M I N U T E S

Parish Council Meeting

St Ewe Village Hall

Monday 10 November 2014

7.00pm – 9.55pm

The meeting began at 7.10 pm because the Clerk and a few Councillors were delayed by dark and stormy weather.

• Apologies for absence. AB, TJ and TH.
• Declaration of interests. Both JL and SR have family members who work for Headway (Item 14/63.a).
• Public Session. None.
• Meetings. The minutes of the meeting held on 8 September 2014 were approved and signed by the Chairman. (Proposed WR; 2^nd SR).
• Ward Member Malcolm Harris’ report. None.
• Reports
  1. Flood Forum, 1st October, held at the Eden Project was a good meeting with good speakers. The Flood Forum has been awarded Lottery funds for equipment and training (e.g. training flood wardens). A Flood Forum Management Committee for Cornwall was formed and our councillor, JL, was elected onto it. Their first meeting is in December.
  2. Community Network Budget Consultation, 9th October. JL and SR attended. Alex Folkes made an excellent presentation. £196 million needs to be cut in the next 4 years, a depressing prospect. Despite the lengthy discussion, it is still not clear how CC are going to do it.
  3. St Ewe Affordable Homes Ltd (SEAHL) held its AGM recently. The accounts are being audited and previous problems have been solved. Des Hawken or Paul Sibley are available to answer any questions.
• Possible Telephone Box removals. BT is consulting regarding its proposal to remove the public payphones at Polmassick (PL26 6HA) and Hewas Water (PL26 7JF). It was decided that the Clerk would object to the removal at Polmassick because there is no mobile reception there.
• Planning
  1. Reports on Planning Decisions.
     30. CUBY PARISH. 30.09.2014 PA13/11428 Mr Leo Fortey. Pitts Down Farm Tregony Truro TR2 5SQ. Erection of a single wind turbine (79m to blade tip) and associated infrastructure including transformer, substation, crane hard standing and temporary construction area (with 10m micrositing allowance). Upgrade and extension of farm access and track. Widening of existing site entrance.
  2. Planning correspondence. The Clerk reported that the St Ewe PC receives a significant number of emails concerning renewable energy, especially turbines. These do not necessarily relate directly to anything on an upcoming Agenda. It was agreed that the Clerk would ask AB whether he would like to be ‘lead’ councillor for the parish for renewables, and if so, all correspondence would be sent to him and he would report on anything of interest. It is requested that the Clerk circulate anything especially pertinent to all councillors. (Proposed JD; 2^nd JL)
  3. Wind turbines
     1. Cornwall Council is still reviewing their 8 wind turbine applications and we have heard nothing new.
  4. Applications.
     1. None for St Ewe parish.
     2. PENTEWAN VALLEY. PA14/10446 Land At Higher Trewhiddle Farm St Austell Cornwall PL25 5DA EIA screening request for mixed development – Westcountry Land (St Austell) Ltd – (Case Officer – Stephen Kirby)

• Website. JL and SR reported on the results of the Website Task and Finish Group’s meetings. Estimates from four different website design companies were discussed and it was decided to use Jo Brown’s Lime Cloud Media Agency. Her estimate was very competitive and her local knowledge will be a great bonus. A number of website names were discussed and the Clerk will send some suggestions to JB, but JB can decide which she thinks would be the best for the parish from the standpoint of availability, suitability and ease of internet search. It was decided to register all three domains (.com, .co.uk, .org) if possible, because this aids internet search and the cost is not significant.

For the Entire Parish. Importantly it was agreed that the website will be for the entire parish. Photos and perhaps a running banner will represent all parts of the parish: Hewas Water, Kestle, Polgooth, Polmassick, Sticker, etc. Organisations in the parish can have their own page. Liaisons are already being established with the Village Hall, the St Ewe Country Fair, and the Church. Other pages were suggested: Local History, Events, Places to Go, Places to Stay, St Ewe Business Directory, a Photo Gallery of the parish’s hamlets and countryside.

All parish organisations can be represented. For an organisation to have their own page, they should elect someone to be editor. They should compile text and photos, such as, a bit about the organisation, meeting times, photos of events or projects, etc. The Parish Council will retain overall administrative control, but each organisation’s page must have its own editor to organise the content and to make periodic updates.

For more information. If your organisation is interested in having its own page, if you would like to advertise your business on the website, or if you have any suggestions, please contact a Parish Councillor, Des Hawken (member of the Task and Finish Group), or the Clerk.

Schedule. Work on the website will begin in the new year. At our next meeting, Monday, 12 January, we would like to have the preliminary content for each page ready to give to the website designer. J Brown estimates the website will be ready to launch approximately 6 weeks from that date.

• Highways
  1. 1) Huge potholes in the road outside Hewas Farm. 2) All drains blocked at Polmassick, Trecoyse and in between. 3) When other potholes are being filled in there is a huge pothole that is ignored in a field gateway between the crossroads and the deer park at Trecoyse. 4) The drains are blocked along Luney Lane towards Griggs. The Clerk will write to Highways.
  2. Village rubbish bin outside the Pub was emptied once as a gesture of good will by Cory Environmental Ltd. To place the bin on their regular route would cost in the region of £180 per year.
• Footpaths and Verges quotes for 2015. Verges: quote of £395 + £25 for ivy trimming at notice boards, was accepted from Giles McGuffie for 2015. (Proposed JL; 2^nd SR). Footpaths: quote of £336 for the cutting of the footpaths was accepted from Jim Davies. (Proposed JL; 2^nd LT).
• Finance
  1. Clerk’s finance report including expenditure against budget was handed out.   For better understanding of the Council’s financial position, the Clerk will prepare a Cash Flow which can predict upcoming expenditure, and also propose virements for necessary budget adjustments.
  2. Authorisation of payments totalling £1,217.70 were approved: Village Hall room hire, £20; Clerk’s salary and expenses, £457.70; Grass verges and notice boards, £420.00; Footpaths, £320.00. (Proposed JD; 2^nd RC)
• Precept 2015-16. After discussion of a proposed budget compared to the last two years, it was agreed unanimously that our Precept for the next financial year 2015-16 will be £5,104.00. The increase of £454 relates to lower grants expected from Cornwall Council, and equates to approximately £2 more per Band D residence. (Proposed WR; 2^nd JD)
• Correspondence and Invitations. (A complete list in Clerk’s Notes 10-11-14)
  1. Headway, brain injury support charity, requested a donation. St Ewe PC maintains its policy of no grants to groups outside the parish (proposed JD; 2^nd RC). JL and SR did not participate in the discussion or vote.
  2. Letter of invitation to a meeting to discuss CC’s faults from Chacewater PC, P Dyer Vice-chairman. It was agreed that the Clerk will send them a similar response to our response from St Ewe’s July meeting: St Ewe will bring these complaints to the attention of our Ward Member, and also suggest that these matters are better dealt with through the Cornwall Association of Local Councils (CALC) or the Community Network.
  3. The Clerk advised that she has now registered for Certificate of Local Council Administration (CiLCA).
• Business for the next meeting.
  1. Virements for the current budget.
  2. Cash Flow.
• Date of the next meeting. Monday, 12 January 2015, 7.00 pm St Ewe Village Hall. An interim meeting to discuss planning may be arranged if required.

The meeting closed at 9.25 pm.

Mrs C Wilson ~ Parish Clerk ~ 20 November 2014