S.P.C Minutes July 2019

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SHENSTONE PARISH COUNCIL

 

Serving Little Aston, Shenstone, Stonnall, Shenstone Wood End, Lynn, Parish Council Office 25C Main Street Shenstone WS14 OLZ
Tel: 01543 481 947
e-mail: <admin@shenstone-staffs.gov.uk >
web: www.shenstone-staffs.gov.uk

APPROVED MINUTES OF FULL PARISH COUNCIL MEETING 9th JULY 2019 STONNALL YOUTH & COMMUNITY CENTRE 7.15pm

  1. Register of members in attendance.

Cllrs David Salter, Sheila Beilby, Val Neale, Nicola Macdonald, Gail Nicholls, Stuart Jones, Neil Perry, Mick Cox, John Branch, Nick Smith, Nikki Gobran, Kelly Harrison. County Cllr David Smith.  Mr Paul Sampson (Wall Parish Council). District Cllrs Alastair & Elizabeth Little.

Mrs Lesley Edgley. Mr Simon Clifton. Mrs Jackie Dyal.

  1. Acceptance of apologies

Cllr David Thompson.

  1. Public Participation. Members of the Public are invited to address Council for a maximum of 15 minutes.

There was no public participation.

  1. Declarations of interest .Members should consider whether they should partake in any discussion or vote on matters on the agenda unless they have a dispensation.

       None.

  1. To accept and confirm minutes of the last Full Council meeting on Tuesday June 11th

Signed and approved.

  1. Clerks report on outstanding matters from minutes June 11th

The Clerk has received a response from Moseley’s Solicitors with regard to the Little Aston Recreation Ground lease request. This was received too late to be discussed at the meeting but will be forwarded to Council and put on the agenda for September.

  1. To receive reports from District and County Councillors.

County Cllr David Smith shared the following report:

 –  Members may recall that in 2016 an application was made by the council to Staffordshire County Council requesting the transfer of the Stonnall Youth and Community Centre to the Parish Council for £1 plus legal fees.  Sadly this was refused and in doing so created a serious problem for the future management for the building.  With only 12 years left on the lease it is effectively impossible to obtain significant grants for the building which is now well over 50 years old and suffering significant dilapidation. From the limited information available it is probable that the late Cllr. John Mason agreed that the Parish Council took ownership of the building hence the condition that the Council needed to demolish the building at the end of the lease. At the County Property Committee last week I asked for their decision to be reviewed and they have now agreed that the site should be offered to Shenstone Parish Council for £1 plus legal fees of about £1,000. The only condition of sale is an agreement to provide parking for the school during teaching times. Should the Council accept the offer there are no other liabilities. 

  –  The Countryside Rights of Way Panel considered the request to prioritise the application to consider the Little Aston footpath application and unfortunately this was declined and the item will now have to stand in line.

–   The County highways group are planning to meet at 2.00pm on Monday 29th July at Shenstone Library. I would welcome any items the Council wish to have on the agenda. I am pleased to note that the SCAR group in Stonnall have won a grant of £5,000 as a contribution to the Cartersfield Lane gateway project; this will be added to with about £2,000 from my highways fund to meet the costs.

  • The Shire Oak Quarry Liaison group have met and it was confirmed that the progress to ultimate closure was on target with the last phases of extraction being completed in the next 6 years and the final infilling to be completed in the next 10 years.

Cllr Salter stated that the Parish Forum meeting held on June 25th was very successful & well attended.

  1. Finance: Transactions for approval & financial position as at 9th July 2019.

Unity Bank Account:  £24,174.55 Nat West Current Account: 950.00

Nat West Reserve: £183,108.77  Nat West Liquidity (earmarked funds) £160,687.52

June transactions & details of July transactions to date were shared with Council.

  1. Planning applications

Approve planning applications received in last month and update on any objections/ developments.

Application 19/00624 & 25 The Fox & Hounds, Shenstone has been refused.

 Update from Neighbourhood Planning & Property Committee Meeting June 25th:

Recommendation: That Council amend the existing burial regulations to reduce the plot spacing in the cremated remains section of the cemetery so that this generates an additional 15 years capacity whilst still within recommended guidelines. Also, to utilise the large areas of unused land on the burials side of the cemetery for cremated remains to generate an additional 10 years capacity.

Consider a review of cemetery charges.

The first recommendation was proposed by Cllr Cox, seconded by Cllr Jones & unanimously accepted.

The second recommendation was proposed by Cllr Cox, seconded by Cllr Jones & unanimously accepted.

Cllr Cox also agreed that the current cemetery fees should be reviewed and Council requested that the Clerk research charges in other authorities with a view to a review meeting in September.

Next Neighbourhood Planning & Property Committee Meeting Tuesday September 24th at 5.30.        

  1. Consider an emergency grant application for Stonnall Youth & Community Centre for £2200 to repair the drain in the car park.

This request was agreed in principle with the proviso that more quotes are sought first. Cllr Cox confirmed that having inspected the drain himself the work was essential.

Proposed Cllr Neale, seconded Cllr Beilby & unanimously agreed.

  1. Consider an emergency grant application for Shenstone Village Hall for approx. £2400 to jetvac/cleanse & map drains. Grant approval recommended under Standing Orders 14.1 at meeting 1st

This approval was granted in support of the 14.1 recommendation: Proposed Cllr Perry, seconded Cllr Jones and unanimously approved.

The Clerk will seek refund for this work from Staffs County Council.

  1. Consider emergency grant funding to Little Aston Village Hall in order to create a safe play surface and secure fencing to maintain Pre School status. Total amount of funding required £25,000, Council to consider an amount towards this.

Cllr Salter read details of the full requirements to Council including details of unsuccessful grant applications. There was discussion as to what is exactly required to meet Ofsted approval & Cllr Jones queried what would happen in September if the work is not done.  It was agreed that there is not enough information currently & the Clerk is charged with finding out more background & detail.

  1. Traffic Survey update & establish date of meeting of the Highways Group.

Covered under Cllr Smiths district report.  

  1. Update from Communications Committee Meeting 26th June 2019.

Cllrs Gobran & Harrison shared detail of the meeting which discussed future developments of the website, current & new communication tools and how best to structure an effective communication strategy. It was agreed that all current communication methods be retained but enhanced and that we engage residents with a meeting or meetings to find out what works for them. 

The goal is to achieve three newsletters a year with one scheduled for August- the distribution of the newsletter needs to improved and there were ideas on how this might be achieved.

The new noticeboards will go up as soon as planning permission is received.

Cllr Jones stated that he believed that the newsletters should not be restricted to just Parish business but include details of community organisations news and events.

A second communication meeting is scheduled to move ideas forward.

Due to the confidential nature of the information to be discussed, the chairman excluded the press and public for the following item.  

  1. Update on interviews for vacant Councillors positions and recommendations.

Following interviews in June, Council fully endorsed the recommendations to appoint Mrs Lesley Edgley & Mr Darryl Godden to the vacant positions in Shenstone.

  1. Date of next meeting: Tuesday 10th September 2019 Little Aston Village Hall 7.15pm.