Monday 6th November 2023

The meeting of Launcells Parish Council was held on the above date at 7:30pm, in Launcells Parish Hall.

Chairman Cllr Hargreaves, Vice-Chair Cllr Allin, Cllr Cleave, Cllr Wingard, Cllr Stokes, Cllr Whittle and Cllr Elliott.

Also in attendance: Clerk Julie Gray.

0 members of the public were present for the meeting.

Cllr Hargreaves opened the meeting and welcomed everyone.

11.23/230:

Cllr Constantinou and Cllr Tape could not make the meeting and sent their apologies.

Cllr Pollard did not attend the meeting.

11.23/231:

It was resolved to approve the minutes and ratify all decisions made at the meeting held on Monday 2nd October 2023. 3 in favour. 4 abstained, due to not being present at the previous meeting. The Chair, Cllr Hargreaves, signed them as a correct record.

11.23/232:

1. There were no declarations.

11.23/233:

1. There were no dispensation requests.

11.23/234:

1. None

11.23/235:

There were no members of the public present.

11.23/236:

Cllr Chopak sent her apologies.

11.23/237: – all correspondence circulated via email.

1. Polling Districts and Places Review.
2. CAP Action Notes.
3. Free Housing Crisis Conference.
4. Town and Parish Council Newsletter.
5. The Rural Bulletin.
6. Chief Executive’s Bulletin.
7. Town and Parish Council Finance Briefing.
8. Action: North Cornwall CAP Highways Budget Proposal. The speed limit signs that were to be moved back has gone through consultation but nothing else has been heard. It has disappeared from the budget and it is unsure whether the cost is to come out of the Vision Zero fund.
9. Keeping Cornwall Updated.
10. Community Capacity Fund Application by Poundstock.
11. Local Council Planning Training. This will focus on two topics following the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act: Neighbourhood Plans and The Cornwall Local Plan and call for sites. Preparing for a new style Local Plan for Cornwall and the launch for the call for sites in January 2024. It is being held on 23/11 at 4pm – 5.30pm

11.23/238:

1. Decision Notices/Updates:
   1. PA23/05145 | Use of land as domestic garden, single storey extension and garage, along with poly-tunnel and ground mounted solar array. | Summerleaze Bridgerule Holsworthy Cornwall EX22 7HB.
      APPROVED. The native hedgerow planting shall be carried out following completion of the development. Within six months of the cessation of electricity generation by the solar PV array, all associated equipment shall be removed and the land reinstated to its original condition
2. Planning Applications/Appeals:
   Any late planning applications received will be discussed but not decided under this section.
   1. None.

To receive oral or written reports and authorise any action.

11.23/239:

1. Chairman / Councillor.
   Four councillors, including the chairman, visited Pigsdon Quarry and were generally impressed with the care with which the proposed expansion was being handled. The Glendinning family were on hand to explain the new flood contingency measures including systems in place in the event of an overflow and that there is someone on standby ready for an alert.
2. The Clerk.
   There is a slideshow on Martyns Law. The Government is introducing new legislation, which will have a significant impact on owners and users of public indoor and outdoor space. The scope will impact on the management of recreation land and community buildings. Parish events including Remembrance Sunday, Christmas lights, markets and fetes/carnivals will also be affected. The legislation is likely to cover gatherings of more than 100 and will apply to premises owners and event organisers, with significant financial penalties for failure to comply. There is an online event that I will forward to Cllr Tape in case he wishes to attend.
   The Capacity Fund team is holding a free event on 21 November that aims to help town and parish councils and community groups improve energy efficiency in community buildings they run. South West Net Zero Hub will offer advice on different ways of generating energy, and there will be information about the latest sources of funding.

11.23/240:

The Clerk will email affected parties for dates.

11.23/241:

Zero Hour are seeking Launcells Parish Council support for the Climate and Ecology Bill. They ask that the Council pass a motion in support and issues a press release that it has done so and request our MP to also publicly support the CE Bill.
3 in favour and 4 against of the proposal.

An alternative proposal was put forward that the Parish Council alert the parishioners to this and if the parishioners wish to support this individually to write to their MP.

6 in favour and 1 against.

11.23/242:

The Cornwall branch of CPRE is an independent charity working to protect our Cornish Countryside and Coast and rely on membership. They have requested the Parish & Town Councils are already members and we would like to invite you to join.

It was unanimously agreed to defer this to the end of the financial year.

11.23/243:

A site meeting was held on the 26th September and proposals were discussed. The landowner will consider the proposals. OJ will follow this up in a few weeks.

However, they have done a rough costing and now it is looking to be around £10k for the works, and there is only an available budget of £4,133.58.

The pole is an Openreach asset and they will charge for this service. The Highways Authority have no powers from a highways prospective as this is a private access road and not publicly maintainable highway.

The response from Openreach was it appears it could cost up to £1,300+ to agree a relocation prior to the cost of the actual works, so looking at the current budget allocation OJ will not take this any further at present and concentrate on the Cross Cottage side. We can revisit this at a later date if we have further funds.

The Clerk will contact OJ concerning the speed limit signs.

The Clerk will also enquire whether there are any funding streams the Parish Council could access for this.

11.23/244:

1. Telephone Kiosk.
   The telephone kiosk is not a listed item.
   The Clerk enquired of Open Reach as to relocation. The response:
   “You do not need our permission to move the kiosk, however it is not possible to simply lift a red kiosk from one location and use it at another; this is because the structure can become damaged while being lifted from the ground. The kiosk is made of cast iron and extremely heavy weighing 770kg, BT uses a seventeen-ton lorry with H.I.A.B crane for transportation. The kiosk is also prone to hairline cracks upon removal. Before a kiosk can be installed at a particular location it undergoes a restoration process and is subjected to rigorous stress testing. When a red kiosk is removed for any reason it is sent to a restoration company where it is refurbished.
   Due to the potential high cost of this is was unanimously decided not to pursue this any further.
2. History Club
   There is now £126.71remaining for the History Club after the electricity payment in the ring fenced funding for the History Club, the remaining £1,700 is for the Azook cost.
   Three options were put forward:
   1. The Parish Council takes on the cost of the heating
   2. The history club funds the bill from their funds
   3. The heating is turned off.
   The Clerk and Cllr Whittle have contacted the History Club but there is no response.
   The Parish Council cannot take on the cost of this and there is no response as to whether the History Club has enough funds therefore Cllr Whittle proposed that the heating be switched off after Christmas to prevent a large bill being run up. Seconded Cllr Allin. Unanimous.
   The Clerk will contact the History Club to inform them of this.

**Cllr Hargreaves used his discretion to bring forward Agenda Item 17, ‘Funding’ before Agenda Item 16 ‘Policies’ upon suggestion of Cllr Whittle**

11.23/245:

The application form has been received back requesting further info.

It was also pointed out that the Parish Council estimated future use at 150 and if the application is successful then we will be contractually obliged to meet this figure. In order to evidence the outputs, an initial survey of the users will be required, with a follow up survey after the work is completed.

Cllr Whittle and the Clerk have enquired as to the consequences of not meeting this figure. The Clerk reduced the figure when there was no response.

Cllr Whittle will put together a survey for insertion in the Parish Magazine and it was suggested that a survey could be placed in the Parish Hall also for users to complete.

11.23/246:

Three policies were circulated.

Cllr Whittle spoke to the tree surgeon who stated it would be enough for the Council to check the trees and record any problems. If there are any problems to contact a tree surgeon.

• Equality & Diversity Policy.
• Environmental Policy.
• Tree management Policy

It was unanimously agreed to adopt all three policies.

11.23/247:

Cllr Tape will undertake the next one.

The editor wishes to be given advance notice if someone is not able to meet the deadline.

Cllr Whittle has agreed contribute to the one after.

11.23/248:

The updated budget was circulated.

This was deferred until next month.

11.23/249:

1. Ratification of payments totalling £297.60 as per October schedule. It was unanimously resolved to authorise the payments.
2. To note Bank reconciliations. Also, to note the transferred history club money into the reserve account.
3. To note Income & Bank Balances as per the schedule and reconciliations.

11.23/250:

The Lord Lieutenant is visiting St Swithins on 29th December to plant the Darley Oak at 3pm. Councillors are invited to attend, and parishioners will be welcome. Refreshments will be served after the ceremony.

The Parish Council thanked Cllr Tape and Cllr Pollard for the fireworks display.

Cllr Allin was thanked for trimming the hedges.

11.23/251:

Mon 4th December 2023

Meeting closed at 8.50 pm

During the meeting it may arise that publicity would be prejudicial to the public interest by reason of the confidential or special nature of the business to be transacted and the press and public will be instructed to withdraw.

When this arises, the Chair will recommend to consider passing the following resolution: “to resolve that in view of the confidential or special nature of the business to be discussed, the public are excluded and instructed to withdraw.”