S.P.C Minutes April 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 COUNCIL MEETING TUESDAY 9th APRIL 2019 STONNALL YOUTH & COMMMUNITY CENTRE.

 

  1. Register of members in attendance.

Cllrs David Salter, David Thompson, Sheila Beilby, Rita Hancocks, Jean Wilson, Gail Nicholls, Val Neale, Nicola Macdonald, Neil Perry, John Branch, Mick Cox, Stuart Jones, Nick Smith, Charles Fordham. County Cllr David Smith. 
Members of the public: Jane Lowe and Gilly Sperren

 

  1. Acceptance of apologies.

District Cllr Elizabeth Little                 

  1. Declarations of interest.

All covered by blanket dispensations approved at Full Council Dec 2018

  1. To accept and confirm minutes of the last Full Council meeting on Tuesday 12th March 2019

Duly confirmed & signed.

  1. Clerks report on outstanding matters from minutes Tuesday 12th March 2019

Nothing to report

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

Mrs Gilly Sperrin spoke on Item 211 Shenstone Christmas Market which was pulled forward.

Mrs Sperrin & some fellow residents would like to propose a Christmas Market event in Main Street, Shenstone involving local traders. She has established their interest and is approaching Council for support. It is just at the ideas stage currently but could be extended to include a choir and other Festive activities with profits to charity.

Council were overwhelmingly in favour & Cllr Thompson suggested the website & newsletters could be used to promote it. Council were also supportive of providing some funds towards costs.

The Clerk will meet with Mrs Sperrin to discuss moving the idea forward.

Mrs Jane Lowe approached Council to raise the subject of litter in the village, particularly on the Birmingham Road between Pinfold Hill & Wyevale Garden Centre- item 215 pulled forward.  It is in a very poor state and she is seeking support in arranging a litter pick. Cllr Salter explained that District Council are happy to collect any rubbish bags once full & that Council are supportive of the initiative. Mrs Lowe will speak to Wyevale in the first instance.       

  1. To receive reports from District and County Councillors.

County Cllr Smith spoke on the Highways Partnership as follows:

As part of a new initiative the Police, Speedwatch and Staffordshire County Highways are coming together to form a new partnership to work together on introducing an integrated traffic management plan for the Lichfield Rural East Division.  It is proposed that the five Parish Councils be invited to join the team to deliver the programme.

The intension is to integrate the sharing of data from all sources to provide better information for enforcement and be able to monitor hot spots enabling Police to direct action more effectively.

 Through the County Councillors budget of £27,000 the Parish Councils are invited to join the partnership and make a contribution to deliver the widest possible scheme, there are grants available to Parish Councils that can be used to help expand the project and they may wish to add to this from their own funds.

It is anticipated that the partnership will research suitable monitoring devices that can record vehicle details and speeds that can potentially be used for Police warnings and possible prosecutions. You are invited to join the partnership; you are not being asked for any money only your support.

Cllr Salter stated that it was the right move to be at the table and the Council were in agreement; though there were a number of questions from Cllr Thompson regarding the budget which will need clarification should Council decide to move forward.  Three members of the Council will sit on the Highways Partnership Group to take part in discussions- Cllr Salter, Cllr Perry & Cllr Nicholls. Cllr Thompson stressed the importance of meaningful outcomes from these meetings.

Applications for the Safer Road Partnership Grants were also discussed with a deadline of 30th April.

Cllr Smith also addressed the problem of the wall on Church Road, Stonnall.

This is badly in need of repair and could easily cause damage with falling masonry. There have been several attempts to engage landowners to no effect though legal liability lies with them.  Cllr Smith will keep Council informed.

  1. Finance- year end position.

The internal auditor attended today and approved all accounts for submission to the external auditor. He is happy everything is perfectly in order and made the suggestion of adding rolling balance information to the cashbook as well as the main ledger. The Clerk will now action.

He also clarified that the existing ring fenced fund for the proposed new cemetery may be used for an alternative project/projects should the new cemetery project not happen. Only the income from the sale of Eastridge Croft land in 2018 must be treated differently- this must be used for a land or building purpose.

Nat West Current Account £970.00 Nat West Reserve: £3097.20. Nat West Liquidity (Ring fenced funds) £160,329.41 Unity Bank £56,991.94

April Transactions for approval were shared.

Confirm next Finance meeting May 28th at 2.00pm  

  1. Planning- consider all planning applications received.

Shenstone Business Park:  19/00203/OUTM (Outline Application Major) Erection of up to 96 dwellings.

Cllr Thompson shared the objection letter which has been submitted (attached). Also that the application to develop the rear of Ivy House, Shenstone has been refused.  Objections have been submitted re 19/00233 Lincoln Croft and re 19/00273 & 274 Birmingham RD, Shenstone Wood End.

  1. Little Aston Recreation Ground – review of lease proposal.

Cllr Salter presented a draft lease to Council for acceptance in principle to be referred to Solicitors for legal scrutiny. This follows earlier discussions at previous meetings re the importance of LARGA being able to secure larger funding, which a lease would enable them to do.

After some discussion, Council agreed unanimously to receive the draft Lease Agreement from LARGA on the understanding that it will be passed on for legal scrutiny by NALC, SPCA and the Council’s own solicitors prior to any decision or acceptance being considered. RESOLUTION:  Agreed unanimously- Clerk to forward.

  1. Shenstone Christmas Market & Shenstone Christmas Cards.

Also covered under Item 206.

Cllr Perry made the suggestion of Council producing Christmas Cards with images of the villages. These could be sold in the library and perhaps the Christmas market. Council were supportive of the idea, with a card for each ward, and charged the Clerk with researching costs.    

  1. Church Rd, Stonnall- issues with wall in poor condition

Covered under item 207.

  1. Request for bench- end of Richard Cooper Road on grassy area.

Cllr Jones passed on a request for a bench to be situated on the grassy area at the junction of Richard Cooper Road, Holly Hill Road, Holly Hill Lane & Footherley Road.  Council would first like to assess the views of residents so the Clerk will do a mailing requesting feedback.

  1. Stonnall village signage

Cllr Nicholls made a request for three new village signs for Stonnall. This was unanimously approved. She also raised the issue of illegal signage in Cartersfield Lane. These signs will be removed by the Lengthsman as soon as possible.

  1. Shenstone Community Litter Pick

Covered under item 206.

  1. Date of next Full Council meeting Tuesday 14th May Little Aston Village Hall 7.15