November 2003
UPLOWMAN PARISH COUNCIL: MINUTES OF MEETING
Held on 14th November 2003 at the Village Hall, Uplowman, starting at 8.35pm
Minutes taken by Mr R Hodgson, Clerk to Uplowman Parish Council
Action points in bold. 9 members of the Public were present
1 MEMBERS PRESENT
1.1 Mr J White (Chair), Mrs S Brown, Mr D Aggett & Mrs L Veen.
2 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
2.1 Had been received from Mr Burman (absent on business), Mr R Adcock and Mr R Branton (both absent for family reasons)
3 MINUTES OF LAST MEETING (14th September 2003)
3.1 Minutes of the meeting had been previously circulated. They were approved without amendment and signed as a true record by the Chair.
4 MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES
4.1 There were no matters arising from the minutes that would not be covered by the Agenda items.
5 FINANCES
5.1 Current Balance: £1420.04
Income since last meeting £55.00 (Repayment of planning fee for Hall)
5.2 The following payments were approved and cheques signed to effect the disbursement:
Clerk’s expenses: £1.74 plus Honorarium (£315.25)
Mr A Kidley, for grass cutting: £39
Repayment of planning fee to UHRA (£55.00)
UHRA, for half share of noticeboard (£45.98) and hire of room (£18.00)
District Audit fee (£58.75)
5.3 The Clerk reported that the Annual Audit had been completed; the auditor had not raised any concerns.
5.4 The Clerk would get specimen signatures from Mr Burman and Mrs Veen for operation of the account.
6 PLANNING/LICENSING APPLICATIONS
6.1 A proposal for a mobile home to be sited at Hr Reed Farm had been withdrawn.
6.2 Although proposals to construct new accommodation at the school had been reported in the Press, no planning application had yet been received.
7 CORRESPONDENCE
A list of correspondence received and sent had been circulated. The Clerk drew attention to the following items of interest that were not covered elsewhere:
7.1 DCC had advised that the Lengthsman would inspect the parish roads during February
7.2 DAPC and SLCC were arranging training under the Quality Councils schemes. No one present was able to attend.
7.3 MDALC had arranged a presentation on new planning legislation to be on 20th January.
7.4 MDDC had advised dates of local Forum meetings; the closest would be in Cullompton on 17th March.
8 HALL AND RECREATION ASSOCIATION
8.1 Mrs Veen reported that bookings remained good and the Hall was making an operating profit.
8.2 Following concerns raised over fireworks at the previous UPC meeting, Mrs Veen informed the meeting that neighbours to the Hall would be told in writing of any intended firework displays and these would be kept to times before 9.30pm.
9 EMERGENCY PLANNING AND NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH
9.1 The emergency planning lists had been updated and circulated.
9.2 Mr White had contacted Halberton Parish but had not received much detail about their Village Planning.
10 JUBILEE PROJECTS
10.1 Enquiries about ownership of the leat had revealed that both banks were owned by the riparian residents and therefore it might be difficult to arrange the legal aspects of any improvements the PC might propose.
10.2 The Church PCC were proposing to open a second access to the eastern side of the Churchyard and had enquired whether the UPC might contribute. No details were yet available. Mr Barlow (present on behalf of PCC and School Governors) said that he would keep UPC informed.
10.3 Work on the bus shelter had been completed and construction of the slabs around the noticeboard was in hand. It was agreed that the edge of the slabbing should be bevelled.
11 SEWERAGE
11.1 The Clerk had written to SWW to reassure them of UPC’s support for the project. A list of affected properties and owners had been sent to SWW. The next stage would be a visit by the scheme Contractor to give estimates of likely connection costs. These should be available during December, after which the Parish Council would arrange a meeting at which SWW could answer any public concerns that there might be. 30 Duty properties had applied for connection, making the scheme viable, and it was expected that work would start in late April or May.
12 CONDITION OF ROAD/TRANSPORT IN THE PARISH
12.1 Some more local patching of roads had been done recently.
12.2 DCC Highways were prepared to erect signs and the Clerk would write to discuss details.
12.3 It was reported that a large-sided vehicle had recently struck a house in Greengates, dislodging some tiles.
12.4 Following extensive concerns raised during Public Question time (see report below), it was agreed that UPC would initiate a review of the various issues pertaining to traffic passing through and stopping within the Parish. This would be led by the Chairman and would seek to arrive at community consensus on possible measures to mitigate parking and speeding issues.
13 DATE OF NEXT MEETING
The next meeting would be on Friday 16th January 2004 in the Hall, starting with questions from the Public at 7.30pm.
The meeting closed at 9.15pm
Matters raised by the Public before the meeting included:
- Recent reports had indicated that the school would be expanded which could give rise to even greater problems with parking outside the gates. Mr Barlow, Chair of the Governors, was in attendance and explained that new class-rooms were needed to fulfill National Curriculum requirements and that there was no intention to increase the School roll beyond its present maximum of 58 pupils.
- The issue of parking outside the school and around the Cross-roads was debated at length. It was agreed that this issue concerned everyone and should be considered in its own right. Mr Barlow assured the meeting that the Governors had supported a number of measures to reduce parking at the school; however, the School was advised by DCC that their responsibility ceased at the school gate. Other members of the Public made various suggestions for resolving this issue, including construction of additional parking at Green gates and transporting children from the Cross-roads by mini-bus. The Council resolved (Mins 12.4) to review the various issues, including parking at the Cross-roads, inappropriately sized goods vehicles and speeding at Widhayes and to propose appropriate community-based solutions.
- The slabs being erected at the noticeboard were welcomed as a considerable improvement.