Minutes of UPC Meeting held on 19 November 2015
MINUTES OF MEETING Held on 19th November 2015 at the Village Hall, Uplowman starting at 7.40pm. Approved on 21st January 2016
Cllr D Hannon (DCC) plus two members 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, Cllr R Norman, Cllr A McCombe and Cllr S Floyd .
2. PROCEDURAL MATTERS & APOLOGIES
2.1 All were present.
3. MINUTES OF LAST MEETING (3 September2015)
3.1 The Draft Minutes of the Meeting held on 3rd September 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: £4667.13
Income since last meeting (DCC grant from Locality budget): £500.00
5.2 The following payments were approved and cheques signed to effect the disbursements:
Mid Devon DC for election expenses (£127.35, this had been paid previously)
J Veen, for grass cutting and refurbishment of noticeboard (£92.00)
R. Branton, for memorial wreath (£20)
UPCC, for maintenance of burial ground (£350.00)
T&D Community Transport Association, for Ring & Ride (£25)
UHRA, for hire of hall (£50.00)
5.3 The proposed budget for 2016-7 had been circulated. It was noted that the Precept had been raised significantly for 2015-6 to cover the possible cost of a contested election and to provide reserves for emergency expenditure on, for example, leat maintenance. It was agreed that UPC should have a Policy on maintenance of financial reserves and the Chair would draft one for the January meeting. On a show of hands it was agreed unanimously to set a Precept for the coming year equal to the one set for the current year, that is £2,900 (including the Council Tax Reduction Grant). The Clerk would inform MDDC.
5.4 The Clerk's Appraisal had been completed with a face to face meeting between Clerk, Chair and Cllr Branton the previous evening. The discussion had covered a lot of points and had been a positive meeting of minds.
6. PLANNING/LICENSING APPLICATIONS
6.1 15/01342/F: Green End House: Extension: UPC did not object and MDDC has approved
6.2 14/02128/LBC: Hill Farm convert Barn. Details of windows etc had been approved by MDDC
6.3 14/00387/F: The Beeches, Retention of multipurpose shed. It was noted that no enforcement action had yet occurred.
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 Various correspondence had been received concerning parking outside the school. Neighbours had complained that the road was again sometimes impassable to emergency vehicles. Other neighbours considered the problem not insuperable. Cllr Hannon said that the School had a moral obligation to its neighbours and he would raise the matter with the Head Teacher. Cllr Milner suggested that the PC might provide 'no parking' signs and the PC would write to the school to suggest this. Cllr Branton wondered whether the corner of the field cut off by the path might be available as a car park.
7.2 It was agreed to forward to Mrs Adcock a letter received from the Tree Warden.
7.3 The Clerk had attended a training on the Code of Conduct. He recommended that councillors should re- familiarise themselves with its provisions. He thought that UPC operated within its requirements but councillors needed to be vigilant because penalties for apparent breaches could be significant.
7.4 The Citizens' Advice Bureau had written seeking support. This would be discussed in January.
8.HALL AND RECREATION ASSOCIATION
8.1 The tennis court was now in use. Recent events had gone well.
9. EMERGENCY PLANNING AND NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH
9.1 No report had been received.
10. VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS
10.1 DCC Highways did not consider there to be an issue with the leat bank. It was agreed to maintain a watching brief.
10.2 The Clerk had submitted a plan of the proposed Hall benches to MDDC, which had agreed the expenditure under Section 106. The work would need to be undertaken before the financial year end (March 2016) to enable claiming of the expenditure in arrears.
10.3 Cllr Milner was awaiting a response from SPPC regarding their support for refurbishment of the telephone box under TAP funding. It was proposed to pt information about the village in it as a resource for visitors.
10.4 UHRA would spend the £50outstanding from the 2014-5 TAP fund on equipment for the tennis court.
10.5 The tennis court was in operation, The Chairman would get together with the Chair of UHRAand write a letter of thanks to the donor.
10.6 It was agreed to go ahead with refurbishing the sign post. PHS would repair and repaint the fingers white according to their estimate and the cost of cleaning and painting the post should be covered by the recent donation from the closure of U&W News. Cllr Adcock would liaise with PHS.
10.7 Other possible projects were discussed. A playground was proposed and it was suggested that a village-wide consultation be held. The opportunity for a Parish Meeting had now passed this year and it was suggested that June 2016 would be the next suitable time for one.
11. STATE OF ROADS IN PARISH
11.1 Generally the highways were in good repair.
12. DATE OF NEXT MEETING
The next meeting was scheduled for Thursday 21st January 2016
The meeting closed at 9.45pm
Public discussion.
There had been no public discussions
Minutes of 19th November 2015