Minutes of UPC Meeting of 16 July 2015
MINUTES OF MEETING Held on 16th July 2015 at the Village Hall, Uplowman starting at 7.50pm. Approved on 3 September 2015
1 member of the public present. Minutes taken by Mr R Hodgson, Clerk. Action points in bold.
1. MEMBERS PRESENT
1.1 Present: Cllr T Milner (Chairman), Cllr R Branton, Cllr K Baugh, Cllr R Adcock and Cllr S Floyd .
2. PROCEDURAL MATTERS & APOLOGIES
2.1 Cllrs R Norman (on holiday) and A McCombe (end of term commitments at school) had tendered apologies for their absence.
2.2 The role of Vice Chair was discussed but no councillor was prepared to be appointed formally as Vice Chair. The Chair stated that, should he be absent, a Chair would have to be appointed on a meeting by meeting basis.
3. MINUTES OF LAST MEETING (13 May2015)
3.1 The Draft Minutes of the Annual Meeting on 13th May had been circulated. The Minutes were agreed without change and were signed as a true record of that meeting.
4. MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES
4.1 There were no matters arising from the previous meeting that would not be addressed by Agenda items
5. FINANCES
5.1 Current Balance: £5300.59
Income since last meeting (Precept, VAT refund + TAP grant): £Nil
5.2 The following payments were approved and cheques signed to effect the disbursements:
J Veen, for grass cutting (£198.05)
5.3 The Council's papers had been submitted to the External Auditor and no feed back had yet been received.
5.4 The Clerk stated that, as a result of adopting the Transparency Code, the Council would need to publish certain information about its activities. A draft schedule had been circulated. There were no comments and the Clerk was directed to make the necessary publication.
5.5 The Clerk's Appraisal was due. TheChair would consult appropriately and arrange a face to face meeting in August. Cllr Branton would attend the face to face meeting as well.
6. PLANNING/LICENSING APPLICATIONS
6.1 This Session started with a general discussion about development of open spaces within the Uplowman and Green Gates settlement areas. Cllr Milner said that in June 2010 the Dept of Communities and Local Government had excluded private residential gardens from the definition of previously developed land. Thus, gardens must now be considered as greenfield sites rather than, as formerly, brownfield ones for which granting development permission is encouraged. It was noted that there might be as many as 20 sites where large gardens or other spaces might be developed in the two settlements and that the Local Plan Review had not list Uplowman among the villages suitable for limited development. Cllr Floyd said that Uplowman village was a rural setting not suited to dense habitation and that large gardens should be retained. Cllr Branton commented that vegetable plots were hard to get locally as it was. It was agreed on a show of hands to uphold the existing policy of Uplowman Parish Council that there should be no further new development in the Uplowman parish settlements.
6.2 15/0418/PNCOU: Broad View Farm, conversion of redundant agricultural building to dwelling, Withdrawn.
6.3 15/0549/PNCOU: Micholsfield, Conversion of redundant Agricultural buildings to 2 dwellings, Granted
6.4 15/0789/Full: Recreation Field, Erection of Tennis Court, had been submitted in UPC name
6.5 15/0552/Full: Hatherlands: Erection of Extension, had been granted by MDDC
6.6 15/0979/OUT: Little Chase: Erection of dwelling. Cllr Adcock (neighbour) declared an interest and left the room. Cllr Milner said that the site had been inspected and neighbours' views had been reviewed. After some discussion, it was agreed by a show of hands that UPC was opposed to this application as it was not in line with the restated UPC policy (see above). The Clerk would inform MDDC.
6.7 15/0626/LBC: Trucklegate Cottage, Replace windows, has been granted by MDDC
6.8 15/0905/PNAG: Court Farm: Extend existing agricultural building, granted 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 DC Highways would be holding conferences to outline the winter highways maintenance programmes at different locations on 14 and 21 October. No Councillor was available.
7.2 The East & Mid Devon Crime and Safety Partnership newsletter was available. The Clerk noted that the Police were setting up meetings to communicate locally with residents.
8.HALL AND RECREATION ASSOCIATION
8.1 The TAP fund football posts had been bought and the invoice would be forwarded to the Clerk.
8.2 UHRA were in the process of setting up an on-line hall booking process.
8.3 UHRA proposed to create a separate sub-committee to manage the tennis court, when built.
9. EMERGENCY PLANNING AND NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH
9.1 PCSO Simms was away and no report had been received.
10. VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS
10.1 It had been suggested that bollards should be emplaced along the road side by the leat to prevent vehicles from mounting the verge and potentially damaging the leat bank. Cllr Milner would look at this and consider solutions later.
10.2 The Federation of Uplowman and Halberton schools would go ahead from 31 August. Uplowman School was already oversubscribed so there was currently no need to advertise. The Clerk had obtained guidance from the MDDC planners about the use of large displays, which the Governors would follow if needed.
10.3 Two quotes had been obtained for the Hall seating. These would include a concreted area. Cllr Adcock would draw up plans showing details of what was proposed for submission to MDDC for Section 106 funds.
10.4 Refurbishment of the Telephone box had been costed at approximately £500. The Clerk suggested that grants might be available to help with this expense provided a decision on its future use could be agreed.
10.5 Planning permission had now been sought in the name of UPC for the proposed tennis court.
10.6 It was agreed that a Parish Social would be held in association with the opening of the proposed tennis court.
10.7 The Clerk reported that the noticeboard seems loose in the ground. He did not feel it was unsafe but should be examined. Cllr Adcock would ask Mr Veen to inspect it.
11. STATE OF ROADS IN PARISH
11.1 The clerk had reported the potholes discussed in the May meeting, which had been filled by DCC. He noted that it was immaterial whether the report was submitted by the Clerk and that anyone could use the DCC website with equal effect.
11.2 DCC was establishing Road Wardens to help fix holes in roads. These would be trained and covered by DCC insurance. After brief discussion it was decided that UPC would not pursue this.
12. DATE OF NEXT MEETING
The next meeting was scheduled for Thursday 3rd September.
The meeting closed at 9.30pm
Public discussion.
Mr Lovell presented his objections to the Little Chase planning application (Item 6.6). He considered it inconsistent with local plans and that it would adversely affect his view as a neighbour. He commented that there were 20 other similar gardens in and around Uplowman for which this might create a precedent.
It had been mentioned to the Chair that the finger sign-post in the middle of the village was shabby. Cllr Adcock would consider how this might be addressed.
It was noted that a stained glass window had been broken at the church that would cost a lot to replace. The circumstances of this breakage were not clea
MINUTES OF 16 JULY 2015