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March 2021

UPLOWMAN PARISH COUNCIL:  MINUTES OF MEETING

 

Held on Thursday 18th March 2021 using the online Zoom App, starting at 7.30pm.

Cllrs C Slade (DCC) and R Radford (MDDC) plus five members of the public present. Minutes by Mr R Hodgson, Clerk. Action points in bold. Approved on 20th May 2021

 

  1. MEMBERS PRESENT

1.1 Present: CllrsT Milner (Chair), R Adcock, N Branton, A McCombe, M Moore, and K Baugh

  1. APOLOGIES, PROCEDURAL MATTERS AND REPORTS FROM MDDC & DCC

2.1 Cllr R Normanhad tendered apologies for absence due to technology challenges.

2.2 Review of meeting arrangements: The current ‘road plan’ to end lockdown suggested that the May meeting would also be via zoom.

2.3 Cllr Slade had circulated a report on DCC matters. Preparations for a major broadband development were under way. He would enquire whether Uplowman was in line to participate. Thousands of trees would be planted as part of Devon’s carbon-zero ambition. A public consultation was under way on Devon’s waste management strategy. Cllr Moore expressed her support for Devon’s carbon reduction initiatives.

2.4 Cllr Radford had circulated a report on MDDC. MDDC had secured funding for its carbon neutral ambitions. Household waste recycling targets had been missed, due to lockdown and increased waste generation. MDDC was part of ‘Team Devon’ developing ‘build back better’ post-Covid plans.

 

  1. MINUTES OF LAST MEETINGS (21st January 2021)

3.1 Draft Minutes of the meeting held on Thursday 21st January 2021 had been circulated. There were no changes requested and they were signed by the Chair as a true record of that meeting.

 

  1. MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES

4.1 Cllr Milner had not yet written to MDDC to request notification of Prior Notice planning applications and would do so.

4.2 Church Wardens Mrs S Packham and Mrs P Holley presented the results of the PCC survey of church use. They had 28% return which indicated support for festival events, which encouraged them to develop a programme for the coming year. There were also lots of helful suggestions for ways to increase community use of the church building.

 

  1. FINANCES

5.1                                                             Current Balance:   £6371.59

Income since last meeting,from parish mag & donor to DAAT   £575.00

5.2 The following payments were approved and cheques would be signed to effect the disbursements:

           R Hodgson, Clerk’s salary & expenses (£587.40)

           R Hodgson, reimburse planning fee for DAAT light (£142.00)

            J Veen, grass cutting (£66.25)

Payment of £153.60 had been made to Chieflowman Farm (replacement of East Mere sign) and payment of £72 to DALC for Cllr Moore’s training would be made.

Payments for Membermojo (£75.00) and Zoom (£145.00) would become due before May and were approved for payment.

5.3 A draft balance sheet for 2020-21 was presented. There were no comments.

5.4 The Clerk left the meeting while his salary was discussed. It was agreed to increase it to £1,200 p.a. plus, for 2020-21 only, an additional payment of £200 to cover additional Covid-related work.

5.5 The Clerk’s Appraisal was ongoing.

  1. PLANNING APPLICATIONS

6.1 20/02162/House: 1 Chapel Cottages, Convert ext building to 4-bay garage. Approved by MDDC

6.2 21/00128/MFUL: 86 dwellings at Braid Park. There were no comments on the application but Cllr Milner considered that the entrance to the adjacent travellers’ site would be hazardous and that access to it should be via the residential site. The Clerk would email MDDC to this effect.

6.3 Sip Shed Ltd had applied for a premises licence at the Post Office. Cllr Baugh was concerned that this could generate issues with parking and noise. The applicant was present and assured the meeting that there would be only pre-booked parties of not more than 6 and no parties or public events. Parking had been discussed with the Redwoods and with UHRA. UPC had no objections.

6.4 UPC had applied for permission to erect a night landing light for DAAT at the UHRA field.

 

  1. SUSTAINABILITY AND HEALTHY LIVING

7.1 Cllr Moore considered that UPC should be supporting Devon’s carbon reduction initiatives. A recently developed online tool showed that Uplowman’s carbon footprint per household was considerably greater than that of Mid Devon as a whole. Cllr Moore thought that UPC should investigate the reasons, which could include lack of public transport, extensive use of heating oil, many large homes hard to insulate, and take a lead in addressing them. Cllr Branton said that farming would be zero carbon by 2030. UPC agreed that all measures should be taken to reduce the parish carbon footprint. Cllr Mooore agreed to take a lead in investigating alternative energy sources.

 

  1. 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:

8.1There had been no correspondence requiring attention beyond that discussed under the agenda.

 

  9. HALL AND RECREATION ASSOCIATION

9.1 The Hall remained closed. A grant had been obtained to reinstate the road fence. Now that Mrs Veen had left the Post Office, new arrangements would be needed for keeping the keys.

 

  1. EMERGENCY PLANNING AND NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH

10.1 The Clerk had circulated the out-dated emergency plan for consideration when conditions permitted.

 

  1. VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS

11.1 The bus shelter roof had been repaired and the walls now needed painting, after removal of ivy tendrils. Cllr Adcock would get another quote for this work. The bike rack was still to be erected.

11.2Air ambulance night landing site: Generous offers of support had ensured that funding for this was available and a planning application had been made. Work would be instructed after granting of planninng permission.

11.3 Broadband: Most residents had signed up to the scheme but the government vouchers had expired before the work could go ahead. A replacement scheme was expected and the team was also in contact with Connecting Devon & Somerset about their alternative ‘Gigabit’ scheme.

11.4 Mrs Veen would be installing a new bench on the green in memory of her parents.

11.5 Cllr Branton would liase with the PCC’s contractor to arrange repairs and paining of the two kissing gates, to be funded by the parish magazine grant.

11.6 Former telephone box: Parishioner Mrs Marlow had written offering to maintain the books and contents of the telephone box. Councillors welcomed this offer and Cllrs Adcock and Milner agreed to meet Mrs Marlow to take it forward. The Clerk would put them in contact.

11.7 Possible village celebration on returning to ‘normal’ life. It was proposed that UPC should take a lead in arranging a celebration once lockdown had been lifted and all were able to gather. A provisional date of Saturday 21st August was suggested and Cllr Branton would check availability of the Hall.

 

  1. STATE OF ROADS IN PARISH

12.1The East Mere signpost had been replaced.

12.2 The Clerk had contacted South West Water regarding the overflowing sewer outside Greenend. A SWW spokesman had agreed there was a problem and the Clerk had heard no more.

12.3 Cracks were again opening in the Whitnage-Sampford Peverell road. The Clerk would email Highways again.

 

  1. DATE OF NEXT MEETING

The next meeting was confirmed for Thursday 20th May 2021, thought likely to be again by Zoom.

The meeting closed at 10.10pm

 

Public discussion: Thanks were expressed for computers that had been donated to the school for children who needed IT support for home schooling.

 

It was noted that there would be an open gardens day when conditions permitted.

 

UPC Minutes of 18 March 2021

Minutes of meetings held in 2021