November 2023
UPLOWMAN PARISH COUNCIL: DRAFT MINUTES OF MEETING
Held on Thursday 16th November 2023 in Uplowman Village Hall, starting at 7.50pm. Cllr C Slade (DCC), and two members of the public present. Minutes by Mr R Hodgson, Clerk. Action points in bold. Approved on 18th January 2024
1. MEMBERS PRESENT and PROCEDURAL MATTERS
1.1 Present: Cllrs M Moore (Chair), A McCombe, D Westerman, K Baugh, and R Adcock.
1.2 Vacancy: Enquiries among potential councillors had not yet identified anyone wishing to be coopted.
2. APOLOGIES AND REPORTS FROM MDDC & DCC
2.1 Apologies for absence had been received from Cllr D Thomas, absent due to work commitments.
2.2 Cllr Slade reported on DCC matters. He was pleased that the new junction onto the link road had finally opened and would take traffic out of Halberton and Sampford Peverell. DCC was planning to replace mobile libraries with support for local community libraries. Money was available to support households struggling to pay for food, energy, water bills and other related essentials.
2.3 There was no report on MDDC matters.
3. MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING (21st September 2023)
3.1 Draft Minutes of the meeting held on Thursday 21 st September 2023 had been circulated. There were no changes requested and they were signed by the Chair as a true record of that meeting.
4.2 It was agreed that the July 2024 UPC meeting would be a week later than usual, on 25th July 2024.
4. FINANCES
4.1 Current Balance: £4420.56
Income since last meeting – support for trimtrail : £Nil
4.2 The following payments were approved and cheques signed to effect the disbursements:
Redwoods Inn (Paul Hamer), grass cutting, £70.00
UPCC, Support for maintenance of graveyard, (£350.00)
Royal British Legion, Remembrance wreath, expected to be £30.00
TNM&W Devon Citizens Advice, support, £25.00
Churches Housing Action Trust, donation, £25.00
Mid Devon Mobility, support Ring & Ride, £25.00
4.3 The Clerk had presented a budget for 2024-5. This covered basic administration and regular expenses. All councillors would consider special projects that might be added at the January meeting before submission of the precept request. It was agreed that the precept should be increased to cover any shortfall in funding the regular maintenance of the trim trail. The Clerk left the room while his salary was discussed. It was agreed to increase the Clerk’s salary to £1600 for 2024-5 and to £1700 for 2025-6.
5. PLANNING APPLICATIONS
5.1 23/00684/PIP: Land at Stonebridge, 2 self-builds, UPC objected, decision awaited
5.2 23/00354/FULL: Willow Barn, erect holiday cottage. UPC objected, decision awaited
5.3 DCC/4358/2023: Greenway landfill. UPC objected on grounds of access. Decision awaited. The matter had been called in to the DCC committee for discussion in January.
5.4 23/01358/FULL: Uplowman House, erect 1 residence. MDDC had approved this.
5.5 23/00919/FULL: Cott farm, erect 2 shepherd’s huts for holiday let. MDDC had approved this.
5.6 23/01332/FULL: The Beeches shed. UPC had no objection. MDDC had approved this.
5.7 23/01624/FULL: Land east of Rosebank: erect shed. After consultaion, UPC had objected that the development was excessive for the size of the field and access was unsuitable. There was discussion during which this response
was confirmed. Decision awaited. The Clerk would ask whether this application could be called in.
6. VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS
6.1 Village signs: These had been painted and would be erected soon.
6.2 Broadband update: Unfortunately, Airband could not make this meeting. However, they had said that there was no news yet of their plans for fibre installation in Uplowman.
6.3 Cllr Adcock would produce estimates for the Hall sound system and would investigate production of an historic map for the Hall.
6.4 Mrs Joan Kidley had volunteered to take over the book-swap in the phone box.
7. SUSTAINABILITY AND HEALTHY LIVING
7.1 Cllr Moore said that the ‘Creation Hub’ day on 8th Oct had been successful. ECoE (Exeter Community Energy) had been there and had provided a link for community heating projects, which she would forward to the Clerk for inclusion in the next newsletter. Participants had made suggestions
for a Sustainable Uplowman, circulated in the Uplowman news. All to consider how UPC could support the suggestions that had been made.
8. 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:
8.1 All relevant correspondence covered by Agenda.
9. HALL AND RECREATION ASSOCIATION
9.1 Cllr Adcock reported that there were still some lights to be installed and the fences by the gate had to be replaced. A new kitchen was needed. The firework evening on 5th November had been well attended.
10. EMERGENCY PLANNING AND NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH
10.1 The Clerk had circulated a list of properties in the parish divided into 7 groups or areas. For previous plans, each councillor had agreed to act as focal point for one of the areas. The Clerk noted that the list had not been updated for any new dwellings built or converted since 2007 and that councillors
should review their lists and add properties as needed. Councillors agreed to take on areas as follows:
Chieflowman: Cllr Adcock
Widhayes: Cllr Thomas (to be agreed)
School Lane: Cllr Baugh
Hill Fm–Fairoak: Cllr Moore
Whitnage: Cllr McCombe
Uplowman vill. Cllr Westerman
Stagg Mill: To be arranged (councillor vacancy)
10.2 IT help was needed with completing the Plan and modifying to 2 sides of A4. Cllrs Moore would ask among younger parishioners for assistance. Cllr Adcock reported that the UHRA was happy for the Hall to be designated as a temporary shelter. The Clerk would contact South West Water regarding the sewage works and SWW’s emergency planning.
11. STATE OF ROADS IN PARISH
11.1 The road into Whitnage was now being marked for repair in February 2024. Despite requests to DCC, this had not been brought forward.
11.2 Cllr Westerman had investigated the Snow Warden scheme. Designated snow wardens were required to undergo considerable training. He felt that this was unecessary. After discussion, it was agreed not to proceed with the DCC Snow Warden scheme but to monitor the existing salt bins.
11.3 Whitnage signage: The Clerk had contacted the Halberton Clerk who had undetaken a similar challenge. She would follow up with contacts in the police for approving additional signage.
11.4 Speeding at Crossways: Cllr Adcock would talk with the resident who had offered signs and find out what they would look like. It was noted that there are already some ‘20 is Plenty’ signs at the school path exit.
11.5 Replace rails: It was agreed to accept a quotation of £850 to replace the rails beside the Green. The Clerk would arrange this. The Railings behind the Redwoods are a Highways responisbility. UPC currently had no funding to replace these and it was decided to press DCC Highways to do so as they are a hazard to young parishioners who wait there for the school bus.
11.6 Cllr McCombe said that a parishioner had raised the matter of an annual road rally that usually passes through Uplowman. While all on its route were generally notified, it would be helpful to other parishioners to know of it in case they needed to change their travel to/from shifts. The Clerk would write to the organisers and request that UPC be informed so that a note could be circulated in the monthly news.
12. DATE OF NEXT MEETING
The next meeting was confirmed for Thursday 18th January 2024, to be in the Hall at 7.30pm.
The meeting closed at 9.30pm
Public discussion:
A parishioner reported that an Airband vehicle had been seen in the village but it was not clear if it was working here or passing through.
The planning application 23/01624/FULL was raised. It was noted that the previous applications had been passed , despite UPC’s objections, without any visit from a Planning Officer. More weight should be given to local knowledge.
MINUTES OF 16 November 2023