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September 2024 Draft

UPLOWMAN PARISH COUNCIL: DRAFT MINUTES OF MEETING

 

Held on Thursday 19th September 2024 in Uplowman Village Hall, starting at 8.10pm.

Cllrs C Slade (DCC), G Westcott (MDDC) and J Lock (MDDC), and 17 members of the public present. Minutes by Mr R Hodgson, Clerk. Action points in bold. Subject to Approval on 21 November 2024.

 

  1. MEMBERS PRESENT and PROCEDURAL MATTERS

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

Cllr Moore repeated that a plan for succession of the Chair the following May was essential. All to consider.

  1. APOLOGIES AND REPORTS FROM MDDC & DCC

2.1 Councillor A McCombe (away) had tendered apologies for absence.

2.2 Cllr Slade had sent a report on DCC matters. He noted that the Greenway Landfill application had been revised and was likely to be considered on 23rd October. Many road improvement schemes were under way. He expected that his Locality Budget would be allocated well before the deadline in February.

2.3 Cllr Westcott noted that the Consultation on the Canal Conservation Area was completed and results beng reviewed. She noted that upcoming revisions to neighbourhood planning policy would introduce a presumption in favour of development. Cllr Lock said that the recently announced funding for a new relief road in Cullompton was welcome. It opened access to the development of 5.5k houses and would reduce pressure for develoment of villages.

 

  1. MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING (25th July 2024)

3.1 Draft Minutes of the annual meeting held on Thursday 25th July2024 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: £6045.93

Income since last meeting (VAT reclaim):£Nil

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

    Brightsea Printers, for printing emergency plans (£116.00), already paid.

    P Hayman, grass cutting (£180.00)

    R Hodgson, Salary & Expenses (£800.00+£4.25).

    PKF Littlejohn (auditors): it was agreed to pay the fee of £200.00 on receipt of invoice.

4.3 The Clerk reported that the auditor’s report was awaited.

 

  1. PLANNING APPLICATIONS

5.1 DCC/4358/2023: Greenway landfill. Revised proposals received – UPC had heard the many objections raised during the public session and would repeat its strong objection to routing of HGVs through Uplowman to include the points made. The next date when this matter might be considered by DCC would be 23rd October. In the meantime, there were 2 weeks remaining to submit objections and all were encouraged to do so. The Clerk would draft UPC’s response and circulate to councillors.

5.2 23/00864/PIP: for two self-build houses on land at Stonebridge. The Applicant had appealed against MDDC’s refusal of permission. UPC had submitted a further objection and decision was awaited.

5.3 24/00968/FULL: 1 Chapel Cottage, change of use to site a glamtainer. This application was discussed and no objection made. The Clerk would inform MDDC

5.4 23/01916/FULL: Redwoods, Change of use to 3 dwellings. The applicant had appealed against refusal of this application. This was discussed. It was considered that there would be a presumption against change of use of the Public House. UPC’s views had been submitted to the original application and would be considered by the Inspector. Therefore, it was agreed that no further submission was needed.

 

  1. VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS

6.1 The Redwoods Pub project:There was still no indication of community funding. UPC would be happy to work with the group when a way forward was clearer. It was noted that the registration of the Redwoods as an Asset of Community Value had been rejected because no other community uses had been proposed. It was agreed not to pursue a second application at this time.

6.2 Thorn Tree on Green. Cllr Adcock had inspected and agreed that the tree was distressed. He had obtained a quotation of £125.00 +VAT to remove it. All agreed to go ahead with this work and Cllr Adcock would arrange it. Cllr Adcock had also obtained a quotation for removal of the decayed fencing by the leat for £225.00 + VAT. All agreed that this fencing was now dangerous and Cllr Adcock agreed to arrange its removal.

6.3 Grass cutting arrangements. Cllr Adcock said that Mr Hayman was happy to continue cutting the two greens but did not wish to do the leat. Cllr Adcock had consulted other local gardeners but all were too busy, He would ask more widely.

6.4 Parish Website. A parishioner had offered to create a coordinated web site for Uplowman. A group of councillors and other community leaders had met him and agreed the ouline of what was needed. Work was now in hand to draft a web site for completion early in the 2025-5 financial year. An update would be provided at the November meeting.

  1. SUSTAINABILITY AND HEALTHY LIVING

7.1 Cllr Westcott wondered what the parish carbon footprint was. Cllr Moore said that it was large, due to the agricultural nature of the parish, and that UPC would continue to encourage residents to reduce it.

 

  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:

8.1The Chair had been invited to MDDC’s Civic Service but would not be available.

 

  1. HALL AND RECREATION ASSOCIATION

9.1 The PA system was installed and operating well. Outside lights were being renewed and the bar area would be refreshed. After that, the main floor would be sanded and repolished.

 

  1. EMERGENCY PLANNING AND NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH

10.1 All councillors except Cllr D Thomas had now completed distribution of their batches of emergency plans. Cllr Thomas would take his around the following week.

 

  1. STATE OF ROADS IN PARISH

11.1 Whitnage Lane signage: DCC had said that obtaining a traffic restriction order on the lane could cost £10,000. The Clerk was asked to respond to point out that this cost could be less that that of repairs and disruption following mis-use of the lane by HGVs.

11.2 Speeding at Crossways: Cllr Westerman had not received replies to his enquiries about 30mph regulations. He would ask again.

11.3 The Clerk was asked to write again to DCC Highways seeking clarification on resurfacing of the badly deteriorated road surface just south of the A361 on the Sampford Peverell Road.

 

  1. DATE OF NEXT MEETING

The next meeting was confirmed for Thursday 21st November 2024, to be in the Hall at 7.30pm.

 

The meeting closed at 9.20pm

 

Public discussion:

 

Many objections were raised to the proposed revised access arrangements for the Greenway Landfill application that would route all traffic via Uplowman Crossways. It was pointed out that the road was too narrow for two large ehicles to pass in many places and there was already a problem with bridge strikes in Sampford Peverell. This was a matter of safey wit vehicles with gross weights of about 30T reguarly on the local byways. A full traffic survey was needed.

 

An update on the Redwoods Project was received. There was still no funding. However, a promotional document had been in preparation to assist with parketing the pub as a going concern. This would be completed.

 

A complaint was made concerning the poor state of the road between Uplowman and Sampford Peverell. Cllr Slade said there was confusion over this work and it did not seem to be scheduled until late 2025.

 

A recent case of fly-tipping had been reported.

 

DRAFT MINUTES OF 19 September 2024

Minutes of meetings held in 2024