NEWTON St Cyres Parish Council chairman Jim Enright chaired the July council meeting, which was attended by seven councillors and Mid Devon District Councillor, Peter Hare-Scott. There were four members of the public in attendance.

Apologies were received from David and Jill Baker and County Cllr Margaret Squires.

Mid Devon District Council

Planning Applications: 18/001813 - Creation of a new vehicular access, 2 Brook View – No comment.

18/00768 - Change of use - Cafe to children’s nursery, Quicke’s Home Farm – No comment.

Planning Decisions: 18/00702 - Erection of two-storey and single-storey extension, 2 Meadowlands - granted.

Also noted was that the Town and Parish Fund (TAP) is now Communities Together Fund, and applications must now involve two or more communities working together, to benefit two or more communities.

Cllr Hare-Scott reported that Mid Devon District Council was on course to declare its accounts by the end of the month, and said its audit was looking good and that it was working on next year’s budget.

Parish Council Matters

Cllr Reeves reported that a salt bin would be in place by the winter at Creedy View/New Estate.

Councillors agreed that a quote to continue strimming the old school path was acceptable.

Councillors agreed that the church should have sole responsibility for arranging the cutting of the churchyard, and that instead of the parish council paying these costs, the church would need to apply for a grant from the parish council in November, and manage the payments to contractors themselves.

Cost of making a path to the new school was discussed and an application to “National Lottery Awards for All” grant was being applied for and also to the TAP fund, to help take this forward.

Councillors all agreed to stop using their personal emails for council business and will change to parish council email addresses.

Allotments. There are some neglected and overgrown plots and Cllr G Barnell was trying to meet with the holders to discuss this and looking into ways to correct this.

Information and updates on the gas works starting in August, which will cause delays and some disruption around various sites in the village, will be available on the parish council "Facebook" page.

Community Resilience Forum Meeting - 14/6/18 - Jock Campbell sent a report to the parish council of this meeting held by Devon Communities Together. It included emphasis on how important having Newton St Cyres as a landing site for the Air Ambulance was, and also mentioned the importance of sharing information between communities in emergency situations.

The report is available to read on Newton St Cyres Parish Council web page.

The next meeting of the parish council will be held on Thursday, September 6 at 7.30pm in the Clubroom, Parish Hall.

There will be no meeting in August unless required for an urgent planning issue. In this case, a meeting will be held on Thursday, August 2 at 7.30pm in the Clubroom.

The next Parish Surgery will be Saturday, August 4, at the Parish Hall coffee morning from 10.30am.

Cllr Gina Quicke