MINUTES of the Meeting of WESTLEIGH PARISH COUNCIL held in the Village Hall , Westleigh, on Wednesday 5th November 2003 at 7.30 p.m.
Councillors M.Hudson (Chairman ) , P.Fronteras, M. Parks, B.Marshall, A.Samphier, M.Cumiskey and L. Kenny.
Also Present.
Cllrs R. Cann DCC. and L.Brown NDDC.
1103/1 Apologies for Absence.
Cllr J. May.
1103/2 Police Report.
In the absence of PC. Johnson there was no police report.
1103/3 Minutes of the Meeting held on 5th Nov. 2003.
RESOLVED that the minutes of the Meeting held on 5th Nov. 2003 to be agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.
1103/4 Matters Arising
Mr Harris was continuing with various maintenance items within the parish, but had raised one or two questions concerning the proposal at the Westleigh “Gateway” and a problem with the lock on the notice board at Eastleigh.
The clerk was requested to ask Mr. Harris to contact Cllr. Marshall to discuss the problems.
Traffic Speed / Management Westleigh Village.
A further speed check by DCC is awaited.
Cllr. Cann indicated that he would make enquiries into the situation.
Westleigh Website.
Cllr P. Fronteras reported that there had been 172 “Hits” on the Westleigh Website in October. The annual registration fee has been requested by eclipse internet.
Cllr P. Fronteras would contact the Company and confirm that the charge of £188.00 is correct.
Northern Devon Community Transport Association Ltd.
The questionnaire has now been distributed throughout the parish and the responses are awaited.
Street Lighting.
The work has been programmed by DCC and the installation of the two streetlights is expected by the end of the year
Undergrounding of Cables.
Nothing further to report .
Parish Magazine.
A contribution of £80.00 has been forwarded to the I&W Parish news.
The clerk was instructed to send a copy of the monthly minutes to the producers of the magazine and Cllr. Cumiskey to liaise accordingly.
1103/5 Parishioners Questions.
A query was raised over the route of the service cable to one of the street lights.
The landowner concerned has arranged a site meeting with the contractor . The result of that meeting is awaited before the parish council involves itself in the matter.
1103/6 County & District Reports.
Cllr R.Cann. DCC. Improvements to the road markings and traffic signing continue to be made to the Westleigh junction on the A39.
Although the landowners are not convinced of the need to increase visibility and provide greater safety, improvements to the junction from Westleigh onto the B3233 are still being investigated.
Following the complaint last month on the amount of litter accumulating on the Westleigh straight Cllr.Cann organised a team from “ Green Force “ to carry out the clean up.
NOTE. The Chairman thanked Cllr. Cann for dealing with this particular matter and the clerk was asked to write to Green Force expressing the council’s thanks, for a job well done.
Cllr. L. Brown NDDC gave a report on the recent Comprehensive Performance Assessment Report ( CPA.) produced by the Audit commission.
The report highlighted the need to concentrate finance on areas of priority.
There is currently a funding gap of something like £600,000. The response is to significantly increase car parking charges, and scrap the free collection of items of bulky waste goods .
There was also concern within the report over the council’s failure to address housing problems and that the refuse collection service was poor and extremely expensive.
The findings of CPA are disappointing but have successfully acted as a catalyst to force the council to start to address long standing problems and failures.
1103/7 Parking / Play Area.
Discussions continue at County and District levels.
1103/8Correspondence.
A copy of all correspondence was made available to all Councillors.
Resolved that correspondence be noted.
1103/9 Finance.
A copy of expenditure was presented to Councillors. Resolved , that expenditure totalling £1213.00 be approved and accounts be paid accordingly.
The Portman Instant Access Account has now been closed and the closing balance of £2395.54 has been transferred to Barclays Bank.
1103/10 Planning.
NDDC has granted Planning permission for :-
Application No. 35486.
Erection of a Grain Store at Eastleigh Barton, Eastleigh, Bideford.
In accordance with the deposited plans and subject to specified conditions.
1103/11 Millennium Book
The draft copy of the Millennium book is still with Mr. D. Boswell for his comments.
1103/12 Any Other Business at Chairman’s Discretion.
The Minute Books dated from 15th April 1895 until 15th May 1991 have been passed to Cllr P. Fronteras for him to ascertain whether there are any items of interest for the Website.
In the interest of road safety and in order to save cyclists and pedestrians having to negotiate a length of the B3233 to gain access to Tapely Park, Cllr Cann was asked if he would approach the relevant authorities and interested parties with the suggestion that a new, safer and more direct access from the Tarka Trail might be considered.