July 2017
UPLOWMAN PARISH COUNCIL: MINUTES OF MEETING
Held on Thursday 20 th July 2017 at the Village Hall, Uplowman starting at 8.45pm.
Approved on 21 September 2017
C Slade (DCC) and 2 members of the public present. Minutes by Mr R Hodgson, Clerk. Action points in bold.
1. MEMBERS PRESENT
1.1 Present: Cllr T Milner (Chair), Cllr R Adcock, Cllr R Norman, Cllr K Baugh, Cllr A McCombe and Cllr S Floyd.
2. PROCEDURAL MATTERS & APOLOGIES
2.1 Cllr R Branton had tendered apologies for absence due to another public engagement.
2.2 The Clerk noted that the implementation of the Transparency Code meant that there was no longer a legal requirement to post notices on the public board. As some parishioners were known not to regularly use the internet, the Councillors agreed without objection that the display of minutes, agendas, councillor details and financial summaries should continue on the board.
3. MINUTES OF LAST MEETING (9th May 2017)
3.1 Draft Minutes of the Annual Meeting held on Tuesday 9 th May 2017 had been circulated. The Minutes were agreed without change (prop Cllr Norman) 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: £5708.15
Income since last meeting: £Nil
The clerk noted that he had erroneously accounted twice for a payment of £37.50 to Ken White signs and that the current balance had been adjusted since the previous meeting to allow for this.
5.2 The following payments were approved and cheques signed to effect the disbursements:
R Hodgson (Clerk's Expenses): £9.13p
W J Veen, for grass cutting: £183.75
Cllr Adcock had advised the cost of the defibrillator for insurance purposes. Cllr Adcock would check whether the UHRA had insured it.
5.3 The Audit papers had been submitted but no response had yet been received from the Auditors.
5.4 The Chairman would arrange for the clerk's annual appraisal during the summer.
6. PLANNING/LICENSING APPLICATIONS
6.1 17/0033/OUT: Erection of 8 dwellings, Crosses Farm field: Cllr Milner had attended the Planning Committee meeting in which this had been discussed by MDDC. Cllr Adcock thanked Cllr Milner for his helpful presentation to the Committee. The application had been refused by a vote of 8:1. No notice of any appeal had yet been received by UPC.
6.2 17/0360/F: Hr Locks Farm, Whitnage: erect calf shed. This had been approved by MDDC
6.3 17/1108/OUT: Land NE of Twin Oaks: Erect dwelling. Cllr Floyd declared an interest as an immediate neighbour to the site and left the room. Cllr Milner said that this was an application for outline permission for a single dwelling. It related solely to access arrangements and no architectural details had been submitted. He noted that this application contravened UPC's policy that there should be no new development in the parish, although he had sympathy with the applicant. Cllr Baugh noted
that the road technically has a 60mph speed limit and that the visibility splay shown should therefore be wider. There was considerable discussion, which concluded by a unanimous vote that, despite any
sympathy with the applicant, no exception could made to the UPC policy, confirmed in the Local Plan Review currently under examination, that Uplowman is unsuitable for further development due to its lack of essential services such as buses and shops. The Clerk would inform MDDC.
6.4 17/1131/CLU: Roselands: Lawful use in breach of Agricultural occupancy. The present occupiers had lived in Roselands for 10 years without engaging in agricultural activity and had applied for a Certificate of Lawful Use to regularise their occupation. No objection was raised by the meeting.
6.5 Cllr Adcock commented that several parishioners were now expert in planning matters. He noted that a number of recent outline applications had raised issues about long term planning of the village and wondered whether that expertise could be brought into the development of a neighbourhood plan. Cllr Milner thought this a good idea and suggested that they be approached informally. Cllr Adcock would do so.
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 There was no correspondence that did not relate to matters to be discussed under the agenda. The Clerk noted that he had received about 220 emails since the last meeting. Those of relevance to the work of UPC had been forwarded to councillors. These include communications from Devon Association of Local Councils, Planning matters and various updates from Rural Services Network.
8. HALL AND RECREATION ASSOCIATION
8.1 Cricket nets were now in place and had been damaged. Cllr Adcock said it was hard to prevent equipment from being damaged but at least it was being used.
9. EMERGENCY PLANNING AND NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH
9.1 PCSO Morris had not provided an update this month. Cllr Milner wondered whether an annual report might be less alarming as individual crimes might carry less weight in annual statistics than they do in monthly ones.
10. VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS
10.1 The defibrillator was now installed on the north wall of the Hall. Additional training could be arranged in desired.
10.2 The first round of TAP applications would have to be submitted by the end of September. There were no immediate suggestions for possible uses of these funds. Cllr Slade noted that he could also make small grants available via his 'Locality' budget.
11. STATE OF ROADS IN PARISH
11.1 A crack had been reported in the road from Whitnage to Sampford Peverell. It was noted that correcting this could involve significant engineering work to shore up the roadside bank. The Clerk would contact
the Highways local team.
11.2 A request had been received to look at whether the PC could help manage parking at the cross roads during school drop-off and pick-up times. Parents did not always park in the Hall park and, in consequence,
children had to walk in the roadway where they risked collision with passing vehicles. The school governors had sent out a letter asking parents to park in the Hall and it was agreed that the PC would
consider what additional measure it might take. Cllr Milner would contact the Governors to suggest that the formerly successful walking school bus be reinstated between the Hall and the school.
11.3 The Clerk noted that the North Devon Link Road between the M5 and Tiverton would be subject to a 40mph speed restriction between September and June next year to allow for construction of the new
junction for the eastern urban extension. Cllr Slade said that other details of the residential layouts, including access from Uplowman to Tiverton, had not yet been decided.
12. DATE OF NEXT MEETING
The next meeting had been scheduled for Thursday 21 st September 2017.
The meeting closed at 9.05pm
Public discussion
Mr M Rowe, Applicant for Planning Reference 17/1108/OUT: Land NE of Twin Oaks, informed the meeting that he hoped to move back to the village and had kept the field in question to enable a self-build home to be constructed for himself and his family.
Commenting on the ecological statement, another parishioner stated that the field that was the subject of the application supported a range of protected species that had not been mentioned in the statement and that she considered this needed review to ensure protection of Uplowman's biodiversity.
Minutes of 20 July 2017