November 2007
MINUTES OF MEETING
Held on 9th November 2007 at the Village Hall, Uplowman, starting at 8.10pm
4 Members of the public present. 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, Mr R Norman and Mr R Adcock.
- APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
2.1 Had been received from Cllr L Veen (engaged on a family matter) and MDDC Cllr R Radford.
- MINUTES OF LAST MEETING (14th September 2007)
3.1 Minutes of the previous Parish Council meeting held on 14th September 2007 had been previously circulated. They were signed by the Chair as a true record of the meeting with no amendments.
- MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES
4.1 There were no matters arising that would not be dealt with under the Agenda.
- FINANCES
5.1 Current Balance: £ 2416.07
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 (£385.00) plus expenses (£14.83)
M Norman for catering for Social Event (£125.00)
R Adcock, reimbursement for new sign for Hall (£35.25)
D Hamer, Expenses for presentation to retired Chair (£35.00)
Audit Commission, fees for Annual Audit (£58.75)
Royal British Legion, for wreath for Remembrance Sunday (£18.00)
5.3 It was proposed by Cllr Hamer to raise the annual grant to the Uplowman PCC for maintenance of the churchyard from £300 (2006/7) to £350 for this year, 2007/8. All were in agreement. The Clerk waited details of MDDC’s contribution to this total.
5.4 No invoice had yet been received from Mr Tancock. The Clerk would contact Mr Tancock and seek one, which was expected to be about £100 for grass cutting since July.
- PLANNING/LICENSING APPLICATIONS
6.1 07/01425/F Spalsbury Fm : Conversion of barn (+LBC). Had been resubmitted and was now approved by MDDC
6.2 07/01510LBC & 01513F: 1 Staplegate Cott Extension. Had been approved by MDDC
6.3 07/01654/F: Chilomene Fm, erection of temp holiday chalets. UPC: no objection. MDDC decision awaited
6.4 07/02126/F: Middle Coombe Conv of Cider barn. Discussed at the meeting. It was agreed that the proposal as outlined by the Applicant should be supported to encourage sustainable diversification.
6.5 Hill Kiln Fm barn conversion. This site was just outside the Uplowman Parish Boundary. No objection was made to it and it was agreed that the Clerk should request notification of other applications close to the parish boundary.
- 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 Tiv & District Community Transport had requested support for the ring & ride route in Uplowman. Cllr Woolley declared an interest in this matter, being Manager of T&DCTA, Any money would support services to residents in Uplowman Parish. It was agreed that consideration would be given to supporting the scheme when setting the budget for 2008/9 in January.
7.2 The Clerk enquired what the Council wished him to do with questionnaires such as the MDDC Corporate Plan consultation, that had closing dates before the next meeting. These should be dealt with on their merits.
7.3 The Clerk proposed to attend a forthcoming meeting with the new MDDC CEO. There were no particular items of concern for him to raise.
7.4 The Bench Chairman for Central Devon Magistrates had written offering to explain current arrangements in Mid Devon. It was not considered necessary to take her up on the matter.
- HALL AND RECREATION ASSOCIATION
8.1 The Hall continued to be busy. The recent Bonfire night had been successful.
8.2 It was 5 years since the opening. The UHRA were planning to refurbish the foyer and main floor.
- EMERGENCY PLANNING AND NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH
9.1 A preliminary survey had been made at the Social event on 12 Oct. This should be completed before publication. It was agreed that the Clerk would circulate the existing lists of residents to the councillors together with sufficient forms to enable one to be completed per household. Councillors would take these personally to the houses in their areas.
9.2 Cllr Veen (Neighbourhood Watch Coordinator) was away so there was no report on Neighbourhood Watch activities.
- VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS
10.1 Due to the social event, there had been no progress with items proposed by the 2007 Survey since the last meeting.
10.2 Cllr Hannon had reported that the DCC Highways considered the proposed school layby to pose safety risks. The footpath was considered a practical solution but there was doubt whether it would be fully used without the layby. It was agreed that a meeting should be set up between the UPC, School and DCC officers to resolve what could be done.
10.3 The Annual Parish Social Event held in the Hall on 12th October was considered to have been a success with many appreciative comments being received from the 60 nor so who attended. It was agreed to make this an annual event, to occur at about the same time each year. It was suggested that future events should be made more explicitly welcoming to children and that more notice should be given.
- CONDITION OF ROAD/TRANSPORT IN THE PARISH
11.1 There was a water leak opposite the Hall. Cllr Woolley would inform SWW.
11.2 A member of the public had drawn attention to deterioration of the foot bridge over the leat on the footpath between the Church and the School. The Clerk would inform the DCC Footpath Officer.
11.3 It was noted that the footpath diversion in Whitnage was now in operation. That diversion order was made in May 2007.
- DATE OF NEXT MEETING
The next meeting would be on Friday Jan 11th 2008. Future meeting dates were fixed as March 7th, May 9th and July 18th 2008.
The meeting closed at 10.05pm
Public Forum before meeting (7.30-8.10pm)
Cllr Hannon reported that he had heard the previous evening that DCC Highways considered the proposed school layby to be a safety risk. They were suggesting 30mph limits be adopted and possible changes to highway priorities at the cross-roads to calm traffic. He was embarrassed by this U-turn and was awaiting further information.
A water leak in the road opposite the Hall and a hole in the road near TwinOaks where the ‘new’ sewer exits from the adjacent field were reported, together with a missing X-roads sign when approaching Uplowman from the east.