March 2006
MINUTES OF MEETING
Held on 10th March 2006 at the Village Hall, Uplowman, starting at 7.40pm
Minutes taken by Mr R Hodgson, Clerk. Action points in bold.
1 member of the public was present plus DCC Cllrs D Hannon and R Radford and PC M Dodd (part)
- MEMBERS PRESENT
1.1 Mr J White (Chair), Mrs S Brown, Mr R Branton, Mr R Adcock, Mr D Aggett, Mr R Burman & Mrs L Veen .
- APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
2.1 None received, all were present
- MINUTES OF LAST MEETING (13th January 2006)
3.1 Minutes of the meeting had been previously circulated. They were signed as a true record of the meeting without amendment.
- MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES
4.1 Cllr Hannon noted that DCC were to decide soon on whether the plans for Uplowman School would be funded. He commented that UPC support had been helpful in prioritising the needs of the school. The Chair expressed the grattitude of Uplowman Parish Council to Cllr Hannon for all his considerable work on behalf of the school.
- FINANCES
5.1 Current Balance: £ 7216.09
Income since last meeting (Awards for All grant) £ 5000.00
5.2 The following payments were approved and cheques signed to effect the disbursements:
Clerk’s expenses (£7.80)
The DAPC subscription (£49) would be deducted from the Precept by MDDC, as agreed at the previous meeting.
5.3 It was noted that UPC had successfully applied to the National Lottery Awards for All for a £5,000 grant towards the cost of a footbridge and access to the Hall car park. This money must be spent by January 2007. Further discussion is noted under item 10.2.
- PLANNING/LICENSING APPLICATIONS
6.1 05/02462/F:Crosses Fm: Erect Conservatory & extension of residential curtilage. This application had been approved. The Clerk had sought and received an explanation from the Head of Planning of why this decision had been made contrary to MDDC and UPC policy. It was agreed to consider this matter further to ensure that in future UPCs views would be taken into account satisfactorily.
6.2 05/02458/F: Hr Reed Farm: siting of Mobile Home: UPC no objection; MDDC awaited
6.3 06/00393/F: 2 Staplegate Cott: extension/stables would be considered
6.4 06/0415/LBC: Middle Coombe, restoration of barn would be considered
6.5 Uplowman School Revised plans had been approved by DCC.
6.6 Putson Cross Mobile Homes: The Clerk had enquired and been informed that compliance would be required by Aug 3rd, the anniversary of the failed appeal.
- 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:
7.1 MDDC had written outlining protocols for celebrating HM the Queen’s forthcoming 80th birthday, which should be kept low-key.
7.2 DAPC’s IT survey of councils/ors was completed; the Clerk would return it.
7.3 The next Police Liaison meeting would be in Uplowman Hall on 22 March. Cllr Aggett was deputed to attend and ask for (a) heightened physical presence in the village, and (b) feedback on crimes in the area.
7.4 Exe Valley MCTI had sent a questionnaire, which was completed at the meeting for subsequent return by the Clerk.
7.5 Community Council of Devon had sent a questionnaire relating to Village Planning. It was agreed that Uplowman PC had no current intention of undertaking such a Plan, since the meetings were designed to encourage participation. The MCTI did not appear to represent the aspirations of Uplowman. The Clerk would complete the questionnaire.
- HALL AND RECREATION ASSOCIATION
8.1 Hall activities continued to go well.
8.2 The access bridge had been discussed and plans were being drawn up. Urgent attention was needed to the vehicle access as the pipe was not structurally sufficient for the traffic passing over it. A ‘cunning plan’ had been drawn up.
- EMERGENCY PLANNING AND NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH
9.1 There had been no progress n issuing the emergency plan.
9.2 PC Dodd had reported earlier that there had been no crimes recorded in Uplowman since the previous meeting.
- VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS
10.1 Leat maintenance: The daffodil bulbs were starting to appear.
10.2 Awards for All grant: Discussion had been held with UHRA who would seek quotes for the proposed footbridge, railing and lighting. Any remaining funds would be put towards surfacing of the carpark. The Clerk would resubmit an application for funds to the MDDC small grants scheme.
- CONDITION OF ROAD/TRANSPORT IN THE PARISH
11.1 The roads in the parish were reported to be in a generally poor condition. Holes had appeared outside Jasper Green, opposite Twin Oaks and at Stagg Mill.
- DATE OF NEXT MEETING
The next meeting would be at 7.30pm on Friday May 19th 2006. This would be the PC Annual Meeting and would, as previously, be combined with the Annual Parish Meeting. Subsequent meetings would be on July 14th and 8th September.
The meeting closed at 9.20pm
Matters raised by the Public: There had been none.
PC Dodd’s crime report: There had been no crime reported in Uplowman Parish since the January meeting.
Support was still sought for the proposed Dartmoor breakaway group for local youths.