ONGOING issues concerning parking at Snows in Sandford was one of the items raised in the Open Forum at the November meeting of Sandford Parish Council.

A resident from Hillside, Rose and Crown Hill, Sandford, requested an apology from the parish council over a report in the parish council minutes and "Crediton Courier" report, where, she claimed, it has been stated that the residents of Hillside had a dedicated parking space in the Snows car park.

She informed the parish council that this had never been the case.

Later in the meeting Mid Devon District Councillor Mrs Judi Binks advised that the district council was carrying out a review of parking at Snows.

YELLOW LINES

The proposal to paint Yellow Lines in and around Sandford Square was discussed.?County Councillor Mrs Margaret Squires reported that the Sandford Consultation to paint lines in some areas had received the highest number of comments with the majority being in favour of the recommendation.

The Landlord of the Lamb Inn felt the decision was “harmful to the residents of the Square and The Lamb Inn” .

(Since the meeting the clerk has been informed by Mike Jones, Senior Devon County Council Traffic Officer that: “all correspondents will be replied to individually before the changes are introduced. You will appreciate that as this project covers all seven Devon districts plus Exeter, the process does take some time to complete”).

PATHS OFFICER?At the meeting, Steve McCulloch introduced himself as the new Parish Paths Officer, with effect from November 1 and he said his contact telephone number is 07800 710599.?The use of the football pitch by Sandford AFC and issues surrounding use of the nets by youngsters, swearing, and use of the pitch by outside clubs in the area and damage to the nets were discussed.

COMMENTS?A comment in the Parish Comment Book asked: “I have lived here for many years. The Square is a Conservation Area and has never had commercial advertising so why is Crediton Coffee allowed to advertise outside The Lamb?”.

Cllr Judi Binks is to consult with the District Conservation Officer on this point.

During the month the clerk had dealt with issues on when was “Creedy View” Phase Two likely to happen?

On contacting MDDC the clerk had been advised that the council held no information to assist. Also it was noted that there had been an incident at Crofts when a parishioner had fallen on the pavement.?At the next meeting the parish council is to discuss the various ways that parishioners contact them.

Currently these are the Parish Comment Book, emails, and through the parish council website and telephone calls to the parish clerk.

In addition it has been agreed to draw up a form that parishioners can complete and forward to the parish clerk which should then be discussed at the next parish council meeting.?Cllr Pat Yeo reported that a group of Volunteers were to re-paint the Call Box in Mill Lane with paint supplied by B.T.

VEHICLE SPEEDS?Mr Keith Stanlake had written to express his concern over the “excessive speed” of heavy traffic travelling down the hill (past Orchard Close and Sandford School) from the Kennerleigh direction.

He also pointed out that farm traffic had to be expected when living in the country.

However over the years, he said that the size of the machinery had got “bigger and bigger and was unsuitable for our village roads”.

He went on to give an example of a tractor towing an even bigger trailer that had come down the hill travelling too fact. He felt it would have been unable to stop should a child have run out of the school entrance.

He felt that the farmers and contractors should be warned of the danger of travelling at high speed before a serious accident occurred.

It was agreed to write to the express these concerns to the Sandford farmer’s contractors known to the parish council.

£30,000?The parish council has confirmed to MDDC that it was its wish to allocate £30,000 of future Sandford S106 funding to the refurbishment of the Sandford Play Area next to the new community Sports Pavilion and the purchase of new equipment including Adult Exercise Equipment.?Falcon Housing had advised there was a vacancy at Creedy View for a one bedroom home. Any applicant would need to be on the MDDC Housing List.

BT Outreach advised that its contractor would be working in the Square for three consecutive Sundays from January 14, 2018, when the Square will be closed, and have applied to the Highway Authority to close the Square.?Carols in the Square, it was reported had been set for 7pm on December 19.?The next meeting of the parish council will take place on December 8 at 7.30pm in Sandford Congregational Church Hall.

MJV