January 2017
UPLOWMAN PARISH COUNCIL: MINUTES OF MEETING
Held on 19th January 2017 at the Village Hall, Uplowman starting at 8.10pm.
Approved on 15th March 2017
12 members of the public present. Minutes taken by Mr R Hodgson, Clerk. Action points in bold.
1. MEMBERS PRESENT
1.1 Present: Cllr R Adcock, Cllr R Norman, Cllr R Branton, Cllr A McCombe, Cllr K Baugh and Cllr S Floyd.
2. PROCEDURAL MATTERS & APOLOGIES
2.1 Cllr T Milner (Chairman) had apologised in advance for absence, due to a family bereavement. Cllr Adcock proposed Cllr Branton as Chairman for this meeting. Cllr Norman seconded this motion, which was agreed by all and Cllr Branton then took the chair.
3. MINUTES OF LAST MEETING (17 November 2016)
3.1 The Draft Minutes of the Meeting held on 17th November 2016 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 none.
5. FINANCES
5.1 Current Balance: £3,259.43
Income since last meeting : £0.00
5.2 The following payments were approved and cheques signed to effect the disbursements:
R Hodgson (Clerk's Expenses): £11.20p
It was agreed to renew the DALC subscription (£75) to be paid by MDDC and deducted from Precept
It was agreed to fund signage at Uplowman School up to £100 on receipt of invoice.
5.3 The Precept requirement for 2017-8 was confirmed to be £2900. The Clerk would inform MDDC.
5.4 The Clerk's annual face to face appraisal had occurred with Cllrs Milner, Adcock and Branton. Cllr Adcock drew attention to the kind words about Uplowman's Clerk penned by Cllr Hannon in that week's Tiverton Gazette, with which he concurred.
5.5 It was agreed that the current grass-cutting arrangements were going well and should continue for 2017. The Clerk would make arrangements with Mr Veen.
6. PLANNING/LICENSING APPLICATIONS
6.1 16/01694/LBC: Install door to replace window at Uplowman House : Had been approved by MDDC
6.2 17/0032/House: Little Whitnage, erect shed, install oil tank. UPC had no objection
6.3 17/0050/LBC: Little Whitnage: replace windows, bathroom, etc: UPC had no objection
6.4 17/0033/OUT: Erection 8 dwellings, Crosses Farm field: This matter had been the subject of extensive representations during the public session. It was agreed that (a) Uplowman did not have services or transport connections for new build development; (b) the one-way system proposed for this development would cause traffic hazards at the entrance; (c) the public sewerage could not take 8 more houses and installing a private system risked causing pollution. Cllr Floyd proposed rejection of the proposal as inappropriate in open countryside, which was agreed unanimously. The Clerk would draft a submission to MDDC and circulate for comments.
6.5 Local Plan Review: The significant changes locally were the addition of a major leisure development at Junction 27 and 60 additional homes in Higher Town, Sampford Peverell. Cllr McCombe considered the additional housing to be inappropriate and out of place. He feared that 'creeping' development would occur towards Uplowman and said that school provision was inadequate for the extra homes. Other points raised were the importance of maintaining access for large agricultural vehicles through the new developments in Sampford Peverell and in Eastern Tiverton and concern that the timetable for considering the Local Plan Review was too rushed. The Clerk would draft a response and circulate it.
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 The Clerk had received a complaint about dog fouling on the Hall footbridge. Cllr Adcock said this was an increasing problem on the field as well. The Clerk was asked to include a note in the Parish Magazine.
8. HALL AND RECREATION ASSOCIATION
8.1 The UHRA was drafting plans for the summer and intended to do another beer/music festival.
9. EMERGENCY PLANNING AND NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH
9.1 PCSO Simms had been away and there was no report.
10. VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS
10.1 Cllr Adcock informed the meeting that he had applied on behalf of UPC to the British Heart Foundation for a defibrillator and had just heard that the application had been successful. He had received a large quantity of training materials and would be arranging training in due course. The siting of the defibrillator was discussed and it was agreed that the Hall would be most suitable. UHRA would decide the best position, which would be on an external wall. Cllr Adcock was congratulated on this success.
10.2 The School governors had informed UPC that the signs at school had been bought with other funds.It was agreed that parking around the school was currently improved and that the offer to fund additional signs would be left open.
10.3 TAP funding options for the current year were discussed. It was suggested that a data projector for the Hall would enable the PC to examine plans more easily and would be useful for many other hall users. Cllr McCombe would cost the proposal, which needed to be submitted by Feb 28th.
11. STATE OF ROADS IN PARISH
11.1 The surfacing in School Lane had deteriorated. It was noted that the road had flooded at Green End and there was concern that the bridge might be partially blocked.
12. DATE OF NEXT MEETING
The next meeting was confirmed for Thursday 16th March 2017.
The meeting closed at 9.20pm
Public discussion.
1. There was considerable discussion about a planning application to build 8 homes behind Crosses Farm. Points raised included:
Site is outside the planning area;
Proposed entrance is for horticultural use and the turning is dangerous;
The supporting papers erroneously describe the access as being within a 30mph zone;
The site is open countryside and the village does not have adequate services for development;
The exit would be through a privately owned drive;
No housing needs have been identified in Uplowman.
2. The Devon Air Ambulance is looking for evening landing sites. It was suggested that UHRA could offer the playing field. Cllr Adcock would look into that.
3. It was suggested that the road between the cross roads and the church might be named 'Church Road' to assist delivery drivers, since all the houses around the cross roads have the came post code.
Minutes of 19 January 2017