May 2004
UPLOWMAN PARISH COUNCIL: MINUTES OF ANNUAL MEETING
Held on 6th May 2004 at the Village Hall, Uplowman, starting at 8.00pm
Minutes taken by Mr R Hodgson, Clerk to Uplowman Parish Council. Action points in bold.
The AGM was preceded by the Annual Parish Meeting, minuted on p. 69. 9 members of the Parish were present.
1. MEMBERS PRESENT
1.1 - Mr J White (Chair), Mr D Aggett , Mr R Adcock, Mr R Burman, Mr R Branton & Mrs L Veen.
1.2 - Mr J White was reelected unopposed as Chairman of the Council for the year 2003-4. Mr Burman was reelected as Vice Chair for the year.
2. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
2.1 Mrs S Brown had sent apologies for absence due to a prior engagement.
3. MINUTES OF LAST MEETING (19th March 2004)
3.1 Minutes of the meeting had been previously circulated. As a matter of clarification, Licensing applications (item 6.3) had referred to applications by the Hall committee for renewal of their entertainments licence and to an application for change of the Landlord at the Redwoods Inn. Both applications had been approved. The minutes were approved and signed with this clarification.
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: £2569.61
Income since last meeting £2357.00 (Precept, less DAPC suscription)
5.2 The following payments were approved and cheques signed to effect the disbursements:
Clerk's expenses (£5.67) and honorarium Nov 2003-Apr 2004 (£315.24)
MDDC for election expenses, 2003 (£40.85)
Allianz-Cornhill for annual insurance (£260.91)
5.3 Annual Accounts & Statement of Assurance: The Clerk had prepared the Statement of Accounts for the Annual Audit which would be carried out on 28th June, before the next scheduled meeting of the PC. The draft Accounts and the Statement of Assurance had been circulated with the meeting Agenda for consideration by Members. After brief discussion, these were both approved by the Council and were signed by the Chair. The Receipts and Payments Book was also approved and signed by the Chair and the Clerk. The Clerk informed members that Mr R Clark had again offered to act as Internal Auditor. The Internal Audit would be completed by 28th May to allow 4 weeks for Parishioners to exercise their rights to inspect the accounts.
5.4 After discussion, it was resolved that the Clerk's remuneration should be increased to £700 per annum, payable by 6-monthly installment in arrears, on presentation of an invoice. This would be in line with recommended national rates and would be reviewed in 2005.
6. PLANNING/LICENSING APPLICATIONS
6.1 Crosswinds: erection of double garage: MDDC had approved this.
6.2 Coleshill Cottage: erection of conservatory: MDDC had approved this.
6.3 Uplowman School extension: UPC had approved in principle with comments on visual and dimensional aspects. There would be further discussions between DCC, School Governors and neighbouring residents.
6.4 St Peter's Church: new gateway: Was discussed at the meeting and approved.
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 Devon Playing Fields Assn had circulated a questionnaire about playing fields. The UHRA would deal with this.
7.2 The Clerk had applied to join a Clerk's training session at Tiverton on 19th May.
7.3 There would be European elections on 10th June. Posters were now on the noticeboard.
8. HALL AND RECREATION ASSOCIATION
8.1 Bookings were still going well. There was discussion about the brightness of the entrance lighting; Mrs Veen informed Members that these conformed with the requirements of MDDC Planning Dept.
9. EMERGENCY PLANNING AND NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH
9.1 Emergency Planning was on hold while work on the First Time Sewerage Scheme proceeded.The Clerk informed the meeting that there had been considerable interest across the country in the process used by Uplowman in engaging resident in the development of its emergency plan. The School of Disaster Management at Coventry University planned to study this in due course.
9.2 Neighbourhood Watch had heard of two men impersonating SWW employees to gain access to homes in Tiverton. Everyone should be on guard, particularly since there was a possible link with the sewerage construction. Joy-riding had again become a problem in the Whitnage area and all instances should be reported to the police. A white Vauxhall Cavalier, a red Fiesta and a grey Fiat Tipo seemed to be involved.
10. JUBILEE PROJECTS
10.1 Consideration of improvements to the leat would be made once the sewerage work was done.
11. SEWERAGE
11.1 There was a two week delay on the previous plan. Work would now start on 17th May with the programme of road closures starting with the Church to Crossways section on 24th May. Dean & Dyball's site Agent was helpful and would do what he could to minimise disruption. Mr White said that if any residents had concerns then they could get in touch with the Parish Council who would be in regular contact with the site managers. Updates on the road closures would be posted on the Notice Board.
12. CONDITION OF ROAD/TRANSPORT IN THE PARISH
12.1 The Tiverton Road surface was deteriorating again. The Parish Lengthsman had been informed that a bollard at Greengates had been knocked over.
12.2 SW Highways had reinstated the ditch beside Uplowman Court and had installed a pipe. The Clerk would write to seek confirmation that the work would satisfy SWW's assumptions regarding the use of the ditch as a flood relief overflow.
13. DATE OF NEXT MEETING
The next meeting would be on Thursday 8th July 2004 in the Hall, starting with questions from the Public at 7.30pm. Future dates had been booked as follows: 2nd September and 4th November 2004, 6th January, 3rd March and 5th May 2005 (all Thursdays).
The meeting closed at 9.00pm
ANNUAL PARISH MEETING, held at the Village Hall on 6th May 2004, starting at 7.30pm:
16 were present, including councillors and the Clerk.
The Chairman presented his Annual Report on PC activities, as follows:
* - The visual attractions of the village had been improved by the paving of the noticeboard, repairs to the bus shelter and by more frequent grass-cutting. The Church floodlighting had been completed and inaugurated;
* - The PC had maintained public awareness of its activities through regular contributions to the Parish magazine and by helping to fund an additional noticeboard in the Hall;
* - A lot of time had been put to essential negotiations and consultations regarding the First Time Sewerage. This at last seemed to be coming to fruition. The business acumen of the Vice-Chair and the engineering expertise of the Clerk had contributed greatly to the successful result.
* - It had been necessary to increase the Precept for the first time in 3 years due to ever increasing costs and to the undertaking of the village improvements such as the grass-cutting. The Councillors had decided not to award themselves attendance allowances, however.
* - A start had been made on reviewing the challenges of traffic management in the village.
* - Activities planned for the coming year, 2004-5, would include
* - Completion of the sewerage scheme
* - Tidying the borders of the leat
* - Getting to grips with traffic issues
* - Updating the Emergency Plan and working towards Quality Parish Status
In Summary, the Chairman said that Uplowman enjoyed a strong and active Parish Council with a good mix of skills that would ensure that the views of the village would be heard where it mattered. He thanked the other Members and the public for their support.
There was some discussion about the details of the sewerage scheme. The Annual Parish Meeting concluded at 8pm.