July 2008

MINUTES OF MEETING

Held on 18^th July 2008 at the Village Hall, Uplowman, starting at 8.40pm

 

Cllr M Squires (MDDC), Cllr R Radford (MDDC), Cllr D Hannon (DCC) and 6 Members of the public present. Minutes taken by Mr R Hodgson, Clerk. Action points in bold.

 

1. MEMBERS PRESENT

1.1  Present: Mr D Hamer, Mr R Branton, Mrs J Woolley, Mr R Norman and Mrs S Brown.

1.2 Mr Beadle still needed to sign a Declaration of Office.

 

2. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

2.1 Had been received from Mr R Adcock and Mr P Beadle (both absent on family matters)

 

3. MINUTES OF LAST MEETING (Annual Meeting, 23^rd May 2008)

3.1 Minutes of the previous Parish Council meeting held on 23^rd May 2008 had been previously circulated. They were agreed and signed by the Chair as a true record of the meeting with no amendments.

 

4. MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES

4.1 There were no matters arising that would not be dealt with under the Agenda.

 

5. FINANCES

5.1 Current Balance: £ 2767.56

Income since last meeting £ Nil

5.2 The following payments were approved and cheques signed to effect the disbursements:

Clerk’s expenses (£ 5.24).

Mr R Tancock, for grass cutting as per agreement (£84.00)

5.3 The paperwork for the change of signatories had been completed. It needed a further signature from the existing signatories and would be submitted soon.

5.4 The Audit papers had been submitted and the Auditor’s opinion was awaited.

 

6. PLANNING/LICENSING APPLICATIONS

6.1 08/0219/F: School House Annex hardstanding: Had been approved by MDDC

6.2 08/0996/F: E Mere Cross land & Buildings. UPC considered building height excessive. Decision awaited.

6.3 08/0675/F: Waterside House extension: Had been approved by MDDC

6.4 08/0735/F: Rose Cottage Porch and veh shelter: Had been approved by MDDC

6.5 08/0552/F: Sweetings alterations: Had been approved by MDDC

6.6 MDDC propose that planning applications to be distributed electronically only. It was considered that full scale plans were needed and noted that three councillors have no access to broadband. The Clerk would write to MDDC to request that paper applications continue to be sent.

6.7 08/01259/F: School House Annex, erection of porch, received recently. This application would be considered on site the following day by Cllrs Hamer, Branton and Woolley.

6.8 UPC had been approached by a company wishing to take over redundant telephone boxes. The Clerk would enquire of Mrs Clifford whether the Uplowman box was scheduled for removal.

 

7. 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 The Boundary Committee had recommended the creation of a Unitary Authority for Devon. This could result in increased powers for parishes. All were urged to comment by 26^th September.

7.2 Stones (Solicitors) had offered services in registering any Uplowman Parish-administered land. The Clerk would investigate whether this was needed.

7.3 MDDC would be holding a Chair’s Reception in Uplowman Hall on 12 November. Nominations of up to two represnetatives of the parish community could be made. It was agreed unanimously to propose Mr J White and Mrs P Holley for their dedication and outstanding service to the Parish as former Chair of UPC and Chair of the Hall Committee, respectively. The Clerk would send in the nominations.

 

 

8. HALL AND RECREATION ASSOCIATION

 

8.1 Bookings were still holding up well. The HRA AGM had been in June.

 

 

9. EMERGENCY PLANNING AND NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH

9.1 The Clerk would check with Mrs Veen if she would continue as Neighbourhood Watch coordinator.

9.2 The Clerk would print the materials for Mr Adcock to prepare for the Emergency Plan.

 

11. VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS

10.1 The planning application for the school path had been submitted the previous day. It had not yet reached UPC for formal consideration but a copy of the plan was available and was substantially as discussed previously. The Chair said that any member of the public could now comment as part of the public planning consultation process.

10.2 Traffic calming options would be put to then Parish for consultation at the Annual Social.

10.3 The Chair had booked the Hall for the Annual Social. It was later confirmed that the date booked was Friday 17^th October. The Chair would write to all parish groups to invite them to attend. Mrs Woolley would prepare the publicity material. It was agreed that the budget for the refreshments would be £125 as in 2007.

 

11. CONDITION OF ROAD/TRANSPORT IN THE PARISH

11.1 The potholes in Whitnage Lane were becoming dangerous. DCC would be informed. Whitnage Lane was being used by large vehicles, apparently as a result of using Satellite Navigation systems. It was unsuitable and the Clerk would contact DCC to enquire whether signs could be erected to indicate the road’s unsuitability for large vehicles.

 

12. DATE OF NEXT MEETING

 

The next meeting would be on Thursday 4^th Sept, with further meetings booked for Friday 21 Nov and Friday 16 Jan 2009, all starting at 7.30pm. It was suggested that meeting days might revert to Thursdays. The next meeting would provide an opportunity to consider the viability of this.

 

The meeting closed at 9.30pm

 

 

Public Forum (7.30-8.40pm, 9 present)

 

There was considerable discussion abut the proposed school footpath. Mr White, as School Governor responsible, presented a copy of the submitted plan for consideration. It was confirmed by Mr Hannon that the path surface would be of recompacted road planings and that the drainage issues were known and had hbeen considered by DCC. The School would work with the parents to ensure that maximum use was made of the scheme, which would take children off a dangerous piece of road between Jaspers’ Green and Greengates. The Planning process was expected to last about 10 weeks.

 

Mrs Squires, Chair of MDDC, outlined the Boundary Commission recommendations, viz: that Devon, with the exception of the present Plymouth and Torbay Unitary Authorities, should become a Unitary Authority. The Dcs would then be disbanded and the Parish/Town councils would have the opportunity, if they desired it, to take on additional local responsibilities. It was noted that 80% of the Council Tax is already administered at County level and it should be more efficient to keep everything together. The result would be a reduction of 300 District Councillors offset by a gain of about 40 County Councillors. That was expected to release funds for local schemes that the parishes would administer through local Boards, or groupings of parishes. Details were on the websites and comments were sought by 26^th September. There would be a major discussion at the MDDC meeting on 10^th September that the public could observe.