Minutes – June 9th 2020
Minutes of the Meeting of Lydford Parish Council held online on Tuesday 9th June 2020, 7.00pm
Present: Cllr. Squires (Chair); Cllr Cook; Cllr. MacIntyre; Cllr. Skeaping; Cllr Blackmore; Cllr Tainsh; John Bright (Clerk); Cllrs Mott & Southcott (Borough Councillors) 2 members of the parish.
Meeting commenced 7:00pm
1) Public Discussion:
Mr & Mrs Stokes from Lydford Camping & Caravan Park outlined some of the steps they intend to take to ensure the safety of customers and the wider community once the Government allows local businesses such as theirs to re-open: Every function of the park will be risk assessed in line with Caravan Club guidelines; frequent-use and shared facilities will not be available to customers, who will be expected to be self-sufficient; pitches are 6m apart; only one person in the shop at any one time.
2) Apologies for absence:
Cllr Grigg. Accepted.
3) Declarations of interest:
None declared.
4) Minutes of previous meeting:
After two amendments, the published draft minutes of the meeting of 12th May 2020 were approved as a true record. Proposed – Cllr Squires, Seconded – Cllr Blackmore. All in favour. The minutes to be duly amended and agreement noted.
5) Matters arising from previous meeting:
For technical reasons the VAS was not installed on 1st June by the suppliers who cited technical issues relating to the position and size of the post installed to receive it. A number of options were discussed. Clerk to contact Council insurers on one possible solution and report to July’s meeting. (AP1)
6) Reports from Outside Bodies
None received
7) Report from Borough Councillor:
A report from Cllr Mott was circulated to Councillors. Briefly –
Cllr Mott is looking for any Covid-19 heroes, someone who has gone over and above at this time.
Look out for West Devon’s ‘think twice’ campaign asking everyone to be careful when making any trips outside the home.
There is a new round of grants for any that did not qualify before, please see the website for details.
Consultation begins this week on West Devon’s Public Space Protection Orders, please see the website to give feedback on this. The main changes to this are:
No more than 4 dogs to be exercised at one time
Dog walkers must carry waste bags at all times
Dogs to be on leads when in a 30 mile speed limit.
FCC have launched a colouring competition. You can download the sheet to be coloured to leave with the recycling/waste and the crew will leave a packet of sunflower seeds. There will be a prize for the tallest.
Cllr Southcott informed the Council that there is a lot of dissatisfaction with broadband provision in West Devon and those who are leading the campaign for better speeds are asking residents to report their broadband upload and download speeds together with their postcode to Cllr.Terry.Southcott@westdevon.gov.uk
8) Covid-19 crisis
Cllr Tainsh reported that the helpline has seen few enquiries recently but felt that the fall-out from the pandemic is likely to continue for some considerable time and that the Council will need to provide assistance to residents in the future.
9) Climate Emergency (Standing Item)
Deferred
10) Public toilets (Standing Item)
Councillors noted the content of the latest briefing note from Devon Communities Together on the protocols which might be put in place before the toilets could be re-opened. Cllrs felt that many were simply not possible or prohibitively expensive. It was agreed that further information be gathered, specifically the cost of hiring cleaners to perform deep cleans regularly through the day (AP2) and providing a portable toilet as an alternative (AP3). Cllrs noted that DNP have recently re-opened some of their toilets and asked if it could be established what protocols they had adopted. (AP4). The matter to be further considered in July, until which time the toilets will remain closed.
11) Finance:
a) Payments:
Cllrs resolved to make the following payments –
- i) J Bright £ 249.28 (Pay June)
ii) HMRC £ 57.80 (PAYE June)
iii) J Bright £ 9.99 (IT equipment)
iv) J Bright £ 5.50 (Stationary)
v) Signs Express £ 84.00 (Toilet signs)
vi) BHIB Insurers £ 409.19 (Local Councils Insurance)
Proposed – Cllr Tainsh, seconded Cllr Cook. All in favour.
12) Planning Applications
Cllrs resolved to support the planning application 0225/20: Larrick House, Lydford. Remove shelter and erect stable feed store and tac room. Proposed – Cllr Skeaping, seconded Cllr Blackmore
13) Correspondence
Cllrs felt that the ideas for the new Public Spaces Protection Orders to be written by WDBC were very laudable but needed enforcement. This to be fed back to WDBC (AP5)
It was felt that Lydford could produce its own anti dog fouling signs. Designs and costs to be explored (AP6)
14) Other Business by permission of the Chair
Cllr Squires stated that he has written a report of the previous year’s business by the Council. This to be published on the website and sent to the Parish Newsletter (AP7)
Cllr Cook informed the Council that the defibrillator had been without charge for several weeks because the power to the village hall had been shut off. The power has been switched back on and the defibrillator is now fully charged.
Meeting closed 20:17
Next meeting Tuesday 14th July 2020, 19:00. This meeting to be held online.
Signed……………………………………….Position………………………………Date………………………………
| Point | Action | Completed |
| AP1 | Clerk to make contact with BHIB insurers to check whether the new VAS, installed on the post provided, would represent an uninsured risk. To July agenda. | Enquiry sent 10.6.2020 |
| AP2 | Clerk to investigate the possibility of hiring cleaners to deep clean the public toilets regularly once open | |
| AP3 | Clerk to find prices for the hire of a portable toilet. | |
| AP4 | Clerk to enquire of DNP what protocols they have adopted for the public toilets they have opened. | Enquiry sent 11.6.2020 |
| AP5 | Clerk to feed back to WDBC on consultation. | Done 10.6.2020 |
| AP6 | Clerk to investigate prices and availability of anti-dog fouling signs.Cllr MacIntyre to produce designs for Lydford signs. | Prices for already produced signs circulated 10.6.2020 |
| AP7 | Clerk to publish Chairman’s report to website and Parish Magazine. |