Annual Parish Meeting 18th April 2024
The Annual Parish Meeting is a meeting of the Parish ie the people who live and/or work in West Hill Parish and who are affected by the decisions of the Parish Council.
It is an opportunity for residents to get together, hear from village organisations and find out what the Council and others have been doing. It also gives us an opportunity to thank publicly all the volunteers who help our community by, for example, delivering newsletters.
Because it isn't a formal meeting, refreshements are served afterwards and residents are encouraged to stay for a chat.
Councillors were grateful to all who came to listen or deliver reports on their work.
If you missed the meeting, the Chairman's report is below. You will find more information on the group reports etc when the Draft Minutes are produced.
Chairman's Report
Parish Precept & Finances
The Precept was kept the same as the previous year's at £56,875 – about £28 per head of population. The average Precept increase across Parishes in England this year was 8.5%. The precept for a Band D property in West Hill remains well below the national average – ours is £48.95 compared to £85.88
Councillors monitor the budget and spending throughout the year and currently the Council's total funds stand at £133,605 (including CIL). These can be used for projects or unforeseen expenses. The unknown factor at the moment is how much the External Auditor will charge for investigating the challenges to our Annual Governance & Accountability Return from the 2022-23 financial year brought by a resident. They are still working on this but we understand they hope to finish by the end of May.
The year was interesting to say the least. We had local elections and very nearly did not have a Parish Council. It is heartening that we have now got five co-opted Councillors and more community interest than ever in the work of WHPC. There was also the Coronation which many groups celebrated with events.
What has the Parish Council done this year?
Our mission statement is: working with the community to maintain and enhance West Hill's special character.
One of the ways we can do this is by being a consultee on planning applications.
This has kept us very busy and over the year we have commented on around 76 applications plus a few appeals and spoken at the EDDC Planning Committee.
Some of the major applications have really caught the community's interest – the Potters application had over 225 public comments on the planning portal.
Updates on current major planning applications:
24/0044/FUL Potters: redevelopment of site 9 dwellings & smaller shop units – no news yet
23/1143/MFUL Windmill Lane: 34 dwellings – no news yet
23/0727/MOUT Land north of Eastfield: 30 dwellings (EDDC recommended for approval)
22/2533/MOUT and 23/2505/PIP Oak Road x2 applications: PIP for 2-9 dwellings (refused) plus an appeal for the original 23 (appeal withdrawn)
23/2612/OUT Land at Lower Broad Oak Rd: 5 dwellings – no news yet
24/0008/PIP Land adjoining West Hayes: 5 dwellings (PIP refused)
23/2535/PIP Land at Elsdon House, Elsdon Lane: 2 dwellings (gone to appeal)
21/1688/MFUL Roadside services at Daisymount (approved)
The response from residents has been excellent with many taking time to write to EDDC and robust attendance at WHPC meetings where Cllrs are discussing these. The Potters application attracted 140 residents to the Parish Council Extraordinary Meeting.
Major applications affect everyone in the village, wherever they are, due to noise, disruption, extra traffic, and strain on public services.
The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) was updated in December with amended guidelines for Planning Authorities on housing land supply and how it affects the tilted balance when applications are being decided.
Because its draft Local Plan is sufficiently progressed, East Devon now needs to demonstrate a 4-year land supply not 5, which it is able to meet.
This is important because without the required housing land supply, the presumption is in favour of development which leaves villages like West Hill vulnerable to speculative development.
East Devon draft Local Plan
WHPC has been monitoring EDDC Strategic Planning Committee meetings for anything that might affect West Hill. Three recent proposals in particular have been of concern – reduction in Green Wedge land; enlarged settlement boundary; housing allocations. It's all still a work in progress.
We are very grateful to our Ward Member Cllr Jess Bailey with whom we have been liaising closely as we seek to be a voice for residents.
WHPC Grants awarded this year:
West Hill Women's Group £250 for Coronation cream teas
School PTFA £430 for the band at last year's Summer Fayre
St Michael's £50 for reprinting the West Hill Welcome Pack
RBL £1,000 for replacing their notice boards
West Hill Pre-School £900 for a play kitchen
Total awarded in grants this year = £2,630
The Council is committed to supporting and strengthening the networks and community groups which help to make a positive difference to West Hill. Our grants policy is on our website and we invite all West Hill groups to take a look. There are some basic conditions which you can read in the policy.
Remembrance Sunday event November 12th 2023
This was our second year of being the civic organiser of the Remembrance Sunday event.
We are pleased to support our local RBL branch in this important community event.
The Parish Council takes on duties like applying for road closures and signage.
Councillor Francis Pullman laid a wreath on behalf of the Council and attended the Church service and did a reading.
We thank the community for putting up with some disruption for an hour or so due to the temporary closure of West Hill Rd and School Lane to enable the service at the war memorial to be conducted without undue disturbance from passing cars.
I believe this year Remembrance Sunday is on 10th November but more about that nearer the time.
Village hall pedestrian path project
Work on this continues and both the Village Hall Trustees and WHPC are committed to seeing it completed this year. With the uncertainty around the Potters car park/possible construction site, it is more important than ever that pedestrians have an alternative safe walking route to the school, village hall and playpark.
We are hoping construction can be done before the end of the school summer holidays but certainly by the end of the year.
Land/open space for recreation
We are acutely aware of the lack of outdoor open space for residents to use, particularly our young residents and West Hill Wasps youth football team.
We will continue to look out for land but it is difficult when every acre carries a hefty development premium.
If anyone knows of any land please get in touch.
Emergency planning and community resilience
One of WHPC's aims is to develop an Emergency Plan for West Hill which will ensure the most vulnerable members of the community get the support they need during an emergency. Councillor Francis Pullman is leading this project and we will ensure residents are kept informed. Please contact Francis if you would like to be involved.
Cllr Alison Carr
Chairman
