September 2006
MINUTES OF MEETING
Held on 8th September 2006 at the Village Hall, Uplowman, starting at 7.50pm
Minutes taken by Mr R Hodgson, Clerk. Action points in bold.
Two members of the public plus DCC Cllr D Hannon were present.
- 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 (14th July 2006)
3.1 Minutes of the previous Parish Council meeting held on 14th July 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: £ 8152.97
Income since last meeting (Precept, less DAPC sub) £ Nil
5.2 The following payments were approved and cheques signed to effect the disbursement:
RLP Hodgson for Clerk’s expenses (£9.55)
R J Tancock, for grass-cutting (£60.00)
UHRA, for hire of Hall (£18.00)
5.3 The Clerk informed the meeting that the District Audit office had now completed the Annual Audit. There were no matters to be drawn to the attention of the Councillors and the completed form was being displayed on the Parish Noticeboard as required.
- PLANNING/LICENSING APPLICATIONS
6.1 06/01755/F: Hr Reed Farm: Variation of permission to allow siting of 2 homes: UPC had no objection
6.2 06/1637/F: Crosses Fm Plot 1: Revisions. UPC had no Objection
6.3 06/1234/F: Locks Fm: Holiday Unit & Divert Footpath. UPC had no objection
6.4 06/1726/F: Acer House car port: UPC had no objection
6.5 06/01151/F: Broadview House extension. MDDC had Approved
6.6 06/1704/F: Land N of Greengate: erection of chalet. UPC had no objection
6.7 06/1344/F: The Meadow: Garage extension: UPC No Objection, MDDC had approved
6.8 Consultation on planning guide. This was discussed and noted. The councillors felt that the most important issue was to reconfirm the role of local democracy in decisions regarding the local environment.
- 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 Parish Council Guide to Local Environmental Quality: Had been received from EnCams, dealing with laws on fly-tipping and dog fouling, etc.
7.2 Local Development Consultation: Mr Burman felt that the PC was receiving excessive numbers of consultative documents, many of which were asking for similar information. The cost to the public purse must outweigh the benefits and there must be more effective ways of gathering information/developing participation. The Clerk was asked to write to Mrs Browning MP to raise the issue and seek assistance in reducing the unnecessary paperwork.
7.3 Consultation on Gambling Act 2005: there were no comments.
7.4 MDDC Chairmans Receptions: Cllrs White and Burman would be available. Cllr White took the details.
- HALL AND RECREATION ASSOCIATION
8.1 No details were yet available of the proposed bridge across the leat. Mrs Veen informed the PC that this would be discussed at the next meeting on 12 Sept and that UHRA would be in contact after that.
8.2 Hall business continued to be good. The entrance had now been concreted, which reduced the spillage of gravel onto the road.
- EMERGENCY PLANNING AND NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH
9.1 Replies had been received from various police officers relating to local policing issues. The Clerk was asked to invite PC Gill to the next meeting in November to explain the new arrangements for Community Support Officers.
9.2 Neighbourhood Watch had circulated a warning about bogus knife sharpeners, which Cllr White had put on the board. It was noted that not all such sharpeners were fraudsters.
- VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS
10.1 Cllr Aggett had not yet talked with the PCC regarding the choice of replacement church gates
10.2 Information was still awaited from UHRA regarding whether planning approval was needed, since this had been part of the original planning application.
10.3 A meeting at the school in July had helped to ease the challenges of the construction work that was now under way and expected to complete in December.
10.4 There had been no news from Western Power regarding the electrical distribution. The Clerk would write to seek information.
10.4 The consultation on UPC direction would be finalised in November. This would provide the basis for the activities of the new council to be elected in May 2007. Cllr White informed the council that he would be stepping down as Chairman and councillor. All councillors should consider how the succession might be arranged. It was agreed provisionally to hold a special meeting on October 13th to discuss this, if needed.
- CONDITION OF ROAD/TRANSPORT IN THE PARISH
11.1 The DCC Local Services Group was being amalgamated with the Exeter Group. It was not clear how that would affect UPC’s good relations with Mr W Pike, who had been very helpful over the years.
11.2 Visibility at Post Hill turning: The DCC Local Services Group had written to all householders in Uplowman Road but it was not clear whether they had addressed the specific issue of the overhanging trees in Post Hill.
11.3 The meeting held in July had been positive in bringing together all those concerned with parking at the school. A number of mitigating options were being investigated and would be discussed at a forthcoming meeting. The possibilities of a dedicated footpath for the school and of extending the walking bus scheme seemed promising.
11.4 Improvements to the footpath between the church and the school were benign discussed with the DCC footpaths officer.
11.5 It was noted that parking at the Cross Roads had not been problematic of late.
- DATE OF NEXT MEETING
The next meeting would be at 7.30pm on Friday 3rd November. Future meetings had now been arranged for 12th January 2007, 9th March 2007 and 11th May 2007.
The meeting closed at 9.30pm
Public discussion before meeting
Discussion centred around building work and parking at the school. Queries from the floor were generally answered by Cllr Hannon.
- There had been relatively little major building work until the last couple of weeks. There had been one or two hold-ups at around 8.30 in the mornings but ROK were working to resolve these problems. Deliveries had generally been on small trucks (7.5T).
- Completion was expected by Christmas.
- Meetings had been arranged with the PTFA/parents on 21st Sept and with the wider stakeholder group on 29th September to report on the enquiries made regarding general traffic improvements.