May 2019 DRAFT
UPLOWMAN PARISH COUNCIL: MINUTES OF ANNUAL MEETING
Held on Thursday 16th May 2019 at the Village Hall, Uplowman starting at 7.45pm.
Cllrs C Slade (DCC) and R Radford (MDDC) present. Minutes by Mr R Hodgson, Clerk. Action points in bold. Approved on 18 July 2019
- MEMBERS PRESENT
1.1 Present: Cllr T Milner, Cllr R Adcock, CllrK Baugh, Cllr R Norman, and Cllr A McCombe. All present signed declarations of acceptance of office. The Clerk would contact Cllr Floyd to arrange for her declaration.
1.2 Election of Chair for 2019-20: Cllr Adcock proposed Cllr Milner as Chair for the coming year. There being no other nominations or objection, Cllr Milner accepted the post and took the chair.
- APOLOGIES, PROCEDURAL MATTERS AND REPORTS FROM MDDC & DCC
2.1 Cllr S Floyd had tendered apologies for absence, due to the illness of her daughter. It was noted that, following the recent election when Cllr Branton had stood down from UPC, there was now a vacancyfor one councillor. The vacancy had been advertised in the parish magazine and it was proposed to approach public spirited people who might be prepared to fill it. Following consultation by email, Cllr Milner would inform the Clerk when a decision had been made. The Clerk would make the arrangements with the cooptee.
2.2Cllr Slade (DCC) presented a report on DCC matters. DCC was working on cutting carbon emissions and would be increasing spending on education. The long term strategy was aimed at doubling the Devon economy over 20 years. Various grants were again available and Cllr Slade would send details to the Clerk for circulation.
2.3 Cllr Radfordreported on MDDC matters. The recent election had resulted in the Conservative party losing its majority on MDDC and nothing could be said until after the annual meeting the following week. It was unlikely that adoption of the Local Plan would be affected.
- MINUTES OF LAST MEETING (21st March 2019)
3.1 Draft Minutes of the Meeting held on Thursday 21st March 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 Cllr Norman was still investigating leakage of the leat near Waterside.
- FINANCES
5.1 Current Balance: £7331.29
Income since last meeting(Precept/grant from SP Magazine) £3341.18
5.2 The following payments were approved and cheques signed to effect the disbursements:
R Hodgson, Clerk's expenses (£9.85)
W J Veen, grass cutting (£158.75)
Community First Trading Ltd, Annual Insurance, (£192.01)
5.3 The Clerk read the Annual Governance Statements to the meeting. On a show of hands each statement was agreed, following which the Chair signed the statement.
5.4 The Annual Accounting Statement had been circulated prior to the meeting. On a show of hands all agreed its adoption and the Chair signed the statement.
5.5 The Clerk explained that because the turnover of UPC the council could declare itself as exempt from limited assurance review. All the documentation would be put on-line for interested parties to check. After brief discussion it was agreed that UPC should declare itself exempt and the Chair signed the certificate of exemption for returning to the external auditor.
5.6 The Clerk expressed the thanks of UPC to Mr R Clark for again serving as internal auditor for 2018-9.
- PLANNING APPLICATIONS
6.1 18/000285/OUT: Jaspers’ Green, Erect dwelling: Appeal against refusal had been allowed by Inspector.
6.2 18/01905/FULL: Chamberlains, erect carport & barn. Revised plans had been submitted and had been agreed by UPC. The application had now been granted.
6.3 19/00529/Full: Chieflowman Farmm: convert agricultural bldg to dwelling. Details had been circulated to councillors but no response had been received. UPC had not commented. The Chair noted that there should be reflection on UPC’s agreed process.
6.4 19/00313/PNCOU: LowerManCross, convert bldg to dwelling (by Prior Notification): This had been refused as ‘not considered as permitted development’. Cllr Milner requested Cllr Radford to enquire why UPC was not consulted over PN applications. He felt that UPC should at least be aware of them. Cllr Radford would ask MDDC.
- 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 SOL Ltd had written with a proposal to establish an electric vehicle charge point at the Hall. Cllr Milner suggested that this should be investigated and, if though appropriate, might be incorporated into UPC strategy. Cllr Adcock took the details for consideration by UHRA.
- 9. HALL AND RECREATION ASSOCIATION
9.1 Cllr Adcock said that UHRA planned to use the new projector to show rugby games during the forthcoming World Cup series. The Clerk said that the new curtains were not sufficiently opaque for badminton players and better blackout would be needed for the rugby games as well.
9.2 Options for fencing the football field were being considered to prevent balls going into neighbouring gardens and fields. A fence had been costed at £2,500.
- EMERGENCY PLANNING AND NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH
10.1 Cllr Milner had been exploring the police website. Crime statistics and locations could be found at https://www.police.uk/devon-and-cornwall/DEV.4071/crime/.
11. VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS
11.1 A schedule of desirable projects for future funding was discussed.
- Cllr Norman would provide an estimate for repairs to the school path (estimated £300) to enable an application to Cllr Slade’s Locality budget;
- The Clerk said that the noticeboard was tilting. Cllr Norman would inspect it.
- Estimates had been received for repairs to the bust stop. These were acceptable and Cllr Adcock would put the work in hand.
11.2 School parking was currently not causing significant problems.
12. STATE OF ROADS IN PARISH
12.1 Work was in progress on the Whitnage road. There were no significant issues with the roads.
- DATE OF NEXT MEETING
The next meeting was confirmed for Thursday 18th July 2019.
The meeting closed at 9.25pm
Public discussion
Cllr Milner read a report on the activities of UPC during the previous year, as follows:
Chairman’s Report on the 2018/19 year.
It’s always good to look back over the previous and record some of the events that have happened. This time it is an election year so it is even more appropriate. 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. It is with sadness that Councillor Rodney Branton has chosen to stand down this year after completing close to 30 years on the Council, of which he can be proud of his record of service to the community.
Thanks to our Devon County Councillor Colin Slade, and to Ray Radford on the Mid Devon Council who regularly attend our meetings and keep us appraised of issues within the area generally. Their efforts and time is greatly appreciated.
We were concerned last year that the new Data Protection Act would create added costs but changes have meant that we do not now need a Data Protection Officer to comply. Both a notional saving in costs and workload.
We are grateful to the Sandford Peverell Magazine for their donation which has enabled up to purchase a projector for the Hall this year and hopefully another donation that will enable us to renovate the Bus Shelter next year. We have also received TAP funds to refurbish an old 1890 Ordnance Survey Map so it can be displayed in the Hall.
This year was the 100th Armistice commemoration of World War 1 and the Parish saw the village transformed with 100’s of artificial glass poppies made by volunteers alongside the road, and a display over 3 days at the Church of the history of the Parish over the last 100 years and of the soldiers that died during the war and those that survived. It was truly memorable and a credit to all the people involved.
Last year it was decided to examine the preparation of a Local Parish Plan to be led by residents rather than the Parish Council. A meeting at the village hall was held in May were over 60 people attended to express their thoughts on various aspects to improve the Parish. A working group was thus established and met several times during the year to progress the Plan. At this point progress is slower than wished but hopefully some of the initiatives will go forward next year.
Once again planning applications are a major part of the Council discussions as it is important as a Consultee to ensure that the Parish views are respected which is included in 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.
Once again applications at Little Chace and Crosses Farm were objected to and the applications rejected by Mid Devon both initially and again on appeal. It was pleasing to see that an application relating to Chamberlains that the Parish Council and local residents at Whitnage believed to be too large in scale was subsequently amended to everyone’s satisfaction.
It is hoped that now the Mid Devon Medium Term Plan looks as if it may be agreed by the Inspector in the coming months that it will discourage developers to submit speculative planning applications.
Work on the Braid Park housing site has begun and once again the Parish Council has made known our concerns on the impact on the main route to Tiverton. Unfortunately, the works will take several years and with all large sites there is bound to be some disruption to travel. All we can do is try to ensure that all safety aspects are monitored.
This year we have been involved with Devon County Council in reviewing Rights of Way in the Parish and we are pleased to see that with only a minor change that these valuable rights will continue.
Trevor Milner (Chairman)
Minutes of 16 May 2019