March 2026

UPLOWMAN PARISH COUNCIL: DRAFT MINUTES OF MEETING

Held on Thursday 19^th March 2026 in Uplowman Village Hall, starting at 7.40pm.

Cllr G Westcott (MDDC) and one member of the public present. Minutes by Mr R Hodgson, Clerk. Action points in bold. Subject to approval on 21^st May 2026

1. MEMBERS PRESENT and PROCEDURAL MATTERS

1.1 Present: Cllrs M Moore (Chair of meeting), J Mayne, D Thomas, A McCombe, E Egan (co-opted).

1.2 The vacancy created by Cllr Baugh’s resignation after the January meeting had been advertised and there had been no call for an election. Cllr Moore proposed that Mrs Emily Egan be co-opted to fill the vacancy. Mrs Egan was present and signified her willingness to serve. All councillors were in agreement and Mrs Egan, having completed her Declaration of Office, took her seat as a councillor. The Clerk would inform MDDC.

2. APOLOGIES AND REPORTS FROM MDDC & DCC

2.1 Councillors R Adcock and D Westerman (both away), had tendered apologies for absence. Cllr Moore took the chair in Cllr Westerman’s absence.

2.2 DCC report: Cllr Raleigh had sent apologies for absence. There was no report from DCC.

2.3 MDDC report: Cllr Westcott Reported that MDDC had balanced its budet for the coming year. She noted that there would be a business rate drop-in day and that Warm Home grants were still available. Green Enterprise Energy grants would cover village halls. A consultation on local government reorganisation would run until 26th March.

3. MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING (15^th January 2026)

3.1 Draft Minutes of the meeting held on Thursday 15^th January 2026had been circulated. No changes were requested and they were signed by the Chair as a true record of that meeting.

4. FINANCES and PROCEDURES

4.1                                                                                       Current Balance: £5087.34

            Income since last meeting (donation for trim trail maintenance): £20.00

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

  Uplowman Hall & Recreation Association, (Hire of hall for the year): £162.00

  AP Hayman (grass cutting): £32.50

  R Hodgson (Clerk’s salary plus expenses): £881.47

It was noted that a payment of £96.00 (estimated) would be due to RoSPA for inspecting the trimtrail and it was agreed that this would be paid on receipt.

4.3 Review of UPC’s income and expenditure for 2025-6: The Clerk had circulated a draft Income and Expenditure account for the past year for consideration. There was no comment. The final accounts would be presented in May after internal audit by Mr Clark.

5. PLANNING APPLICATIONS

5.1 24/01033/FULL: Hill Farm, revised catle shed layout. UPC had not objected and decision awaited.

5.2 25/01266/FULL: 3 Crossways, Erection of social dwelling. UPC had objected and decision awaited. Gratitude was expressed to Cllr Lock who had followed up on this application with the PO.

5.3 25/01366/FULL: Land at Stonebridge, replace barn with two self-build houses. UPC had objected to revised proposals. Decision awaited.

5.4 25/01439/HOUSE:Grasshoppers, erection of extension. UPC had not objected; MDDC had approved.

5.5 Planning enforcement: A parishioner had complained to Cllr Adcock that a property that had been granted as a commercial unit was in use as an AirBnB letting. The Enforcement officer had been informed and their comments were still awaited.

6. VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS

6.1 Parish website: The clerk reported that there had been no progress. He was asked to enquire of UHRA how the matter could be given a nudge.

6.2 All councillors had been allocated Uplowman-pc.gov.uk email addresses. Cllr Egan would be added to the system. When all had confirmed that their accounts were activated the Clerk would set up the Membermojo group email system with the new addresses. Cllrs Thomas and McCombe had not yet validated their addresses.

6.3 Cllr Westerman would establish the planter on the Green when he returned.

6.4 Cllrs Moore and Westerman had attended a meeting set up by Sampford Peverell PC to explore neighbourhood planning. Cllr Moore said that a neighbourhood plan was probably not appropriate for a small parish but she thought that developing a Neighbourhood Priority Statement would be beneficial to Uplowman as it would be taken into account by the planners. A community group would be needed to manage it. A first step would be a Housing Needs Survey, which Devon Communities Together (DCT) were planning to do locally. Cllr Moore proposed that UPC should support the Housing Needs Survey and all agreed. The Clerk would inform DCT and all councillors would consider the benefits of a Priority Statement for discussion in May.

7. SUSTAINABILITY AND HEALTHY LIVING

7.1 UHRA was researching grants for installation of solar PV, heat pumps and battery storage at the Hall.

8. 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:

8.1All items covered under the agenda.

9. HALL AND RECREATION ASSOCIATION

Cllr Adcock had sent a report.

9.1 Pedestrian bridge is making good progress,   Quotes had been obtained and all the original drawings found. UHRA was applying for funding. 

9.2 A project to power the hall with green energy, along with batteries and heat pumps was underway. Three contractors had been shown around and Cllr Adcock was arranging an EPC certificate which would be required to apply for the grants. 

10. STATE OF ROADS IN PARISH

10.1 Whitnage Lane signage: UPC was grateful to Cllr Raleigh, who had taken the matter up.

11. DATE OF NEXT MEETING

The next meeting was confirmed for Thursday 21^st May 2026, to be the Annual meeting in the Hall at 7.30pm.

 

The meeting closed at 8.30pm

DRAFT MINUTES OF 19^th March 2026

 

Public discussion:

Mr Curd of Tiverton Harriers informed the meeting that Harriers planned to run their popular 10k road race on 25^th May (the Spring Bank Holiday Monday) starting from the Hall at 10.30am. They typically get 200 participants and are very grateful for use of the field opposite as a car park.