March 2019
UPLOWMAN PARISH COUNCIL: MINUTES OF MEETING
Held on Thursday 21st March 2019 at the Village Hall, Uplowman starting at 7.45pm.
Cllr C Slade (DCC) plus 3 members of the public present. Minutes by Mr R Hodgson, Clerk. Action points in bold. Approved on 16 May 2019
- MEMBERS PRESENT
1.1 Present: Cllr T Milner, Cllr R Adcock, Cllr R Branton, CllrK Baugh, Cllr R Norman, Cllr S Floyd and Cllr A McCombe.
- APOLOGIES, PROCEDURAL MATTERS AND REPORTS FROM MDDC & DCC
2.1 All UPC Members present.
2.2 Cllr Slade (DCC) presented a report on DCC matters. He said that the next budget had more money for social services and young people. Highways would get extra government help for pot hole repairs. The CDS broadband scheme was being extended. Cllr Slade noted that Uplowman Road would close after the August bank holiday.
2.3 Cllr Slade also commented on MDDC matters, in Cllr Radford’s absence at a Boundary Commission meeting. He said that ince the Local Plan was adopted the District would have exceeded housing delivery targets and no further speculative developments could be entertained. Work was under way on the Culm Valley Garden Village. Cllr Branton commented that building the development opposite the Aller landfill site seemed inappropriate and Cllr Slade said that would be considered.
- MINUTES OF LAST MEETING (17th January 2019)
3.1 Draft Minutes of the Meeting held on Thursday 17th January 2019 had been circulated. Cllr Norman proposed their acceptance without change which was agreed by 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: £4547.76
Income since last meeting£ 0.00
5.2 The following payments were approved and cheques signed to effect the disbursements:
R Hodgson, Clerk's expenses plus salary (£7.65 + £550.00)
5.3 Draft accounts 2018-9: The Clerk presented draft accounbts for the current year. He did not expect significant changes and there were no comments from councillors.
5.4 The Clerk’s Salary Review: The Clerk left the room whil his salary for 2019-20 was discussed. It was agreed to increase the Clerk’s salary in line with inflation to £1130 p.a. and the Clerk was thanked for his work. The annual appraisal was ongoing.
5.5 It was proposed to use £420 from the Parish Magazine to restore the bus shelter. The work was costed by Cllr Adcock at about £500 and, following discussion, it was agreed that, as UPC reserves now exceeded target, the shortfall could be made up from surplus UPC funds.
5.6 The Clerk had enquired at the bank about suitable on-line payment systems. NatWest could only suggest a process of delegating authority to a single signatory to operate the account on-line.
- PLANNING APPLICATIONS
6.1 18/000285/OUT: Jaspers’ Green, Erect dwelling: Appeal against refusal was ongoing.
6.2 18/01905/FULL: Chamberlains, erect carport & barn. Revised plans had been submitted and had been described to the meeting by Mr G Crocker, owners Agent. After considerable discussion, it was agreed to reinspect the site the following week. The Clerk would liaise with Mr Crocker.
6.3 19/00106/CLU: Micholsfield release agricultural tie. UPC did not oblect. MDDC had granted this release.
- 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 There was nothing of particular note that was not covered by Agenda items.
- 9. HALL AND RECREATION ASSOCIATION
9.1 The Hall had been repainted and the 100 Club had held its first draw.
- EMERGENCY PLANNING AND NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH
10.1 The Clerk and Chair had both tried to obtain crime data from the police website but found it difficult to do.
- 11. VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS
11.1 A schedule of desirable projects for future funding was discussed.
Cllr Baugh proposed Repairs to the school path (estimated £300);
Replacement of the 10 year old fence beside the path could cost £50 per m;
Cllr Milner proposed framing the historic map.
The Clerk noted that the noticeboard might need repair. Cllr Norman would inspect it.
11.2 Sampford Peverell Parish Magazine had offered £420 for a project in Uplowman during 2019. It had been agreed to put this towards refurbishing the bus shelter, estimated at £500. Cllr Adcock would proceed with arranging the work.
11.3 School parking was currently not causing significant problems.
11.4 Cllr Norman would investigate issues of the leat at Waterside; however, it was recognised that the problems at Waterside were mainly due to remodelling of the garden by a previous owner.
12. STATE OF ROADS IN PARISH
12.1 It was noted that Putson Lane would close shortly for several months and then Uplowman Road would be permanently closed just past the foot of Putson Lane from August 28th.
A swastika emblem had been spray-painted onto the link road bridge near Micholsfield. The meeting was appalled at this behaviour and proposed that Cllr Radford be informed so that Highways could deal with it.
- DATE OF NEXT MEETING
The next meeting (Annual PC Meeting) was confirmed for Thursday 16th May 2019.
Cllr Branton announced that he would be retiring as a councillor at the election and was warmly thanked for 30 years of service.
The meeting closed at 9.15pm
Public discussion
A questioner asked why the roundabouts at the link road junction in Sampford Peverell were being paved (replacing grass/vegetation). Cllr Slade said that this would reduce ongoing maintenance costs, mainly grass cutting, in MDDC’s budget.
Mr G Crocker provided a very full explanation of the proposals for Chamberlains Farm and was thanked for his time and helpful comments. He reported that he had a number of discussions with MDDC and had aimed to incorporate all their suggestions by moving the agricultural building away from the listed structures and making the car-port/office as small as possible.
Minutes of 21 March 2019