You never know what is going to be discussed at a Parish Council meeting and that is some of the fun of being part of it.
This month’s Parish Council took a strange turn. The Agenda was shorter than usual and our Speaker, John Scott, the Rural Housing Enabler was not available to talk about the results of the Housing Needs Survey. The Executive Summary is on the website if you want to have a look at it. Briefly it concludes that 11 affordable homes are needed in the short-term. It does not conclude that hundreds of houses are needed anywhere near the Parish. The meeting still managed to go on beyond 9.30pm. The Young Officer Training Officer did come along and gave a brief description of the Village Exercise, which will take place later this month. There is more about this in this issue.
Planning
The main item of business turned out to be planning matters. Three of the four applications involved PV panels on the roofs of buildings in the Conservation Area, including the Church. The view was given that these represent one way forward to generating more ‘green’ electricity and can reduce household bills. As there is a balance between the Conservation Area and the need to generate electricity in this way, the Parish Council has asked for guidance from the Planning Department on this. Anything that is received will be published if that is allowed.
Cllr Rob Longhurst also reported that there was another LDF Panel meeting at EDDC on Tuesday, when submissions made by the towns in the District would be given further consideration. It had been noticed that, in the submission made by Exmouth Town Council, they had proposed a significant area of land for housing development at Goodmores Farm, Higher Hulham Road and this is not in Exmouth, but in Lympstone Parish. The submission also suggests that one of the results of this development could be the funds to pay for the completion of the Dinan Way link to the A376. The Parish Council will be submitting a further response to this in time for it to be considered by the LDF Panel next week.
Village Hall
Don Mildenhall outlined the Village Hall Management Committee’s proposals for building works next summer. These include completing all outside maintenance and re-pointing the south and west walls (opposite the tennis courts and car park) and refurbishing the toilets. This will be paid for by more fundraising, Village hall existing funds and a loan which has yet to be negotiated.
It is good to see that the Management Committee are vigorously pursuing these works which will keep the building in good condition for many years. If you would like to help in any way, please contact Don or Brian Cotton.
Exe Estuary Cycle / Walk Way
The Police have had information, but no official reports about an accident when a local woman was hit by a bicycle and broke her arm. This is not the only accident involving cyclists who do not appear to be aware that when they leave the cycle path, they are joining public roads, which are narrow, have sharp bends with restricted visibility and they are likely to meet other vehicles and people of all ages.
There is to be more discussion about this at the next meeting on 17th October, 2011. The Parish Council would like to hear the details of any accident or near miss involving cyclists so that the case can be made to intransigent DCC Officers that action is needed to control the speed and behaviour of cyclists coming through the Village
Dogs
Behaviour of dogs and their owners particularly on Cliff Field and Candy’s Field has been the subject of more angry discussion in recent weeks. It is clear that there are many irresponsible dog owners in the Village who are willing to ignore their dogs while they run around and mess anywhere. This is becoming an appalling situation. Both fields are used by footballers with the new Junior teams playing on Candy’s Field. This is clearly a disgraceful situation especially in a strong community such as ours. Those who do not look after their pets are not doing their bit to keep Lympstone a pleasant place to live and play. If this means YOU, then please think a bit more about what your dog is up to when he is out. If your children or friends take your dog out ask them to clean up after it and give them a plastic bag for this purpose.
If this is not you but you see others acting in this way, please let the Parish Council or the Police know who the offender is so that they can keep a look out. The Dog Warden is also making more random visits and will issue on the spot fines of £80 to offenders. You have been warned (WPCSO Sarah Trayhurn is often in the village and is quite approachable).
Winter is coming!
The Parish Council is joining the Snow Warden Scheme run by DCC as a means of organising local self-help if we have a winter like we had last year. Snow Wardens are needed to look after various areas of the parish. If you feel that you would like to get involved please contact Tony, the Clerk to the Parish Council, details are on the front page. A Mr Preswell (or Creswell) did volunteer, but Tony was given the wrong telephone number and so he has been unable to get in touch. If this is you and you are still interested could you please contact Cllr David Young on 268816, who will be able to tell him a bit more about the scheme.
The Parish Council can receive three tonnes of bagged salt or five tonnes of loose salt as part of the scheme, but has nowhere to store it. If you think that you could find room in a dry storage area for some of this, please let Tony the Clerk know. (Contact details are on the front page.) This will help to make sure that the Parish is well prepared for next winter.
Clerk to the Council: A J Le Riche
