Konsel Pluw Erens
Gerrans Parish Council

MINUTES of the Annual Meeting of Gerrans Parish Council
held on Tuesday 7^th May 2019 at 7.30 pm in the Memorial Hall Annexe

NEXT MEETING – Tuesday 4^th June 2019 at 7.30pm in the Memorial Hall Annexe

Present:

Charlotte Taffinder (Chairman) (CT), Richard Cochrane (RC), Ralph German (RG), Will Gill (WG), Kate Greet (KG), Helen Hastings (HH), Nev Meek (NM), Val Neal (VN), Mary Watson (MW); Steve Skull (Clerk), CC Julian German (JG)

17 members of the public attended.

051901

ELECTION OF CHAIRMAN

Nominated:

CT (proposed WG, seconded MW) and NM (proposed VN, seconded HH).

Elected: CT by 8 votes to 1.

CT thanked the members for re-electing her as Chairman, and said this would be the last year she would serve in that office. She signed her Declaration of Acceptance of Office form.

051902

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Cllr Rick Iddison

051903

ELECTION OF DEPUTY CHAIRMAN AND REVIEW OF COMMITTEE ARRANGEMENTS

NM was the only nominee for deputy chairman (proposed WG, seconded CT) and was elected to the post. unanimously.

The clerk produced a list of the existing committee and working party appointments. Cllrs agreed on a revised list for the forthcoming year, which is available from the clerk on request.

051904

DECLARATION OF INTERESTS IN ITEMS ON THE AGENDA

KG declared a non registerable interest in PA19/02004, which was to be discussed in item 9 on the agenda.

051905

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

– None

051906

MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING

The Council unanimously accepted the draft minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held on Tuesday 2^nd April 2019 as being a true record. CT signed the minutes.

051907

REVIEW OF MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING – MATTERS ARISING

The clerk said he had been to a site meeting with the allotments manager at Gerrans to investigate a claim raised at the April meeting that they were ill-kept and untidy, with old items of machinery lying abandoned. The agents for Enys Estate were informed of the meeting. The manager pointed out that in March and at the beginning of April most plot holders were only just beginning work on their plots after the winter. The clerk reported there was no abandoned machinery in evidence and that while some plots appeared better kept than others in his opinion the general appearance was typical of allotment sites generally. CT said she had been to the site also, and agreed. Plots that had not been let for some while were understandably overgrown however and the manager had said he would welcome assistance from the REACT group in cutting back some of the shrubbery once the nesting season was over. HH said she would have a meeting with the manager to discuss this.

Also arising from the minutes the clerk said he would prepare a list of all the Councillors for display now that the offices of Chairman and Deputy Chairman had been confirmed.

051908 CORRESPONDENCE RECEIVED

1. Mrs Caroline Martin

An email highlighting the congestion and inappropriate parking at Rosevine on the road to Porthcurnick beach and requesting the yellow lines be repainted. Members agreed this was a perennial problem which the PC had no real powers to alleviate. The clerk was asked to request that Cornwall Council renew the double yellow lines. Action clerk

2. St Just in Roseland Parish Council

Invitation to send representatives to a cluster meeting of the five Roseland Parishes on Wednesday 26^th June to discuss the current status and future of the Roseland Neighbourhood Plan. HH, KG, VN, NM and RC all said they could attend.

051909

PLANNING MATTERS

(a) APPLICATIONS

The PC considered 4 new applications. These are outlined below and detailed comments are noted on the Cornwall Council planning website.

Application	Description	PC decision
PA19/02004	The Old Coach House, Tregassick Road. Demolition of old coach garage building and construction of new 2 bedroom detached dwelling, provision of garden amenity area and vehicular parking space	Majority object: Size of the plot inadequate to provide sufficient internal and amenity space for the development proposed, contrary to RNDP policy GP2 and CLP policies 12 and 13. Also loss of potential commercial space.
PA19/00684	Pollaughan Farm. 2-bed holiday cottage to change to a residential dwelling.	Majority support.
PA19/03189	Higher Treluggan, Ruan High Lanes. Certificate of lawfulness for existing use of land as domestic garden and amenity land in conjunction with the residential occupation of the existing dwelling house.	Majority support.
PA19/02982	Trewince Manor. To reduce the crown on six trees by one third.	Unanimous support.

(KG left the room during the discussion of PA19/02004. The planning agent for the applicants, by invitation of the Chairman, gave an introductory presentation in support of this application.)

Also at the invitation of the Chairman, Mr Tom Massey, the applicant in PA19/02128 re Bohortha Boathouse, gave a presentation in support of amendments made to the application since the PC objected to it at the April meeting. There was confusion in that the PC had not been asked by Cornwall Council to comment on these amendments and members considered it was not appropriate for them to comment directly at a public meeting without the request coming from them. The clerk was asked to correspond with the case officer and the applicant on the matter. Action clerk

 

(b) DECISIONS

Application	GPC comment	CC Decision
PA19/01856 re Veronica Cottage, Churchtown Road	Support	Approved
PA19/02176 re The Crogan, Churchtown Road	Support	Approved
PA18/09288 re Land Adj Seagers barn	Object	Approved
PA18/09558 re Trewince Manor	Object	Approved

(c) ENFORCEMENT MATTERS

– Nothing to report

(d) REVIEW OF PLANNING APPLICATION ASSESSMENT PROCEDURE

Members considered a draft process prepared by KG. After discussion WG proposed (seconded RC) the process be adopted going forward. This was agreed by 8 votes to 1. The text of the process is appended to these minutes.

051910

COMMITTEE REPRESENTATIVE REPORTS

WG had attended the recent AGM of Percuil River Moorings Ltd. Nothing significant to report.

051911

LOCALISM

CT reported that the red telephone box on The Lugger had been purchased by the Harbour Commission.

051912

ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION GROUP

RD gave an update on the activities of the REACT group. Its second meeting had now been held and progress had been made on clarifying and prioritising activities, and ideas such as the installation of charging points for electric cars and the provision of drinking fountains where water bottles could be refilled were discussed. He said there had been a good response to their Roseland magazine article, and the group were keen to liaise with the National Trust and Wild Roseland

051913

ANNUAL REVIEWS

The clerk presented for review the Council’s Standing Orders, Financial Regulations and Risk Assessment and Management Plan, with suggested updates and amendments for the current year. It was agreed unanimously to approve and adopt all three documents (Proposed RG, seconded CT).

Members also agreed by seven votes to one, with one abstention, further to amend the Standing Orders to include a clause limiting the period any one person can hold the office of Chairman to three consecutive years. (Proposed HH, seconded WG). Action clerk to add the amendment.

051914

ANNUAL INTERNAL AUDIT

The clerk presented for approval, prior to the visit of the Internal Auditor,

1. The Statement of Internal Control 2018-2019. Approval proposed by WG, seconded by RG. Unanimously agreed.
2. The Annual Governance Statement 2018-2019. Approval proposed by WG, seconded by RG. Unanimously agreed.

051915

FINANCIAL MATTERS

ACCOUNTS FOR PAYMENT

The clerk reported that all payments submitted for approval were materially within budget, or within forecast and agreed contingency levels where actual figures were unknown at the time of setting the budget.

It was resolved that the outstanding invoices totalling £4375.49 (including VAT of £181.10) be paid. A schedule of all the payments is available from the clerk.

BANK RECONCILIATION

The reconciled bank balance as at 25^th April was £45,251.89.

051915

OTHER PARISH MATTERS

1. Any urgent business

– None

2. Matters to be included on the next agenda (not heretofore minuted)

– None

3. Minor items for report

– RG commented that the hedge at the entrance to the children’s playground was overgrown. He also said some cars had been observed parked in New Road car park without displaying a ticket.

– VN said the hedge at the bottom of Eshcol Lane was again overgrown and obscuring the signpost.

– MW reported streetlight 034CL was not working.

 

The meeting closed at 9.37 pm

 

 

APPENDIX 1

 

Process for considering and commenting on Planning Applications

Planning Applications will be discussed at a full public meeting of the Parish Council. If a meeting is not scheduled before the deadline for a response to Cornwall CC an extension will be requested and if necessary an extra meeting will be convened.

In preparation for the meeting the Planning Working Group (PWG) will visit the site and prepare an assessment with reference to the Cornwall Local Plan and Roseland Neighbourhood Development Plan. If possible they should talk with neighbours. A checklist may be used to facilitate this.

All councillors should familiarise themselves with the application and read any supporting statement.

A decision whether to recommend approval or refusal will be agreed by majority vote and a summary of the reasons for this decision appended to the response by the Clerk.

If amendments are subsequently made to an application recommended for refusal and it is returned to GPC under the 5-day protocol, a further assessment will be prepared and circulated by email. Councillors may then decide whether to make an informal response or whether a further meeting of the full council is necessary.

Should the application be referred to Cornwall’s Planning Committee, a representative of GPC, usually from the PWG, will normally attend the meeting to explain the reasons for upholding their decisions.

GPC may agree a statement to be read out at Planning Committee by email, as invitations are sent out only about 10 days before the meeting. The statement will make reference to previous comments and minutes of the meeting(s) where the application was discussed.

 

Actions in response to Planning Appeals will be handled in the same way, although it is expected there will normally be enough time for a formal meeting in which discussions may take place.

Process approved and adopted at the Parish Council Meeting held on 7th May 2019.