Minutes of the Meeting of St Mabyn Parish Council held on Wednesday, 13 th June 2012 in the Memorial Hall, St Mabyn at 7.30pm.
(The regular day / date of this meeting had changed owing to the Queens Diamond Jubilee Bank Holiday on Tuesday, 5th June 2012)
Present: Cllrs. A Finnmaore (Chairman), N Embley (Vice Chairman), Mrs A Bunney, Mrs C Bray, Mrs H Barrett, R Chadwick, M Menhenitt, D Masters., M Grigg.
Also attending: Mrs J Hoskin (Parish Clerk) Two members of the public (Mr James Mutton / Mr Andy Cameron – Clean Earth Energy)
1.Public Session: The Chairman welcomed Mr Mutton and Mr Cameron to the meeting and invited them to address the Council, if they so wished. Mr Mutton outlined proposals for further renewable energy projects being considered by himself and another land owner in the parish. Surveys were being conducted but a planning application had not yet been submitted. The Chairman thanked Mr Mutton for attending.
(Mr Mutton and Mr Cameron left the meeting at 7.45pm)
Police: No report received.
Cornwall Council: No report received.
2. Apologies for non attendance were received from Cllr J Rowe (Cornwall Council).
3. Members Declaration of Interest: Cllr Mrs A Bunney declared an interest on Agenda item 14.2 and any matters relating to the Queens Diamond Jubilee Celebrations.
4. Minutes: The Minutes of the Meeting held on the 1st May 2012, as circulated, were confirmed and signed following amendments to items 6, 12 and 17.2.
5. Matters Arising:
Item 3 Cllr Mrs H Barrett’s Chairman’s Report: Some councilors expressed their concerns on parts of the report that reflected upon co-opted councilors and that these comments should not be accepted.
Item 6 – Minutes: Cllr Mrs H Barrett repeated her request to receive a second copy of the minutes by email, for ease of filing. Councillors resolved to adhere to the previous decision not to send the minutes electronically.
Item 12 – Playing Field: Cllr Mrs C Bray reported that she had endeavored to contact the owner of the cottage who was depositing tree cuttings into the playing field but she had received no response to the message’s left. It was agreed that a letter be sent.
6. Planning Applications / Planning Matters:
PA12/00727 Mr Paul Camp – Belectric Solar Ltd, Middle Treworder, Egloshayle –
The development of a 5MW solar farm (additional information).
The Council approved the report from the planning committee that the revised design would consist of rows of static panels orientated east to west across the site. The height would also be increased on average by 50cm, resulting in the panels being above the roadside hedgerows from the lanes that run along the north-eastern and south site boundaries, also from the A39 at Three Holes Cross.
It is therefore recommended that this application be refused on the grounds of visual impact.
Protocal for Local Councils – Cllr Mrs H Barrett gave the Parish Council information from Cornwall Council on the protocol for local councils relating to planning matters.
6.1 Devon & Cornwall Housing S106 shared ownership / lettings policy for Mabena Lea: Proposed changes to the S106 were discussed at the previous meeting. The Clerk agreed to establish if any S.106 funding was available from this development.
6.2 Section 106 development money held by Cornwall Council: Item deferred.
7. Accounts / Financial Matters: Financial report issues as Part 2 of these minutes.
To approve the Audited Accounts 2011/2012 (year ended 31 st March 2012): The Clerk notified the Council that she would circulate a copy of the audited accounts and associated documents to councilors for their approval.
8. Grass Cutting Contract It was noted that the new contractor was completing the work to an excellent standard but would be reminded to strim around the base of the boundary hedges of the playing field.
Also the verge of the boundary hedge to the right of the junction out onto Station Road from WatergateLane required cutting further back to the fence.
9. CC Local Maintenance Project – Footpaths: Cllr M Menhenitt was appointed to review the footpaths and identify any work required.
Cllr Mrs H Barrett provided the Council with an email from TCV Conservation Volunteers, a conservation charity that worked with local communities to conserve green spaces, and promote the recently Natural England fund called “Paths for Parishes”.
The Clerk had received an email from Cornwall Council regarding the condition of Footpath No. 7, the overgrowth and a fallen tree. The information had been passed on to the Cornwall Council Countryside Department and the Clerk agreed to liaise with the Chairman on this matter.
Cllr Mrs H Barrett reminded the Council that they must not lose sight of any applications submitted by private individuals to modify public rights of way.
10. Playing Field: Discussed under item 5 of this meeting.
Cllr A Finnamore reported on recent inspections and Cllr N Embley agreed to complete the inspections for the forthcoming weeks.
The Clerk read a letter from local residents living in Watergate Lane requesting that the junior football goal posts be placed in a different direction to resolve the issue of balls being kicked over into their garden or hitting their windows or car. The Council agreed to remove these goal posts from the field and store them in the shed where they could be taken out and used if and when required. The full sized fixed goal posts would remain.
11. St Mabyn Community Plan: Resolved to defer this item until October 2012 when further
information may be available and interested parties identified. An amended draft of the letter
written by Cllr Mrs H Barrett, along with the revised list of people interested will be brought to the next meeting.
12. To review the Parish Council Policies – Standing Orders etc: Agreed that Councillors meet at the Hall at 7.00pm on Tuesday, 3rd July 2012 prior to the Parish Council meeting at 7.30pm to review the Standing Orders, Financial Regulations and Risk Management policies.
13. Correspondence: The Clerk presented correspondence file.
The Chairman had received a letter from an ex councilor in response to the Clerks letter dated 6th June 2012 that related to a request for information on matters already discussed by the Parish Council. The Council had previously resolved to close this matter and owing to the nature of these repeated requests, and taking into consideration the individuals’ relationship with the Parish Council, agreed that a reply be sent stating that all future correspondence be sent and received via the person’s solicitor. The letter would also state the advice received from the Parish Council legal advisor that “any further repeated correspondence of this nature will not be actioned and no reply will be sent”.
The Council also agreed to seek information on the procedures for a court injunction should this nature of correspondence continue.
Cllr Mrs H Barrett declared an interest and took no part in the discussions on this matter.
Code of Conduct: A copy of the new Interim Code of Conduct effective from the 1st July 2012 was circulated to Councillors and it was agreed that it be adopted at the next meeting.
Clerks Annual Appraisal: The document file used by the staffing committee to complete the Clerk appraisal was passed amongst Councillors for them to view and be made aware of the procedure.
16. To Agree / Discuss:
1) Cornwall Council Community Network Meeting: No reports, the next meeting was scheduled for the 28th June 2012.
2) Queens Diamond Jubilee Celebrations – 4th June 2012: Events throughout the day to celebrate the Queens Diamond Jubilee were well attended and 69 children had so far received or ordered commemorative money boxes. A further order may be required.
The Council having purchased the money boxes on behalf of the committee agreed to discuss the financial costs of the days events when all receipts and payments had been made.
Although the Parish Council had initially decided not to financially support the jubilee events, it was noted that within the Councils budget for this financial year money had been saved on another project so funds could possibly be allocated to support the community celebrations.
Cllr Mrs A Bunney declared an interest.
3) Parish Council Vacancy: The Clerk had received notification from Cornwall Council that no election had been called and the Parish Council was now able to fill the vacancy by co-option. Co-option notices had been produced advertising the position.
4) Removal of the old Bus Shelter at Longstone: Having re-considered this matter, previously discussed in the last financial year, the Council resolved to leave the old bus shelter at Longstone and monitor the condition of the structure.
15. Parish Matters / Any other Business:
a) Highway Matters: The Chairman reported that the white lines and “sharks teeth” road marking in the village and at Longstone had now been repainted.
16. Agenda for next Meeting: To consider a Councillors request to place items on the agenda previously discussed by the Parish Council. This item was not discussed. Cllr Mrs H Barrett had to leave the meeting before this matter was considered. Cllr Mrs H Barrett had submitted an email requesting that items previously discussed be placed on the agenda.
17. Date of next Meeting: Tuesday, 3rd July 2012.
18. To close the Meeting: There being no further business the meeting closed at 9.25pm.
A closed session was not required.
