May 2006
MINUTES OF ANNUAL MEETING
Held on 19th May 2006 at the Village Hall, Uplowman, starting at 8.00pm
Minutes taken by Mr R Hodgson, Clerk. Action points in bold.
One member of the public plus DCC Cllr D Hannon, MDDC Chair Cllr D Pugsley and PC M Dodd (part)
- MEMBERS PRESENT and ELECTION OF OFFICERS
1.1 Present: Mr J White (Chair), Mr R Branton, Mr R Burman & Mrs L Veen .
1.2 Mr J White was re-elected by unanimous acclaim as Chair for the coming year.
1.3 Mr R Burman was re-elected unanimously as Vice Chair for the coming year.
- APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
2.1 Mr R Adcock and Mr D Aggett had tendered apologies.
- MINUTES OF LAST MEETING (10th March 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 All matters would be covered under the Agenda
- FINANCES
5.1 Current Balance: £ 8859.29
Income since last meeting (Precept, less DAPC sub) £ 1951.00
Nb. Balance in previous minutes in error; allowance for £300 payment to UPPC not included
5.2 The following payments were approved and cheques signed to effect the disbursements:
Clerk’s Honorarium (£360) and expenses (£6.60)
Community First, for Annual Insurance Premium (£238.89)
Mrs L Veen (expenses for Annual Meeting (£4.83)
R J Tancock, for grass-cutting (£24.00)
5.3 The Clerk informed the meeting that the Annual Audit would be on 3rd July and that the exercise of Electors rights to examine the accounts would occur between 5th June and that date. The notices had been posted. Draft summary accounts had been circulated and the meeting agreed unanimously that the Statement of Accounts and Assurance accurately reflected the council’s business. These statements, plus the cash book, were signed by the Chair following the vote of approval.
5.4 Mr R Clark had again offered his services as Internal Auditor; his appointment was approved and the thanks of the meeting expressed for this and past similar services.
5.5 After a review of the Clerk’s honorarium, it was agreed to increase this in line with inflation, from £720 p.a. to £740p.a. for the coming year 2006/7.
- PLANNING/LICENSING APPLICATIONS
6.1 05/02458/F: Hr Reed Farm: siting of Mobile Home: UPC no objection; MDDC still awaited
6.2 06/00393/F: 2 Staplegate Cott: extension/stables. Had been approved by MDDC
6.3 06/0415/LBC: Middle Coombe, restoration of barn. Had been approved by MDDC
6.4 Uplowman School : Application to replace windows with galvanised frames. Discussed at the meeting: all present approved the proposals as more in keeping with the character of the building than the present UPVC ones.
6.5 06/0632/F North Leat extension. UPC suggested height reduction. MDDC still awaited.
6.6 06/0723/F Tamarin Erection of new conservatory. Had been approved by MDDC
6.7 06/0690 F Locks Fm conversion of barn: UPC no objection. Decision by MDDC awaited
6.8 Use of ‘The Stables’, Tiverton Rd. UPC had been requested by a neighbour to write to MDDC to request inspection. MDDC had determined that current use of this site was apparently outside of permitted usage.
6.9 A reply to Mr Guscott re. Consideration of UPC policy in planning matters had been drafted and was approved with some modifications. The Clerk would send this.
6.10 Dealing with Planning matters: The Clerk was delegated as the UPC Planning Officer to deal with planning issues with the support of such ad-hoc committees as would be appropriate.
- 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 A guidance note from MDDC Standards Committee had been circulated to assist councillors in defining their friends. It seemed that for many councillors this definition might include most of the village, which could make conduct of council business difficult. Members should consider each situation in the light of the tests suggested in deciding whether a declaration of interest was required.
- HALL AND RECREATION ASSOCIATION
8.1 Hall activities continued to go well.
8.2 The vehicular access was being strengthened and plans had been drafted for the pedestrian bridge.
- EMERGENCY PLANNING AND NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH
9.1 Cllr Aggett had attended the Police Liaison meeting and had sent a report. He had raised the issue of police reports on progress of crimes in the village and it had seemed that the Inspector had been surprised to hear that 9% of village houses had been affected by crime in the past year. The Neighbourhood Watch alert system had not been functioning properly since the New Year. It was agreed that UPC would write with its concerns to the Chief Constable and to the Police Authority.
- VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS
10.1 The replacement of the church gates was suggested as a possible project and would be considered at a future meeting.
10.2 It was agreed that UPC would write personal letters to thank residents who had contributed significantly to life in the parish over the past year. This might be done annually to, perhaps, three recipients.
- CONDITION OF ROAD/TRANSPORT IN THE PARISH
11.1 Some repairs had been made and ditches cleared but the roads in the parish were reported to be in a generally poor condition. Holes remained outside Jasper Green and opposite Twin Oaks.
- DATE OF NEXT MEETING
The next meeting would be at 7.30pm on Friday July 14th 2006. The subsequent meeting would be on 8th September and the Clerk would liaise with Mrs Veen to arrange further dates.
The meeting closed at 9.40pm
Annual Parish Meeting: Chair’s Report and Minutes
The meeting started at 7.30pm.
Present: J White (Chair), R Burman, L Veen, R Branton, R Hodgson, M Aspray, D Pugsley, M Dodd, D Hannon.
Chairman John White presented a report on Parish Council activities over the past year.
- The parking situation assisted by the erection of signs around the cross-roads. The school has now increased its walking bus to 2 days a week, which help ameliorate the parking issues at Green gates but more work is needed there. The council was very grateful to Cllr Des Hannon for his hard work in getting the new school buildings passed and included in the coming year's budget.
- The Council had a surprise success in getting £5,000 from Awards for All for the planned pedestrian access to the Hall. Including £500 from the parish council, about 1/3rd of the money needed for the Hall car park was in hand and more was actively being sought from two sources in Mid Devon.
- The leat improvements had improved the looks of the village and a possible future scheme could be to put a similar fence beside the leat on the southern side of the cross roads. A new grass-cutting contractor had started work and the results had been admired.
- Mr White thanked all the councillors for their dedication, hard work and support. Particular thanks were due to our district and county councillors, Ray Radford and Des Hannon, respectively. He said that the council's aim was to deliver what the parishioners of Uplowman wanted, so please would the public keep their suggestions coming!
PC Dodd’s Police/crime report: One offence, the theft of an old tractor, had been reported in the past 2 months. It was not part of a pattern and was accorded a low priority. 2 children from Uplowman were undergoing cycle training. Uffculme’s residential year 7 trip was going ahead.
Cllr Pugsley explained that he had been elected Chair of MDDC for the coming year. His function was to represent the DC around the district at fetes,receptions and other functions. The Annual Church service would be on 25 June.
Cllr Hannon informed the meeting that the new school building was definitely planned to take place during the coming summer holiday. The go-ahead was still awaiting a signature, which, he hoped, would have been done that day. He said that the support of the PC had been helpful in keeping everyone in County Hall aware of the issues and importance of this scheme to the village.