July 2010
MINUTES OF MEETING Held on 15th July 2010 at the Village Hall, Uplowman, starting at 8.30pm. Approved 2 Sept 10.
Mr R Radford (Member, MDDC) and 3 members of public present Minutes taken by R Hodgson, Clerk. Action points in bold.
1. MEMBERS PRESENT
1.1 Present: Mr D Hamer (Chairman), Mr R Branton, Mr R Norman, Mr R Adcock & Mr T Milner.
2. PROCEDURAL MATTERS
2.1Apologies for absence had been received from Mr P Beadle (family matters) and Mrs S Brown (medical appointment).
2.2Cllr Norman declared a pecuniary interest in Agenda item 5.2 and did not participate in the decisions.
3. MINUTES OF LAST MEETING (20th May 2010)
3.1 Minutes of the previous Parish Council meeting (held on 20th May 2010 had been previously circulated. They were approved as a true record without amendment.
4. MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES
4.1There were no matters arising that would not be dealt with under Agenda items.
5. FINANCES
5.1 Current Balance: £ 23,999.72
Income since last meeting (grants/loans for footpath construction) £ 9,000.00
5.2 The following payments were approved and cheques signed to effect the disbursements:
To R Hodgson for expenses (£3.69)
To Mr J Veen for grass cutting to date (£83.50)
To R Norman, preparation for path (£1857.32)
To R&R services, Advance for construction of path (£4,100)
It was agreed that, pending confirmation of whether payment had already been made by others, payment to R Norman for temporary fencing of the school path site of up to £683 was authorised.
5.3 The Clerk reported that he had received the Auditor's report that morning and again there were no matters required to be drawn to the councillors' attention.
6. PLANNING/LICENSING APPLICATIONS
6.1 10/00567/F: Locks Farm, erection of 18m Wind Turbine. The application had been withdrawn.
6.2 10/0793/F: Widhayes: Ag Building: had not been considered.
6.3 10/0742/F: Gulmoor: extension. A revision of a previous inspection, Meeting agreed to support it.
6.4 10/01060/F: High Locks Fm, earth banked slurry lagoon Agreed to support this without inspection
6.5 10/01063/F: The Beeches Erection of Ag Building: It was agreed to inspect on 23 July
6.6 Cullompton Town Council had written requesting support for their campaign to request MDDC to monitor the application of Planning Conditions. Councillors agreed to support this on a show of hands, 3 in favour one against. The Clerk would inform Cullompton TC
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 DALC had circulated a booklet for PCs on 'Being a good employer'. It was agreed that this should be discussed at the September meeting.
8. HALL AND RECREATION ASSOCIATION
8.1Cllr Adcock had not attended the recent HRA meeting and therefore there was no report.
9. EMERGENCY PLANNING AND NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH
9.1Nothing reported
10. VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS
10.1After a private meeting of the PC on 3rd June, at which the additional submissions of the potential contractors for the School path were considered, it had been agreed to appoint R&R Services (Devon) Ltd of Kentisbeare to construct the school path. The expected cost was just under £16,000 + VAT but there were likely to be adjustments to the cost as work progressed.
10.2 There had been delays since while land access issues and funding were clarified and it was now expected that work would commence in early August and take 3 to 4 weeks. It was agreed that an official opening should be arranged for early September. The School Governors had again requested that the PC consider supporting the annual rent for the path. After discussion, the PC was not minded to do this. The Clerk would inform the Governors.
10.3 There had been leaks reported in the leat above Green End (see public discussion below). It was agreed that Cllr Norman would talk to all stakeholders and attempt to get support for investigation and repair of possible damage, which he thought could be achieved without great cost. The Clerk would contact DALC to enquire whether they knew of general principles regarding the ownership and management of such structures. Cllr Milner and the 'Ferrets' local history group would investigate the origins of the leat.
10.4 Future Village Projects: due to time constraints this item was postponed to September.
11. STATE OF ROADS IN PARISH
11.1 It was noted that vegetation was growing up a telegraph pole stay at E Mere Cross, resulting in poor visibility for traffic emerging from Chieflowman. Enquiries would be made of the land-owner with regard to its removal.
12. DATE OF NEXT MEETING
The Clerk would be away at the scheduled date of the next meeting (16 September). It was agreed to reschedule the next meeting to Thursday 2nd September, starting at 7.30pm in the village hall.
The meeting closed at 10.05pm
Public Discussion
Cllr Beadle had asked for a discussion of the state of the historic leat. His neighbour, Mr Bosey of Green End, reported that an area of 40 sq yards of boggy ground had formed at the top of his paddock. Water was also emerging through cracks in the pavement around Green End house. Several councillors had inspected and considered that this resulted from leakage from the leat. The leat did not run through the Green End property but was clearly causing a nuisance to it and Mr Bosey wondered who should be responsible for maintaining the leat. Discussion of ownership was inconclusive. The bank in question was apparently an unregistered track over which local land owners have rights. It had been maintained in the past by the users of the leat water and on at least one occasion villagers had contributed to the maintenance of the leat as a public asset. It seemed that the leak had become much worse since the start of the current dry weather. There were a number of old drains and soakaways in the area that might be adding to the flows. It was agreed that the ownership and maintenance of the leat should be clarified. The 'Ferrets' might assist in this as the leat was an historical artefact whose origins were at present uncertain. In the present case, something needed to be done soon and Cllr Norman volunteered to talk to all the users of the water. All agreed that the site should be cleared to enable inspection of the leat's condition. Cllr Norman thought that repairs should not be costly.
MINUTES APPROVED 2 SEPT 10