July 2019
UPLOWMAN PARISH COUNCIL: MINUTES OF MEETING
Held on Thursday 18th July 2019 at the Village Hall, Uplowman starting at 8.25pm.
Cllrs C Slade (DCC) & R Radford (MDDC) plus 12 members of the public present. Minutes by Mr R Hodgson, Clerk. Action points in bold.
Approved on 19 September 2019
- MEMBERS PRESENT
1.1 Present: Cllrs T Milner, R Adcock, K Baugh, R Norman, N Brantonand S Floyd.
1.2 Cllr Milner welcomed Cllr Branton to her first meeting as co-opted councillor. The vacancy had been advertised via the parish magazine and noticeboard and he was grateful to Cllr Branton for stepping forward. The Clerk confirmed that the co-option had occurred within the time limit following the election so that no further procedures were needed for Cllr Branton’s co-option.
- APOLOGIES, PROCEDURAL MATTERS AND REPORTS FROM MDDC & DCC
2.1 Cllr A McCombe had tendered apologies for absence due towork commitments
2.2 Cllr Slade (DCC) presented a report on DCC matters. He was pleased to report that the Grand Western Country Park had received a Green Flag award. DCC were making business promotion grants available to local businesses. Street lights were all to beconverted to low energy units to help reduce carbon use by 75%. Ash die-back was expected to kill 90% of Devon’s ash trees. Cllr Slade noted that half his locality budget remained for allocation.
2.3 Cllr Radfordreported on MDDC matters. There was a new cabinet under new Leader Bob Deed. Financially, MDDC was sound, having reported a small underspend at the last year end and retaining reserves of £2.4m. MDDC had endorsed a policy of reducing carbon use to zero by 2030.
- MINUTES OF LAST MEETING (16th May 2019)
3.1 Draft Minutes of the Annual Meeting held on Thursday 16th May 2019 had been circulated. There were no changes requested 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 arising from the previous meeting that were not covered by Agenda items.
- FINANCES
5.1 Current Balance: £7063.24
Income since last meeting(VAT reclaim) £ 92.56
5.2 The following payments were approved and cheques signed to effect the disbursements:
R Hodgson, Clerk's expenses (£10.36)
W J Veen, grass cutting (£221.25)
5.3 The Clerk noted that his appraisal had become biennial. The Chair said that he would recommence the process, which had not been concluded during 2018-9.
5.4 The need for a third signatory to the bank account and other legal documents had arisen since the retirement of Mr R Branton. Cllr Adcock proposed Cllr Norman to replace Mr Branton as signatory, which was agreed by all on a show of hands. The Clerk would obtain the necessary papers.
- PLANNING APPLICATIONS
6.1 Proposed development at Crosses Farm field. Although UPC had received a letter indicating that an application similar to previous ones had been made, the Clerk confirmed that he had been informed by MDDC that ‘no application had yet been validated’. Therefore, a discussion was held on the principles of an 8-residence development at Crosses Farm.
Cllr Milner said that it was clear that all who had contributed to the public discussion earlier were opposed to further development in Uplowman as this would harm the rural character of the village. In planning terms, the village was unsustainable as it had no shop or frequent bus service. The offer to provide a shop, made by the site developer, was not relevant as 8 additional houses would not be enough to make a shop viable. The recently granted permissions for two houses to the east of the village were isolated sites and not comparable.
Cllr Adcock thought it was important to invite Highways advisors to view the access arrangements to the site for themselves as the reports available were clearly desk-based.
The developer had circulated questionnaires to a number of villagers regarding his proposals but it was not known which households had received these. The Clerk had received some responses but the meeting did not request the data and none was provided.
Cllr Milner proposed that UPC should reconfirm its policy, supported by a large number of residents during the 2018 parish planning meeting, that there should be no further new development in Uplowman. This proposal was agreed by all present on a show of hands. It was also agreed that, when any application was received, Cllr Radford should not be asked to call it in unless the Officers were minded to approve it. Cllr Radford confirmed that he would follow UPC’s wishes in this matter.
6.2 19/019050976/House: Fairoak, construct verandah & carport. UPC had not objected.
6.3 19/01067/House: School House, erection of extension & balcony. This was discussed. The school governors had been consulted and had no objection. It was agreed that UPC had no ground for objection and the Clerk would inform MDDC of this.
6.4 Cllr Radford said he had asked the Planning Dept for clarification on Permitted Development. Their reply, copied to Cllr Milner, was that this process was to determine whether a planning application was required and there was therefore no need for consultation. The PC was free to comment on the posted planning notices.
- PARISH PLANNING
7.1 A questionnaire was still being drafted.
- 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 The details of DCC grants available to PCs had been circulated to councillors.
8.2 The Clerk had circulated a list of newsletters he received. All councillors would consider which of these it would be beneficial for them to see.
9.HALL AND RECREATION ASSOCIATION
9.1 Cllr Adcock said that there remained a problem of footballs in a neighbouring garden but otherwise all was going well.
- EMERGENCY PLANNING AND NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH
10.1 There had been shed break-ins recently but these did not yet show on the police website. Cllr Branton suggested the establishment of a WhatsApp village group to spread messages about suspicious activities. Cllr Milner would enquire whether the Neighbourhood Watch still functioned.
11. VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS
11.1 Leat maintenance: It was agreed to ask Mr Veen to maintain the full width of the leat where it runs between Granny Baker’s Cottage and the Redwoods.
11.2 Cllr Adcock had discussed work on the bus shelter with the neighbour and work would start imminently. Cllr Branton suggested that bicycle racks should also be provided for young people who catch the school bus at the cross roads.
11.3 Cllr Norman had strengthened the legs of the noticeboard with two steel plates.
11.4 Cllrs Baugh and Norman would provide an estimate for doing the school path and the Clerk would then apply to Cllr Slade’s Locality budget.
12. STATE OF ROADS IN PARISH
12.1 Cllr Branton said there had been issues with walkers leaving dates open along local footpaths. She would write to Ms Weeks, the DCC footpath officer, who had in the past provided ‘Shut the gate’ notices to landowners.
12.2 The road adjacent to the Churchyard entrance at the foot of Uplowman Hill was eroded. The Clerk would contact DCC Highways to enquire whether this might be filled.
- DATE OF NEXT MEETING
The next meeting was confirmed for Thursday 19th September 2019.
The meeting closed at 10.00pm
Public discussion
Members of the public present were unanimous in their opposition to any new residential development in Uplowman. Views expressed included:
- The proposed development at Crosses Farm, described in letters received by many present, was against UPC and MDDC policies and would irreversibly harm the rural character of the village;
- the proposed access arrangements were hazardous, given the sharp corner, and would require use of privately owned roads;
- the proposed shop would not be viable in a small community.
UPC Minutes of 18 July 2019