AT the start of the October meeting of Sandford Parish Council, the chairman welcomed Pamela Larcombe who had expressed an interest in joining the Parish Council. Pamela introduced herself and gave details of her background.

The Parish Council agreed to co-opt Pamela to the Council and invited her to attend the next meeting when she would need to sign the Declaration of Acceptance of Office as a Parish Councillor.

It was reported that the “Cuppa and a Chat” sessions at St Swithun’s, on a Wednesday morning, were up and running and proving to be a great success, attended by approximately 25 parishioners.

Disappointment was noted from parishioners over the loss of the “Lovely Lunches”, previously held at the Congregational Church Hall, following the closure of the Church.

A suggestion was made to contact the Landlords of The Lamb Inn and the Rose and Crown to explore the possibility of putting on a reasonably priced meal to replace the “Lovely Lunches”.

It would give those attending an opportunity to meet in a warm venue (during the winter months) for a chat and a simple meal. It was noted that there might be funding for this venture.

VANDALISM AT

ALLOTMENTS

It was understood that equipment and produce had been disturbed recently at the Sandford allotments.

The meeting was disappointed to learn that the long awaited Police Surgery had taken place on Tuesday, October 4, in the Parish Hall car park had been poorly attended due to lack of publicity.

The Clerk had passed this comment on to the Crediton Police team who agreed to send a poster for any future visits.

FORMER CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH

Mid Devon District Council had sent the necessary papers to progress the Community Right to nominate and bid for an asset of Community Value for Sandford Congregational Church which was on the market for £250,000, and was proving to attract a lot of viewing.

The sale would include the Church, the burial ground and the Church Hall.

The purchaser would also have the responsibility for the upkeep of the graveyard which included a number of vacant burial plots, and responsibility to the Listed front of the Church.

It was generally agreed that the Church Hall would make an ideal venue in the parish for meetings, coffee mornings etc. It had a kitchen and a newly installed disabled toilet.

A positive feedback from parishioners, to the suggestion for the parish to acquire the hall, had been received. However, the hall was part of the sale and was not being sold separately.

A suggestion was made that the Parish Council, if it decided to explore the possible acquisition of the hall, could perhaps come to some financial arrangement with any future purchaser.

In the meantime it was agreed that the priority was to get the Congregational Church listed as an Asset of Community Value.

A working group was set up to look at the paperwork in need of completion to progress this.

Disappointed was, once again, noted that the Congregational Church Federation in Nottingham had not, as promised, kept the Parish Council up-to-date on the future of Sandford Congregational Church. It had “apologised for this over sight”.

DONATION

A donation of £355 was agreed for St Swithun’s Church. This included £305 towards churchyard maintenance plus £50 towards printing the commemorative service sheet for the late HM Queen Elizabeth II.

MEETINGS

It was agreed to hold the winter months’ meetings of the Council for November 2, December 7, January 4 2023 and February 1, 2023 at the Scout Hut, which had been used successfully as the venue for the Extraordinary meeting.

However as the hut was used by Sandford Scouts on a Thursday, it was agreed to change the day for meetings of the Parish Council to the first Wednesday of the month, at a cost of £25 each evening.

MJV