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November 2024

UPLOWMAN PARISH COUNCIL: MINUTES OF MEETING

Held on Thursday 21st November 2024 in Uplowman Village Hall, starting at 8.10pm.

Cllrs C Slade (DCC) and G Westcott (MDDC) present. Cllr J Lock had another meeting. Minutes by Mr R Hodgson, Clerk. Action points in bold.  Approved on 16 January 2025

 

  1. MEMBERS PRESENT and PROCEDURAL MATTERS

1.1 Present: Cllrs M Moore (Chair), K Baugh, J Mayne, A McCombe, D Westerman, and R Adcock.

 

  1. APOLOGIES AND REPORTS FROM MDDC & DCC

2.1 Councillor D Thomas, being unwell, had tendered apologies for absence.

2.2 Cllr Slade had sent a report on DCC matters. He was pleased to report that the Greenway Lansfill application had been rejected by DCC and noted that the applicant might appeal. Airband was no longer able to complete planned installations of Fibre broadband and DCC/CDS were investigating alternatives. Cllr Slade noted that DCC were very successful in recycling waste and that his Locality budget was now all disbursed.

2.3 Cllr Westcott said that MDDC had appointed an Enforcement Officer and that there was consequently more enforcement activity now. She noted that the Tiverton Eastern Urban Extension Area B site was out for consultation. Cllr Moore noted that the Halberton-Tiverton road alignment would be changed. Cllr Westcott also noted that the Tiverton High School rebuild was accepted and planned for 2027-9.

  1. MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING (19th September 2024)

3.1 Draft Minutes of the meeting held on Thursday 19th September2024 had been circulated. There were no changes requested and they were signed by the Chair as a true record of that meeting.

 

  1. FINANCES and PROCEDURES

4.1           Current Balance: £5067.53

          Income since last meeting :£Nil

4.2 The following payments were approved and cheques signed to effect the disbursements:

           PKF Littlejohn, Audit fees (£252.00), already paid.

          A PHayman, grass cutting (£144.00)

          Chieflowman Farms Ltd, for cutting dead tree and removing decayed fence (£412.80p)

          Uplowman PCC, support for functioning burial ground, (£350.00)

          Royal British Legion, Remebrance wreath, (£25.00)

          Citizens Advice, donation, (25.00)

          Churches Housing Action Team, donation, (£25.00)

          Mid Devon Mobility, donation for Ring & Ride, (£25.00).

Cllr Moore noted that, as a Trustee of Mid Devon Mobility she could not be part of this decision, which was approved by all other councillors.

4.3 The Clerk noted that, following the Auditor’s report, a property register would be created.

4.4 The Clerk had circulated a summary of income and expenditure for the previous two years plus proposed budget fo 2025-6. This showed that recent expenditure had reduced reserves below the planned level and the Clerk recommended increasing the Precept to build reserves again. All councillors agreed to consider possible future projects and sources of funding for agreement in January. The Clerk and the Chair would meet in the meantime to discuss the Clerk’s workload and arrangements. The Clerk would circulate UPC’s Reserves policy for review in January.

4.5 Devon Association of Local Councils was running a consultation on councils’ views on remote (ie virtual) meetings. After discussion, the Councillors agreed unanimously that UPC was not in favour of remote meetings and Cllr Westerman would complete the survey accordingly.

 

  1. PLANNING APPLICATIONS

5.1 DCC/4358/2023: Greenway landfill. After many objections, DCC had refused permission.

5.2 23/00864/PIP: for two self-build houses on land at Stonebridge. Appeal against refusal had been upheld. In the meantime, Application 24/00878/PNCOU for change of use of the shed to dwellings, had been refused by MDDC.

5.3 24/00968/FULL: 1 Chapel Cottage, change of use to site a glamtainer. UPC had not objected and a decision was awaited.

5.4 23/01916/FULL: Redwoods, Change of use to 3 dwellings. Decision on appeal awaited.

5.5 24/01033/FULL: Hill Farm, revised catle shed layout. UPC had not ojected and decision awaited.

 

  1. VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS

6.1 The Redwoods Pub project:There was still no indication of community funding. UPC remained happy to work with the group when a way forward was clearer.

6.2 Parish website: The Clerk was unable to provide an update as none had been received.

6.3 Cllr Moore had attended a webinar on setting up a .gov.uk domain and asked councillors to view the webinar for future discussion. She said that it would cost about £500 to establish an Uplowman domain. The Clerk would ask other local councils about their experiences of this process.

6.4 A diseased hawthorn tree on the Green and the decayed fence beside the leat had been removed.

6.5 Broadband update: As noted in Cllr Slade’s report, Airband had informed the PC that they would not be doing the Uplowman fibre to premises build after all. Uplowman Community Hub was in contact with them, CDS, and other suppliers to establish whether another company might do it.

 

  1. SUSTAINABILITY AND HEALTHY LIVING

7.1 Cllr Westcott said that the Green Impact Fund was oversubscribed.

 

  1. 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:

8.1Cllr Adcock said that the defibrilator was regularly checked and all items were in date.

 

  1. HALL AND RECREATION ASSOCIATION

9.1 The bar area had been refreshed and a new cooker installed. Fireworks night had again proved very successful.

  1. EMERGENCY PLANNING AND NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH

10.1 It was noted that the Air Ambulance had been unable to land due to activity on the sports field. The HRA would erect signs and make all regular users aware of a need to clear the pitch in an emergency.

 

  1. STATE OF ROADS IN PARISH

11.1 Whitnage Lane signage: DCC had offered to talk through the options but had not yet proposed a time.

11.2 Speeding at Crossways: Cllr Westerman said that DCC had indicated that there were insufficient incidents on the road to warrant signs. It was agreed to leave this matter for now.

11.3 The Neighbourhood Highway Officer had indicated that there were no actionable potholes on the Sampford Peverell road and any resurfacing would not be done soon. Cllr Slade said that DCC had a new ‘dragon- patcher’ machine and that a request to use that might help accelerate matters.

11.4 Flooding between the village and St Peter’s Church: It was noted that the road had flooded several times during October, resulting in two cars reported written off after being trapped. Cllr Adcock and the Clerk had investigated and proposed clearing debris from the river, cutting back bankside vegetation, and cutting more run-off channels. This was budgeted at up to £500 for a days work. However, it might require traffic management and there were concerns expressed that disturbing the river would result in silt being released. The Clerk considerd that the root cause was that gravel had accumulated in the river bed, resulting in debris collecting against the bridge and impeding the flow. It was agreed that removal of such deposits was beyond the immediate resources of UPC and that the Clerk should contact the proper authorities (either Highways or the Environment Agency).

 

  1. DATE OF NEXT MEETING

The next meeting was confirmed for Thursday 16th January 2025, to be in the Hall at 7.30pm.

 

The meeting closed at 9.20pm

 

Public discussion:

There was none.

 

MINUTES OF 21 November 2024

 

Minutes of meetings held in 2024