Venue: Phoenix House, Tiverton
Contact: Sarah Lees Member Services Officer
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ELECTION OF CHAIRMAN To elect a Chairman for 2015/16 (the current Terms of Reference state that the appointment should be made from the Mid Devon District Councillor representation for 2015/16). Minutes:
RESOLVED that Cllr Mrs S Griggs be elected Chairman of the Committee for the municipal year 2015/16.
(Proposed by Cllr R F Radford and seconded by Cllr Mrs C Daw) |
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ELECTION OF VICE CHAIRMAN To elect a Vice Chairman for 2015/16 (the current Terms of Reference state that this appointment should come from the Devon County Councillor representation for 2015/16). Minutes: RESOLVED that Cllr R F Radford be elected Vice Chairman of the Committee for the municipal year 2015/16.
(Proposed by Cllr Mrs S Griggs and seconded by Cllr N V Davey) |
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APOLOGIES To receive any apologies for absence. Minutes: The following members of the committee had sent their apologies for the meeting:
· David Cutts (Sampford Peverell Parish Council) · Mrs Jean Hall (Inland Waterways Association), substituted by Mrs Jane Pilgrim · Robert Hodgson (Chairman of the Friends of the Grand Western Canal) · Les Neville (Burlescombe Parish Council), substituted by Cllr Karen Collard · Cllr Clarissa Slade (Mid Devon District Council) |
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PUBLIC QUESTION TIME Minutes: There were no questions from the two members of the public who were present.
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To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the Meeting held on 3 March 2015 (please find attached). Minutes: The Minutes from the meeting held on 3 March 2015, having been previously circulated, were approved as a correct record and SIGNED by the Chairman.
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MATTERS ARISING To consider any matters arising from the Minutes of the previous meeting. Minutes: There were no matters arising from the minutes of the previous meeting. |
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CHAIRMAN'S ANNOUNCEMENTS To receive any announcements that the Chairman may wish to make. Minutes: The Chairman had the following announcements to make:
· She welcomed Cllr Roger Croad to the meeting and reminded those new to the Committee that he was Devon County Council’s Cabinet Member for Community and Environmental Services. · There had been an enjoyable site visit to the canal in the summer. It was a beautiful place to visit and the hard work and professionalism of the canal team was much appreciated.
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TERMS OF REFERENCE / MEMBERSHIP REVIEW PDF 172 KB To consider the Terms of Reference and Membership of the Committee (please find attached). Minutes: Members considered the Terms of Understanding * and Membership of the Committee.
RESOLVED that the Terms of Understanding and the Membership of the Committee be agreed subject to the removal of the Canal Awareness Group which no longer existed.
(Proposed by the Chairman) |
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PROGRESS REPORT AND FUTURE PROGRAMME OF WORKS PDF 2 MB Report of the Head of Public Rights of Way and Country Parks (DCC) informing Members of the work that has taken place to date. Additional documents: Minutes: Consideration was given to a report * of the Public Rights of Way and Country Parks Manager.
Arising thereon:
Canal ‘Stage2’ works and projects
· Two County engineers now provided dedicated support to the progression of stage 2 works and projects. · The aluminium stop planks had been ordered.. · A lot of work would be required to open up and maintain inspection access to embankments along the canal over the coming years. Coppicing trees along the top of the embankment would continue through the winter.. · County Bridges and Structures Engineers would work with the Canal Manager to draw up an Asset Management Plan next year once the highest priority works had been completed. Discussion took place regarding the need to recognise the canal as an important community asset as well as its fiscal value. · The old maintenance barge might struggle to pass forthcoming boat regulations. It would be necessary to determine the condition of the metal work by shot blasting it and then a decision would be needed as to whether it was worth spending money on it. In the short term the canal team would be able to start their winter work by adapting the unpowered tub barge to take an outboard motor.
New inspection and minor maintenance boat
The Committee wished to record a vote of thanks to the Friends of the Grand Western Canal as, in May 2015, they had donated a new Whaly boat and Honda outboard engine to the Canal Ranger Service.
Fenacre Water Transfer System
DCC officers and staff from Aggregate Industries (AI) had met and had agreed an outline design to create a new outfall from the stream below the concrete monitoring weir, flowing into a new ditch which would run diagonally across the AI owned land and then feed into the ditch running parallel to the road that was excavated by an adjacent landowner prior to the 2012 breach. The idea was to keep the water above ground with a structure at the head of it that would allow water ‘in’ when needed and ‘out’ when not. There would also need to be some works at the outlet end to protect the canal bank where this ditch joins the canal. The advantage of this layout was that it had the flow of the water largely behind it.
Aggregate Industries were still waiting for a response from the Environment Agency regarding a licence to undertake the work. They would not be able to proceed until they were in receipt of this. It was suggested the Chairman and Vice Chairman could bring their influence to bear in speeding things up.
Discussion took place regarding where the water was coming from to fill the channel. It was confirmed that the quarry has a sump with pumps that automatically operate to pump water out into the Fenacre Water when a certain level in the sump is reached. However, concern was expressed that there may be more than one exit for the water. Members of the committee felt ... view the full minutes text for item 9. |
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WATER SOLDIER EXTRACTION Committee to discuss recent attempts to clear water soldier from the canal and what the best approach is going forwards. Minutes: The Ranger Team had been working very hard to remove the weed from large sections of the canal. Without this work the whole canal would have been covered. The old weed boat had been out almost every day but there were still some areas they hadn’t managed to get to once the plant had floated to the surface. The new weed boat was very effective at getting weed up from the bottom of the canal bed. Work would continue into the winter months one or two days a week. It was important to get as much as possible off the bed of the canal. It was critical that the canal team off loaded it somewhere nearby usually on the off side banks as travelling a long way to dispose of it would elongate an already lengthy process.
Recently, members of the Angling Club had volunteered to spend a morning clearing Water Soldier near Ebear Bridge and were thanked for their work.
Photographs were circulated by Mr Malcom Trump showing how invasive the weed can become on standing enclosed waters elsewhere. He suggested that a policy was needed whereby all margin weed was cut out thereby exposing the water soldier underneath and allowing for its removal. Ray Jones agreed with the need to control fringing reeds, but argued that a relatively short section between Ebear Bridge and Westcott Bridge needed to be handled particularly sensitively due to its dragonfly populations.
Looking to the future it was commented that a number of things could be done such as focussing on particular areas, having a year on year rolling programme so that the work was spread fairly across all those using and working on the canal. This could include representatives from the angling fraternity and those with waterways and environmental interests. The Canal Manager stated that it should be possible to organise for a contractor to make a start on the Sluice to Double Culvert section later this year.
RESOLVED that:
a) A sub group be formed to discuss and agree a way forward. This group to be comprised of the Canal Manager, Malcolm Trump, Mrs Pat Brind and Ray Jones.
The sub group to report back to the next meeting of the Committee. |
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CANAL SITE VISIT To receive a verbal report from those who attended the site visit in June. Minutes: A site visit had taken place in
June and the following had been noted: · There were a lot of trees with the potential to cause danger. The comment was made that trees suck up vast amounts of water which then evaporates into the air leaving water levels in the canal reduced. The canal had been abandoned for so many decades it would probably take that length of time again to manage the trees around the canal to an acceptable level. · They had visited Snakes Wood and the East Manley landing stage. · Puddles had been noticed under some of the bridges and discussion had taken place as to what could be done to correct this. · This towpath was probably one of the best canal tow paths in the country. · The canal also had very good accessibility.
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PLANNING ISSUES To discuss planning issues as they affect the canal and to consider the approach of the JAC going forwards. Minutes: This item had been requested to be on the agenda by Mr Adam Pilgrim. He stated that he had monitored planning applications on behalf of the canal for some time on a voluntary basis. He had not wanted the Committee to miss an opportunity for commenting on any application that might affect the canal. However, he was often away and was concerned that something significant might be missed. Mr Pilgrim made reference to the previous meeting when the Head of Planning and Regeneration had been present. The Committee had requested that it become an automatic consultee for any planning application which had the potential to impact upon the canal. There had been a guarded reply in terms of the feasibility of doing this especially in terms of the criteria needed to trigger an automatic action to notify the Committee.
RECOMMENDED that as part of their monthly review of planning applications in their area, the Parish Clerks in the parishes adjoining the canal, notify the Chairman, Vice Chairman and Mr Pilgrim of any applications that could have an effect upon the canal within that parish.
Note: Councillors Mrs H Bainbridge and R F Radford declared personal interests as they were members of the Mid Devon District Council Planning Committee.
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CANINE ETIQUETTE GROUP To receive an update on the work of the group since the last meeting. Minutes: Progress with the work of the group was described as being a ‘slow burn’. The problem of dog fouling affected the entire canal corridor. The Group had spoken to the Visitor Services Manager at Knightshayes which also endured the same problem. A ‘pink poo spray day’ would be organised for some time in the spring, hopefully incorporating all of the main dog-walking areas around Tiverton.
There needed to be a co-ordinated approach involving the parishes. There would be a count up on the spraying day and then a return visit a week later to clear up and monitor the extent of the problem. It would be a case of shaming dog owners who did not pick up and encouraging responsible dog owners to take a stand against irresponsible ones. A possible reward system was discussed with the suggestion of free poo bags and/or thank you stickers on the dog bins, this would need further investigation. All of these activities would involve a cost. It might be possible to approach a County Councillor regarding their locality budget or get a local vets practice to sponsor some stickers.
The problem of unleashed dogs in general was discussed and reference was made to recent incident involving somebody being knocked over and breaking some bones in their foot.
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TOWPATH CODE OF CONDUCT PDF 562 KB To review the current code of conduct with a view to making it more readable for visitors. Minutes: It was AGREED that the wording on the leaflet needed to be ‘punchier’ and that only the words in bold should be included from now on. It was suggested that a detailed version still be made available on the website.
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ANY OTHER BUSINESS To consider any other relevant business. Minutes: The Chairman informed the Committee that the canal had recently received the South West in Bloom Award for Country Parks. It had also had its Country Parks Accreditation renewed by Natural England.
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DATE OF NEXT MEETING Tuesday 1 March 2016 at 7.00pm – Exe Room, Phoenix House. Minutes: The next meeting would be held on Tuesday 1 March 2016 at 7pm in Phoenix House. |