January 2026

UPLOWMAN PARISH COUNCIL: DRAFT MINUTES OF MEETING

Held on Thursday 15^th January 2026 in Uplowman Village Hall, starting at 7.30pm.

Cllrs N Raleigh (DCC), Cllr G Westcott (MDDC) and six members of the public present. Minutes by Mr R Hodgson, Clerk. Action points in bold. Subject to Aproval on 19^th March 2026.

 

1. MEMBERS PRESENT and PROCEDURAL MATTERS

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

 

2. APOLOGIES AND REPORTS FROM MDDC & DCC

2.1 Councillors J Mayne, away, had tendered apologies for absence.

2.2 DCC report: Cllr Raleigh Noted that DCC had voted to cancel their elections scheduled for May, due to the upcoming reorganisation. DCC’s definitive map of footpaths was being redrawn and councillors were encouraged to inform Cllr Raleigh of any ‘forgotten’ paths or changes. He awaited the application for £500 for the bridge rebuild and was informed that ths would be made by the UHRA.

2.3 MDDC report: Cllr Westcott had circulated a report. She said that MDDC continued to press South West Water over reducing effluent from the Tiverton sewage works and was developing a policy on Anaerobic Digester developments. MDDC’s Green Enterprise grants were still available. The Secretary of State’s responseto the Devon submissions on Local Government Reform was awaited.

 

3. MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING (20^th November 2025)

3.1 Draft Minutes of the Annual meeting held on Thursday 20^th November2025 had been circulated. No changes were requested and they were signed by the Chair as a true record of that meeting.

 

4. FINANCES and PROCEDURES

4.1                                                                           Current Balance: £5396.14

Income since last meeting (contributions for first aid training): £360.00

 

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

D Robinson, (First Aid Training): £360.00 had been paid as arranged

Local Authority Technology CIC (councillor’s emails): £192.00

Four Seasons Tree Services Ltd (grass cutting): £136.80

4.3 Cllr Westerman proposed that the level of reserves held by UPC for emergencies be increased to £5,000 in line with inflation since they were first set in 2016. On a show of hands this was agreed.

4.4 There was discussion of potential village projects for the coming year but no firm proposals were adopted.

4.5 The Clerk had circulated a basic budget to cover expected routine business. Cllr Moore proposed adding £400 to the total to enable reserves to be accumulated to the desired level. After discussion and a show of hands it was agreed to set the precept at £5,400 for 2026-7. The Clerk would inform MDDC of this requirement and ask that the annual subscription to DALC be deducted from the precept.

 

5. PLANNING APPLICATIONS

5.1 24/01033/FULL: Hill Farm, revised catle shed layout. UPC had not objected and decision awaited.

5.2 25/01266/FULL: 3 Crossways, Erection of social dwelling. UPC had objected and decision awaited

5.4 25/01366/FULL: Land at Stonebridge, replace barn with two self-build houses. A revised application had been received. This was discussed and it was agreed that UPC’s previous objections to this application remained valid. Cllr Westerman would draft a response.

5.5 25/01449/FULL: Hr Reed Farm, replace livestock shed. UPC had not objected. MDDC had approved.

5.6 25/01526/DPO: Cuckoos Nest, discharge of Section 106 agreement. UPC had not objected and MDDC had now approved this application.

5.7 25/01439/HOUSE:Grasshoppers, erection of extension. UPC had not objected; Decision awaited.

5.7 Planning enforcement: A parishioner had complained to Cllr Adcock that a property that had been granted as a commercial unit was in use as an AirBnB letting. The Enforcement officer had been informed and their comments were awaited.

 

6. VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS

6.1 Parish website: Cllr Adcock said that the website development would be discussed at the forthcoming UHRA meeting, following discussions with the website developer.

6.2 The Clerk had established a new central email address at Clerk@Uplowman-pc.gov.uk. The Clerk would now set up councillor addresses.

6.3 Cllr Westerman would establish the planter on the Green. £10 was budgeted for soil and polants. Cllr Thomas would ask the school if they would like to help tend the plants.

 

7. SUSTAINABILITY AND HEALTHY LIVING

7.1 Cllr Adcock had pushed the proposal for solar panels on the Hall with the UHRA committee. It was noted that grants were available but someone needed to complete the applications. He thought that a volunteer was needed to drive the project. Cllr Westerman said he would write a note for the next parish newsletter.

 

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:

8.1MDDC had written offering a training session on Planning on 26^th March. Councillors would consider.

8.2 The Clerk had enrolled for a Clerk-s training session at MDDC on 27^th January.

8.3 Sampford Peverell PC had set up a meeting to learn about Neighbourhood Planning to be on 20^th January. Cllrs Moore and Westerman would attend.

 

9. HALL AND RECREATION ASSOCIATION

9.1 A quotation had been obtained for the bridge and UHRA would be applying to the Localiy budget for support with this.

9.2 Unfortunately, the planned Burns Night had to be cancelled.

 

10. STATE OF ROADS IN PARISH

10.1 Whitnage Lane signage: The Clerk had written to DCC but had no response. The Clerk would give the matter another push.

10.2 It was noted that although DCC contractors attended to blocked drains quickly, they often only cleared the gullies, leaving drain runs still blocked.

 

11. DATE OF NEXT MEETING

The next meeting was confirmed for Thursday 19^th March 2026, to be in the Hall at 7.30pm.

The meeting closed at 9.00pm

Draft MINUTES OF 15^th January 2026

 

Public discussion:

A planning application (ref 25/01366/FULL) for two self build houses to replace a shed behind Stonebridge was raised by several parishioners. It was commeted that the revised application was in reality little different to the previous one and was still not in keeping with the PIP application that had been allowed on appeal.

It was asked when fibre broadband would be available in Uplowman. Several parishioners had given up waiting and now had satelite connections.

Mr Milner noted that the Uplowman.org.uk website would lapse in 15 months. He would be happy to transfer the domain any time before then.