May 2010
MINUTES OF ANNUAL MEETING AND CHAIRMAN'S REPORT Held on 20th May 2010 at the Village Hall, Uplowman, starting at 7.55pm. Approved on 15 July.
Mr D Hannon, (Member, DCC), Mr R Radford (Member, MDDC) present. Minutes taken by R Hodgson, Clerk. Action points in bold.
1. MEMBERS PRESENT
1.1 Present: Mr D Hamer, Mr P Beadle, Mrs S Brown, Mr R Branton, Mr R Norman, Mr R Adcock & Mr T Milner.
2. PROCEDURAL MATTERS
2.1Cllr Norman declared a pecuniary interest in Agenda item 10.1. Cllr Branton declared a family interest in Item 6.1
2.2Cllr Milner proposed that Cllr Hamer be re-elected to serve as Chair for the coming year. On a show of hands, all were in favour. Cllr Adcock proposed Cllr Branton as Vice Chair, which motion was duly passed.
3. MINUTES OF LAST MEETING (21st January 2010)
3.1 Minutes of the previous Parish Council meeting (held on 26th March 2010 had been previously circulated. They were approved as a true record without amendment.
4. MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES
4.1 The Clerk clarified item 10.4 that he had, as requested, discussed the grass-cutting contract with Mr Veen and had confirmed that he was willing to undertake the work and that his hourly rate was competitive. He had arranged with Mr Veen to undertake the grass cutting for the coming year.
4.2Cllr Milner reported that he had obtained a cherry tree as decided at the previous meeting. Meanwhile, the School had planted its own replacement tree. It was agreed to keep the cherry tree until after completion of the school path and then choose a suitable site for it to mark the opening of the path.
5. FINANCES
5.1 Current Balance: £ 15833.58
Income since last meeting (Precept, DCC grant for path and VAT refund £ 14281.75
5.2 The following payments were approved and cheques signed to effect the disbursements:
To R Hodgson for Honorarium for Nov-April (£420.00+£1.51)
To Community First for the Annual Insurance premium (£288.85)
To UHRA for hire of the Hall to and including 20 May (£34.00)
To Mr J Veen for grass cutting to date (£77.50)
To Cllr Milner, reimbursement for tree (£12.00)
5.3 The Clerk reported that matters were in hand for completion of the Audit by 21st June. Cllr Brown proposed that the Annual Statement of Account be approved as it had been circulated. All were in favour and the Statement plus the Income/Expenditure book were signed by the Clerk and the Chairman. The Governance Statements were read and agreed by all Councillors, following which the statement was signed by the Chair and the Clerk.
5.4 The Clerk's honorarium was discussed. Cllr Milner proposed an increase of £30pa, roughly in line with inflation. All were in favour and the Chair thanked the Clerk on behalf of the councillors for his service to the PC.
6. PLANNING/LICENSING APPLICATIONS
6.1 10/00567/F: Locks Farm, erection of 18m Wind Turbine. This had been received recently. It was agreed to inspect the site the following Monday, 24th May, at 7pm
6.2 Cllr Adcock reported that there was concern in the village that the presence of a large container in Melway Stable might indicate its use as a construction yard. It was decided that, rather than contact the enforcement officer, the owner of the Stables should be asked to confirm the situation
6.3 Cllr Brown said that people were complaining that the waste in the field at East Mere Cross was still causing an eyesore. It was agreed to contact the owner again to request his proposals for tidying the site.
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 Environment Agency was running a workshop on emergency planning the following week. No one was available to attend.
8. HALL AND RECREATION ASSOCIATION
8.1 The next planned maintenance would be the replacement of the flooring in the entrance lobby. The Hall continued to be much used.
8.2 Cllr Milner noted that the Show Committee had purchased 6 gazebos and some light-weight tables that could be borrowed for a donation by parishioners. Anyone wishing to borrow these could contact him or Mrs Holley. He noted that the recent dog-show had been successful in raising over £900 for local causes.
9. EMERGENCY PLANNING AND NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH
9.1 PC Custance had reported that there had been no crimes reported from Uplowman in the past month and that the only incident had been a suspected accidental 999 call by a child.
10. VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS
10.1 Due to the confidential nature of the commercial arrangements to be discussed, members of the public were asked to leave the meeting in accordance with the PC's Standing Rules No 22. Cllr Norman, having declared his interest, left the room for the remainder of the meeting with all members of the public.
10.2 The Clerk reported on the quotes that had been received from three potential contractors for construction of the school path. However, despite efforts to clarify the quotes, it was not yet possible to compare them like for like as two had not, as requested, provided breakdowns of their prices so it was not clear what they had included or omitted. All of the contractors were known to be reliable and two had already undertaken work previously on the preparations for the path. On the basis of the information provided, it was agreed that R&R was the preferred supplier, subject to additional checks by the Clerk to confirm the make-up of the estimates. On receipt of such clarification, a subcommittee of all councillors with no personal interest in the matter would be convened to agree how to proceed.
12. DATE OF NEXT MEETING
The next meeting would be held on Thursday 15th July 2010.
The meeting closed at 10.10pm
Annual Parish Meeting
The Chair presented his Annual Report (see next page). In discussion afterwards the following matters were raised: 1.Emptying of the litter bin on the Green did not occur sufficiently often at present. Cllr Radford said he would chase up this matter. 2.Now that it seemed that the School Path would be built, the question of constructing a layby for the bus was raised. It was suggested that a suitable location might be opposite the exit of the new path. The Chair would discuss this with Mr White of the Governors. Cllr Brown noted that the School Travel Plan was almost completed. It was reported that the PTFA had raised some money that might be put towards this or to the Path construction, if needed, Uplowman Parish Council Annual Meeting 20th May 2010 Chairman's Report This year has seen a continued focus on the School Path. The path is to run across the land of Mr Tom Penny from a point beside his new agricultural entrance, nearly opposite the gate of Jaspers Green, and will enter the School grounds through the playing field. The path will ensure a very much safer route to school for the children and relieve traffic congestion at the beginning and end of the school day. The initial estimate for this work, by DCC, was in the region of £90, 000, a sum we could not hope to raise. However, the County has been very co-operative in assisting us in proceeding with the scheme as a community project, in which the costs are dramatically lower. Work on the path began in the Summer holidays of 2009 when the Governors of the School commissioned the building of the section of the path that runs through the grounds of the school. On 29th January a volunteer working party and one paid professional cleared the copse where the path enters Mr Penny's land from the School. Since then some other preparatory work has been done and we have received three tenders for the completion of the project. It will be part of the business at the Council Meeting this evening to select one of the three tenders. The end is in sight and it will be a great relief to divert the children to the safety of the path from the dangers of the blind corners present route, completely devoid of protection for pedestrians. The project would never have got off the ground without the leadership of John White, first as Chairman of UPC and, since he left the Council, as a Governor of Uplowman Primary School, in which capacity he has continued to push the project forward and to be instrumental in negotiations with Mr Tom Penny, on whose co-operation the path depends. We have had many meetings and much correspondence with Meg Booth and Anjumn Kanani and they have been most helpful in smoothing the passage of the scheme as a community project. Des Hannon has been tireless in his support, encouragement and in drumming up the money. We are hugely fortunate that our Clerk, Robert Hodgson, is also an experienced and talented engineer who has given to the village the benefit of the talents that require his presence in places like Haiti and other disaster areas on the global scene. I hope it is not tempting fate to say a premature big thank you to all these people and to my fellow councillors for their efforts. I feel confident that the path is about to be completed and that the funds are going to be there. Having held two successful Parish Socials, in 2007 and 2008, the Council tried to think of a way to draw a greater number of people to the event and the idea was proposed that we might try to get the village together for a Parish Social & Photograph, on Friday 18th September. This was a most successful evening. Not only did we attract about 160 residents of all ages, but the light held, and with the help of a tractor to lift the photographer to a suitable height, an extremely good Village Photograph resulted. Many thanks to all who organised and attended this convivial occasion. At a subsequent Council Meeting it was resolved that the bumper attendance could not be expected every year and that the Social should in future be biennial. In any case we are fortunate in living in a village which continues to boast a number of events throughout the year which bring residents together, such as the Uplowman Show, the Flower Show, Harvest Festival and Supper and so on. In the course of the year, following the resignation of Councillor Woolley, and after due process we welcomed Mr Trevor Milner as a nominated councillor in her place, he brings a wealth of administrative experience into the council and has already made a significant contribution to our proceedings. Looking ahead, once the major project of the School Path is completed, the Council should be able to be more pro-active in considering the diverse suggestions which were put forward after the 2007 Survey of Ideas to improve our Village. My thanks to all the Councillors for their work and special thanks to our Clerk, Robert Hodgson, without whose diligent work and organisation we could not function. David Hamer 20th May 2010