May 2012

MINUTES OF ANNUAL MEETING Held on 17th May 2012 at the Village Hall, Uplowman, starting at 8.10pm. Approedl on 19 July 12.

1 member of the public present plus Cllr D Hannon (DCC) Minutes taken by R Hodgson, Clerk. Action points in bold.

 

1. MEMBERS PRESENT

1.1 Present: Mr T Milner (Chairman), Mr R Norman, Mrs V deHann, Mrs K Lovell, Mr McCombe and Mr R Branton.

2. PROCEDURAL MATTERS

2.1  Apologies for absence had been received from Mr R Adcock, away on family matters.

2.2   Election of Chair & Vice Chair: Mr Branton proposed that Mr Milner continue as Chair for the coming year and Mr Milner was re-elected by the unanimous wishes of the PC. Mr Branton was proposed as Vice Chair by Mr Norman and also elected unanimously. Mr Branton stated that he did not plan to stand again the following year.

3. MINUTES OF LAST MEETING (15^th March 2012)

3.1  The Minutes of 15^th March had been circulated previously. No errors or omissions were reported and the Minutes were duly signed by the Chair as a true record of that meeting.

4. MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES

4.1  There had been no follow-up from the presentation relating to rural broadband made at the previous meeting.

5. FINANCES

5.1   Current Balance:                                                                                                             £8.466.60

         Income since last meeting(Precept, less DALC Subscription)                             £ 2,430.00

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

         Clerk's expenses (£5.39p)

        John Veen, for grass-cutting (£17.00)

        Community First, Annual Insurance Premium (£190.23)

        Running Imp, Jubilee gifts. This had been already paid (£370.14p), as agreed on 15 March.

5.3  The Clerk presented the Annual Accounting Statement for 2011-12. This was unchanged from the draft Income and Expenditure statement presented at the previous meeting. The Statement was approved unanimously by a vote of the PC. The Clerk then read the Governance Statements. The PC confirmed that there were no matters of concern relating to the PC's affairs and approved the signing of the statements, which was duly done by the Chair and the Clerk.

5.4  Review of Clerk's Salary: The Chair invited all councillors to email him following the meeting with their suggestions for the Clerk's salary review for the coming year.

6.PLANNING/LICENSINGAPPLICATIONS

6.111/01822/F  Agricultural Building at The Beeches,. Approved by MDDC

6.212/0552/F:  The Haven Annex, Erection of Extension, UPC No objections

6.312/0274/F:  Melway Stab Mini Skips Transfer site has been referred to DCC. Awaiting consultation.

6.412/0285/F:  Westmead, 1^st floor extn to garage, MDDC Approved

6.512/0356/F:  Sentry Cottage: erect office over extg garage/store, UPC No Objection.

6.612/0365/LBC: Spalsbury Fm: replace windows and expose stonework, UPC No Objection.

6.712/0555/LBC: Marigold Cott, replace conservatory. The meeting reviewed this application and concluded that, as there was little change from the existing building, there was no objection to it.

6.8Planning System Explained, report on seminar by Mrs K Lovell. This item was held over to the next meeting due to lack of time.

6.9Neighbourhood Planning is coming - The Clerk reported that a recent briefing at MDDC had outlined the impending introduction of Neighbourhood Planning and other consequences of the Localism Bill from 1^st July.

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  MDDC had written seeking views on the operation of the Parish Charter. Councillors had none so far.

7.2  Involve had sent a comprehensive guide to services in Mid Devon.

7.3  The East & Mid Devon Community Safety Partnership had sent an updated constact list, which was now on the noticeboard

8. HALL AND RECREATION ASSOCIATION

8.1  In Mr Adcock's absence there was little to report from UHRA.

9.  EMERGENCY PLANNING AND NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH

9.1 The Clerk had circulated the existing Emergency Plan. This would be considered in conjunction with Neighbourhood planning issues at a later date.

9.2 There had been no police report.

10.  VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS

10.1  Plans for HM the Queen's Diamond jubilee celebration were now well advanced. The PC had bought spoons for distribution to parish children; any wurplus spoons would be available to purchase at cost price. The Clerk would make presentation certificates for distribution with the spoons.

10.2  The Clerk reported on a recent meeting he had attended at MDDC when the Town and Parish (TAP) Fund was outlined. This would be available to 2 or more parishes working together on a common project. He suggested that a joint project with Sampford Peverell PC to enhance the leat might be appropriate, for example. Councillors would bring suggestions to the next meeting.

10.3  The Chair would contact Mrs Holley regarding use of the donation still in hand. All Councillors would bring their suggestions to the July meeting, when a decision would be made.

10.4  DCC had surveyed the site for the school flashing 'wig-wag' signs. It was agreed that a consultation with the most affected neighbours would be held. The best time would be just after half term and the public meeting was proposed for 12 June, subject to availability of rooms. Letters would be sent to the immediate neighbours and all interested would be welcomed. DCC would be invited to explain the operation of the signs, the school governors would outline the need and UPC could answer any other queries. The Clerk would contact DCC and other involved parties.

11. STATE OF ROADS IN PARISH

11.1  It was noted that the village sign in Whitnage was deteriorating significantly.

11.2  Blocked drains had been reported at Greenend and beside Court Farm Cottage. The Clerk would report these to DCC.

12. DATE OF NEXT MEETING

The next meeting would be on Thursday 19^th July 2012, in the Hall starting at 7.30pm with public discussion.

The meeting closed at 10.15pm

DRAFT MINUTES

Public discussion: The meeting had been preceded by the Chairman's Annual Report:

I was privileged last May to be chosen to be Chairman of the PCC. We were fortunate to co-opt 2 new councillors, Vanessa de Haan and Kirsty Lovell, and I would like to thank both them and the existing Councillors for there contribution during the year. It has re-affirmed to me how much time and effort is put in by everyone on the council. Special thanks must also go to Des Hannon of Devon CC and Ray Radford, in his Mid Devon DC role, who turn up at most meetings and contribute to keeping us informed of other council matters.

The school path has now been operating successfully for over a year, at which point it has been reviewed and it has been suggested by the School Governors that to improve safety some flashing signs (wig wags) should be erected either side of the path exit. Discussions will start shortly to ensure that anyone affected can contribute to the final decision. We are grateful to Councillor Des Hannon for finding the funds to enable this to be completed, should that be the agreed course of action.

We have dealt with a number of planning applications and it has made us appreciate that as the Parish Council we can only act as a consultee and not as the planning authority. In particular we have looked at an application for a large wind turbine at Hill Farm, and more recently for a mini-skip waste transfer station. The latter was withdrawn as it needs to be looked at by Devon CC. It has made us recognise that it is sometimes difficult to communicate with everyone that may be affected. The planning process of Mid Devon DC and Devon County Council consult only with the nearest local residents whereas the previous applications can impact upon a much wider audience.

As Chairman I have trialed using email from the group oil system to inform a proportion of homes in the village and would like to extend this to anyone else that would wish to be informed of significant applications or other factors that would be of interest. It is regrettable that our local Newsletter has ceased to be published as this was another way of informing residents. Another alternative is to utilise our web site Uplowman.org.uk, but unfortunately there is no guarantee that everyone could access it or will view it on a regular basis.

The next biggest thing for the Council to look at is Neighbourhood Planning and this would certainly involve consulting with all households should we decide to go ahead and write a Local Plan.

Trevor Milner

Subsequent discussion included:

1. Blocked drains (see 11.2 above)

2. The seats on the Green were reported in poor condition and liable to collapse. Mr Norman said he was planning to fix them. The rubbish bin on the Green was full again. Cllr Radford would be informed.

3. It was commented that the leat was flowing well and thanks were due to the PC and one councillor in particular for their efforts to maintain it in operation.

4. The BT telephone box on the green was considered an asset worth keeping. It might be acquired from BT but it would need to have a role in village life. This might be another subject for consultation with the parish.

5. Celebration of the Hall's 10^thanniversary would take place in December.Some refurbishment would be desirable before then,such as replacing a broken light near the entrance.