RIVER YEALM & DISTRICT ASSOCIATION.
MINUTES OF A COMMITTEE MEETING OF THE RYDA.
1. APOLOGIES.
All members of the Committee were in attendance.
2. THE MINUTES OF A COMMITTEE MEETING of the 2nd September 2008 were approved.
3. CHAIRMAN’S REPORT:-
· Liaison with the NNPC and Revelstoke Trust. It had not been possible, as yet, to arrange a date for this meeting. The Secretary would attempt to make the necessary arrangements before the Christmas holiday.
· Liaison with Local Associations in Brixton and Wembury. There had been no response from Brixton but the Chairman gave a warm welcome to John Hepburn, Secretary of the Wembury Amenity Society, the Wembury Voluntary Marine Conservation Advisory Group and the Port of Plymouth Marine Liaison Committee.
Mr Hepburn gave the committee a “tour d’horizon” of the work undertaken in Wembury. From this it emerged that we had much in common and could learn from one another’s experience. The Wembury community, though much larger than ours, has an Association membership, at some 350 members, that is much the same size and, though they are less well funded than the RYDA, they attempt to tackle similar problems on behalf of their membership. There was, therefore, considerable scope for co-operation and the exchange of ideas.
In summing up the discussion, the Chairman suggested that we should both follow up some worthwhile ideas:-
· We should exchange the Agendas for and the Minutes of Meetings. This would help to alert us both to developments in a number of fields: planning and marine matters and the wider issues such as the Boundary Committee’s proposals.
· We should improve our general liaison. The RYDA had a Web Page which the Wembury Association had access to. Both Associations issued “Newsletters” which should be distributed to both parties. The RYDA could learn from the pursuit of a “Kite Mark” for an Amenity Society by the Wembury Association.
The Chairman thanked Mr Hepburn and presented him with a copy of the Village Directory and suggested he remain for the next item on the Agenda.
· The Harbour Clean Up for 2009. In introducing this item, The Chairman made the point that neither Brixton nor Wembury had taken part in this annual event even though they were riparian parishes of the River Yealm. There was clearly scope for cooperation in the future. Christopher Bradley, in briefing the meeting, made a number of important points:-
· We needed to find a successor as the Event Co-ordinator in the wake of the U3A Environment Group’s reluctance to take this on.
· It would clearly make sense, and improve our coverage of the estuary if the Wembury Association could take on the Wembury Woods foreshore and Brixton their side of Cofflete Creek. In 2009 Brixton would be re-approached and Mr Hepburn undertook to look into what they might be able to contribute. He made the point that access to the Wembury Woods foreshore would always be difficult even at low water.
In summing up, the Chairman thanked Mr Hepburn for his contribution to the meeting. He said that there was an urgent need to find a new Harbour Clean Up co-ordinator. CB undertook to submit a short piece for the Parish Magazine and to approach the Editor of the “Nose”. A provisional date for next year’s harbour clean up was Saturday 25th April.
· A possible Village Design Statement (VDS). There appeared to be no progress. CB reiterated that he had retained all the original papers from the work conducted at the time and would be happy to make this available should the NNPC decide to proceed. This item would be retained for the next meeting.
· The South Hams Tree Planting Scheme. CB had collected a number of free trees, the necessary stakes and guards, together with some suitable compost for planting around Noss Green. In discussion, it was agreed that CB would arrange some “volunteer planting” for which he was authorised to spend up to £50 of the Association’s money. In the event, these trees had been planted by CB and RH shortly after the meeting.
The Chairman raised the subject of the brushwood along Yealm Road discussed at the last meeting. He reported that some progress had already been made and that further progress was likely.
* Conservation Areas & the AONB. The secretary explained the present situation insofar as the “built environment” was concerned. The Chairman raised the whole question of the capacity of the sewage system to cope with the ever increasing level of building. It was decided to discuss this item further at the next meeting.
The Boundary Committee. Though the final outcome of this exercise is unknown, there is a rumour that the Government feels that this is not the time to subject the county to the huge expense and uncertainty inevitable in pushing through this exercise in the present recession. We expect the Secretary of State to announce her decision in the New Year.
The Regional Spatial Strategy. The deadline for comment was the 22nd July. This whole exercise is now in the hands of the Secretary of State who is due to report in the New Year. There is no confidence in either the economic forecasts or the overall housing numbers predicated on them. The secretary had tried to bring some realism to this exercise on the BBC “Politics Show” at the end of October and there seemed to be general agreement that, as with the Boundary Committee’s deliberations, this was not the time to base the future of the Western Region of the UK on plainly unattainable forecasts for economic growth and housing.
* Noss Village Hall - Revelstoke pictures. The issue remains; what to do with the set of photographs of the old Revelstoke Estate, held in storage by the Village Hall committee? Clearly, the Village Hall Committee were determined to stick with their current decoration for the hall. After some discussion, it was decided to ask Mr R Carter whether the Newton Ferrers Reading Room might like to hang them. The Secretary was asked to sound out opinion.
* The SUSTRANS proposal for the Yealm Cycle Path. The results of the public exhibition of these proposals in the Yealmpton village hall on 13th September were not known. Opinion seemed to be firmly divided between those looking to preserve the tranquillity of the river bank and those keen on providing a properly engineered cycle and foot path that would finally link Elburton to Yealmpton. At the end of the day the various landowners have to agree to this proposal for it to proceed. It is not known what their individual views might be.
· AL stated that there was £217 in the Association’s current account and £1,167 on deposit, a total of £1384.
· A further 8 copies of the “Blue Book” had been sold since the last meeting. There remained about 250 copies unsold. After a brief discussion it was decided to allow further sales to reduce this stock over time. Since the RYDA issued an up-to-date “amendment sheet” with every new copy and at each AGM to all members, the life of the present Directory could be prolonged so long as stocks lasted. Clearly there was scope for making special “presentations of free copies” where this would help the Association.
· The Chairman’s earlier suggestion that each of our outlets might be persuaded to publicise the “Blue Book” by mounting a copy of the front cover in their front windows had been taken up by Luscombe Maye. Further efforts to persuade others to follow suit would be made
6. PLANNING REPRESENTATIVE’S REPORT
· RC briefed the meeting on the current state of play on the planning front. There had been a withdrawal of the planning application for Crispins. The Green House (Application Reference 37/0503/08/F) was now going to appeal and it was felt likely that Crispins would return with further modifications to earlier proposals.
· There had been a marked drop in planning applications generally, probably as a result of the credit crunch.
· There was a return to an earlier discussion in committee as to how to deal with the proliferation of large properties, clearly being built solely for commercial rather than domestic purposes. Westerly, 47 Yealm Road, Tidal Waters and Riverhaven were recent examples. This would be discussed at the next meeting.
* Grassroots Grants from the Devon Community Foundation. The Secretary briefed the meeting on the availability of these grants, which could range from £250 - £5,000. The RYDA met all the eligibility criteria and, though it would clearly be a misuse of public funds to generate some proposal that did not meet a real local requirement, there was always a difficulty in getting together enough funds to undertake worthwhile projects. Our success in combining with the Revelstoke Trust and the SHDC in procuring the Benches for Noss Green was a good example.
As an example, the Sports Pavilion needs refurbishment, an expensive undertaking. Unfortunately, we are not allowed to combine directly with the NNPC since they are not a “Charity”. These grants are made to those who either own the project under consideration or who can demonstrate a good outcome for the community. We, therefore, have to find, perhaps in concert with the Revelstoke Trust or other charity, a suitable project that would genuinely benefit the community: bicycle sheds for school pupils, benches for Newton Ferrers, new railings for steep paths come to mind. Ideas would be welcome.
* The Post of Hon Secretary. Robin Hogg has now be in the post for 4 years and has a hefty workload as Local Chairman of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE). He will need a successor to take over at the AGM in April 2009. This is not an onerous job and full of interest. Anyone who might like to consider this should get in touch with him.
8. DATE OF NEXT MEETING.
It was decided that the next meeting would be at 7.30 pm on Tuesday 20th January 2009. Robin Hogg has very kindly offered to host this meeting.
The Chairman, in closing the meeting, thanked Rod and Pam Carter for their hospitality.
Robin Hogg, Hon Secretary RYDA.
William Taylor, Chairman