Dunsford Village Hall Dressing Room at 7.30pm

PRESENT: Cllrs.Brimblecombe, Dicker, Greenman, French, MacEacharn, Morris, Peters, Saunders, Smallridge, County Councillor J.Brook, District Councillor S.Purser, John Scott from the Community Council of Devon, J.Beech - Clerk and 3 members of the public.

Cllr Cliff Brimblecombe was in the chair.

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting and introduced the speaker for the evening - John Scott from The Community Council of Devon.

RURAL ENERGY SURVEY:

Mr. Scott gave a brief talk about the Rural Energy Survey which has been sent out to every household in the Parish. Dunsford and Widecombe have been chosen by Teignbridge as the two villages representative of more difficult homes to heat as they both have many old cob built properties and there is no mains gas connection to the village. The reason for the survey is to get more detailed information on the method and costs of heating the houses in the village and to find out parishioners views on more alternative heating systems. such as wind farms and hydro-electric power. There will be government money available if Teignbridge can prove that there is a high level of fuel poverty in our region, which could be helped by using different systems. Next week three members of CCD will be knocking on doors of houses from which they have had no reply and helping them fill in the form. It is necessary to get as many replies as possible to show a good feedback from the survey. The results hope to be ready by the end of May and the Parish Council will be kept informed.

Questions were asked from the floor, then the Chairman thanked Mr. Scott for coming.

APOLOGIES: Mr. Mark Horton - Dunsford Twinning Association

MINUTES: The minutes of the last Annual Meeting had been circulated and were approved and signed.

CHAIRMAN’S REPORT: Councillor Cliff Brimblecombe welcomed everyone to the 119th. Annual Meeting and said that last May there had been an election for the Parish Council, the first time for several years. Mr. Colin Hellier had retired after serving on the Council for over 40 years, and Mr. Paul French was elected for the first time as a Councillor.

There have been 16 planning applications during the year, most of which were visited by the site inspection team. These included applications for a wind turbine, a water powered turbine and solar panels on a listed building. We are supporting a Skateboard Park project at Christow which will be for all the youngsters in the Teign Valley. The next phase of the Social Housing project is rather slow due to financial shortages.

The Chairman thanked his fellow Councillors for their work and support during the year, and the clerk Janet Beech for her help, and expressed regret that she would be retiring in June after 18 years in post. He also thanked the County Councillor, Mr. Jerry Brook and the District Councillor, Mr. Stephen Purser for their help and advice and for attending the monthly Parish Council Meetings.

VILLAGE SCHOOL REPORT: Mrs. R.Cook - Chair of Governors said that she was moving out of the area so this would be her last report on the school. There are currently 82 children at the school and the results of stats last year were 100% at level 4 or above, which showed a good reflection on the quality of teaching. There are a variety of different subject taught in school and at present the children are involved in researching the events of World War 2 and the forthcoming Olympics and the Diamond Jubilee celebrations for which a Royal Oak has been planted on the school grounds.. There are currently some 17 after school clubs ranging from recorder tuition to Tae Kwando. Many of the school facilities have been upgraded during the year including better toilet and disabled facilities and painting and decorating. The P.T.A. continues to be a great support to the school, fundraising via the Dunsford Show and other events. This money is used to keep the swimming pool in good order and other various school activities such as educational trips etc. The amalgamation with two other schools to form a Federation has been scrapped due to logistic problems and other talks are in progress, although now the government is suggesting that Federations should represent at least 500 pupils.

Mrs.Cook said that Dunsford School is a real Community School and she thanked the villagers for their continued support for the school. Mrs. Cook then answered questions. The Chairman thanked her for her report and wished her well in the future.

VILLAGE HALL COMMITTEE REPORT: John Saunders started his report by thanking all the committee members for their help during the year. There is a new treasurer - Bev English and a new booking secretary - Karen Morris. The hall has been very successful during the year with a healthy level of bookings. Some of the old chairs have been replaced and improvements made to the central heating system. The focus for the next year will be more replacement chairs, decorating the Dressing Room and it is necessary to commission an asbestos report for the hall. The Chairman thanked John for his report.

VILLAGE GREEN REPORT: Roy Peters said that all the equipment in the Village Green had been regularly inspected and any faults reported were duly repaired. The floor area of the fort has been overlaid with new decking, two fruit trees have been felled and cleared away, and work has just finished on repairing the fence on the north side which had been blown over in the gales earlier in the year. The grounds maintenance has been carried out by Greenman Horticultural Services and thanks go to him for a job well done. As usual it is hoped that villagers and visitors alike will continue to enjoy the facilities offered in the Village Green.

The Chairman thanked Roy for his work during the year.

PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL REPORT: Mr. Maurice Sharland reported that the new facilities at the Church are nearing completion, unfortunately there will be a delay due to the provision of the drainage connection and that work is now in the hands of Devon Highways who are not able to give a specific date. However it has been decided to open the facilities next week with an open afternoon at which time the Bishop of Crediton will dedicate the new works.. A sound enhancement system has been installed, the organ is currently out of action but will hopefully, after some much needed surgery, be back in action shortly. The contract for the maintenance of the grounds will be £870.00 for the current year and it is hoped that the Parish Council will still feel able to contribute towards this.

The PCC contribution towards the " Common Fund" this year has been increased to £12,851 for the year, an increase of £19 per month. The AGM will be in April and a copy of the accounts will be on show on the notice board in the Church porch. The cost of the new building work has been mainly funded by a legacy from the late Mrs.Elsie Hockmuth, but there has been some overspend which has had to come out of church funds. The work on the organ has been covered by another legacy.

A small working party has been formed and they are doing minor repairs and maintenance which helps to keep the maintenance costs down.

The Church will be celebrating the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee with a service at St.Marys on Sunday 3rd. June at 10.00am, everyone will be welcome.

A Councillor mentioned that the stark white of the new building work on the Church is very noticeable, Mr. Sharland said they hope to tone it down in due course to match existing.

The Chairman thanked Maurice for his report.

CRANBROOK CHARITY REPORT: The accounts have still to be finalised and Stephen Purser would report to the Parish Council at a later date. However he reported that Cranbrook had given £2000.00 to Dunsford and Doddiscombsleigh schools, and there had been 22 individual grants given twice a year.

The Chairman thanked Stephen for his report.

DISTRICT COUNCIL REPORT: District Councillor Stephen Purser reported that he had been re-elected for a second term onto Teignbridge District Council. There has been a political change to Teignbridge this year and therefore it is taking some time to get things in order. There is a real financial concern at the moment and cost cutting is having to take place to balance the accounts. Consultation on the Core Strategy has now finished and there was a big demonstration at the Council Offices. It is hoped that this time around when the Core Strategy is finally produced it will be accepted by the Government. There will be no increase in Council Tax for the coming year and no increase in Councillor’s expenses.

The Chairman thanked the District Councillor for his report.

COUNTY COUNCIL REPORT: County Councillor Jerry Brook reported that because of the Comprehensive Spending Review, it was not expected that key services would be affected, but non statutory services, such as libraries and pre-school facilities, would see a reduction in funding All positions left vacant due to retirement or personnel leaving, would be scrutinised to see if it is necessary to put in new replacements. Redundancies will occur in middle management and there will be a reduction in top management posts to try to save money and bring everything under one umbrella, so hopefully making for more efficiency. Devon County Council will be investing in the Care Home System by modernising facilities and refurbishing to make life more comfortable for its clients.

The Chairman thanked the County Councillor for his report.

Mr. Brimblecombe thanked everyone for their reports and for attending the meeting, and then declared the 119th. Annual Parish Meeting closed. The March monthly meeting would follow shortly.