July 2009

MINUTES OF MEETING

Held on 23^rd July 2009 at the Village Hall, Uplowman, starting at 7.55pm

 

Cllr F Rosamond (Chair, MDDC), Cllr D Hannon (Member, DCC) and 1 member of the public present. Minutes taken by R Hodgson, Clerk. Action points in bold.

 

1. MEMBERS PRESENT and ELECTION OF CHAIR/VICE CHAIR

1.1  Present: Mr D Hamer, Mr R Norman, Mr P Beadle, Mrs S Brown and Mr R Adcock.

 

2. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

2.1 Mr R Branton had apologised that he would be otherwise engaged. Mrs Woolley had resigned as from the last meeting.

 

3. MINUTES OF LAST MEETING (21^st May 2009)

3.1 Minutes of the previous Parish Council meeting (the Annual Meeting held on 21^st May 2009) had been previously circulated. They were agreed as a true record and signed by the Chair.

 

4. MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES

4.1 Cllr Adcock reported that he had discussed the issue of material tipped in the field near Chieflowman Cross. He had been assured that it was inert material that would be cleared and used as fill.

4.2 The vacancy resulting from Mrs Woolley’s resignation had been advertised. There had been no call for an election and offers for co-option had been invited. Trevor Milner had offered his services. Cllr Hamer proposed acceptance of this offer, which was seconded by Cllr Norman and approved unanimously. Cllr Hamer would discuss the process with Mr Milner.

 

5. FINANCES

5.1 Current Balance: £ 2686.12

Income since last meeting £ Nil

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

R Hodgson, Clerk, expenses (£2.82, not all for the moat!)

Uplowman & Whitnage News, Sponsorship for Aug (£25.00)

As previously authorised, payment to DAPC of £58+VAT had been made in June.

5.3 The papers had been sent to the Auditor, who had asked that the figures be amended to include unbanked cheques drawn in the financial year 2008/9. The Clerk and Chair had done this and the conclusion of the Audit was awaited. There would be no additional charge for raising this query.

 

6. PLANNING/LICENSING APPLICATIONS

6.1 09/00265/LBC Middle Coombe Consent for secondary glazing. Had been approved by MDDC

6.2 09/00555/F: Widhayes replacement Barn. Had been approved by MDDC

6.7 09/00565/F: Westmead: erection of extension. Had been approved by MDDC

 

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 DCC had written to calrify their policy over enforcement of 20mph limits. DoT guidelines were that these should be self-enforcing. DCC would enforce on a case-by-case basis and might consider engineering works where needed. This led to wider discussion of traffic issues in Uplowman. Cllr Hamer considered that the conifers on the bend at Greenend were protruding into the road and obscuring the views of traffic. It was agreed that he, as Chair, would contact the landowner and request that they be cut back, as had been done in the past. It was proposed that the village signs be replaced with more welcoming ones.

7.2 MDDC had invited nominations to attend this autumn’s ‘Chair’s Receptions’. It was agreed that John White, Gail Borrow and Robert Hodgson be nominated

7.3 MDDC had circulated a questionnaire to Parish Chairmen seeking views on the relationship between MDDC and the parishes. They had sent a follow-up request for its completion. The Chair & Clerk would do this.

 

8. HALL AND RECREATION ASSOCIATION

8.1 There was nothing of significance to report.

 

9. EMERGENCY PLANNING AND NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH

9.1 PC Rich had sent a report. There had been no incidents reported since the last meeting.

 

10. VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS

10.1 The School Governors had decided to build the section of the proposed school footpath during the summer holidays. This would provide access to the play area and somewhere for sports spectators to stand. DCC were working on access issues and were arranging to discharge archaeological and environmental planning conditions. Clearance work might start in the Autumn. There was discussion about funding the remainder. The Clerk would talk to the fund-raising specialists at MDDC (Paul Tucker and John Bodley-Scott). Cllr Hannon noted that the money from the sale of Exeter Airport, which was earmarked for capital works like this, had mostly been allocated. Applications might be re-opened if schemes fell through but there was no guarantee.

10.2 The date for the Annual Social Event had been fixed as Friday 18^th September. It was agreed that the event would be marked by the taking of a general photo of all parish residents on the playing field. It was suggested that this might be done at 8pm. Mr White would prepare a display on the footpath, Cllr Beadle offered to arrange the photograph, the Clerk was tasked to produce a poster and Cllr Hamer would contact participating organisations.

 

11. CONDITION OF ROAD/TRANSPORT IN THE PARISH

11.1 Road conditions were generally good. Cllr Brown commented that construction work at Sweetings was resulting in damage to the road. Repairs had been made but the heavy traffic broke them down again. It was agreed that the Clerk would write to MDDC to suggest that planners might limit traffic as part of planning conditions.

11.2 It was noted that the waste bin on the Green was full. Cllr Hamer would contact Cllr Radford to arrange its emptying.

 

12. DATE OF NEXT MEETING

 

The next meeting would be on Thursday 17 September and the following one on 19 November 2009.

The meeting closed at 9.20pm

 

Public Sessions

 

Cllr Rosamond reported that MDDC finances were in better state now. A Peer-review of the council showed it to be still ‘weak’ but improving fast. The executive structure had helped with officer-member working relationships. MDDC wished to promote working with the parishes and would be sending the questionnaire again. The e-newsletter Parish Matters had been set up to keep parishes informed. The Clerk did not recall receiving one.

The implementation fot he Local Government Review now looked unlikely but had had the benefit of some ‘clustering’ of parishes. Cllr Rosamond said that the coming year would focus on engaging young people in the community. He was encouraging the autumn litter-pick and packs of information would be out soon.

 

John White outlined progress on the school path. There had been a second meeting with the DCC highways officers, who were very encouraging. They were sorting out the landowner issues and discharging the planning conditions regarding archaeological and environmental surveys and Mr White thanked Cllr Hannon for his help in keeping things moving. The School planned to build a first section through the playing field during the summer break but work on the rest could not start until DCC had dealt with their paperwork. He envisaged that clearance work might start in the Autumn with construction proceeding during the Spring of 2010. It was hoped that some work might be undertaken by community volunteers. The Clerk would investigate and develop the necessary method statements, Health and Safety assessments and so on. Mr White said that work on the proposed school bus stop was in the overall plan and would be done but the present focus was on completing the path. Cllr Hannon paid tribute to the support of the DCC officers.