RA Meeting Nov 2023

Draft Minutes

Meeting facilitator: Fran Aggleton

Notes: Jess Pinn

Present:

• Angie Hurren, Broadclyst Parish Council (non-resident)
• Henry Gent, DCC, Broadclyst Parish Council (non-resident)
• Ebby Peters, Pinhoe and Mount Pleasant Community Builder (non-resident)
• Paula Fernley, EDCC
• Fran Aggleton, Chair
• Matthew Lehnart, Vice Chair
• Cici Qian Zeng, Treasurer
• Jess Pinn
• Rhiannon Vickers
• Davina Kerkhofs
• Peter and Sherri Sercombe
• John and Anne Watson
• Xanthappi and Anne Nanou
• Steve and Debs Perry
• Nigel Cheffershead
• Katie Bennett
• John Rowe

 

Votes for Constitution and association roles:

• Constitution, 17/17 in favour
• Chair, Fran Aggleton, 17/17 in favour
• Vice Chair, Matthew Lehnart, 17/17 in favour
• Treasurer, Cici Qian Zeng, 17/17 in favour
• Secretary, Marc Coton, 17/17 in favour

General members: Katie Bennett, Debora Perry, Rhiannon Vickers, Jess Pinn

 

General updates:

• Matthew and Marc have been working on logo, Facebook page, Website
• Matthew has put together a map of defects in our area.
• Paula is on the comms with EON committee
• Paula is investigating the possibility of setting up a community fridge at the Science Park.
• Katie putting together an advent calendar window map for xmas. Passionate about building a community in the area.
• Katie has had some success with contacting Cavanna over issues such as the emptying of the dog poo bin in the Redhayes corridor 
• Rhiannon wants to set up a community resilience group to support people. Ie during power outages, bad weather, poverty, needing transport etc. AP

Angie, Parish council introduction and Q&A:

• Shared Parish map defining the Parish boundaries and areas of the new developments colour coded. Many areas of the parish are very rural, including lots of dairy and agricultural farms. The area is known as the Clyston Hundred in the Doomsday Book.
• What does a Parish council do for us?
•  Pass info and requests up the chain to EDCC and DCC.
•  Allotments. 
•  Bus stops
•  Some management of play areas and other community spaces on request.
•  Help with tracking and addressing trigger points in the development and   communicating with developers, holding them to the 106 agreements and legal ties ie. Traffic lights at the intersection of Tithebarn Way and Honiton Rd
• Decides how to spend Parish tax portion of Council Tax
• Community Development Officer position within the parish council is available. This role will help support those in community and have input on funding projects in the area  AP
• DCC can devolve items down to the parish council such as management of verges, Angie recommends residents self manage verges in lieu of management companies not having taken over these jobs and parish council having limited budget.
• Parish Council do not have a working relationship with the management company as there isn’t one yet.

John: Do a management company or parish council have a legal right to take the management of the area over?

Angie: Parish council manages other areas on behalf of EDCC/DCC, however if the parish council were to manage Tithebarn making this fair for all residents of the parish is tricky as the cost has to come from the parish tax which the whole parish pays, not just Tithebarn.

Fran: Can the Parish council support residents in a ‘Tidy up Tithebarn’ event/movement?

Angie: Yes

Wider discussion on how tax is paid and allocated follows.

Trying to build relationships with the developers on a whole is difficult because there are so many different companies and complications during Covid made this even more difficult.

Jess: Does the council (EDDC/DCC) have a responsibility to the residents of Tithebarn to ensure amenities and services are provided? ie. School, Pharmacy, GP surgery, shop, more affordable/better public transport etc. What about social housing tenants who were placed here by EDDC and DCC?

Angie: Parish council can certainly help residents lobby the developers (106 agreements) and council for these amenities and services but unsure on legal responsibility to provide.

There is a local foodbank that delivers, prescription delivery services and a Cornerstone minibus service for student transport to Schools.

Anyone is welcome to join Parish Council meetings and can join as a member of the public. AP

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Eon meeting/drop in event update:

• Paula and Matthew attended, following up on questions they have previously raised.  Following election to EDDC in May, Paula now participates in the EON Stakeholders committee, setup with the support of Simon Jupp MP. De-carbonisation is happening. Responsibility for this is spread between 

EDDC, EON and the waste plant company. (Waste will be burnt to provide energy for our heating and hot water) Although who that company will be is yet to be confirmed.

John: What fraction of the overall energy used will be from the waste plant?

Paula: This is not yet known.

Matthew: 17 Outages in the last year. Good engagement from the management at EON so far, problems put down to teething problems as we haven’t experienced so many issues recently even with increased demand. There will be a Big New Pipe to improve existing services and cater for increased demand due to new properties being built

Explanation of tariffs, 1 low usage, 4 high usage. 2 and 4 are not currently economical although 2 it should be, Matthew is in discussion with EON  about this. Recommends to choose 1 or 3.

Katie: Is there an easier way to get compensation for outages? Many people have received varied rates of compensation and experiences contacting EON.

ANS: GSOS has a voluntary code under the heat trust which recommends a set refund, however District Heating is not currently regulated to the same standard as other companies in the sector.

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Schools:

Matthew: Update, catchment for Monkerton School is being re-defined by 2025, it’s coming in this direction but it’s not known how far and if areas of Tithebarn will be included. It’s a Cornerstone Trust academy so it’s mainly their decision, not the council’s. AP

Some households paid £3,000 on purchase of their homes towards Monkerton school but are not guaranteed catchment (general outrage and discussion within the group)

Nearly all of the schools in the area are oversubscribed.

Angie: Hutchings Drive proposed school site is not big enough for the required 420 place school (proposed number is 210) and plans are now up in the air. One option would be to expand Monkerton school to 630 places but that still would not address the need for placements.

Keep pushing for the school to be built on Hutchings drive AP

Parents may end up driving to different schools for different children because of limited placements, making life much more difficult, this is near impossible to do using public transport. 

Matthew: outlines the order of placement eligibility, with having a sibling already at a certain school increasing the likelihood of securing a placement.

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Action Points (AP):

• Speak to Henry Gent, DCC about education/school catchment.
• Katie, Rhiannon and Jess to begin setting up community resilience group
• Set up a sub group for school lobbying 
• Next session? 23rd Jan mentioned.
• Post on FB groups, whatsapp and emails about the  community development officer position.
• Find out when the next Parish Council meeting is, do any of us want to attend?

 

Agenda for next meeting:   

• Matters Arising
• Community resilience group
• Country park tree guards and accessibility (paths)
• Little Library – RV
• General brainstorming session
• Dog poo bins 

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Agenda

RA meeting with agenda items to:

• General Updates
• Hear from Angie Hurren, Clerk for the Broadclyst Parish Council
• Vote for Committee members
• Approve the Constitution
• Any Other Business