May 201 Draft
UPLOWMAN PARISH COUNCIL: MINUTES OF ANNUAL MEETING
Held on 9th May 2017 at the Village Hall, Uplowman starting at 8.45pm. Approved on 20 July 2017
Cllrs R Radford (MDDC), C Slade (MDDC) present. Minutes by Mr R Hodgson, Clerk. Action points in bold.
- MEMBERS PRESENT
1.1 Present: Cllr T Milner (Chair), Cllr R Adcock, Cllr R Norman, Cllr R Branton, Cllr A McCombe and Cllr S Floyd.
- PROCEDURAL MATTERS & APOLOGIES
2.1 Cllr K Baugh had tendered apologies for absence due to another public engagement.
2.2 The Clerk took the Chair and invited nominations for the Chair for 2017-8. Cllr Milner was nominated by Cllr Adcock. There were no other nominations and Cllr Milner was elected unanimously to resume the Chair.
- MINUTES OF LAST MEETING (16 March 2017)
3.1 The Draft Minutes of the Meeting held on 16th March 2017 had been circulated. The Minutes were agreed without change (prop Cllr Adcock) and were signed as a true record of that meeting.
- MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES
4.1 There were none.
- FINANCES
5.1 Current Balance: £6002.51
Income since last meeting (Precept, less DALC sub): £2824.31
5.2 The following payments were approved and cheques signed to effect the disbursements:
R Hodgson (Clerk's Expenses): £10.65p
W J Veen, for grass cutting: £127.00
Community First, for Insurance premium: £192.01
The Clerk noted that the telephone box and the defibrillator should be added to the insurance policy if possible. Cllr Adcock would advise the value of the defibrillator, which had been a donation from the British Heart Foundation.
5.3 The Annual Governance Statement was read to the meeting and each statement agreed by all present.
5.4 The Annual Accounting statement and supporting documentation had been inspected and signed by the internal auditor, Mr Clark. The statement was approved by the meeting and signed by the Chair. The Clerk would publish these and forward to the External Auditor.
5.5 The Clerk left the room while his salary was discussed. It was decided to raise the Clerk's salary by £30 to £1070 pa.
5.6 The Chairman had drafted a complaints procedure for use by UPC. This had been circulated. It was agreed to adopt the procedure, which the Clerk would add to the UPC website.
- PLANNING/LICENSING APPLICATIONS
6.1 17/0033/OUT: Erection of 8 dwellings, Crosses Farm field: This had been called in and would be discussed at Committee on 17 May. It was noted that the Planning Officer had recommended refusal.. Cllr Milner would attend and could make a representation on behalf of UPC.
6.2 17/00243/HOUSE: 4 Crossways extension: had been approved by MDDC
6.3 17/0360/F: Hr Locks Fm,Whitnage: erect calf shed. Cllr Norman declared an interest as the proposed constructor of this scheme. It was discussed by remaining councillors who had no objection. The Clerk would inform MDDC.
- 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 noted that, under new arrangements, parishes were now required to apply in advance for Section 106 funds that would later be allocated from suitable developments. The Chair suggested that all councillors should consider infrastructure needs that could be notified to MDDC for such funding.
- HALL AND RECREATION ASSOCIATION
8.1 It now seemed unlikely that there would be another beer/music festival. Hall repairs and maintenance would start soon. Cllr Adcock would enquire whether there was any progress with consideration of the sports field as a night-time landing zone for the air-ambulance.
- EMERGENCY PLANNING AND NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH
9.1 PCSO Morris had reported a number of crimes during April. Councillors had not been aware of these and wondered whether the report covered other parishes.
- VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS
10.1 The defibrillator was now installed on the north wall of the Hall. Two training sessions had been undertaken recently.
10.2UHRA had been granted TAP funds for a set of mobile cricket nets. This would be purchased by UPC to enable recovery of VAT. It was noted that TAP fund arrangements would continue in the same format in the coming year.
- STATE OF ROADS IN PARISH
11.1 No problems reported
- DATE OF NEXT MEETING
The next meeting had been scheduled for Thursday 20th July 2017.
The meeting closed at 9.10pm
Chairman's Report for 2016-7
Once again thanks to Des Hannon of Devon CC and Ray Radford, in his Mid Devon DC role, who attend most of our meetings and contribute to keeping us informed of other council matters. It was with sadness we learned that Des is retiring; we wish him all success for the future and look forward to his successor Colin Slade supporting the Parish with equal enthusiasm and energy.
UPC has been reviewing its procedures. The Reserves Policy is now in place so we can explain the nature of our reserves and why we hold some funds back for the future. We also revised our Planning Procedures to ensure that we can deal with applications that arise between our formal meetings. Councillors look at any planning application and respond accordingly in a democratic manner though our “Proper Planning Officer” which is our Parish Clerk.
We finally found the funds and refurbished the red telephone box which is a part of our heritage. It has now been fitted out as an information point where parishioners and visitors can find details of walks in the area or use it as a book swop. A redundant asset is now being used by many.
There have been continual parking issues at the School over the years despite many attempts to dissuade parents from parking there and encouragement to use the new path that was created with funds from Devon CC. We have worked with the School Governors to help alleviate the problem and hope that the new sign provided by the Council will help.
We are also pleased to report that with the assistance of one of our Councillors, Ross Adcock, that the Village Hall has managed to obtain funding to purchase a defibrillator which will be installed outside the hall, and training will be provided for volunteers.
Planning applications consume a considerable amount of discussion, whether in the Parish or affecting us locally. A recent application to build 8 new houses close to the village centre generated a wide response from residents. After discussion the Parish Council re-affirmed its policy that there should be no further new development in the Parish to ensure that the character of the village remains rural in nature and in recognition of the limited facilities available. UPC objected on several specific grounds to this development (subsequent to this report the application has been refused by Mid Devon DC).
On a wider front we have raised concerns regarding the large housing development off Uplowman Road and specifically regarding access for large and agricultural vehicles traffic from Uplowman accessing Tiverton. The Mid Devon Local Plan Review has been delayed, much to our unease, to allow the inclusion of a new development at Junction 27. We have passed our concerns regarding the impact on Tiverton, the additional traffic generated and its impact in the area, plus that it will utilise prime agricultural land and that more housing has been included on the fringe of the Parish boundary. As they say we will have to wait and see what happens.
Minutes of 9th May 2017