Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Bulled, Hunt and P. Leaver.

RESOLVED, that the minutes of the meeting held on 12^th February 2024 (circulated previously) be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair subject to the following:

(a)  Minute 30 (b): That a letter be sent to the Member of Parliament for North Devon and the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner to request funding to continue to deliver the provision of Street Marshals together with their views in relation to the success of the scheme; and

(b)  That in future when actions were requested by the Committee that the name of the officer required to provide any updates was stated within the minutes.

Councillor Wilson abstained from the vote as she was not present at the meeting.

Please telephone the Corporate and Community Services team to prepare a form for your signature before the meeting. Interests must be re-declared when the item is called. A declaration of interest under the Code of Conduct will be a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest, an Other Registrable Interest or a Non-Registrable Interest.  If the item directly relates to your interest you must declare the interest and leave the room for the item, save in the case of Other Registrable Interests or Non-Registrable Interests where you may first speak on the item as a member of the public if provision has been made for the public to speak.  If the matter does not directly relate to your interest but still affects it then you must consider whether you are affected to a greater extent than most people and whether a reasonable person would consider your judgement to be clouded, if you are then you must leave the room for the item (although you may speak as a member of the public if provision has been made for the public to speak) or, if you are not, then you can declare the interest but still take part).

There were no declarations of interest announced.

To consider and discuss potential items to add to the work programme for the forthcoming year (attached).

The Committee considered the work programme for 2024/25 (circulated previously).

The Vice Chair addressed the Committee and outlined the reason for the meeting, which was to discuss the work programme for the Committee for the forthcoming year.

He advised that the Committee had adopted this approach for 2023/24 to brainstorm and discuss potential items of interest for the Committee.

Having just completed the special meeting regarding water quality, the Committee would next focus on the areas of agriculture and dentistry as well as any additional areas of interest that members might wish to raise.

Councillor Jones requested that the Committee discuss the outcomes from the special meeting, together with the next steps.

The Clerk to the Committee advised that as the special meeting was not an item on the agenda it could not be discussed at the meeting.

Councillor Jones advised that the Director of Resources and Deputy Chief Executive, who was not in attendance at the meeting had circulated an email to advise that

the next steps would be discussed.

The Clerk advised that she was unaware of the email and that the agenda for the meeting had been published prior to the special meeting of the Committee. So, the item in relation to water quality would not have been on there anyway and at no point was she advised that it should be added.

RESOLVED, that the Committee SUSPEND Standing Orders to enable discussions to take place in relation to water quality.

Councillor Jones addressed the members present and proposed the following next steps:

·       That a meeting be organised with the members from Torridge District Council to discuss their concerns regarding water quality.

·       That a Notice of Motion be considered by Full Council requesting that North Devon Council support the work of the Westcountry Rivers Trust in both a pro-active promotional and if possible a financial capacity.

·       The members were keen to support and invest in water testing.

·       Determine whether the Rivers Trust was eligible to apply for Community Councillor Grant funding to support testing of water?

·       Could North Devon Council provide any financial support in the purchase of testing kits at a cost of £40.00 each?

·       Request a report from the Development Manager to ascertain the impact that SWW had on the planning application process.

The Committee discussed and debated the following:

·       That South West Water (SWW) had to determine their response to an application based on the information that was available to them at that time.

·       Issues often occurred with locations of water points on applications for housing developments where the developer indicated a location for a point on their plans that was not in fact anywhere near its actual location.

·       There needed to be more collaborative working between the planning authority and SWW.

·       There was a requirement to establish how the planning department at the Council integrated with the water infrastructure and where improvements could be made.

·       The planning department at North Devon Council held regular meetings with SWW to address issues. This was not  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.