THERE was delight at the July meeting of Crediton Hamlets Parish Council when it was reported that a derelict Grade II listed thatched cottage was being looked at by Mid Devon District Council.  

Cllr Tony Price reported that nothing had happened at Bell Cottage at Woodland Head near Yeoford until the previous week when staff from the district council visited the property.  

The district council had said it would get a tarpaulin put over the roof, scaffolding to hold the chimney in place and cover the windows.  “Whether it will happen, we wait and see,” members agreed.

However the district council was criticised for its lack of action over some planning issues. 

Three members of the public were at the meeting to protest about the district council passing a planning application for a revised scheme to use land for storage and to build a new shed after demolition of an existing one at Gunstone.

Three people represented more residents of that hamlet saying the district council’s approval had been against its own policy and that this was a “semi industrial site in the middle of the countryside”.

They asked the parish council to ask district council’s Head of Planning “where it leaves us in the future,” would it mean that any development in the countryside would be passed because this had, they felt, set a precedent. One man said he had been “quite shocked” by the approval. 

ROADS AND PARKING

In his report to the council Devon County Councillor Frank Letch said the district council now had seven electric vans and it was going to put electric vehicle charging points in at car parks including St Saviour’s Way and Market Street in Crediton. 

He also reported that the county council was thinking of introducing parking charges on Crediton High Street of half-an-hour free, then £1 for next hour, was being considered and consulted on.

He pointed out that this meant £1 to park on the High Street for an hour-and-a-half.  He would be at a meeting with the county council, Crediton Town Council and Crediton Chamber of Commerce.  There would not be a big enough hall if it was to be a public meeting, he commented. 

He explained that with parking meters the theory was that it would be easier for the 45 enforcement officers to check parking, that there would be a better turnover of vehicles.

Cllr George Mortimer commented that there were now double yellow lines at the junction at Westwood with the Uton road but parked vehicles made it difficult to see oncoming traffic when exiting from Uton direction. 

Also that white lines were bad in several places especially across the junction from Hookway at Fordton. Mid Devon District Councillor Martin Binks added that it was breaking the law if the white lines were not visible. 

PLANNING

Councillors agreed to support a planning application for a two-storey extension to 21 The Oaks, Yeoford for Mr E Taylor and for a first floor extension at 4 Station Road, Yeoford, for Mr O Dorrell. 

They also voted to support the application for a McDonald’s restaurant with a drive-thru, car parking, landscaping and associated works, on Joseph Locke Way, Crediton. 

However, it was not without a request that there should be no right turn for vehicles leaving the access road that would be shared with Mole Avon, so that they could only turn left for the roundabout before exiting onto the A377. 

It was felt a McDonald’s would bring employment and biodiversity. It was said it was Mole Avon’s problem that staff now parked along the shared road.  

One member said that on-line objections had included an issue with litter at a gateway into Crediton.  

One member said he understood that McDonald’s provide housing for people in Exeter’s hostels.  Most of the site at Crediton would be taken up with car parking. 

The parish council would be talking at its next meeting (September 4) about why it was not consulted about the pharmacy site for Redlands Surgery.  

There was no news as to when or whether the potholes at Metford Bridge would receive attention, also no news as to when signs prohibiting traffic along land at Venny Tedburn might arrive. 

Cllr Nick Yarnold reported that five out of nine drains near Yeoford were still blocked.  

Cllr Paul Brimacombe reported that work had begun to reinforce the railway line between Yeoford and Neopardy.  It would take three months and had first been reported three years ago.