Cllr Weeks, Borough Councillor for the Exbourne Ward, was present. There were no other members of the public present.

The minutes of the last meeting were signed as a true record after the clerk explained a small alteration made on page 207.1, which was initialled by the Chairman.

PLANNING

Cllr Weeks explained he had spoken with Mr. Palmer, the Enforcement Officer, regarding Wellsprings. A report is to be submitted recommending enforcement action and that it should be a high priority.

The following application has been received:-
Broomhill Barn, Beer Farm, Okehampton Conversion of barn to single residential dwelling. It was resolved to support this application.

The following application has been granted consent: -
Paize Cottage, S.C. Listed Building application for internal works to cottage.

Boundary Committee Review of Devon a letter has been received from WDBC updating parish councils on the situation. Cllr Cartwright stated that most of the letters opposing the proposed Devon unitary was a standard letter signed by different people.
Cllr Weeks explained that the date for the report to be submitted to the Secretary of State has now been put back to the 13th February 2009.

Cllr Askew stated he had been passed a letter by a parishioner. It was from WDBC and it concerns the Denbrook wind farm proposal. Submissions to the inquiry will be accepted for 6 weeks from 22nd October. The inquiry was to be based on noise emitted and it was felt that this was something that would not be noticed in the parish. It was resolved to take no further action.

MATTERS ARISING
Closure of Post Office - request for outreach service this request was made by a member of the public at the last meeting. Cllr Weeks explained that the closures were decided on the number of customers per week, whether the area concerned was within 3 miles of an alternative and whether a bus service was available. S.C., unfortunately, had a low number of customers, is within 3 miles of North Tawton and has access to a bus service.
It was considered that there would not be enough people to warrant asking for an outreach service.

Before Cllr Weeks left the meeting Cllr Cartwright stated that there was an increasing possibility that The New Inn may close. He hoped that the planners would not consider allowing it to be developed as a private dwelling. Cllr Weeks stated that the pub would have to be advertised for sale for 12 months before any thoughts of this could occur. It is understood that the current manager finishes in March. Cllr Weeks stated he would take it up with officers in the planning department.

Parish Plan a continuation of the third examination of the parish plan. The Chairman stated this item would be deferred to the next meeting.

Parish Paths Partnership Cllrs Askew and Squire and the footpath lengthsman Hilary Tonge attended the Christmas workshop at Ashreigney. Cllr Askew had spoken to Tim Freeman concerning the work carried out by Belstone Farm and Garden Services and he agreed that the parish council should request detailed worksheets to support invoices. The workshop was very informative. There was a presentation by the wardens and problems to solve.

Cllr Forrest asked if bulls were allowed to be in fields crossed by footpaths. Cllr Squire stated that if a beef herd is kept then certain breeds can be kept to run with the cows. Signs are generally put up to warn walkers that there is a bull in the field

Public Toilets the Chairman stated she had spoken to Mr. Beer's family following his stroke and they are going to cover the toilet cleaning until it comes to be advertised again (the new year will begin on April 1st). Cllrs were happy with this arrangement.
The clerk to acquire some low energy bulbs.
The Chairman will arrange for a card to be sent to Mr. Beer.

Owing to other commitments Cllr Weeks left the meeting.

Playground Equipment Inspection the Chairman carried out the inspection. The fence between the cob wall and the beech hedge has disappeared. Cllr Cartwright has some materials and will look at it. The Chairman stated that everything else was alright.
The beech hedge to be looked at to see if it needs trimming back.

Highway Matters the clerk has received letters from DCC. A site meeting was held at Willow Tree farm some weeks ago and various options discussed with Mr. Read. The decision was to paint a white centre line hazard marking on both approaches and around the bend. This should help guide drivers around the bend and reduce collisions. It is hoped that the work will be carried out very soon.
With regard to gritting the road between the New Inn and Belstone Corner, this road does not meet the criteria for main route salting, but it is to be added to the list of secondary routes. These are salted when the main priority routes are complete and when resources are available.
The place DCC feels would be suitable to place a bus shelter is the wide verge on the north side just east of the cross roads, but it would require investigation.

Cllr Squire stated the lengthsman did not turn up on the scheduled days and no-one from DCC contacted him to let him know. However, when he did turn up he did two days work and did a good job. It has been noticed that there are no salt bags around in their usual strategic places.
Cllr Squire stated that the drains at Sampford Chapple are blocked and the mirror disappeared yesterday morning.
The clerk stated she had omitted to report the overgrown hedge owned by Wendy Hunt, but would endeavour to do so.

Removal of BT payphones this will be discussed under Eastern Link Committee heading.

Dispensary at Okehampton Medical Centre the clerk read out a letter from the Devon NHS Primary Care Trust. Cllrs felt that the lengthy letter did not tell them very much.
It has become apparent that the emphasis has changed from originally wanting to close the dispensary to seeing how the dispensary and the pharmacies can work together.

Eastern Link Committee Cllr Mardon attended the meeting held at North Tawton. B.T. is currently considering their responses to the various consultations on closing the 41 payphones in West Devon. WDBC is following it up, but it is felt that B.T. will do what they want to do.

Clean Neighbourhood - it is now possible to have a warden (costing approx. £2000 - £3000) to keep an area tidy, but there will be no money from the government. It you have a problem then the preferred solution is to educate people to solve it.
The clerk to place something in the Roundabout asking dog owners to pick up their dog's mess out on the roads as well as in the village.
Police report - crime is going down. A parish experiences the problem of speeding motorcyclists along a particular stretch of road. Apparently it is on a website and listed as a good place to speed along before 8 a.m. when the police arrive to carry out speed checks.
There will be a replacement for PCSO Walker - a WPC is currently being trained.
Local Government Review - no point in anything further being said because of the aforementioned postponement.
The next meeting is being held at Sampford Courtenay (tea/coffee and biscuits will be served) on March 5th 2009.
The Chairman thanked Cllr Mardon for attending the meeting.

Land Registration the clerk is awaiting the draft statutory declaration and is still going through the old minutes.
She had tried to find the details of the person registered as the owner of the ground under the telephone box at Belstone Corner via the Land Registry website, but there was a problem with the pdf file. Cllrs were happy for her to proceed with the slightly more expensive option.

Flooding in the village the lady at Beacon Cross had contacted Cllr Cartwright and had collected 4 sand bags. There are now 5 left in storage.

Bus Shelters an email was received from Bill Banting at DCC stating the 'County Council may be able to provide the shelter from the Devon Local Transport Plan funding, but the Parish Council would need to agree to undertake its future maintenance.' A site meeting has been arranged for 11th December at 11.00 a.m. Cllr Squire stated he had spoken to Mr. Morris and he felt a glass one would be preferable to allow motorists accessing the A3072 from the Honeychurch side to view traffic coming from Sampford Courtenay.
Freedom of Information Act the clerk has accessed information from the internet. All Cllrs have received copies of the Model Publication Scheme and a draft guide to information. These documents should be in place on 1st January 2009. It was resolved to adopt the Model Publication Scheme and a guide to information would be in place (following consultation between the clerk and chairman). The document to be placed on website.
How best to address public participation at meetings all Cllrs had been sent a copy of a factsheet obtained from the DAPC website. It was resolved to hold the public participation item as the 1st item on the agenda before the meeting proper begins.
Amendments to Register of Interests the clerk has received a letter from WDBC asking if any Cllrs have any amendments to make to their Register of Interests. Cllrs present had no alterations to make.

FINANCE

Setting the budget for 2009/10 the clerk was asked to leave the meeting whilst the Cllrs reviewed her wages. On her return to the meeting she was informed that her hourly rate had been increased to £8 per hour. The clerk thanked the Cllrs for this wage increase.
All Cllrs had received a copy of the draft budget. After a few alterations were made it was resolved to set the budget at £5782. The clerk will return the form to WDBC requesting a precept for this amount.

Review of budget this was due to take place at this meeting, but will now take place at the January meeting.

Annual Audit the Annual Audit has now been completed. The Annual Return has been returned with no matters arising. The completion of the audit has been advertised on the noticeboards.
It was decided to invite John Hodge, the internal auditor, to the next meeting to discuss the effectiveness of the audit.

Cheques were signed for the following: -
Mr. L. Beer (Toilet cleaning 10/11/08 - 7/12/08) £45.84
Mr. N. Cartwright (spraying the cobbled path adjacent to the
village green) P3 £25.00
W.D.B.C. (ninth instalment of rates owing on public toilets) £34.00

The Chairman conducted a mini audit.
The clerk submitted a petty cash claim for Oct/Nov totalling £6.56. The Chairman checked the receipts and authorised payment.

Amount in bank is £204.13 and total in Reserve Account is £6097.58 TOTAL - £6301.71
Represented thus P3 - £35.77 Precept, toilets + other £5921.45 Interest £297.58 Countryside Agency - £46.91

CORRESPONDENCE
Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust - (Annual Report 2007/08, Summary of Strategic Directions 2007 - 2012 and RD & Express), Rural Services Community - Membership of Rural Services Network, West Devon e Connect, Littlethorpe - hardwood bus shelters, rekk Ltd., Digitaluk, digital TV switchover pack for community organisations, South Devon & Dartmoor Community Safety Newsletter, Glasdon U.K., WDBC - Register of Electors, South West Employers, West Devon Community and Voluntary Services

ANY OTHER BUSINESS
There was no any other business.

The dates for the next few meetings are: -

Tuesday 6th January 2009 at 7.30 p.m.,
Tuesday 3rd February 2009 at 7.30 p.m.,Tuesday 3rd March 2009 at 7.30 p.m.,
Tuesday 31st March 2009 at 7.30 p.m.,Tuesday 28th April 2009 at 7.30 p.m.,
Tuesday 26th May 2009 at 7.30 p.m.,Tuesday 23rd June 2009 at 7.30 p.m.,
Tuesday 21st July 2009 at 7.30 p.m., Tuesday 18th August 2009 at 7.30 p.m.,
Tuesday 15th September 2009 at 7.30 p.m.,Tuesday 13th October 2009 at 7.30 p.m.,
Tuesday 10th November 2009 at 7.30 p.m.,Tuesday 8th December 2009 at 7.30 p.m.,
Tuesday 5th January 2010 at 7.30 p.m.,

There being no further business the meeting closed at 9.25 p.m.
.