May 2018
UPLOWMAN PARISH COUNCIL: MINUTES OF ANNUAL MEETING
Held on Thursday 17th May 2018 at the Village Hall, Uplowman starting at 7.40pm.
Cllr C Slade (DCC) present. Minutes by Mr R Hodgson, Clerk. Action points in bold.
Approved on 19th July 2018
- MEMBERS PRESENT
1.1 Present: Cllr T Milner, Cllr R Adcock, Cllr R Norman and Cllr R Branton.
- PROCEDURAL MATTERS & APOLOGIES
2.1 Cllrs S Floyd, K Baugh and A McCombe had tendered apologies for absence for family reasons.
2.2 Cllr Adcock proposed Cllr T Milner as Chair for the coming year 2018-9. All were in favour and Cllr Milner took the Chair.
2.3 Cllr Slade (DCC) thanked the PC for their expressions of sympathy on the recent death of his daughter, Cllr Miss C Slade. He presented a brief report on Issues arising from DCC where a cabinet reshuffle had taken place and Cllr C Chugg was now Chair in place of Ray Radford. The TAP fund would continue as the Communities Together Fund with frst round closing on 30 Sept. His Locality budget was still in place. Ash tree die-back was expected to be a major concern and inspections were under way.
2.4 Cllr Slade said it was hoped that the MDDC Local Plan (now being examined) would be in place by January 2019. He thought that the development in Sampford Peverell was unlikely to proceed because it required a new junction on the A361 for which there was no money.
- MINUTES OF LAST MEETING (15th March 2018)
3.1 Draft Minutes of the Meeting held on Thursday 15th March 2018 had been circulated. Cllr Adcock proposed their acceptance without change which was agreed aby all and they were signed by the Chair 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: £6367.75
Income since last meeting (Precept less DALC sub)£2,822.73
5.2 The following payments were approved and cheques signed to effect the disbursements:
R Hodgson, Clerk's expenses (£9.15)
WJ Veen, grass cutting (£91.75)
Community First Trading, Insurance premium (£192.01)
5.3 Mr R Clark had completed an internal Audit and was satisfied that all UPC’s procedures were in order. The Annual Governance Statement was read to the meeting. By a show of hands all councillors agreed with each statement in turn.
5.4 The Clerk presented the Accounting Statement. Cllr Adcock proposed the acceptance of this document. All were in favour and it was signed by Cllr Milner. It was also agreed that, as UPC’s turnover was less than £25,000, the council should self-certify as exempt from a limited assurance audit. The Certificate of Exemption was duly signed by Cllr Milner.
5.5 Revisions to the Data Protection Act (DPA) 2018 meant that UPC would not require a Data Protection Officer. The Clerk would attend a briefing on DPA 2018 at MDDC later in the month. He advised that UPC would require to put in place published procedures for managing the data it holds and that the default position is that the Clerk would be the Data Controller.
5.5 The Clerk’s salary was reviewed. It was agreed to increase it in line with inflation to £1100pa.
5.6 The replacement value of the telephone box was discussed. UPC’s insurer’s had advised that public liability was covered and that additional insurance to cover replacement (value typically £2,500) could be added to the policy. It was agreed by all that theft was unlikely and this was not required.
- PLANNING APPLICATIONS
6.1 18/00041/OUT: Revised scheme for 8 dwellings at Crosses Farm. Application refused by MDDC.
6.2 17/00033/OUT: 8 dwellings at Crosses Farm. An appeal made against the refusal of this application had been dismissed by the Inspector.
6.3 18/00169/Full: Covered yard at Locks Farm had been approved by MDDC.
6.4 18/00283/OUT: Jasper’s Green, erection of single dwelling. This application had been called into Committee. The committee had followed Officer reccomendation and refused the application.
6.5 18/00250/House: Extension to Connemara. Application approved by MDDC.
6.6 It was noted that conversion of a barn to a dwelling at Broadview Farm was taking place under a Prior Notification Change of Use granted in Oct 2016.
- PARISH PLANNING
7.1 All parishioners had been invited to a social evening on 18th May. This had been set up to gather data for the plan. There would be 5 tables to capture contributions on different aspects of village life. It was confirmed that £200 was set aside in the UPC budget for development of the Parish 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 Cllr Adcock reported that the ‘Beast from the East’ cold spell had burst several water pipes. These were now fixed but in the process the need for repairs to the Hall’s framing had been identified.
9.2 The playing field had been accepted as an emergency landing zone for the air ambulance.
9.3 It was noted that a recent Drum Majorettes event had resulted in traffic congestion. The Clerk was asked to write to the Hall Committee to note the community’s concerns. Cllr Norman said he would investigate the cost of grass-crete surfacing to create over-flow car parking.
10. EMERGENCY PLANNING AND NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH
10.1 No report received.
11. VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS
11.1 School parking was currently not causing significant problems.
11.2 Sampford Peverell Parish magazine had offered £420 from its surplus funds for a project in Uplowman. It was agreed that the Hall needed a projector. Cllrs McCombe and Adcock would advise on a suitable installation.
11.3 Councillors were reminded that TAP funds would be available again in the coming year. The proposal to refurbish and display an 1890 Ordnance Survey map of the parish was ongoing.
- STATE OF ROADS IN PARISH
12.1 Whitnage Lane was being proposed as a bridleway. This lane follows the boudary between Uplowman and Sampford Peverell PC areas. It was suggested that SPPC be consulted over their proposed amendments to the PROW definitive map.
- DATE OF NEXT MEETING
The next meeting was confirmed for Thursday 19th July 2018.
The meeting closed at 9.30pm
Public discussion
The Chairman presented the council’s Annual Report (SEE NEXT PAGE)
There was no other public discussion.
DRAFT Minutes of 17 May 2018
CHAIRMAN’S ANNUAL REP0RT FOR 2017 - 2018
Another year has passed and it provides an opportunity to look back at the achievements of the Council. Once again, I thank my fellow councillors for their support during a busy year, and especially to our Clerk, Robert Hodgson, who helps to make our task a little easier.
Early in the year we gave our thanks to our County Councillor Des Hannon, who has moved away from the area, for his huge support over the years and we can look back on numerous achievements around the village that will remind us of his time with us. Our best wishes and support go to his successor Colin Slade who has already settled in to his new role. We also thank Ray Radford, in his Mid Devon DC role, who still manages to attend most of our meetings despite his duties of being Devon County Council Chairman. The amount of time that is given to local communities is really appreciated.
We continue to update and review our procedures and this year added a Complaint Procedure. It is important that we have procedures and policies in place so that we can operate in an open and transparent manner. We have started to prepare for the new changes in Data Protection that come in to affect in May 2018, but unfortunately this change may have financial implications.
Once again, we have tried to look, with the School Governors, at parking problems both near the school and at the crossroads where concern has been raised of safety issues. Unfortunately, there is no easy solution. The Parish Council has funded signs outside the school and the Governors continue to inform parents of their responsibilities to act safely for the benefit of the children.
As reported last year the Village Hall has now installed a defibrillator and provided on-going training for volunteers. We have also been successful in receiving money from the TAP fund for cricket nets for the Hall and for table tennis tables for the club that uses the Hall facilities.
Planning applications are always a source of discussion and some get action from residents, generally in opposition. The Parish Council continues to re-affirm our policy that there should be no further development in the Parish to ensure that the character of the village remains rural in nature and recognises the limited facilities available. This too is the policy of the planning authority, Mid Devon District Council. Early in the year an application to build 8 houses at Crosses Farm was refused by Mid Devon, as was a new dwelling in the garden of Little Chace. Both had received objections from the Parish Council.
Later in the year an application for a single dwelling near Twin Oaks was received and in accordance with our policy the Council objected. The Mid Devon officers also objected but it went to the Planning Committee and received approval. After discussions with the Planning Department they agreed that it would not set a precedent for development in the Parish. However, it encouraged revised applications from Crosses Farm and Little Chace. Fortunately, the Planning Officer at Mid Devon rejected both applications.
Part of the problem is that The Mid Devon Medium Term Plan has been further delayed and consequently without a Plan in place it encourages developers to submit planning applications. We can but hope that an agreed Plan will be accepted soon.
The Council has previously discussed having a Neighbourhood Plan but has decided against due to the enormous effort and cost that would be required as it is a formal document. Instead during the year Devon Communities gave a presentation to 25 residents on the benefits of preparing a Local Plan. The Parish Council took the view that it would be better led by residents than the Council to get ownership and participation. There have now been two meetings of interested residents to work out a way forward that will help the Parish highlight the good things about living here and identifying where residents wish to have new or improved initiatives. This will take some time but everyone in the Parish has been invited this May to attend an introduction meeting to get their thoughts. More on this over the year.
UPC Minutes of 17 May 2018