September 2021

UPLOWMAN PARISH COUNCIL: MINUTES OF MEETING

Held on Thursday 16^th September 2021 in Uplowman Village Hall, starting at 7.45pm.

Minutes by Mr R Hodgson, Clerk. Action points in bold. Approedl on 18^th November 2021

 

1. MEMBERS PRESENT

1.1 Present: Cllrs T Milner, R Adcock, N Branton, M Moore, K Baugh and A McCombe.

 

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

2.1 CllrMilner tendered his resignation as Chair and as councillor, saying that he felt it was time for a change. He would be happy to continue supporting as the council might wish. The meeting thanked Mr Milner for his many contributions as councillor and as Chair for the previous ten years. After brief discussion, Cllr Branton proposed that Cllr Adcock take the chair for this meeting. All were in agreement and Cllr Adcock took the chair of the meeting.

2.2 Cllr Branton proposed that UPC should adopt a policy of rotating the chair annually, as had been discussed at the Clerk’s appraisal (item 5.3). This was agreed and Cllr Moore was elected to chair the remaining meetings of 2021-2. In May 2022 Cllr Branton would be proposed as chair for 2022-3.

2.3 Cllr Adcock had identified a possible co-optee to replace Mr Norman as councillor. He would confirm the willingness of the individual. Cllr McCombe knew another possible councillor and would ask him.

The casual vacancy created by Mr Milner’s resignation would have to be be advertised for two weeks.

2.4 Cllr Slade had circulated a report on DCC matters. A scheme to improve mobile signals was being rolled out. DCC was promoting healthy eating by providing veg boxes to 25,000 families. Community groups could now apply for funding for community energy projects – deadline of 8^th Nov.

2.5 No report from MDDC had been received at the time of the meeting.

 

3. MINUTES OF LAST MEETING (15^th July 2021)

3.1 Draft Minutes of the meeting held on Thursday 15^th July 2021 had been circulated. There were no changes requested and they were signed by the Chair as a true record of that meeting.

 

4. MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES

4.1 All matters would be covered by the Agenda.

 

5. FINANCES

5.1                                    Current Balance: £5459.90

Income since last meeting (DAAT, for light) £3453.45

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

            R Hodgson, Clerk’s expenses (£7.65) & salary (£700.00)

            J Veen, grass cutting (£238.00)

           A Brown, repairs to gates, (£365.00)

           N Branton, no parking signs (£39.12p)

           Redwoods Inn , grass cutting (£55.00).

Payments had been made to: MAT electrics (Air Ambulance light, £7526.26), bus shelter painting (J Seal, £995.00), Iscalators (fee, £400.00), N Branton (food, £257.27), M Moore (food, 131.40) and P Milner (celebration, £100.00) had made since the July meeting.

5.3 The Clerk’s annual appraisal had been undertaken by Cllrs Branton & Moore. They had circulated a report noting that remuneration rates were low and the Clerk found planning procedures to be frustrating. Discussing succession of the chair, a proposal had been made to rotate the chair annually.

5.4 Cllrs Norman and Milner had both been signatories to the bank account. It was agreed that Cllr Moore, would take on this role ex officio as the incoming Chair and, pending discussion when the council was back to full strength, Cllr Milner would be asked to remain as a signatory until he could be replaced as the third signatory.

 

6. PLANNING APPLICATIONS

6.1 21/00796/FULL: 2 dwellings to rear of Stonebridge. UPC had objected; MDDC decision awaited.

6.2 21/00983/FULL: Rose Cottage, erect stables & store. UPC had not commented. MDDC approved.

6.3 21/01413/Full: Rosebank, replace shed with dwelling. UPC objected, MDDC approved.

6.4 21/01218/House: Stonebridge, extensions. UPC no objection, decision awaited

6.5 21/01699/FULL: Hill Farm, change use of hut to holiday let. This was discussed at the meeting. No objection was raised and the Clerk would respond accordingly.

6.6 21/1728/FULL: Hr Chieflowman, convert barn to dwelling. This was considered. It looked similar to a previous application for this site that had been approved. Cllr Adcock would investigate.

6.7 21/01761/FULL: Pretty Benches Barn, allow residential use. UPC had no objection.

7. VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS

7.1 The Uplowman Celebration had attracted up to 100 parishioners and had been greatly appreciated by all. The meeting expressed its thanks to the organisers and repeated its thanks to Mr & Mrs Veen for all their work and support for Uplowman over their many years in the Post Office.

7.2It was agreed to leave the bus shelter bare for the time being. Cllr Branton would remind Mr Norman that a post was needed beside the bicycle rack.

7.3 Air ambulance night landing light was installed and working

7.4 Broadband: Openreach had applied for grants from ‘Gigabit’, a government agency. Gigabit would now email all participating households for confirmation.

7.5 Mrs Veen’s bench on the Green had been installed.

7.6 The kissing gate repairs were now completed.

7.7 Former telephone box: The shelves had been made and would be installed soon.

 

8. SUSTAINABILITY AND HEALTHY LIVING

8.1 Cllr Moore had attended the second Devon Climate Change conference. She felt that more could be achieved to reduce carbon use in Uplowman by working within larger groups and sharing ideas. Cllr McCombe commented that light pollution was causing many problems for the environment.

 

9. 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:

9.1 MDDC had run a design code workshop. Cllr Moore had intended to join it but had to withdraw.

10. HALL AND RECREATION ASSOCIATION

10.1 The door now locked via a keypad operated system.

 

11. EMERGENCY PLANNING AND NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH

11.1 Cllrs Branton & Moore would meet with the Clerk on 21^st October at 7.30pm

12. STATE OF ROADS IN PARISH

12.1Cllr Branton would check the potholes at the Locks Farm entrance and report them if they were large enough. Cllr Baugh would check the pot holes at Widhayes.

 

13. Tribute to Muriel Pinsent

UPC wished to record its appreciation of Muriel Pinsent, recently deceased, who had been a stalwart of the village and was remembered by generations as the school dinner lady, supporter of guide dogs, deliverer of the Parish News and for many other community actions.

 

14. DATE OF NEXT MEETING

 

The next meeting was confirmed for Thursday 18^th November 2021, expected to be in the Hall

The meeting closed at 9.30pm

Public discussion:

Jeffrey Curd of the Tiverton Harriers outlined their plans for a 10km road race to be held in Uplowman on the bank holiday 2^nd May 2022. The run would start at the Hall, follow the Tiverton road and continue to CrazeLowman, where it would head back the the Hall via East Mere. 150 runners could be expected and the runn would occur during the period 10.30am to 1pm, approximately. Mr Curd asked for any feedback the meeting might have. There was some discussion and UPC was supportive, suggesting that advance notice should be included in the parish newsletter a couple of weeks in advance of the event to warn other road users, particularly horses and bicycle groups.

MINUTES OF 16 Sept 2021