November 2006
MINUTES OF MEETING
Held on 3rd November 2006 at the Village Hall, Uplowman, starting at 8.22pm
Minutes taken by Mr R Hodgson, Clerk. Action points in bold.
Nine members of the public plus DCC Cllr D Hannon were present. PC M Dodd attended later to report on policing issues.
- MEMBERS PRESENT
1.1 Present: Mr J White (Chair), Mr R Branton, Mr R Burman, Mr D Aggett, Mrs L Veen, Mr Adcock and Mrs S Brown.
- APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
2.1 All councillors were present.
- MINUTES OF LAST MEETING (8th September 2006)
3.1 Minutes of the previous Parish Council meeting held on 8th September 2006 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: £ 8065.42
Income since last meeting £ Nil
5.2 The following payments were approved and cheques signed to effect the disbursement:
RLP Hodgson for Clerk’s Honorarium & expenses (£370.00 + £4.86)
Audit Commission, for Annual Audit (£58.75)
5.3 It was decided to provide a grant of £300.00 to the Parochial Church Council for maintenance of the Churchyard; this would remain the same as in 2005/6. Mr White would ask the PCC if this should be increased in future years.
- PLANNING/LICENSING APPLICATIONS
6.1 06/1755/F: Hr Reed: variation to allow 2 mob homes. MDDC had approved this application.
6.2 06/01989/F: Wood Barton: removal of Agricultural tie: UPC had not supported this application.
6.3 06/1637/F: Crosses Fm Plot 1: Revisions. MDDC had approved.
6.4 06/1234/F: Locks Fm: Holiday Unit & Divert Footpath. MDDC decision was still awaited
6.5 06/1726/F: Acer House car port: MDDC had approved
6.6 06/1704/F: Land N of Greengate: erection of chalet. MDDC had refused this application.
6.7 Options for improving accessibility of MDDC Planning Officers. It was becoming increasingly difficult to contact MDDC officers. The Clerk would draft a letter to enquire why.
- 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 request had been received to help with funding the ring and ride mini bus. It was agreed that this should be considered with the new budget in January.
- HALL AND RECREATION ASSOCIATION
8.1 Mrs Veen provided the latest draft of the plans for the bridge over the leat. She said that the Plannig Dept had held up progress for 3 months.
8.2 Hall business continued to be good. Income remained a steady £700 to £1,000 per month. It had been agreed to send minutes of meetings to the Clerk in future.
- EMERGENCY PLANNING AND NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH
9.1 PC Dodd understood that PC Gill had not received the invitation to this meeting sent by the Clerk.
9.2 PC Dodd informed the meeting that Neighbourhood Watch coordinators were being recruited and that two Community Support Officers were due to start on the beat in mid December. He reassured councillors that all crimes are investigated but, due to the requirements of the Data Protection Act, he could not comment specifically on the two burglaries about which councillors had enquired.
- VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS
10.1 Cllr Aggett said that a recent bequest would pay for the new gates at the Church and suggested that other items, such as reconstructed pillars, might form an appropriate project. Mr White would investigate.
10.2 Plans for the proposed bridge were provided to the Clerk.
10.3 Further meetings at the School had proposed a new path to link the school with the main raod near Jaspers’ Green. Parking for 16 cars could be created here and it was agreed that UPC would investigate ways of raising £10,000 towards this work, being 50% of the expected total cost. Following from this, it was agreed that links between the PC and the School had weakened recently. Mrs Brown, as a School Governor, volunteered to provide reports on school activities to the PC meetings.
10.4 WPD had written to say that they were pursuing their plan and that the prospects were promising, if not imminent.
10.5 Mrs Brown suggested that a cycle rack at the Hall would help to encourage youngsters to cycle. The suggestion would be considered by a future meeting.
10.6 The village survey would definitely be sorted out in January.
- CONDITION OF ROAD/TRANSPORT IN THE PARISH
11.1 It was noted that parking at the Cross Roads had not been problematic of late. Parking at the school had been dealt with under 10 above.
11.2 The footpath between the Church and the School was becoming slippery. Mr White and the Clerk had both been in touch with the DCC Footpath Officer, who was looking into it.
- DATE OF NEXT MEETING
The next meeting would be at 7.30pm on Friday 12th January 2007. Future meetings had now been arranged for 9th March 2007 and 11th May 2007.
The meeting closed at 9.45pm
Public discussion before meeting
Discussion centred around the proposed footpath between the school and the road. Mr White explained the scheme (see 10.3). Concerns were raised that trees might have to be felled and that there may be security issues in the dark. There were worries that the short lease offered by the Land owner on part of the route might hold the scheme to ransom.
Mr White and Mr Hannon both said that all options had been explored and that this path offered the most attractive solution. Plannig approval was not needed and the aim was to complete it in 2007. In response to a request from Mr Aggett, Mr White said that a full consultation of the village would be held.
The question was raised: why was further planning permission needed for the proposed bridge at the Hall when this had been part of the original application? Mr White said that consultations with the EA, Highways and Building control were still needed.