Broadwoodkelly Parish Council
Annual Parish Meeting
Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting for Broadwoodkelly Parish Council held in the Village Hall on Tuesday May 24th 2022 at 7.30 p.m.
Present: Chairman Cllr Roger Heggadon, Cllrs D. Reed, Mrs B Cook, R. Gant, J. Clark, A. Penny and Mrs C. Brook.
Borough Councillor for the Exbourne Ward, Barry Ratcliffe, was unable to attend. There were three members of the public present.
1. Minutes of the previous meeting:
It was proposed by Cllr Mrs Cook that the minutes of the meeting held on May 25th 2021 be signed as a true record. This was seconded by Cllr Mrs Brook and unanimously agreed. The Chairman signed the minutes.
2. Matters Arising from these minutes
There were none.
3. Chairman’s Report covering the activities of the Parish Council over the past year
He was pleased to say that this year saw a return to face-to-face meetings (following the Covid pandemic), which given the unreliable Broadband speeds in this area, was most welcome.
The Community Landing Site for the Devon Air Ambulance Trust has not progressed at all and as nothing has been heard from DAAT he felt that this will not progress.
Planning applications have again kept the parish council busy throughout the year.
The website continues to be an information hub for residents in the parish. It continues to get a good number of hits each week (especially just before an event). He thanked Beverley Cook, who runs the website and keeps it up to date.
This year sees HM Queen Elizabeth II celebrate her Platinum Jubilee. The parish council has purchased mugs to present to every child, who has registered, as a keepsake for this historic event.
He thanked Councillor Gant, who is our P3 Co-ordinator and fills in the survey forms each year.
The need for a Neighbourhood Plan has been mentioned at recent council meetings. Members of the council joined Duncan Smith, Neighbourhood Planning Officer South Hams and West Devon Borough Councils, for a remote meeting in which he explained the benefits of producing one. This will be discussed and a decision will be taken as to whether to produce one or not.
Broadband speeds in these rural areas are poor. Councillor Gant attended a webinar. Gemma Bristow, the Community Broadband Specialist at WDBC is encouraging parishes to have ‘Broadband Champions’. Giles and David Robinson are the champions for this area. We are grateful to them for doing it.
He thanked Councillor Barry Ratcliffe for this attendance at meetings and for keeping us up to date with what is happening at West Devon Borough Council.
The chairman thanked the councillors for all their hard work over the past twelve months and he looks forward to working with them all over the coming year.
He concluded his report by thanking the clerk for her work over the past year.
4. Report by Borough Councillor
Councillor Ratcliffe was not present
5. Members of the public to address the parish council or Borough Councillor with issues of concern.
Dee Gant wished to mention the events that are planned for the Platinum jubilee celebrations. On Friday June 3rd the hall will be open all day with a local history display and a PowerPoint presentation of photos. The Brook family have been farming in the village for over 100 years and this will be featured in the presentation.
Friday afternoon there will be a local history walk. The background of the local farms will be featured. The church is doing a cream tea and will hold a flower festival.
Sunday at 3pm the village hall will be holding a tea party and the mugs will be presented to the children who have registered.
6. Date of next meeting
May 23rd 2023 (this date is subject to change)
The meeting concluded at 7.45 pm