THE June meeting of Newton St Cyres Parish Council, held in the Parish Hall, was attended by nine Councillors, the Parish Clerk, the Mid Devon District Councillor (Graeme Barnell), and seven members of the public.

IMPORTANT NOTICE

The Parish Council was notified that Newton St Cyres Football Club has applied for part of Station Road to be closed in one direction from 8am to 10am on Saturday and Sunday, July 10 and Sunday, July 11, to allow the orderly arrival of the participants in the annual football tournament.

During this time, traffic will be allowed to enter Station Road from the A377 and access to Kingfisher Close and Court Orchard will be unaffected. However, from the primary school onwards, traffic will only be permitted to travel in the direction of the Recreation ground. Traffic wishing to join Station Road at the Beer Engine pub will be diverted along the appropriate back roads.

PLANNING ISSUES

• The Parish Council decided to offer "no comment" on two recent planning applications. These were for construction of an outbuilding at Bodley farm and an extension at Enniskerry. The installation of antennae on the Church tower was supported.

• A very recent application to remove a cypress at 4 The Village will be discussed at the next meeting.

• The Parish Council received notification that the installation of a flood monitoring system at New Bridge, Langford and the removal and pruning of some trees at the Church have been granted permission by Mid Devon District Council.

• A new local plan is currently being devised by Mid Devon District Council. Consultation on the plan will start this autumn. Graeme Barnell, our Mid Devon District Councillor, encourages all residents of Newton St Cyres to become actively engaged with this consultation as it is likely to have important consequences for our village.

TRAFFIC ON LANGFORD ROAD

There continues to be heavy use of Langford Road by large vehicles. This is a problem for residents and one that is likely to get worse if the planned digestate lagoon gains approval.

Devon County Council has said that the road is unsuitable for vehicles above 16t. A Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) request has been submitted by Langford residents to limit the size of vehicles that are allowed to use Langford Road. The case for a TRO can be read at: https://www.middevonParish.co.uk/media/281173/the-case-for-a-traffic-regulation-order-3.pdf .

Cllrs Graeme Barnell, Margaret Squires (our Devon County Councillor) three members of the Parish Council and seven residents of Langford met with an officer from Devon County Council Highways Department to discuss the possibility of the TRO being accepted.

DCC had subsequently rejected the TRO without proper investigation and the Parish Council decided to progress matters by using the official DCC Complaints Procedure, under the direction of the Chairman.

A group of Langford residents and some Parish Councillors have been invited to attend a meeting of the East Devon District Council Planning Committee when it considers the application for permission to build a digestate lagoon at Rixenford Lane, Upton Pyne on June 9. Although in East Devon, access to this site would be along the Langford Road, and there would be a substantial increase in heavy traffic on the road should it be built. A petition of more than 500 signatures has been raised in opposition to this planning application.

CLIMATE CHANGE

Sue Rowell, who spoke at the meeting, has very kindly agreed to be our co-ordinator on responses associated with climate change. She felt that there were two important stages in raising awareness of climate change and the possible actions our village may need to take. Firstly, Parish Councillors need to be made aware of some of the activities we may be able to support, but then the wider community also needs to become involved. Cllr Jim Enright suggested that a working group be set up with Sue, some of Parish Councillors and perhaps some interested members of the public.

Sue has found a website that shows the carbon footprint for our local parish. If you wish to access this yourself it can be found on this website: https://impact-tool.org.uk/footprint/search. It makes interesting reading.

OTHER PARISH COUNCIL ISSUES

• Allotments – Cllr Liz Ouldridge is meeting with the allotment holders to see what can be done to improve the appearance of the site. The Parish Council holds sufficient allotment rent for the hire of a skip and for some remedial work to be done. Cllr Ouldridge is seeking some quotes for the work to be done and will present this at the next meeting.

• Noticeboards – replacement noticeboards will be erected at Half Moon and Tytheing Close.

• The possibility of building affordable housing within the village either through a Community Land Trust or by collaboration with a housing association is being investigated.

• A petition of 69 signatures has been submitted asking that the permissive school footpath sited on Quicke’s land be made available to all villagers. This is currently being considered by John Quicke.

• Central government money available for improved broadband can no longer be accessed by private individuals as Devon County Council has chosen to subcontract the work to Airband. Therefore, our proposed broadband survey would serve no purpose and will not be conducted. However, the Chairman and Cllr Roger Cashmore are holding meetings with Airband to see how we can enhance local services.

The next meeting of the Parish Council will be on Thursday, July 1, probably in the Club Room at the Parish Hall, at 7pm. Members of the public are welcome to attend but advance notice to the Parish Clerk may be needed if Covid restrictions have not been removed. Alternatively, if members of the public wish issues to be raised in Council meetings, they can contact Councillors in the usual way.

Liz Ouldridge