September 2016
UPLOWMAN PARISH COUNCIL: DRAFT MINUTES OF MEETING
Held on 15th September 2016 at the Village Hall, Uplowman starting at 7.35pm.
Approved on 17 November 2016
Cllr Ray Radford present. Minutes taken by Mr R Hodgson, Clerk. Action points in bold.
- MEMBERS PRESENT
1.1 Present: Cllr T Milner (Chairman), Cllr Cllr R Adcock, Cllr R Norman, R Branton, A McCombe and S Floyd.
- PROCEDURAL MATTERS & APOLOGIES
2.1 Cllr K Baugh had tendered apologies without reasons.
- MINUTES OF LAST MEETING (21 July 2016)
3.1 The Draft Minutes of the Meeting held on 21st July 2016 had been circulated. The Minutes were agreed without change and were signed as a true record of that meeting.
- MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES
4.1 The Clerk reported that he had forwarded information on Play Areas to Cllr Adcock.
- FINANCES
5.1 Current Balance: £4938.78
Income since last meeting : £0.00
5.2 The following payments were approved and cheques signed to effect the disbursements:
R Hodgson for Salary plus Clerk's expenses : £527.50
J Veen, for Grass cutting: £115.00p
J Veen, for work on Telephone Box: £324.00
T Milner, for Materials for Telephone Box restoration, £154.80
DALC, fee for Clerk to attend Annual Conference, £20.00
5.3 The Clerk noted that the Annual Audit had been completed without any comment by the external auditor.
5.4 The Clerk's annual appraisal was on-going, delayed by a computer glitch. Responses had been collated and the face to face meeting would be arranged in early October.
- PLANNING/LICENSING APPLICATIONS
6.1 No planning application had been made since the last meeting.
6.2 Review of procedures for dealing with Planning Applications (paper attached) . This had been held from the previous meeting. Following additional review, the Chairman proposed an arrangement whereby the Clerk would be appointed as the Proper Planning Officer with delegated powers to respond to applications following the guidance of the councillors. After some discussion this was agreed. The Chairman reminded all councillors that, under this new arrangement, they were all asked to provide their views on applications when invited to do so by the Clerk. Cllr Milner then proposed that the Clerk be appointed as the Proper Planning Officer for the coming year to September 2017. This was agreed by all present.
6.3 There was considerable discussion of the proposed Junction 27 development. Councillor Milner noted that UPC had no been invited to comment on the proposed changes to the Local Plan (which would enable development at Jn 27) ahead of the MDDC vote the following week. He proposed to write to MDDC to ask why this had not happened. Cllr Radford said that there would subsequently be a consultation period, should the revisions to the Local Plan be adopted. It was noted that the development, if built, could result in a requirement for 100 extra homes at Battens Cross, close to the Uplowman Parish boundary.
- 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 sent a survey of waste bins. It was agreed that Uplowman had sufficient of these and the waste bin on the Green was now being emptied more regularly than in the past. It was agreed that there was no need to arrange litter picking.
- HALL AND RECREATION ASSOCIATION
8.1 The UHRA had now installed fencing to prevent cars parking on the grassed areas and had purchased of 50 new seats. The tennis court was well used and the annual Music & Beer festival had been a success.
- EMERGENCY PLANNING AND NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH
9.1 PCSO had sent a report. 2 non-domestic burglaries had been reported, one other theft and one rape. All were asked to be vigilant in securing remote barns and out-houses.
- VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS
10.1 Refurbishment of the Telephone box was now completed. All agreed that it looked very smart and commended Mr Veen for his diligence in doing the work. Cllr Milner would now install shelves in the box and add information of local interest.
10.2 Cllr Floyd had taken photos of the goal posts in use and would forward to the Clerk. She said that all parents of the children depicted had given their consent.
10.3 Cllr Adcock said that the UHRA had concluded that they should install a defibrillator on the wall facing the playing field. He would investigate types and costs and how to arrange training. The Clerk said that they could be bought with a lockable case that could be accessed by calling the local emergency services. Cllr Milner proposed that TAP funding could be obtained to support this project. All were in favour. There was a possible saving if another neighbouring PC wished to purchase at the same time and Cllr Adcock would investigate this.
10.4 The Chairman had contacted the School Governors and offered £100 towards the erection of 'No Parking' signs outside the school. It was reported that signs had been erected but no details had been provided by the Governors.
- STATE OF ROADS IN PARISH
11.1 The potholes in the link road bridge on the Sampford Peverell road had been patched.
11.2 It was noted that the work at Blundell's School, which had caused immense disruption to traffic to/from Uplowman for most of the summer, had been undertaken as a preliminary to the Tiverton East developments to keep the planning permission live. Councillors could see no significant highway benefits in what had been done.
- DATE OF NEXT MEETING
The next meeting was confirmed for Thursday 17 November 2016.
The meeting closed at 9.15pm
Public discussion.
There was none.
Minutes of 15 Sept 2016