RA Meeting July 2024

 Tithebarn Residents Association meeting notes 23/07/2024

Present: John Rowe; Craig and Nancy Halsey; Jake Bonetta (BCPC Community Connector); Deborah (Committee) and Steve Perry; Jayne Hill; Nicky; Rhiannon; Fran Aggleton (Chair); Katie Bennet (Committee); Matthew Lehnert (Vice Chair); Henry Gent (DCC); Paula Fernley (EDDC, BCPC); Jess Pinn (Committee);

Apologies:  Marc Coton (Secretary); Cici Qian Zeng (Treasurer)

Fran Intro: Last meeting the pub was unexpectedly shut so we had a brief, casual meeting, sat outside on the benches, to catch up on any happenings, upcoming events and plan for the next meeting.

Treasurer Update: £300 left from the garnet from BPC, to spend within 6 months of receipt.   Suggested uses include signage and a gazebo for events, to be stored at either Fran or Katie’s houses. Held a vote and all(16) agreed.

 

Q&A with Jake Bonetta, Broadclyst Parish Council Community Connector

 

Little Library: 

• Rhiannon is steward, responsible for checking, maintaining book levels and communicating with committee when help is needed for repairs or facebook communication/callouts for books.
• Craig came to the rescue and wrapped the door in black cling film when it was damaged and the perspex was removed. It has since been repaired by BPC.
• Kids, Teen and adult crime are the most popular books in little libraries in general so lots of them please! 
• Book storage is a worry, could we overflow into the unofficial little library on Bailey Place?
• Many Thanks and recognition from Rhiannon and all at TRA for Jake and BPC for liaising with developers, water and electric company about the siting and execution of the library.
• Persimmon donated money and land for the little library, notice board and community garden. 
• Some negativity on local Facebook groups about the site of the library being the reason it was vandalised, suggest publishing the letter from Angie at BPC on this subject.
• AP:  Poster explaining how to use the library/who has organised and funded it etc. for the notice board.
• Fran: Little Library opening ceremony is to be organised.  Rhiannon would not be able to take lead on this project but is happy to support.  Suggestions include Table, cake, bunting, gazebo, donation pot; Local author or story teller; Aug bank holiday weekend date suggested.  Title could be ‘Global Little Free Libraries’ 
• AP Fran: Make a little library WhatsApp group and add Jake.

Notice Board:

• Who is responsible/steward? Katie happy to do this.
• Need hex key for access, Katie and Deborah both have printing resources for posters.
• AP: Jake  Consider Security measures: fake camera and CCTV notices.

 

Road Signs:

• ‘Welcome to Tithebarn’ placement and designs have been confirmed, design slightly different to the one we chose.
• North Side sign will be on the North end of the bridge over the motorway, left hand side of road.
• South side sign will be on Tithebarn way, between Honiton Rd and the Park and Change turning off Tithebarn way.
• John: How can we make these signs cyclist friendly?- not just for car drivers. We should be encouraging more cycling and green travel.
• Signs may have to move if the development expands
• DCC officer has been signed off work due to illness for 2 months hence the delay, Jake is chasing this up.  
• Katie: Why should one person’s absence delay this? Henry: We should contact DCC to complain if it is delayed much more. Jake: Hoping to be done within 6 months or less.

Youth Provision:

• BPC has a contract with the YMCA for providing Youth Provision in the parish, this is expanding to cover Tithebarn and West Clyst and has to be in action by Oct 2024.
• Where will this happen? Tithebarn and West Clyst no community spaces, Gemma at BPC has more info.
• Katie: Pinhoe Scout hut? Have heard it is very overbooked already, Marc was a scout leader.
• YMCA bus for transport to venue?

 

Broadsheet:

• Useful network, will Marc still be working on it after stepping down from BPC ?
• AP Jess: ask Marc.

 

Fun Day:

• Bake off competition theme-on a budget.
• Fun Day raising funds for a second Defibrilator in Tithebarn.
• Katie: much more publicised event in Pinhoe is clashing with the fun day.
• Issues with not having much notice ahead of time/lacking communication from BPC on events in general.
• Fun Day in West Clyst the following weekend.
• Could we have the date ahead of time? Suggested 21st June.
• Rhiannon: Broadclyst fun day was really good!

 

Community Garden:

• No updates apart from starting the conversation within BPC

 

Allotments:

• EDDC need to check that everything is acceptable before BPC adopt them; soil depth, paths, water supply, sheds etc
• John: Will Tithebarn residents be prioritised when applying for allotments? Paula: Should be but need to clarify.
• Henry: Are the bigger plots being subdivided? Paula: Yes

 

Community consultation:

• Survey to be shared and filled in and then focus group events to happen for gathering info on what the community needs/wants from BPC and identifying volunteers.
• Asking what you do and don’t like about your community and what improvements can be made.
• Jake is a facilitator within BPC for this, not an independent actor.

 

Community Spaces:

• Has the shop space been bought out? Yes, Tesco expected Dec/Jan.
• Cafe space filled?
• Upstairs space allocated as community/health is still not filled, prohibitively expensive (£75,000 per yr) so DCC, NHS, Dentistry orgs and BPC don’t want to or can’t fund the adoption of the space.
• Katie: wrote to Karl Straw the finance manager at BPC about putting a plan together for the community to work with BPC . Henry thanks Katie for her input here.
• Henry:  Developer said to BPC “Make us an offer”  Three sites in the Tithebarn legal agreement have not come to fruition, Pub, Creche and now the community space? 
• Could BPC use some of the CIL money for setting up our own community space? Cannot be used for rent per say, but for building a community centre/acquiring a space or building. BPC allocation of CIL money for Tithebarn isn’t enough, negotiation needs to happen.
• BPC almost rushed into a decision on the 1st of July, which Henry and Paula don’t agree with. 22% of the CIL is from Tithebarn residents council tax, so the allocation should reflect that. Wording like “the CIL should be spent on something that benefits the whole parish” is inappropriate.
• Tithebarn residents are more likely to go to Cranbrook or Pinhoe to access community spaces and amenities than Broadclyst due to proximity.
• Tithebarn community space cannot be self funded and a management company taking on the lease would mean residents would have to pay.
• BPC handled the CIL allocation badly, how do we hold these people to account?
• The Parish Councillors are uneducated on the CIL and how to fairly allocate funding etc.
• Communication about the meeting was last minute and very lacking so there was very little chance for public engagement (one poster in Broadclyst)
• Tithebarn needs councillors in BPC to represent our needs.
• On these matters; Paula, because she is a District Councillor and Henry, the Former landowner were told by BPC not to interfere because the have a “conflict of interest”
• Fran: Other bodies subsidise community projects
• Henry: Redhayes playing fields, meeting in 10 days to discuss funding.
• Katie: What can residents do to support a community centre happening?
• Henry: negotiation is for the planning authority.
• Katie: How can we influence them?
• Paula and Henry: fill in the Community Consultation survey and attend the focus group. Mention CIL allocation, green spaces (under community control) primary school etc.

 

Primary School:

• Some of the section 106 money allocated for the school in Tithebarn was spent by DCC on the extension of Monkerton school. They then stated there wasn’t enough money for a school in Tithebarn but when confronted with the fact they’d spent it in Monkerton, some money magically appeared again…?
• EDDC got the biggest portion of CIL from DCC, 11 Million, so surely some should be spent in Tithebarn and on a primary school!
• Paula has a meeting about this on 1st Aug.
• Katie: EDDC/DCC said there was 4 million in the pot but a 2 form entry school costs 12 million so there is a shortfall.
• Henry: They are now considering a 1 form entry (30 students per year) school as this may get built faster.
• AP: Decide as a residents association what our priorities are in relation to the community space. Focussing on the space above the shop or a new building on the land allocated for a pub?

 

Neighbourhood Plan:

• BCP Neighbourhood Plan (legal document) was finalised in 2023 but excluded Tithebarn and West Clyst. It proposed 7 new projects within the parish, including a new sports facility in Broadclyst.
• The neighbourhood plan is a living document, can it be updated/amended to include data from the community consultation therefore including the needs of Tithebarn residents? Community consultation results are not legally binding so adding to the NEighbourhood plan is a better way to get our projects included. How can we trigger this?
• In the drafting of the neighbourhood plan on CIL policy some weight was given to the expanding of the parish.
• Henry and Paula added emphasis on Westclyst and Tithebarn.
• New developments near Broadclyst are coming so there will be more CIL money and a higher percentage divided to BPC .
• EDDC had no CIL officer for a while, so no money was spent, a new one has recently been appointed and they are aware of our needs. NHS has been consulted. Primary School and Dr’s Surgery are on the list for EDDC CIL.
• AP Everyone: Fill in the community consultation survey and mention the need for a  community space.

 

Persimmon working hours:

• Persimmon have requested amendments to their working hours. To add an hour to Saturday hours plus internal works until 16:30.
• Current working hours are 08:00-18:00 M-F, 08:00-13:00 Sat and no work on Sundays or public holidays.
• The residents association unanimously rejects any amendments.
• Paula: BPC considering granting permission for the extra hour but not extending internal works to 16:30.
• General feeling is that once given an inch they may want a mile.
• Craig: Persimmon should be addressing our requests by cutting the hedges on Tithebarn way before asking us for favours, their excuse is that they need to carry out an ecological survey first.

 

Country Park/green spaces/streets and pavements:

• Remedial works expected to be carried out within 2 weeks of roads being adopted (in 2-3 weeks time?)
• Bins and benches ordered for green spaces, no update on placing them.
• Attenuation basins will have silt removal after Country Park works
• Middle ditches in country park to be dug out to allow for better water flow/drainage into the stream, paths should be re-done, within the next 4-6 weeks.
• Nicky: Elmores Well Ave. Dog poo bins, not outside the houses please! (3 bins to come)
• Matt: BDW homes: waiting to hear back from EDDC as varied specs have been installed across the board and none to spec-chaos.
• Broken street lights in Minerva (next phase) Shields have been obtained from Barratt for DCC street lighting strategy.
• Persimmon responsible for Swales, Playpark and bins etc.
• Cavanna-gravel in country park not approved, could report a planning breach to EDDC. Ed Freeman ?
• Playpark on Hutchings Drive- Groundsman said planning consultation to happen. This happened 2 years ago in Sept 2022 and we still have no playpark?
• AP: Contact Natasha, BPC planning clerk office@broadclyst.org 
• Stagecoach have updated the bus stop names (no longer Monkerton)
• Missing ‘keep left’ bollards on the islands in the roads, DCC currently saying they are not needed but that should change.
• Langerton lane drain has been cleared, spring on Elmores Well Ave contributes to road flooding.
• Henry: Meeting with DCC about improvements in Langaton Lane.
• SWW sewage terminal in the country park regularly has small discharges into the country park in periods of heavy rain.

 

AGM and committee re-elections:

• TRA AGM will be on 21st Nov 2024, all members of the committee will be up for re-election.
• Some committee members do not make any contributions.  It was considered if there should be a requirement for committee members to attend a minimum number of meetings per year/ term.
• If this was to be done it would require that the AGM is used to make amendments to the constitution.

 

Whatsapp Groups:

• Too much noise/chatter, need to manage and streamline groups.
• Make the general chat channel non-mandatory, currently everyone added is in that group and not everyone knows how to mute/leave and just be in the announcements group.
• Suggestion of guidelines in the general chat group ie. no long essays/discussions etc.
• AP Jess to send examples to committee chat.

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Abbreviations

• BPC: Broadclyst Parish Council
• EDDC: East Devon District Council
• DCC: Devon County Council
• CIL: Community Infrastructure Levy
• TRA: Tithebarn Residents Association
• AGM: Annual General Meeting
• AP: Action Point
• YMCA: Is an Outreach Community Charity awarded a contract for youth provision by BPC.
• BDW: Barratts David Wilson Homes (property developer)

 

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Tithebarn Residents Association

Agenda – Meeting 23^rd July 2024

Blackhorse Function Room 7pm

• Welcome from the Chair and apologies
• Matters Arising and Approval Minutes of Previous Meeting
• Treasurer’s Report.

 

• Q&A with Jake Bonetta – Broadclyst Parish Council Community Connector. Jake joined the Parish Council earlier in the year and has been working on a set of projects including a community garden, Little Library and setting up a YMCA provision for the area. He will give up an update on progress. How will the Little Library and Notice Board work? Talk about the Funday. Look to the future. Talk about community spaces.
• Persimmon Planning Application – Saturday Working
• Update from Vice Chair (other planning items)
• Any other business
• Committee admin (Parking Group and Co-opted Roles)