November 2004
UPLOWMAN PARISH COUNCIL: DRAFT MINUTES OF MEETING
Held on 4th November 2004 at the Village Hall, Uplowman, starting at 8.50pm
Minutes taken by Mr R Hodgson, Clerk to Uplowman Parish Council. Action points in bold.
12 members of the public were present plus Cllr D Pugsley (Leader MDDC), Cllr R Radford, (DCC & MDDC), Cllr D Thomas (MDDC), Mr M Aspray, (Clerk, Sampford Peverell PC), PC Dodd, (community PC)
1. MEMBERS PRESENT
1.1 Mr J White (Chair), Mr D Aggett , Mr R Burman, Mr R Branton, Mr R Adcock & Mrs S Brown.
2. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
2.1 Had been received from Mrs L Veen, who was ill.
3. MINUTES OF LAST MEETING (2nd September 2004)
3.1 Minutes of the meeting had been previously circulated. The minutes were approved without amendment and signed by the Chair.
4. MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES
4.1 MDDC had been informed of the proposed grant to the PCC for church yard maintenance.
5. FINANCES
5.1 Current Balance: £1840.38
Income since last meeting (VAT reclaim) £ 179.56
5.2 The following payments were approved and cheques signed to effect the disbursements:
Clerk's honorarium (£350) plus expenses (£15.89)
Audit Commission (fee for annual Audit, £58.75)
5.3 It was agreed that costs not exceeding £150 could be incurred in obtaining and planting a suitable tree on the playing field (item 10.2)
6. PLANNING/LICENSING APPLICATIONS
6.1 Uplowman School extension: Mr White understood that the plans for the school extension had been shelved until 2005/6 due to the requirements of English Heritage.
6.2 Spalsbury Farm: Listed Building Consent for internal alterations. Would be considered by a planning subgroup on the following Saturday.
6.3 The draft procedure to be followed by UPC in dealing with planning applications was discussed. With the modification that references to 'Mid Devon District Council' should be replaced with 'Local Planning Authority', the procedure was agreed.
6.4 MDDC had advised that their Planning Services were now up to strength and had provided a list of the Officers and their designations.
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 The SW Regional Assembly had issued a Spatial Strategy Consultation.
7.2 MDDC had written regarding procurement of Grounds Maintenance. It was agreed to inform MDDC that UPC would be willing to take on grass-cutting around the village on receipt of the appropriate funds. The Clerk would write accordingly.
7.3 The Office of the DPM had written with information about the new Ethical Framework Regs.
7.4 DCC's news round up was now sent by email. The Clerk enquired whether councillors would like to receive this but responses were negative.
7.5 DCC had proposed a new Charter for governing relationships between DCC and parish councils.
8. HALL AND RECREATION ASSOCIATION
8.1 Acoustic deadening had been installed to reduce echoes. The connection tot he new sewer was now made and both these would bring benefits. Lettings were still good.
9. EMERGENCY PLANNING AND NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH
9.1 Mr Brown (MDDC Emergency Planning Officer) had provided a useful overview of MDDC planning activities for which he was thanked warmly by Mr White.
9.2 The Emergency plan would be revised during the winter. The Clerk would welcome suggestions.
9.3 PC Dodd reported that there had been no crimes notified in Uplowman since September.
10. VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS
10.1 The recent public consultation had drawn 46 responses to the 130 questionnaires sent out (one to each household in the parish). Of these, 13 favoured piping the leat, 29 preferred to maintain the present leat with visual enhancement and 4 were undecided. There was discussion and the Chair and Clerk agreed to investigate with MDDC and DCC the resources needed for enhancing the leat (Option 2 on the questionnaire). Mr Burman considered that it might be necessary for the Parish Council to consider assisting with keeping the leat free of weeds.
10.2 Mr Burman had investigated the provision of a tree at the playing field. A 15' oak tree (8" girth) would cost just under £150 including planting. It was agreed to authorise the purchase of such a tree, which would be planted under the direction of Mr Adcock.
10.3 Cllr Lee had requested the names of people who contribute to the community for recognition by MDDC. Some names had been proposed and the Clerk would write to MDDC.
11. SEWERAGE
11.1 A few construction items remained outstanding, including planting the shrub screen around the works. Most of the 'duty' properties were now connected.
12. CONDITION OF ROAD/TRANSPORT IN THE PARISH
12.1 Parking around the cross ways was discussed. It was agreed that most people would not want yellow lines. PC Dodd said that it would be expensive and time-consuming to arrange these anyway and that polite notices might be better. It was agreed that the PC would set up polite 'no parking' notices on the south west corner and near the telephone kiosk. DCC would be asked to erect a sign advising 'unsuitable for long vehicles' on the Greengates road.
13. DATE OF NEXT MEETING
The next meeting would be at 7.30pm on Thursday 6th January, with subsequent meetings on 3rd March and 5th May 2005 (all Thursdays).
The meeting closed at 9.40pm
Notes on Public Meeting starting at 7.30pm
1. Mr P Brown, MDDC Emergency Planning Officer: The organisational structure of the MDDC emergency planning team had not changed since Mr Brown last visited 5 years previously. However, the Civil Contingencies Bill was about to be passed, to be implemented from Nov 2005. This contains three categories of response relating to Human Welfare, the Environment, and Security. The Shire Counties have duties under the first category while the second category places duties on the statutory utilities.
Funding for Emergency Planning was being increased from £19m to £40m, still a drop in the ocean. As yet, the contributions made by Parish Councils (such as at Boscastle) remain outside the provisions of the new Bill. New Regional Resilence Forums have been established - these deal with preparation and have no role in response. When a crisis decvelops, a regional response committee will be established to deal with it.
In an emergency, the role of the Parish will be to support the higher tiers of response and to ensure that those who need assistance get it.
2. Cllr Pugsleyhad circulated copies of his 'State of the District' debate and questionnaire. This had been discussed by public meetings in three locations in the District, most recently the previous night in Burlescombe. He explained that a 'Corporate Plan' was being drawn up for MDDC and that the debate would feed into the plan. He defended the new flat-rate allowances for councillors which left them free to work on behalf of their electorate instead of calculating the longest meetings that would give the best attendance allowance.
The parks department was renegotiating grass-cutting and other maintenance contracts. MDDC would be happy to hear from PCs that would like to undertake this work themselves.
Phoenix House had not resulted in as many job reductions as hoped. Unfortunately, it was proving difficult to find a new use for the Town Hall because of access limitations and Heritage restrictions.
3. In response to a question, Mr White would ask the PCC when work would start on the new gateway into the churchyard. .