September 2003
UPLOWMAN PARISH COUNCIL: MINUTES OF MEETING
Held on 12th September 2003 at the Village Hall, Uplowman, starting at 7.30pm
Minutes taken by Mr R Hodgson, Clerk to Uplowman Parish Council
Action points in bold. 2 members of the Public were present
1 MEMBERS PRESENT
1.1 Mr J White (Chair), Mrs S Brown, Mr R Adcock, Mr D Aggett & Mr R. Branton.
2 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
2.1 Had been received from Mr Burman (absent on business) and Mrs L Veen (absent for family reasons)
3 MINUTES OF LAST MEETING (3rd July 2003)
3.1 Minutes of the meeting had been circulated prior to the meeting. 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: £1424.78
Income since last meeting (Precept) Nil
5.2 The following payments were approved and cheques signed to effect the disbursement:
Clerk’s expenses: £5.74
Mr A Kidley, for grass cutting: £54
5.3 The Annual Audit was in progress but not yet completed.
5.4 Quotations had been received for repairs to the bus shelter and for paving the area by the noticeboard from one of the three contractors contacted. This quotation was for £214 and £485 resp. The other contractors were not interested to do small works such as these. It was agreed that these quotes were reasonable; the other contractors would be reminded and if no further quotes were forthcoming, the council would instruct the contractor, Mr J Veen, to proceed.
5.5 The Clerk would get specimen signatures from Mr Burman and Mrs Veen for operation of the account.
5.6 The MDDC would be informed that Uplowman PC intended to make a grant of £300 towards the upkeep of the Churchyard in the current year.
5.7 MDDC had returned the planning fee in respect of relocation of the Hall entrance. UHRA had decided not to pursue this at present. A repayment to UHRA of £55 would be made later.
6 PLANNING/LICENSING APPLICATIONS
6.1 Crosses Farm: Erection of 3 dwellings: Planning permission had been granted by MDDC
6.2 Uplowman Hall, Applications for Re-siting Play Area: Application had been approved
6.3 Grasshoppers: erection of conservatory. UPC had not objected.
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 Wickstead’s Guide to the Disability Discrimination Act was passed the UHRA for information.
7.2 DCC informed the PC that School governing bodies were being reformed and the automatic PC appointment would no longer exist.
7.3 Defra had set up a Rural Services Standard website.
7.4 There had been complaints that fireworks let off after parties were disturbing livestock around the Hall. Cllr Adcock said it would be discussed by UHRA.
8 HALL AND RECREATION ASSOCIATION
8.1 UPC’s noticeboard had been erected. Clerk would arrange to install the filing cabinet in the Hall.
9 EMERGENCY PLANNING AND NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH
9.1 The Clerk had started updating the emergency planning lists.
9.2 Mr White would telephone Halberton PC to find out how they had organised their Village Plan.
9.3 The display at the Uplowman Show had attracted 13 responses on the day. This was disappointing but most visitors had been active elsewhere.
10 JUBILEE PROJECTS
10.1 Mr Adcock reported that the PCC would illuminate the Church for 2hrs each night.
10.2 Mr Burman was still drawing up a plan for improving the area beside the leat, to the north of the Cross.
10.4 Mr White had asked MDDC about cutting the grass at the Cross-roads. They were happy for UPC to do it but could not provide funding. It was agreed that the UPC would ask Mr Kidley to cut both sides of the Cross from the coming Spring.
11 SEWERAGE
11.1 Mr White had heard from SWW’s engineers that construction would now not start until the spring. The land purchase was not yet completed. The work would all be covered under a single planning application and streetworks licence to save money for those who would connect up, provided that the connections were made at the time of construction of the scheme. The Clerk would write to SWW to reassure them that the PC remained keen to get the work completed. When SWW had provided more details of their programme, UPC would arrange a public meeting so that all those involved could hear the details at first hand.
12 CONDITION OF ROAD/TRANSPORT IN THE PARISH
12.1 Some more local patching of roads had been done recently.
12.2 Parking on the Cross-roads corners had led to complaints. The proposals at the leat might increase the space available for parking. All suggestions would be welcomed and should be forwarded to Mr Burman.
12.3 DCC had offered to put warning signs at Widhayes.
13 DATE OF NEXT MEETING
The next meeting would be on Friday 14th November in the Hall, starting with questions from the Public at 7.30pm.
The meeting closed at 9.05pm
Matters raised by the Public before the meeting included:
- Paving was needed at the new noticeboard to avoid slipping when examining notices. The Chair said that this would be arranged togetether with repairs to the bus shelter;
- Traffic calming was needed outside Widhayes cottages. Accidents had occurred between vehicles exiting from the lane there and others travelling fast along the main road into Uplowman. The Chair would discuss options for signs, etc. with DCC and the Clerk would put a note in the Parish Magazine.