decisions have been deferred.
Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Tucker.
None declared.
Deferred due to the next official meeting of Dittisham Parish Council.
Deferred to the next official meeting of Dittisham Parish Council.
The Clerk corrected their notes in the Report – Village-Design-Guides can be adopted by the Planning Authority as Supplementary Planning Documents.
Cllr McKay said there is quite a lot pressure to introduce community composting.
SHDC is looking at changing the funding process for biodiversity projects to make funding more accessible for larger organisations, which currently need to go to each SHDC councillor. Cllr McKay has been lobbying on behalf of Sustainable South Hams.
South Hams District Council has declared a housing crisis and a lot of good work has been done since. Cllr McKay has concerns about a proposal affecting Baltic Wharf in Totnes.
Cllr McKay is concerned that the enforcement cases list is long and status doesn’t seem to change.
Cllr Lloyd said that the lack of affordable housing has a local effect making staff recruitment difficult.
The Health and Well Being Centre is being built on schedule. Cllr Hawkins encourages people to fill in the NHS survey about what you would you like built at the old Hospital site.
A meeting this afternoon confirmed free Dartmouth Leisure Centre youth nights for people aged 10-17 years from 14 January 6pm-9pm. Once month at first, maybe more later. All areas will be open. There will be roller blading on the first night, archery in February, and a pool disco in March. Dartmouth Youth Group would welcome volunteers.
The Food Bank has moved to Townstal Community Hall on Friday mornings. There is easy parking, lunch, tea, coffee and cakes etc.
The Devon County Council budget process is very hard this year. Its permitted increase is 2%, plus a 1% increase for adult social care and children’s services.
An Ashprington Councillor is setting up a one-of green waste collection project in the next few months. If anyone wants a collection he can help. Dartmouth Green Partnership is establishing a new community composting facility at Jaw Bones. It is hoped it will take green waste free of charge from Dittisham, Blackawton etc
Cllr Unitt asked how the Service would access via narrow roads in the Village.
The Clerk will ask for confirmation that the Service has a current assessment of how it will access residences in Dittisham.
This will be an item on the next Agenda.
No response to SHDC by DPC. Councillors commented that DPC is making a lot of the changes discussed in the proposal and as SHDC is its Maintenance Contractor it can engage directly with SHDC.
To approve the Playground TAFG’s unanimous suggestion that it be disbanded was deferred.
The Group’s Report as circulated was noted. Cllr Anderson explained that the suggested increase in the 2022/23 budget allocation to £4,500 takes into account possible works to protect The Ham retaining wall from erosion.
The circulated update Report was noted.
Cllr Nightingale was not present at this point because of broadband issues. Item deferred.
It was resolved to confirm that two outstanding recommendations in the report would be implemented: hedge infill planting January 2022 using Cllr Green’s trees available at no cost to DPC and to write to Binham Cottage about maintenance of The Ham.
The Group’s Report was noted as circulated. The Clerk will write to the car park contractor regarding insurance and liability.
To respond to letter from the VHMC dated 2/11/21 was deferred to the next official meeting.
To consider the proposal that DPC contributes Items 7, £252 Annual cost of WiFi Internet Connection, and Item 8, £1850 Carpentry Repairs to outside Stores – including new fascia board, doors, gutters etc. was deferred to the next official meeting.
It was resolved to support purchase of a second ‘can be slippery’ sign for Jubilee Steps (approximately £12.50) & installation of one ‘Ambulance’ sign in the turning bay on Manor Street.
Cllr Nightingale gave a report on the workshop. The meeting supported Cllr Nightingale’s proposal to give feedback to Devon Communities Together.
Cllr Unitt has suggested a list to improve communication with residents. Cllr Nightingale suggested use of a mailing list system which would allow people select contact preferences. This project is ongoing.
The Parish Lengthsman has asked about allocation of projects to DPC and DCC grant budgets. The Clerk will resend the criteria. There were no suggestions for new blocked buddle holes which are already approved by DCC and can be reopened by the Lengthsman.
It was resolved to note:
The Clerk’s claim for nine hours overtime in November was approved by resolution.
Expenditure of up to £15 for Cllr Bond to purchase materials and trial on the playground wetpour surface was approved. Cllr Bond will confirm with Wicksteed it won’t damage the surface and ask if they have recommendation of other environmentally friendly options.
It was resolved to confirm use of the approved £150 to purchase coal shovels (£6.96 each) and to accept Cllr Bond’s offer to purchase one in exchange for small shovel purchased last year which is too small for gritting purposes.
Consideration of the recommendation that no action will be taken by DPC to install railings was deferred.
21.1 Received
21.2 Sent
It was confirmed that the next meeting of Dittisham Parish Council will be held on 5 January 2021 at 7:00 p.m.
It was resolved to close the meeting because of the commercial-in-confidence nature of the business.
The meeting closed at 21:21.