November 2008
MINUTES OF MEETING
Held on 20th November 2008 at the Village Hall, Uplowman, starting at 8pm
Cllr R Radford (MDDC) + 1 member of the public present. Minutes taken by R Hodgson, Clerk. Action points in bold.
- MEMBERS PRESENT
1.1 Present: Mr D Hamer, Mr R Branton, Mr R Norman, Mr P Beadle Mr R Adcock and Mrs S Brown.
- APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
2.1 Cllr J Woolley (another official engagement)..
- MINUTES OF LAST MEETING (4th September 2008)
3.1 Minutes of the previous Parish Council meeting held on 4th September 2008 had been previously circulated. They were agreed as a true record and signed by the Chair.
- MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES
4.1 The Clerk had contacted DCC regarding ownership of the Green. DCC thought that they held the deeds and would check. The Clerk had suggested to DCC that they register the land.
4.2 Cllr Woolley had been tasked to report on the ‘State of the Disctrict’ debate held in September. In her absence Mr Radford reported that this had been largely concerned with the debate on Unitary Status.
- FINANCES
5.1 Current Balance: £ 2618.32
Income since last meeting £ Nil
5.2 The following payments were approved and cheques signed to effect the disbursements:
R Tancock, for grass cutting (£60)
R Hodgson, Clerk (£400 honorarium plus expenses , £2.89)
Audit Commission, fees (£141.00)
M Norman, catering for Annual Social (£125.00)
Maslands, Printing Emergency Plan (£90.48)
Uplowman & Whitnage News, sponsorship (£25).
This cheque was made out to Maslands at the request of U&WN
5.3 The Annual Audit had been completed. The Clerk informed the Council that the Auditor had raised no concerns and made no comments.
5.4 A wreath had been purchased and laid on behalf of UPC on Armistice Day. The cost would be advised.
- PLANNING/LICENSING APPLICATIONS
6.1 DCC 2676/08: School footpath: UPC support the application.
6.2 08/01382/F: Fair Oak: Wind Turbine. MDDC has approved this application.
6.3 08/01816/F: Agricultural Access in Whitnage Rd (adj School path). This had been discussed in the Open Forum. It was expected that this would be turned down on Highway grounds and the Council would examine any resubmission in due course.
- 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 Clerk had informed councillors of the Planning Training day to be held by MDDC on 22 Nov. But none was available.
7.2 The Parish Lengthsman was next due in Uplowman on 27-29 January. Any ditches or other matters requiring his attention should be notified to DCC in advance of that date.
7.3 A consultation on Codes of Conduct had been received. There were no volunteers to assist in completing it.
7.4 A consultation was underway on the local Development Plan but this does not affect Uplowman directly.
7.5 The Freedom of Information Act was being updated and a new Scheme would have to be adopted by 1st January. The Clerk informed councillors that this would have to be dealt with at the January Meeting.
7.6 Tiverton & District Community Transport had written seeking financial support. To be considered in January.
- HALL AND RECREATION ASSOCIATION
8.1 The HRA were developing a policy for young people’s parties to ensure that these were adequately supervised. Bookings continued to be good and consideration was being given to resealing the main floor.
- EMERGENCY PLANNING AND NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH
9.1 The Emergency Plan had been launched at the Social Evening and would now be distributed. The telephone tags were distributed to councillors together with copies of the plan. These would be distributed by councillors to all homes in their particular areas.
9.2 PC Rich had informed the clerk that there had been no crimes reported in Uplowman since the previous meeting in September.
- VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS
10.1 School path planning application was still under consideration. There was no news of its progress.
10.2 Mr Hamer said that the Annual Social, held on 17th October, had been enjoyable and had assembled a large range of village groups. Unfortunately, attendance had not been as good as in 2007. There was some discussion after which it was agreed that the event should be repeated in 2009 and that a date in mid September, after the start of the school term but before evenings drew in too much, would be better. Planning should start in May and provision should be made for children’s entertainment/activities.
10.3 There had been no significant feed-back from the consultation on traffic management in the village. It was agreed to extend this to be undertaken at the same time as distribution of the emergency plans.
10.4 The Minute book from 1894 to 1953 had been passed to the Chair, who proposed that it be re-bound. It was agreed that this should be investigated and Cllr Hamer was authorised to do so and to have the work undertaken provided the cost did not exceed £50. The Clerk would seek advice from DAPC regarding the archiving of such documents. The clerk was also asked to check on the quorum required at a meeting of UPC.
- CONDITION OF ROAD/TRANSPORT IN THE PARISH
11.1 Repairs were being done and the state of the roads had improved.
- DATE OF NEXT MEETING
The next meeting would be on Thursday 15th Jan starting at 7.30pm. Subsequent meetings had been arranged on 19 March, 21 May, 16 July, 17 September and 19 November 2009.
The meeting closed at 9.30pm
Public Forum (7.30-7.45pm)
The issue of the proposed agricultural gateway in Whitnage Road adjacent to the school path was raised. It seemed that DCC Highways officers were recommending refusal of the Planning Application because sight lines were inadequate. Concerns were expressed that provision of sight lines to DCC’s approval could require the removal of significant lengths of hedgerow. It was confirmed that any resubmission would come before Uplowman PC and would be considered at that time.