May 2022

UPLOWMAN PARISH COUNCIL: MINUTES OF ANNUAL MEETING

Held on Thursday 19^th May 2022 in Uplowman Village Hall, starting at 8.00pm.

Cllr C Slade and 2 members of the public present. Minutes by Mr R Hodgson, Clerk. Action points in bold.

Approved on 21^st July 2022

 

1. MEMBERS PRESENT

1.1 Present: Cllrs N Branton, K Baugh, A McCombe, D Thomas, and D Westerman.

1.2 Election of Chair for the meeting and for UPC for 2022-3: In the absence of Cllr Moore, Cllr Westerman proposed that Cllr Branton chair the meeting, which was seconded by Cllr McCombe and agreed by all present. Cllr Branton took the Chair. The Clerk informed that meeting that Cllr Moore was prepared to serve one more year as Chair of UPC. Cllr Branton proposed the election of Cllr Moore to serve as Chair for 2022/3, which was seconded by Cllr Westerman and agreed by all present.

2. APOLOGIES, PROCEDURAL MATTERS AND REPORTS FROM MDDC & DCC

2.1 Apologies for absence had been received from Cllrs M Moore (unexpected family matter) and R Adcock.

2.2 Cllr Slade reported on DCC matters. He said that DCC had initiated many schemes, such as the Cullompton station, aimed at regenerating Devon’s economy after the pandemic. A series of skills bootcamps to help people to upskill had been set up. Work continued on reducing Devon’s carbon emissions. The locality budget was again open. Cllr Slade would be happy to follow up any highways matters if he was emailed the information.

2.3 No report had been received from Cllr Radford on MDDC activities.

 

3. MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING (17^th March 2022)

3.1 Draft Minutes of the meeting held on Thursday 17^th March 2022 had been circulated. There were no changes requested and they were signed by the Chair as a true record of that meeting.

 

4. MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES

4.1 There were none

 

5. FINANCES

5.1    Current Balance: £7623.21

       Income since last meeting (Precept, plus fees for first aid) £3596.32

5.2 The following payments were approved and cheques would be signed to effect the disbursements:

R Hodgson, expenses, incl Membermojo, (£80.95)

W J Veen, grass cutting (March)(£62.30).

The Redwoods, Grass cutting & leat (£118.50).

Community First Trading, Annual Insurance, (£182.41)

It was agreed to fund up to £300 for souvenirs of the forthcoming Royal Platinum Jubilee.

5.3 Mr Clark had completed UPC’s internal Audit and was warmly thanked for his services. The Clerk read the Annual Governance statement for 2021/22. All statement responses were confirmed as positive, if applicable, the statement was approved and signed by the Clerk and the Chair.

5.4The Annual Accounting statement for 2021/22 had been circulated and was presented to the meeting. This was agreed by all present and signed by the Chair.

5.5 The Clerk said that as UPC’s turnover had been less than £25,000 in 2021/22, the Council could apply for exemption from a limited assurance external audit. It was agreed that UPC fulfilled the requirements for exemption and the certificate of exemption was signed by the Clerk and Chair. The Clerk would forward this to the external auditors.  The Clerk said that the period for public exercise of rights would be June 13th to July 22nd.

 

6. PLANNING APPLICATIONS

6.1 21/02187/Full: Rosebank, erect new shed. UPC made no objection. MDDC decision awaited.

6.2 22/00244/HOUSE: Locks End rear extension. UPC No Objection, MDDC approved.

6.322/00277/HOUSE: 1Wallflower Cott extn. UPC No Objection, MDDC approved

6.422/00115/FULL: Lowerman Fm, infill between two barns. UPC objected, MDDC approved.

6.5Sip Shed: Application to vary licence. This had been resubmitted in accordance with UPC’s previous comments. UPC had not commented further and a decision was awaited.

6.6 22/00561/House: Shapcott, solar panels on stable. UPC No objection, Awaiting decision.

6.7 22/00748/Full, Hill Farm, Change shepherd hut to holiday let. UPC no objection, Awaiting decision

6.8 22/00753/Full, Land at Stonebridge, replace shed with 2 dwellings. This was discussed. There had been considerable objection with residents attesting that the building had never been ‘agricultural’, a requirement for a Class Q application. The scheme had been revised to reduce the roof lines to the same height as the exisitng shed but UPC’s other previous objections to the scheme still stood regarding poor visibility at the highway entrance. It was agreed unanimously to oppose the application. The Clerk would inform MDDC.

 

7. VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS

7.1 Three or more groups arriving from the conflict in Ukraine were expected with parish host families. The PC had been asked to support social events for them and local people. It was agreed that specific requests could be considered after the guests were in Uplowman and a plan could be made. Expenditure would be on the basis of receipts, not open-ended.

7.2 Parish News grant: Cllrs Branton Had obtained a quotation to make two village signs in oak to replace the existing ‘UPLOWMAN’ signs. The cost would be £300, cost price, from a local business. It was agreed to go ahead with this project and the Clerk was asked to investigate whether DCC Highways would have any particular requirements.

7.3 Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. UPC had been asked to fund the acquisition of commemorative medalions for around 80 young parishioners. It was agreed that a cost of up to £300 could be covered on presentation of receipts from the Jubilee Celebration organisers.

 

8. SUSTAINABILITY AND HEALTHY LIVING

8.1 Cllr Moore had attended an MDDC online presentation on planning and sustainability. She noted that there was a current emphasis on creating ‘passive’ housing and on provision of chargers for electric vehicles.

9. CORRESPONDENCE

A list of correspondence received and sent had been circulated. Attention was drawn to the following items of interest that were not covered elsewhere:

9.1No additional correspondence considered.

 

10. HALL AND RECREATION ASSOCIATION

10.1 In the absence of Cllr Adcock there was no report.

 

11. EMERGENCY PLANNING AND NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH

11.1 Following the presentation by Martin Rich, it was agreed that the Clerk would ask for three or four volunteers to form an emergency plan steering committee in the next Uplowman News letter.

 

12. STATE OF ROADS IN PARISH

12.1 It was noted that some repairs had been made to potholes. There was no development regarding the deterioration of Whitnage Lane.

 

13. DATE OF NEXT MEETING

 

The next meeting was confirmed for Thursday 21^st July 2022, to be in the Hall.

 

The meeting closed at 9.15pm

 

Public discussion:

 

The Chair’s annual report was read (see attached)

Mr M Rich of Devon Communities Together (DCT) gave a summary of the process for developing an Amergency Plan. Suitable templates were now available and training could be provided for those activists wishing to lead the process. DCT could provide guidance. An initial step was to create a steering committee of up to 6 members to consider risks and recent developments.

 

Planning Application at Stonebridge: There was considerable discussion of Application 22/00753/Full. It was stated that the site had never been used for agricultural purposes and so was not appropriate for a Class Q application (conversion of agricultural building by prior notification).

 

MINUTES OF 19 May 2022

Uplowman Parish Council Chairman’s Report on the 2021/2 Year

 

The Parish Council have had a number of changes in councillors and roles this year with Dean Westerman and Dave Thomas joining us as councillors and Trevor Milner retiring from his role as Chair after 10 years. The Council decided to elect a Chair with annual rotation and asked me to take up the role for the remaining 7 months of the 2021/2 year. Trevor kindly offered a generous handover and remains available for us to tap into his extensive experience and ongoing commitment to the parish.

We have achieved a number of improvements for the Parish this year:

The Air Ambulance night landing light was installed and inaugurated last August at the Village celebration party

The two Kissing Gates were repaired using the monies given to us by the Sampford Peverill and Uplowman Parish magazine

Mrs Veen’s Bench on the Green is now in place

The former Telephone box has new shelves and a refreshed display of books for all ages, kindly managed by Catherine Marlow

The bus shelter roof has been repaired and had a coat of paint making it more serviceable as a bus stop and for Parish notices

The long awaited bike rack has been installed at the Village Hall

The planned Broadband upgrade has been deferred due to the change in Government procurement of installation supplier but thanks to the continuing persistence of Mark Donald and Sheon Sturland we are now hoping that this project will complete towards the end of this year.

We have organised and attended a variety of training and information seminars this year:

Two First Aid Training days were successfully commissioned and run in the Village Hall in March for all parishioners who were interested. The Parish Council paid 50 % of the fees for each individual. We had a full turnout.

The Clerk and Chair were invited to join Suzanne Lewis in a meeting with the local Police Community Support Officers who updated us on how they plan to support the community and what we should do if we want to contact them or call for their support. It gave an insight into the changes in policing, the remit of the PCSOs, the way technology works and how we can get the best support from them.

One or two councillors attended on line seminars with the Devon Climate Change Conference and the on-line Planning Briefings given by MDDC and led by Angharad Williams, the new planning officer, who also attended a Parish Council meeting to introduce herself and to listen and answer questions on planning policy and practice.

We are most grateful to the Sampford Peverell and Uplowman Parish magazine for £550 received this year. We have generated a list of items we could to spend it on including a public address system for the Village Hall, framing of an old Parish map, road signs for Uplowman village and possible traffic calming signs.

We continued our regular commitments to :

Review and recommend on planning applications

Support for the graveyard maintenance of Uplowman Church

Grass cutting of the leat banks, verges and the village green

The Uplowman newsletter started to support the parish during covid has been a great success and is now moving to once a month, with sterling ongoing commitment by the Parish Clerk and others who contribute items as requested

Represented at the Remembrance Day Service

Charitable contributions to selected local charities: CHAT, Mid Devon Mobility and Citizen’s Advice

We held a Parish Celebration event in August to celebrate the opportunity to come together again as Covid restrictions reduced. We had a great turnout of all ages, wonderful music and enthusiastic dancing, great food cooked and served by a number of willing volunteers including several councillors. It was crowned by the inauguration and testing of the Ambulance night landing light which, though brilliant, had a tough job competing with a very bright moon gleaming next to it! A great evening was had by all.

There have been a number of great events and activities held at the Village Hall which is run by its own very active committee but which the Parish Council support and are supported by throughout the year.

Thank you everyone for your contributions to a year of mixed challenges, blessings and achievements in the Parish and for your ongoing support to the wellbeing of our great community.

Mary Moore

Chair UPC