January 2018
UPLOWMAN PARISH COUNCIL: DRAFT MINUTES OF MEETING
Held on Thursday 18th January 2018 at the Village Hall, Uplowman starting at 8.15pm.
14 members of public plus Cllr C Slade (DCC) present. Minutes by Mr R Hodgson, Clerk. Action points in bold. Subject to Approval on 15 March
- MEMBERS PRESENT
1.1 Present: Cllr T Milner (Chair), Cllr S Floyd, Cllr R Norman, Cllr K Baugh, Cllr A McCombe, Cllr R Adcock and Cllr R Branton.
- PROCEDURAL MATTERS & APOLOGIES
2.1 All UPC councillors were present. Cllr Radford (MDDC) had apologised that he could not attend.
2.2 Cllr Slade (DCC) presented a brief report on Issues arising from MDDC and DCC. He said that the Local Plan would be considered by MDDC at their February meeting and that the draft Greater Exeter Strategic Plan would be published mid 2018.
- MINUTES OF LAST MEETING (16th November 2017)
3.1 Draft Minutes of the Meeting held on Thursday 16th November 2017 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 There were no matters from the previous meeting that would not be covered by the Agenda.
- FINANCES
5.1 Current Balance: £4,188.52
Income since last meeting: £Nil
5.2 The following payments were approved and cheques signed to effect the disbursements:
R Hodgson (Clerk's Expenses): £10.60p
It was also agreed to renew the DALC annual subscription and that it could could be deducted by MDDC from the annual Precept (amount to be confirmed, approx £75).
5.3 The draft budget had been discussed at the previous meeting. The Clerk noted that there would be no cap on local council Precepts for at least 3 years. Nothing had arisen since to change the proposed budget, which was similar to the previous years’ and would see the reserves rise to the agreed level. Cllr Milner proposed that the Precept request for 2018-9 be the same as for 2017-8, namely a gross amount of £2,900. Seconded Cllr Branton and agreed unanimously. The Clerk would inform MDDC.
5.4 The Clerk reported that the Annual Audit arrangements would change for the year ending March 2018. UPC, with a turnover of less than £25,000 pa, could declare itself exempt from external audit provided all the prescribed data was available on-line. More details would be available soon.
5.5 The Clerk informed the meeting that the enactment of the General Data Protection Regulations in May would affect UPC in that all local councils must appoint a Data Protection Officer. The Clerk, as principal data controller, could not take on this role and he would be investigating alternative options, possible in collaboration with neighbouring PCs.
5.6 The Chairman would arrange the Clerk's annual appraisal face to face meeting soon.
5.7 The grass-cutting arrangements for 2018 were reviewed. It was agreed that the ad hoc arrangements with Mr Veen had worked well over several years and, on a show of hands, all agreed that it should continue. The Clerk would confirm arrangements and costs with Mr Veen.
- PLANNING APPLICATIONS
6.1 17/02060/ARM: Land NE of Twin Oaks: Erect dwelling Reserved Matters. The plans were circulated for discussion. Cllr McCombe considered that the plans were out of keeping with the rural character of the site and should be revised. The proposed 4-bedroom 2 storey house was larger than the ajjacent bungalow. He proposed that the UPC should object on those grounds. After some discussion it was agreed that the UPC response should be objection and the Clerk would inform MDDC accordingly.
6.2 13/01616 MOUT: 330 dwellings Uplowman Rd. This had been withdrawn on Christmas day. It was anticipated that a new application would be submitted.
6.3 17/01663/F: Conversion of Whitnage Chapel, No objection by UPC, had been permitted by MDDC
6.4 18/00041/OUT: Revised scheme for 8 dwellings at Crosses Farm. This had been received since the papers for the meeting were prepared. It had been the subject of many representations during the public seesion before the meeting. Cllr Milner noted that the application included 4 affordable homes but was in principle similar to an application made in 2017 that had been dismissed by MDDC after extensive local objection. The public session prior to this meeting had raised many objections to the new proposal. After considerable discussion, it was proposed by Cllr Milner and agreed by all that UPC should object to this proposal on similar ground to the objections made to Application 17/00033/OUT, namely that Uplowman is unsustainable in planning terms and the traffic arrangements for the development would result in a number of challenges for other road users. Furthermore, Cllr Milner noted that the previous application had been called in to committee by Cllr Radford against the wishes of UPC. He said that this resulted in decisions being taken by representatives with no connection to the village that could contradict both local wishes and MDDC’s planning policies. On a show of hands, all agreed that it should be made clear to Cllr Radford that UPC did not wish this matter to be called into committee.
6.5 18/00027/OUT: Little Chace, erection of single dwelling. This had been received since the papers for the meeting were prepared. Cllr Milner said that no details of the proposed layout had been submitted. This was therefore in principle no different to an application made in 2015 (15/00979/OUT) that had been rejected by MDDC on grounds upheld by the Inspector in a subsequent Appeal. The Planning Statement referred to a recently granted permission for a dwelling in Uplowman (17/01108/OUT), suggesting that the two applications were similar. Cllr Milner considered that nothing had changed since the refusal of 15/00979/OUT and he had received assurances from MDDC planners that the recent approval of 17/01108/OUT did not set a precedent for unrestrained development in Uplowman. He proposed that UPC should object to this application on grounds similar to those used previously and upheld by the appeal, namely that Uplowman is unsustainable in planning terms and the access to the development from the busy highwaywould result in a number of challenges for other road users. Also, it was not clear how foul waste would be managed. On a show of hands, all agreed that it should be made clear to Cllr Radford that UPC would not wish this matter to be called into committee.
- Parish Planning
7.1 The first meeting of the Parish Planning group had been held in the Redwoods on 10 January. 8 parishioners had participoated and a report had been circulated with the papers for this meeting. There would be a second meeting on 15 February with the objective of holding a public event during the summer. UPC noted the progress and confirmed that £200pa was budgeted for activities connected with development of the plan.
- 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:
8.1 All significant correspondence was covered under other Agenda items.
9. HALL AND RECREATION ASSOCIATION
9.1 Nets were being erected to restrain footballs from neighbouring gardens and a redecoration of the Hall was being planned.
- EMERGENCY PLANNING AND NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH
10.1 No report received.
- 11. VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS
11.1 TAP fund: Cllr Adcock had suggested that a copy of the 1890 Ordnance Survey map of the parish might be refurbished and framed to hang in the hall. On further investigation, he proposed making a facsimile copy for framing and would investigate costs. This might be suitable for TAP funding. The Clerk would forward details of the TAP application process.
- STATE OF ROADS IN PARISH
11.1 Councillors noted a number of potholes and issues with blocked drains. It was confirmed that UPC is not currently responsible for dealing with drains. Cllr Slade (DCC) said that the best way to deal with potholes, drain and other hightway issues was to report them via the DCC website as that would get to the relevant officers most quickly.
11.2 The PROW definitive map review continued. Cllr Branton thought that footpath Number 4 was not used much and of little practical benefit. Cllr Milner proposed thatall responses should be consolidated at the March meeting.
- DATE OF NEXT MEETING
The next meeting was confirmed for Thursday 15th March 2018. Cllrs Milner and Adcock apologised in advance that they would not be able to attend due to family matters.
The meeting closed at 9.55pm
Public discussion
14 members of the public attended. A number of concerns and comments were raised in respect of the recently published planning application 18/00041/OUT: Revised scheme for 8 dwellings at Crosses Farm. Comments included:
The changes were not significant in planning terms;
Inclusion of affordable homes did not reflact any identified local need for such housing;
Uplowman remained not sustainable in planning terms in that there is no shop and only one bus service per week. Therefore any development is outwith the MDDC Core Strategy;
The comments of the October planning committee had recognised that Uplowman was not suitable for further development, even though they had permitted a single dwelling;
The MDDC Code of Conduct for Members is less strict than that used in Uplowman and members could participate provided they had declared their interests;
The highways submission referred erroneously to a 30mph speed limit through the village;
The proposed exit from the site was currently privately owned byt neighbouring properties;
If the site access remained unadopted then refuse trucks and other service vehicles would have to collect from the main highway, creating obstructions on a difficult corner.
Acceptance of this application would open flood-gates to many similar applications.
Commenting on the parish planning process, a suggestion was made that the PC might investigate communal broadband for the village.
DRAFT Minutes of 18 January 2018