May 2011
MINUTES OF ANNUAL MEETING Held on 19th May 2011 at the Village Hall, Uplowman, starting at 7.45pm. Approved 21 July 2011
Mr D Hannon (councillor, DCC) and Mr R Radford (councillor, MDDC) present Minutes taken by R Hodgson, Clerk. Action points in bold.
1. MEMBERS PRESENT
1.1 Present: Mr D Hamer (Outgoing Chairman), Mr R Branton, Mr R Norman, Mr R Adcock, Mr A McCombe and Mr T Milner.
2. PROCEDURAL MATTERS
2.1 Mr Hamer invited nominations as Chair for 2011-12. Cllr T Milner was nominated by Cllr Branton, seconded by Cllr Norman and elected to the post unanimously. Cllr Branton was nominated as Vice Chair by Cllr Adcock, seconded by Cllr Norman and duly elected as Vice Chair. Cllr Milner took the Chair for the remainder of the meeting.
2.2 Following the recent uncontested election there remained two vacancies on the council. All councillors would make enquiries of suitable persons and inform the Chair and Clerk of any possible nominations.
2.3 Cllr McCombe would arrange with the Clerk for an induction as new councillor. Unfortunately he would not be available to participate in the DALC training day on 30 June.
3. MINUTES OF LAST MEETING (17 March 2011)
3.3 The minutes of 17 March had been circulated previously and were signed without amendment as a true record of that meeting.
4. MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES
4.1 The Clerk had discussed continuation of grass-cutting with Mr Veen, which the latter was happy to do.
4.2 The Clerk's new Contract was considered. The Clerk and Mrs Milner had started the process of registering with HMRC. The Clerk's remuneration was considered and it was agreed that, in view of the ever-increasing bureaucratic work-load, the Clerk's salary should be raised to £960 for the coming year, April 11 to March 12. He (and all councillors on UPC business) would also be eligible for travel costs of £0.45p/mile of motoring.
5. FINANCES
5.1 Current Balance: £ 8,290.53
Income since last meeting(Precept)£ 2,332.38
5.2 The following payments were approved and cheques signed to effect the disbursements:
Annual Insurance Premium to Community First (£222.87)
To Mr Veen for grass cutting (£110.00).
5.3. The Clerk presented the Annual Accounting Statement, which had been subject to Internal Audit by Mr Clark. The Statement was signed by the Chair and the Clerk and thanks were expressed to Mr Clark for his work in undertaking the Internal Audit. The Annual Governance Statement was read and it was agreed that all necessary controls were in place. The Statement was signed by the Chair and the Clerk.
5.4 It was confirmed that UPC would continue to use Nat West as its bankers. The account would be operated on the basis of any two signatures from three signatories. It was agreed that the three signatories for the coming year would be Cllrs Milner, Branton and Adcock. The Clerk had obtained the necessary forms, which were signed by those councillors. The Clerk would return the forms to Nat West and Cllrs Milner and Adcock would need to identify themselves in person at the bank.
6. PLANNING/LICENSING APPLICATIONS
6.1 11/00374/F: Greengate Cottage: Erection of extensions. UPC had expressed concerns regarding a tree that would need pruning, short sight lines at the entrance and the impact of the development on the existing septic tank arrangements.
6.2 11/0422/F: Waterside, renewal of existing Permission. UPC no comment.
6.3 The Clerk had written to the owner regarding the untidy state of land at E Mere Cross. A reply was awaited.
6.4 An Application had been made in respect of siting of temporary yurts at Chillomene. Cllrs Adcock and McCombe declared personal interest in the matter as relatives of the Applicant and of a neighbour, respectively, and left the room. After discussion it was agreed that UPC did not oppose the application, which would have no impact on its neighbours.
6.5 Listed Building Consent had been requested for an extension to 1 Locks Cottages. Cllr McCombe (Applicant) and Cllr Adcock (relative) declared interests and left the room. It was agreed to inspect the site on 28 May at 9am. Cllrs Norman and Milner would attend.
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 UPC had been invited to comment on the Devon Waste Core strategy. The main effect in Uplowman was the possible closure of Ashley recycling centre, the functions of which would move to Cullompton. No need was seen to respond.
7.2 DALC had sent a schedule of training days for councillors but no one was available for the forthcoming one in Tiverton.
7.3 Cllr Milner had contacted MDDC regarding the Standards Committee but decided not to pursue membership.
8. HALL AND RECREATION ASSOCIATION
8.1 Main lights had been disconnected to save money and reduce annoyance to neighbours. The Hall continued to be successful and popular.
9. EMERGENCY PLANNING AND NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH
9.1 No report had been received form the police. Councillors had heard of more break-ins locally.
10. VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS
10.1 Cllr Norman thought that the issue of cars outside the school seemed to be deteriorating. The issue might be parents and others helping with school activities. The problems were not great and it was agreed that the Clerk would email the Head Teacher, copying in Cllr Hannon.
10.2 The village Welcome Pack was completed. It would cost about £1 to print per pack and one would be given to each new family of residents. Cllr Milner was developing a web site and it would be put on that as well for existing residents to access.
10.3 Proposals for UPC work in 2012 would be discussed at a future date.
10.4 It was agreed to hold an Annual Social event. Preference was expressed fro a date at the end of the summer holidays such as 2nd September. The Clerk would consult Mrs Veen, HRA Secretary regarding availability of the Hall.
11. STATE OF ROADS IN PARISH
11.1 Cllr Hannon (DCC) said that plans were being drafted for a snow-warden scheme for rural parishes. Parishes could organise and DCC might support with some costs. UPC would consider this when more information became available.
12. DATE OF NEXT MEETING
The next meeting would be on Thursday 21st July 2011, in the Hall starting at 7.30pm with the Annual Report and public discussion. The September meeting scheduled for 15 September would need to be changed as the Clerk would be away. No particular preference was expressed for dates and the Clerk would advise the revised date at the July meeting.
The meeting closed at 10.00pm
MINS 19 MAY 2011
Chairs Report on the past year
It gives me great satisfaction to be able to report not only the completion of the School Path Project, but also its good functioning over the greater part of a school year. Its use is firmly established. The children have a very much safer walk to school. The lane outside the school has ceased to be a twice daily nightmare for rural traffic. It has been a long haul and success has not always seemed assured, especially as we approached that critical stage of things when public spending was being cut and we needed assurance that we really had the funds in our hands so that we could commission the work. It was a close run thing, we had good co-operation from the County and we were fortunate. The path was completed for use and could be formally opened on 6th September 2010 at 8.45am, with fitting ceremony, including the cutting of a ribbon and a short speech by County Councillor Des Hannon whose support has been vital to the success of the project. Uplowman PC cut the initial huge cost estimate significantly by taking responsibility for daily management of the construction. A volunteer group cleared part of the route, again saving money. The final cost was about 30% of the original estimate. For over 4 years Uplowman PC maintained dialogue between DCC, MDDC, the landowner, residents and the School staff and governors, eventually achieving an amazing success, thanks to local responsibility and management at important stages, and to the willingness of the County to allow this way of working provided that environmental and safety procedures were assured. To mark the completion of the Path a cherry tree has been donated to the school by the Council and planted with the help of some children.
The 200 year old Leat has occupied some time at Council meetings in the course of the year, resulting in some well attended and rousing public forums. Ownership and responsibility for this historic artificial water course is not clearly defined. While some of its original uses are no longer so important it remains a valuable facility and is a potential safeguard against flooding in extreme conditions. A leak in the course of the Leat had created an area of boggy ground in the paddock of Green End house, below the Leat; this lead to much discussion about the cause of the leak and who had responsibility to mend it. Thanks to the good offices of Councillor Norman and others the leak was stopped. Subsequently Councillor Branton took the initiative of personally clearing the weeds in the Leat in this section to improve the flow. The Council discussed the question of responsibility for the upkeep of the the Leat and it was resolved that it should maintain a watching brief, that it should earmark some funds for upkeep of the Leat when necessary, and that it should sponsor an annual Leat clearing exercise in the Parish. At a subsequent meeting Mr Tom Penny delivered a letter declaring that his family were happy to continue maintenance of their section of the Leat.
In response to a DALC document On being a good employer the Council resolved that there should be an annual Appraisal of the performance of the Clerk. A process for this was developed and the first Appraisal was conducted. This has provided a useful opportunity to review the Clerk's job description and get feed-back from him. All feedback from those consulted had been positive in respect of the Clerk's work. The Council records its appreciation of the Clerk's many talents and his attention to his duties.
A recent HMRC ruling has meant that henceforth the Clerk must be regarded as an employee, rather than self-employed. The administrative consequences of this for a small Council seemed daunting. A new contract had to be drafted and the job description updated since a number of additional duties have been introduced as a result of new legislation since the Clerk's present contract was agreed in 2002. Our thanks are due to Cllr and Mrs Milner for their work on this. Mrs Milner has drafted a guide as to how this change might best be achieved while minimising the need for returns to HMRC, and has been appointed as UPC's agent in dealings with the HMRC on this matter.
On-going business has been the matter of slow broadband speeds in most of the Parish, while at the same time the County has been pressuring Councils to receive planning application information on line. While we have consistently opposed the latter we have been interested in improving the former.
The Council through Cllr Milner has been involved with Mrs Pam Holley's initiative in creating a Welcome Pack for new residents of the Parish.
With this Report I conclude my four years as Chairman of UPC. For me it has been an honour and a pleasure to hold this office and responsibility. I have had the privilege of working with talented and public-spirited individuals on the Council, in the community and in local government, I pay special tribute to Cllr Ray Radford and Cllr Des Hannon who have been tireless in their at our meetings and in their support. It is a matter for regret to me that whereas, when I became a Councillor 4 years ago, there were three women on the Council, as I leave it there are none. If I may express a hope for the future it would be that serious steps should be taken to redress this balance. Since the new Council will have to make co-options they have an opportunity to take this into their thinking.
To those Councillors who continue in office and to the Clerk I give my thanks and
my best wishes for their future work in the interests of this pleasant community and fine Parish.
David Hamer 19th May 2011