Draft Minutes 2025 February 05

Feb 14, 2025 | Minutes

DRAFT Minutes of the Monthly Meeting of Dittisham Parish Council held in
Dittisham Village Hall on Wednesday 5 February 2025 at 7:00p.m.

  1. a. Public Forum

  2. No discussion.

Present: Parish Cllrs Nightingale (Chair), Bond (Vice-Chair), Golding, Hawkes, Neale, Pope, and Unitt were present, as were Devon County Cllr Hawkins, South Hams District Cllr McKay, and A Thom, Clerk. There were no members of the public present.

Absent: Cllr Green.

  1. Apologies

None received.

  1. Declaration of Interests

Cllr Golding declared a personal interest in 0143/25/ARC & 0139/25/ARC 27 Dittisham Court Dittisham TQ6 0HS.

Cllr Pope declared a disclosable pecuniary interest in 3571/24/HHO Shearwater Riverside Road Dittisham TQ6 0HS.

  1. Community Reports

    1. South Hams District Council Councillor

SHDC Cllr McKay reported on the Government’s devolution plans. Local council elections will take place in May 2025 as planned, and Cllr McKay has forwarded the relevant Secretary of State’s letter to DPC this afternoon. SHDC has until 21 March 2025 to provide its preliminary devolution proposal to Government and until 28 November 2025 to provide its firm proposal about how to devolve. These are challenging time scales. Cllr McKay expects May 2027 elections will be the last for at least two, maybe three, years. Parish councils won’t be affected, except one councillor not two will attend parish council meetings. SHDC’s next plan will cover two years, not the usual one year. The Chief Executive of DCC has suggested the cost of transition may be £100 million, which may cause the Government to change its mind. SHDC needs to plan for all eventualities.

Regarding the new car parking tariffs, Cllr McKay thinks the system is too complicated. It will be reviewed at six months. This is an amendment to evaluate a potential negative impact on tourism.

Cllr McKay is pleased that the planning application to build 194 dwellings at Baltic Wharf in Totnes, on the site of the boatyard, was refused. He has been lobbying for that outcome. SHDC is now considering how to use the site to support local employment.

Cllr McKay has money left in the SHDC environment fund. It needs to be used by March 2025. SHDC has received a poor financial settlement from central Government and as one result has asked Cllr McKay not to roll over unspent environmental fund to the next financial year. The meeting discussed applying to apply to the environment fund for the work being done to Capton triangle. The Clerk was asked to apply. The Friends of the Dart will be told about the fund.

    1. Devon County Council Councillor

DCC Cllr Hawkins reported that the CVS has closed. He said that DCC has tried to work with them however there was a problem getting information about what they were doing. DCC’s core funding of the CVS ceased in 2018. DCC elections will take place in May 2025. DCC’s devolution proposals are due 21 March 2025. Cllr Hawkins thinks that the 2027 elections will probably be to create a unitary authority.

There is a Dartmouth Youth Club petition, please sign. It is on the TQ6 Facebook page.

Cllr Unitt explained to Cllr Hawkins the proposed actions to progress the Jubilee Steps handrail proposal which are on today’s Agenda.

  1. Financial Matters

    1. Payments

It was resolved to authorise the following payments:

  • Annual cutback of hedge on Ham Lane £972.00

  • Clerk January Expenses Reimbursement £28.12

    1. Lloyds Bank – Giving Full Access Users the ability to share data from accountancy software providers with Lloyds Bank

It was resolved that DPC will respond to Lloyds that DPC will opt out.

  1. South Hams District Council’s Planning Decisions

The following decision was noted:

    1. 3571/24/HHO Shearwater Riverside Road Dittisham TQ6 0HS. Householder application for general alterations to internal layout, driveway access, window replacement & some changes to external fenestration & detailing. Conditional Approval.

  2. New Planning Applications

    1. 0245/25/FUL & 0246/25/LBC Chipton Barton Dittisham TQ6 0HW. Household and Listed Building Consent for renovation & change of use of former cider barn to ancillary use.

Support (by resolution): DPC will respond that the Climate Emergency Compliance Form was not located. The Parish Council will ask SHDC to obtain the required Form. It will also ask how the building will be heated.

    1. 0143/25/ARC & 0139/25/ARC 27 Dittisham Court Dittisham TQ6 0HS. Application for approval of details reserved by conditions 3 (Timber windows & doors), 4 (Roof Glazing), 5 (Slate), 6 (External Attachments) & 7 (Render Type) to planning consent 0342/22/HHO & 0343/22/LBC

No comment is being made by DPC.

  1. Consultations

The following consultation was noted.

  • Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service: Process to respond to automatic fire alarms.

No comment is being made by DPC. Cllrs may respond individually.

  1. Devolution

At a recent Devon Association of Local Councils’ information and discussion meeting Parish Councils were asked to provide a short statement to DALC by mid-February, to support DALC’s advocacy on behalf of Parish Councils. It was agreed that the Clerk will modify an existing text to write this statement. The DALC meeting also suggested mapping whether there are areas of land in parishes which are currently owned by SHDC or DCC which the parish councils might want to have transferred into their ownership. Cllrs McKay and Hawkins will be asked if SHDC and DCC records show such assets.

  1. Councillors’ Committee, Working Groups, and External Forums

Cllr Neale’s proposed review the structure of the working groups was discussed. It was agreed to retain Communications and Car Parks Groups. Dog Fouling was absorbed into the Maintenance Group. Regarding the Police and Crime Commissioner role, Cllr Bond will attend a session and investigate if there is value in DPC being involved. Cllr Pope will replace Cllr Nightingale as a representative of DPC on the Parish of Dittisham Charity. Both Cllrs Unitt and Hawkes will be Health representatives. Cllr Neale was added to the Climate & Environment Working Group and Cllr Unitt has withdrawn from it. Cllr Bond replaces Cllr Nightingale on the Finance Working Group. The description of the Finance Working Group will be updated to state that at least one of the Chair and Vice-Chair will be members. Cllr Pope will replace Cllr Nightingale on the Personnel Committee and Subcommittee.

The proposal document names three task and finish groups: Neighbourhood Plan, New Village Car Park Development, West Dart Bus. The proposal document names five Outside Bodies Liaison roles, four were retained and Climate & Environment was categorised as a Working Group.

It was resolved to authorise all of the changes. Cllr Neale will circulate a revised document.

Cllrs were asked to provide the Clerk with their photos for the parish website. The Clerk was asked to remove the Parish Lengthsman’s contact details from the parish website and to ask if they would like to add an image.

  1. ‘South Hams Way’ Request

It was resolved to respond that DPC supports the project in principle, however it does not have the power to provide requested permission for the placement of waymarkers to sign the route. It will be in suggested in the response that the organisers obtain the necessary permission from those that do have such authority.

  1. Reports from Councillors’ Working Groups and External Forums

    1. Maintenance

It was resolved to confirm the Working Group’s view that work for the 2024 grounds maintenance contract is complete.

    1. Emergency Team

The Report regarding starting to consider an emergency generator in the Hall was noted.

  1. Slippery Path to Dittisham Mill Creek

It was resolved to approve the maintenance proposed in the report to DPC: to purchase a large(36”) yard broom and to add to the Parish Lengthsman’s contract a monthly sweep from December through to April (about an hour’s work each time).

  1. Administration

It was noted that the Clerk has started to use an email marketing platform to send Information Group emails.

  1. Correspondence & Contacts

The following was noted or considered:

  • SHDC, Invitation to nominate for Community Awards. Closes 10/2/25.

  • 7/1/25 South Hams District Council states its position on local government reform. It does do not support the creation of one unitary council for Devon and wants time to consult the community.

  • 17/1/25 SHDC Removal of Bottle Banks by February to March 2025. Will include removal of the bank on The Ham in March.

  • Clear Councils Risk Management for Local and Parish Councils 26th February, Online session 12-1pm

  • Opergy Net Zero, Net Zero Pathways for Parish and Town Councils. Online session on 4/2/25

  • New in Neighbourhood Planning. Online session on 6/2/25.

  1. Next Meeting

It was confirmed that the next monthly meeting of the Parish Council will be held on 5 March 2025 at 7:00 pm.

Dates of 9 April and 30 April were suggested for holding the Annual Parish Meeting. The Neighbourhood Planning speaker will be invited to return. Dark Skies and Seals on the River Dart were discussed as other possible topics of interest to Parishioners.

  1. Closure of the Meeting

It was resolved, in accordance with the 1960 Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act, to exclude the public and press during consideration of the following items because of the commercial-in-confidence nature of the business.

  1. Capton Treeworks

It was resolved to approve the recommendation in the Report to accept the lower cost quote from the contractor carrying out works to the Willow on The Ham to do the Capton works on the same visit to the Parish.

  1. Playground Annual Inspection

It was resolved to approve the recommendation in the Report to have the 2025 inspection carried out by RoSPA and to pay to meet the inspector on-site, total cost £130.

  1. 2024/25 Internal Auditor

It was resolved to approve the Internal Auditor recommended in the Report at a cost of £195.

  1. Jubilee Steps Handrail

The Maintenance Working Group Report’s proposal regarding how to progress the project was considered. The meeting was advised the MWG is satisfied with its check of the quality of the proposed contractors work. It was resolved to progress with the Report’s proposal to accept the quotation of £5,269 (no VAT) for the handrail on the Jubilee Steps and proceed with the work subject to the contractor being able to obtain a S171 licence from Devon County Council and the Dittisham Charity providing match funding. And that if the licence is refused DPC will remunerate the contractor for their time spent in making the application and the application fee.

DPC will also seek funding from DCC and SHDC Cllrs.

  1. Management of a Freehold Title

DPC considered its next actions to meet its responsibilities as the owner of the freehold. A plan on the next actions was approved by five resolutions.

The meeting closed at 21:20.