RIVER YEALM & DISTRICT ASSOCIATION.
MINUTES OF A COMMITTEE MEETING OF THE RYDA.
1. APOLOGIES.
Eric Rodmell was unable to attend.
2. THE MINUTES OF A COMMITTEE MEETING of the 24th June 2008 were approved.
3. CHAIRMAN’S REPORT:-
· Liaison with the NNPC. Though there had been a positive response to the Chairman’s invitation to a meeting between the RYDA, the NNPC and the Revelstoke Trust no dates had as yet been agreed. The Secretary was asked to try and secure a mutually convenient date before the next committee meeting.
· In discussion; it was agreed that, the opening bid of £500 by each party would provide a good basis for initial discussion and, with the end of the financial year providing opportunities for some matching funding from the DCC, that we should try and include Councillors Suzie Cooper and William Mumford.
· Liaison with Local Associations in Brixton and Wembury. It was agreed that the draft letter proposing a meeting between the Chairmen of each Association should now be sent. The venue was to be Church Cottage, Newton Ferrers, hosted by RC as part of the next routine committee meeting.
· A possible Village Design Statement (VDS). John Prosser had written to the Chairman proposing that consideration should be given to producing a new VDS. The NNPC at their meeting on 12th June had offered their general support for this idea. The Secretary reminded the meeting that this process had been partially completed in 2003/2004, resulting in the current Parish Plan. This can be read on the NNPC Website where (at page 11) can be seen the VDS developed at that time.
In a wide-ranging discussion CB, who had been deeply involved in the original work, explained that, though the Parish Plan had a section headed “Village Design Statement”, no such separate stand-alone document had ever been produced. The main problem with all VDSs is that the SHDC will not accept them as part of Supplementary Planning Guidance where they would be effective. CB 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. The secretary was asked to draft a letter to the NNPC, copied to Suzie Cooper and John Prosser, suggesting that should a “Working Group” be set up to complete the work, the RYDA would be happy to make a contribution.
· The Boundary Committee. The proposals of this committee were delivered in mid July. The Secretary briefed the meeting on the present situation which could be summed up as follows:-
o The Boundary Committee Report states that “the change to a unitary structure, if it were to be made, should at least have a measure of support from a range of key partners, stakeholders and service users/citizens”.
o The evidence, as analysed by the CPRE amongst others, shows that there is NO such “measure of support” for the Committee’s recommendations. Indeed, the only significant measure of support would be for a rural South Hams and Dartmoor Unitary Authority, with North Devon and Eastern Devon becoming separate Unitaries.
o In terms of public demand, access to services and bringing democracy closer to the people, the present recommendations have failed miserably.
o There is speculation that East Devon may be seeking a Judicial Review of the whole process.
The Chairman reminded the meeting that calls for Judicial Reviews had to make the point that this process had been “irrational”, rather than merely improper or badly managed. In discussion it was decided that a letter of support for the NNPC’s stance in support of the South Hams/Teignbridge/West Devon/ Dartmoor National Park Unitary proposal should be sent. The Secretary was asked to produce such a draft for consideration.
· The Regional Spatial Strategy . The findings of the Inspector were delivered on 22nd July. This massive exercise, covering the whole of the South West Region until 2026, is taking place at a time of a national economic slowdown. This strategic exercise looks at everything from housing and employment, all forms of infrastructure; transport, waste management, energy, mineral extraction etc to the environment, global warming and population trends.
Comments are required by the 17th October but, insofar as Devon is concerned, the Boundary Committee’s proposals, which take no account of this RSS, are concentrating the minds of politicians both local and national.
· The Harbour Clean-Up. The NNPC has contributed £55.00 and the RYHA £50.00. The Secretary had written to both organisations with a letter of appreciation.
CB, having organised this event for the last five years, had made it plain that he wants to relinquish overall responsibility for this event. In so doing CB explained that there was not much work involved since there was a well-tried formula that was easy to implement at the time and much satisfaction to be had from a thoroughly worthwhile exercise.
In discussion, it was suggested that perhaps the local U3A section studying the environment might like to take this on. The Secretary was invited to draft a letter to Peter Brown inviting him to see whether his organisation might like to take over the responsibility for 2009. CB and the RYDA generally would be happy to help with any hand-over requirements.
* Noss Village Hall - Revelstoke pictures. The issue remains; what to do with set of photographs of the old Revelstoke Estate, held in storage by the Village Hall committee? It was proving impractical to re-hang them in the village hall and a new home had to be found for them. In discussion; the Tilly Institute, the Snooker Room, the Newton Ferrers Reading Room and the WIC Hall were all suggested as possible venues. All were already well provided with pictures and other wall decoration. The Secretary was asked to talk to Mike Leonard-Williams to see if a short piece in the “Nose” might elicit some new ideas.
· AL stated that there was £576 in the Association’s current account and £657 on deposit, a total of £1233.
· A further £30 had just been received from the Village shop for further sales of the “Blue Book”. There remained about 250 copies remaining and 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.
· The Chairman suggested 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. He also suggested that the Tea Rooms at the Green might also be persuaded to take part. AL was asked to make the necessary approach.
6. PLANNING REPRESENTATIVE’S REPORT
· RC briefed the meeting on the current state of play on the planning front. There had been withdrawals of planning applications for both Crispins & the Green House. 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.
· The RYDA would continue to support the Leonards in their fight to have retrospective alterations made to “Tidal Waters.
· There was some discussion of Tree Preservation Orders (TPO’s). It was felt that the NNPC should encourage landowners to apply for TPO’s where this made sense, in order to preserve the many trees that made the appearance of Newton & Noss so distinctive. The Secretary was asked to draft a letter to the NNPC. This might also be a good subject for “the Nose”.
* Litter. KW raised the subject of litter generally and that round the Tennis Courts in particular. Notwithstanding all the publicity surrounding this subject on Panorama and the CPRE’s campaign against litter it still remained a big problem locally. In a wide-ranging discussion involving suggestions of “Village Litter-Picks”, much used elsewhere, the distribution of public rubbish bins and whether notices would be helpful, it was decided that KW would carry out a survey of the facilities locally so that we could judge what would be likely to improve the situation. The Secretary was asked to contact the SHDC to see if they would provide a Bin by the two seats adjacent to the bus stop on Noss Green. This subject would be added to the agenda for the next meeting.
* Yealm Road. The Chairman raised the subject of the amount of brushwood that obscured the view of the Pool from a section of the road between the junction of Yealm Road and the Lees Path as far as the Harbour Office Steps. Private Landowners had a responsibility for maintenance but views from Yealm Road were important to everyone. The Chairman agreed to approach those concerned to see if some clearance could be achieved to improve the view.
It was decided that the next meeting would be at 7.30 pm on Tuesday 11th November. Rod Carter had very kindly offered to host this meeting.
The Chairman, in closing the meeting, thanked Alan and Val Lomax for their hospitality.
Robin Hogg, Hon Secretary RYDA.