MARWOOD PARISH COUNCIL - VACANCY

Clerk & Responsible Finance Officer

 

Marwood Parish Council is currently looking for a Clerk and Responsible Financial Officer.

Number of hours: 15 hrs per month (flexible schedule).

Salary will depend on Qualifications and experience.

Start Date: is negotiable but early in the New Year would be ideal.

         Marwood is a rural parish with a population of about 1100. There are 9 Parish Councillors who meet bi-monthly in Guineaford  at 7.00pm (winter) 7.30 pm (Summer) in the Methodist Church Hall. The successful candidate will need to work from home

         The Clerk will be responsible for managing the day to day business of the Council, including the production of the agenda/minutes for all Council meetings, liaising with outside bodies as well as implementing Council decisions. The Clerk/RFO will also be responsible for all the financial transactions and records of the Council and the administration of its finances.

We are seeking someone with confidence, interpersonal and communication skills to deal with a wide range of people.

          Prior experience of local government or committee work would be beneficial.

 

To apply, please email your CV and a covering letter, including contact details, to Geoff Dwyer, the acting Clerk at geoff.dwyerg@outlook.com

A full job description and Person Specification are available from the Acting Clerk on request.

 

Closing Date for applications is Saturday 14^th December 2024

   

MARWOOD PARISH COUNCIL  Dated 18th November, 2024

Co-option to fill a Councillor vacancy following the resignation of Councillor Karen Down.

Being a Councillor is not time consuming (bi-monthly meetings) but it is an important way of getting local voices heard.

The criteria for co-option are …

(i) be a local government elector of the parish, or

(ii) have during the whole of the twelve months preceding the day on which he/she is nominated as a candidate occupied as owner or tenant any land or other premises in the parish; or

(iii) his/her principal or only place of work in the twelve months preceding the day on which he/she is nominated as a candidate have been in the area of the parish; or

(iv) have resided either in the parish or within 3 miles thereof during the whole of the 12 months preceding the day on which he/she is nominated as a candidate.

 

The address to which the application should be sent by the 14^th December is  …

Geoff Dwyer, Acting Clerk to Marwood Parish Council

The Old Stores, 24 Pilton St, Pilton, Barnstaple, EX31 1PJ

Or email  geoff.dwyerg@outlook.com                                   Closing date is 14^th December 2024

 

 

MARWOOD PARISH COUNCIL DATES 

The start time of meetings will be either 19.00 or 19.30 depending on the time of year. The Chairman has authority to call additional meetings if there are urgent matters to discuss. The Clerk will continue to keep Members informed during the interim months.

Note: not in Standing Orders. Copies of Agendas/Minutes and interim reports will be sent to Marwood Matters for inclusion on the website.  All public notices will be displayed on the Council notice boards.

     The next two meetings are scheduled for the 24th October and 19th December 2024

 

Draft

Minutes of the Meeting of Marwood Parish Council held on the 19^th December 2024 in the Marwood Methodist Church Hall Guineaford

Present

Cllr C Latham (Chairman), Cllr D Chugg (Vice Chairman), Cllr A Bend. Cllr R Berry, Cllr A Harvey-Bryant, Cllr D Hunt, Cllr N Plumb, Cllr C Wallis

 

Officer

5350 Apologies for Absence

District Councillor Mrs J Hunt

5351 Public Question Time

There were no members of the public present

5352 Minutes of the Meeting held on the 24^th October 2024

RESOLVED that the minutes as previously circulated be approved

5353 Report of the County Councillor

The County Councillor had been delayed but a copy of her report had been circulated in advance and is attached to these minutes.

5354 Questions to the County Councillor

Deferred to later on the agenda

5355 Report of the District Councillor

There was no report

5356 Questions to the District Councillor

There were no questions

5357 Report of the Police Service

There was no report at the meeting although up to date information is available online at https://www.facebook.com/BrauntonPolice/?locale=en_GB&_rdr

 

5358 Correspondence

The following correspondence had been circulated in advance of the meeting

·     Parish Forum presentations

·     DALC newsletter

·     North Deven and Torridge updated 5 year house supply of land statement

5359 Finance Matters

·     The following invoices were agreed for payment C Wallis Invoice 63 (£70) G Dwyer (£500)

·     The Clerk had forwarded the precept application for £9400 to NDC and it was RESOLVED that the second, confirmatory application be the same

5360 Planning Applications

·         Planning Application 79252. Hewish Farm Muddiford  

Application to modify a planning obligation under regulation 3 of the T &   C P (modification & discharge of planning obligations) Regulations 1992 in respect of revision of agricultural land tied to the S106 agreement (in relation to planning permission 44283) (dealt with by email consultation) RESOLVED the application be recommended for APPROVAL. Cllr Bend wished it to be recorded that he had voted against approving the application

·         Planning Application 79535 Old Chapel House Bittadon Barnstaple

·         Devon EX31 4HJ. Demolition of garage and erection of two storey garage and store. RESOLVED to recommend APPROVAL

5361 Councillors Reports

·     Parish Footpaths. Nothing to report

·     The recent storm had caused some localised flooding at Metcombe Water and Stowford Bridge

  5362 County Councillors report (deferred from earlier on the agenda)

       The County Councillor apologised for her late attendance but she had been   

        Delayed by traffic. The main news centred on the proposed reorganisation of  

        the present system of local Government. Details are not available but it is

        assumed that the present system of County and District Councils will be   

        radically altered.   

       

5263 Ongoing Matters

There were none

5364 Urgent Business

      There was none

5365 Confidential business

The Chairman moved that in view of the confidential nature of the business about to   be transacted, it is advisable in the public interest that the press and public are temporarily excluded and they be instructed to withdraw.

Date of next meeting 20.Feb at 7.00

The meeting closed 8.30 pm

Chairman:                                           Dated:…………………..

 

Marwood Parish Council

County Councillors report

December 2024

Storm Darragh

We were particularly hard hit in Combe Martin Rural and North Devon, I have residents still without electricity across the area. There are also areas without mobile coverage still.

Despite the challenging conditions, the county’s road network is already largely back to normal.

During the period covered by the Met Office’s weather warnings, Devon’s Network Operations Control Centre received more than 680 calls, with more than 300 of those relating to tree issues.

The highest wind gust recorded over the weekend was 78mph at Taw Bridge.

As a safety precaution, the A361 Taw Bridge and A39 Torridge Bridge were both closed at midnight on Friday night as planned and were re-opened on Sunday morning. Devon’s Household Waste Recycling Centres were also closed on Saturday.

Although wind speeds dropped by Sunday afternoon, calls to the control centre continued as road users came across issues. A large share of the calls were from people reporting roads that were blocked or partially blocked by trees or debris from buildings.

 

Changes for disposal of upholstered furniture- reminder

New environmental requirements will mean that from Sunday December 1 we will only be able to dispose of their upholstered furniture at one of eight of our specially designated Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs).

It follows the introduction of new requirements from the Environment Agency which require our recycling centres to have segregated facilities to handle Waste Upholstered Domestic Seating (WUDS). WUDS include sofas, sofa beds, armchairs, recliner chairs, upholstered kitchen and dining room chairs, upholstered garden furniture, stools and foot stools, office chairs, futons, bean bags, floor and sofa cushions.

These items contain large quantities of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs or forever chemicals) and other hazardous chemicals in the textiles and foam. These chemicals are often used as fire retardants; they persist in the environment, can accumulate in human and wildlife fatty tissues and can be harmful to health and the environment. All WUDS need to be sent for incineration separately where these chemicals are destroyed.

We are now required by the Environment Agency to ensure that all WUDS are segregated and transported separately from other waste.  This segregation will require additional containers and facilities to be provided at HWRCs. However, due to space constraints, only a limited number of sites in Devon will be able to accept WUDS. This means that the majority of our recycling centres will not have the facilities to accept these items.

The HWRCs that will be able to accept Waste Upholstered Domestic Seating from Sunday December 1 2024 are: –

East Devon; Knowle Hill in Exmouth

Exeter; Pinbrook Road, Exeter

Mid Devon; Ashley, Tiverton

North Devon, Seven Brethren, Barnstaple

Torridge; Bideford

South Hams; Ivybridge

West Devon: Okehampton

Teignbridge: Brunel Road, Newton Abbot

WUDS cannot be accepted at any other Devon HWRC after December 1 and residents will need to ensure that they take their WUDS to a site that can accept them or book a bulky collection with their district council who will charge for the service.

To be very clear we will have to go to Barnstaple with any Waste Upholstered Domestic Seating (upholstered furniture, chairs, sofas, floor cushions etc)

 

 Local Government Reorganisation

The English Devolution White Paper was published on Monday.

Extract from the ministers letter probably gives some explanation as to where we are heading as residents in a two tier area;

Local government reorganisation My intention is to formally invite unitary proposals in January 2025 from all councils in two-tier areas, and small neighbouring unitary councils. In this invitation, I will set out further detail on the criteria I will consider when taking decisions on the proposals that are submitted to Government. I intend to ask for interim plans by March 2025. As set out in the White Paper, new unitary councils must be the right size to achieve efficiencies, improve capacity and withstand financial shocks. For most areas, this will mean creating councils with a population of 500,000 or more. However, there may be exceptions to ensure new structures make sense for an area, including on devolution. Final decisions will be made on a case-by-case basis. We will ask you to work with other councils in your area to develop unitary proposals that are in the best interests of the whole area, rather than developing competing proposals.

 

The DCC website is very useful for reporting highway problems and the reports go straight to the contractor. Report a problem - Roads and transport

Alternatively, the highway contact number is 0345 155 1004

If it’s a river flooding the environment agency can be contacted on 0345 988 1188

Winter road updates; https://www.devon.gov.uk/roads-and-transport/safe-travel/winter-travel/

Travel Devon website; home - Travel Devon

Merry Christmas and a very happy 2025

Andrea Davis

County Councillor

 

Combe Martin Rural Division Andrea.davis@devon.gov.uk

 Cllr Colin Latham (Chairman)

 

 

Cllr David Chugg (Vice Chairman)

Kalbari House,

Kingsheanton,  EX31 4ED

07774 750923

davidchugg@marwoodparishcouncil.org

 

Temporary Clerk to the Council - 

 

Geoff Dwyer geoff.dwyerg@outlook.com 

 Cllr Mrs Andrea Davis

Devon County Councillor

Southwinds  Cottage

Kentisbury EX31 4NH

 07786  868038  

andrea.davis@devon.gov.uk