July 2007
MINUTES OF MEETING
Held on 20th July 2007 at the Village Hall, Uplowman, starting at 8.00pm
Minutes taken by Mr R Hodgson, Clerk. Action points in bold.
- MEMBERS PRESENT
1.1 Present: D Hamer (Chair), Mr R Branton, Mrs S Brown, Mrs J Woolley and Mr R Adcock.
- APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
2.1 Mr R Norman and Mrs L Veen had tendered apologies for absence.
- MINUTES OF LAST MEETING (11th May 2007)
3.1 Minutes of the previous Parish Council meeting held on 11th May 2007 had been previously circulated. They were signed as a true record of the meeting with no amendments.
- MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES
4.1 Mr Pilling had been invited and had made a presentation on waste management before the meeting.
- FINANCES
5.1 Current Balance: £ 2552.10
Income since last meeting £ Nil
5.2 The following payments were approved and cheques signed to effect the disbursement:
RLP Hodgson for Clerk’s expenses (£8.38)
Mr R Tancock, for grass cutting (£96.00)
5.3 The Statement of Accounts and the Annual Governance Statement were read, approved unanimously and signed by the Chair and the Clerk. It was noted that the Internal Audit had been completed and that Cllrs Hamer and Woolley had met with the Clerk to review internal audit and financial control procedures. Cllr Hamer reported that their review had found nothing amiss.
5.5 The Clerk’s honorarium was reviewed. It was decided to raise it in line with inflation to £770 pa.
- PLANNING/LICENSING APPLICATIONS
6.1 07/01023/F Spalsbury Fm : Conversion of barn (+LBC). UPC No objection. New submission received
6.2 07/01105/F Greengate Cottage: Erection of conservatory. UPC No objection
6.3 07/01163/LBC Trucklegate Cott: Listed Building Consent for reroofing
- 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 sent a consultation on democratic processes for the District. The Councillors noted this and commented that they were delighted to be asked but there was no enthusiasm to complete it.
7.2 There would be a Parish Plan information event in Tiverton on 24 July. Unfortunately, no one was available that day.
7.3 Devon Talk included a photograph of the Parish Lengthsman in Uplowman.
- ADOPTION OF THE REVISED CODE OF CONDUCT FOR MEMBERS
8.1 The Revised Code of Conduct for Members had been circulated for consideration prior to the meeting. Cllr Hamer proposed its adoption by Uplowman PC without alteration. Motion was seconded by Cllr Branton and agreed unanimously. The Clerk circulated new Registers of Interest forms for completion within 28 days and would inform MDDC.
- HALL AND RECREATION ASSOCIATION
9.1 The pitch had been drained, thanks to a grant from Awards for All. The Hall continued to be fully booked at weekends and to have regular use by a variety of clubs during the week.
- EMERGENCY PLANNING AND NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH
10.1 There had been no response to the public invitation to become involved in emergency planning. It was agreed that all councillors would meet for an informal discussion on this and other village schemes, provisionally on 7th September.
10.2 There was no report on Neighbourhood Watch due to Cllr Veen’s absence.
- VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS
11.1 It was agreed that an Annual Meeting should be arranged during October, details to be finalised at the September meeting.
11.2 A member of the public had suggested that Uplowman might enter the ‘Best Kept’ village competition. It was agreed to put this to the Annual Meeting.
11.3 The survey had suggested a number of footpath projects. After some discussion, it was agreed that these could be listed and put to the Annual Meeting for prioritisation and finalisation.
11.4 It was suggested that a new sign to the Hall was needed on the new bridge. Cllr Adcock said this would be discussed at the forthcoming UHRA meeting.
11.5 The village noticeboard had been vandalised. Cllr Adcock would arrange for the glass to be replaced.
- CONDITION OF ROAD/TRANSPORT IN THE PARISH
12.1 Cllr Woolley reported that the SWRDA would give money for a study of the issues of integrating transport at Tiverton Parkway.
- DATE OF NEXT MEETING
The next meeting would be on Friday 14 September, with the following one set for 9 November.
The meeting closed at 9.50pm
Public Forum during meeting (7.30-8.00pm)
Mr G Pilling addressed the meeting on the subject of MDDC’s arrangements for recycling. He said that composting collections had been introduced as a result of EU rules aimed at reducing landfill leachates. This scheme was not going to be extended in the near future. MDDC has achieved 44% recycling, which is beyond its government-set target. Collection days may change in Uplowman in order to even out supplies to the composter at Broadpath.
In answer to questions, Mr Pilling said that the school and the Hall wastes count as ‘trade’ and those institution had to pay for waste collections. Land fill costs would be rising in 2010 and collections would be reviewed then.