CREDITON Hamlets Parish Council met on Monday, February 6, at Yeoford Community Hall. There were five members of the public present.

The council received a presentation from Simon Trafford of Mid Devon District Council, in relation to the planning application at Beare Mill and also heard from the applicant and the agent.

The council resolved that it had now received an explanation in respect of the history of the development of the site and the planning policies covering the current application.

The members noted that the proposed footprint was similar to that originally approved.

In the light of what had now been described, the council felt it was not in a position to recommend either approval or refusal.

However in the event that approval was given, it sought to see the following conditions attached:

1 Withdrawal of all Permitted Development Rights?2 Local/traditional materials be used wherever possible and a schedule of work agreed with the Planning Officer?3 It is recognised that these are exceptional circumstances and that they do not set a precedent for future applications.

The council considered again the repair or replacement of the Binneford Cross Finger Post and asked for further enquiries to be made about this.

The clerk reported that she had applied to the Locality Fund for a grant to assist with the purchase of a defibrillator for Yeoford.

The clerk was also asked to apply to the TAP Fund for a further grant. Councillor Scrivener offered to do a talk at Yeoford Community Hall to raise further funds.

Councillors were unsure where the best place would be to locate the defibrillator and Cllr Stevens said he would look into siting it at the Church in Yeoford. Any other ideas would be gratefully received.

The council reviewed its decision whether to continue to meet at Yeoford Community Hall on alternate months. It was resolved to continue to do so unless exceptional circumstances should occur.

The council received a report re: crimes and incidents logged from January 3 to February 3.

Three crimes were recorded: one Fail to Surrender, one Theft (Wellparks) and one Assault (Yeoford) and four incident logs: one Concern for Welfare, two broken down vehicles (Barnstaple Cross and Venny Tedburn) and one Violence (Yeoford).

The council discussed again the road closure/diversion at Cheriton Bishop and the further works now to be undertaken by BT.

Cllr Coren had been working hard to try to improve the situation and the council asked the clerk to write to David Whitton at Devon Highways about this.

The next meeting of the council will be held on March 6 at Yeoford Community Hall, beginning at 7.30pm.

The draft minutes of Crediton Hamlets Parish Council are available on three noticeboards within the parish: Hookway, Westernlea and Yeoford. The minutes and other information about the council is available on the Crediton Hamlets Parish Council website: http://www.creditonhamlets.org.uk/ .

If you have any comments or queries the clerk, Diane Shepherd, can be contacted on 01363 85051 or email: [email protected] .

Alan Quick