Minutes from virtual meeting of Stonnall Youth & Community Centre Working Party held on 2^nd Sept 2020 via Zoom at 11.00am

Register of members in attendance:

Cllrs David Thompson; Sheila Beilby; Gail Nicholls; Stuart Jones. Cllr Cox attempted to join meeting but had technical difficulties. Clerk: Shirley O’Mara

Apologies:

Cllr Neil Perry

1 Actions from 8/7/20 meeting not on the agenda.

All of the actions from the previous meeting are covered by the agenda.

The Clerk passed on the request that all future meetings be scheduled mid-afternoon onwards to allow Cllr Perry to participate. Unanimously supported.

2 Outcome of the meeting with Ian Turner, Staffs County Council Head of Commercial and Assets.

Cllr Thompson stated that Mr Turner stressed the importance of maintaining momentum regarding the offer as it was made some time ago. He confirmed that SCC expect car parking places for the school to be protected going forward & suggested that the County Legal Officers are approached when we are ready to deal with the full terms and conditions of transfer.

3 Outcome of meeting with James Dean, Head of St. Peters School.

Cllrs Thompson, Perry & Cox met with Mr Dean. At the meeting Mr Dean stated there were no plans to build a school extension and no room to do so. There are also no plans for a pre-school as his understanding from his last discussions with County planners was that there was no demand. The meeting the working party group have with Staffs County on the 16th Sept will refresh and update this understanding.

Mr Dean did make very clear that the School wishes to continue to utilise 8-10 car parking spaces and will do indefinitely. Cllr Beilby pointed out that they would have to cope without spaces should any building work take place.

Cllr Jones asked how many pre-school children live in Stonnall & also how many children of school age. The Clerk will contact Mr Dean for this detail.

4 Clarification of existing user frequency of SY&CC & Stonnall Village Hall.

Both groups have supplied details of current utilisation. Cllr Thompson stated that, looking at the detail, it is very clear that the SY&CC is extremely under used and a possible solution could be to combine all bookings in one place. There would need to be some rescheduling but also possible is an extension of the Village Hall facility to accommodate more requests. Cllr Thompson has a great concern over potentially spending up to £300,000 on a very under-utilised facility when there may be alternatives.

Cllr Beilby confirmed that there is potential for extending the village hall into the roof space and also at the rear, though this space is currently used as a car park and a play area by “Stay and Play”. However, the car park in the pub opposite is also available and already used when there are large parties.

Increased bookings are already possible dependent on times as there has to be enough of a gap between bookings to allow for cleaning.

It was agreed that, on the basis of the evidence so far, tangible demand is not clear and this must be looked at thoroughly.

Cllr Beilby said that the only thing to justify the potential expense of a re-build is if there is demand for a pre-school to make extensive use during the day.

This should be established at the meeting with Staffs CC later this month.

Cllr Nicholls stated that any building must offer itself for use from ages 0 to 90.

To take forward to Full Council.

5 Preparation for Public Meeting 26th Sept 2020. 1.00pm-4.00pm.

Cllr Thompson will draft the detail of some posters which will be used to provide attendees with the detail of what we have done so far and why. These will be displayed on the day.

So far we are unsure of expected numbers but there will be reminders posted in the village & on Facebook. Also a notice to “drop in” on the day.

Prior to the meeting the Working Group will do a site visit to the Village Hall.

Detail TBC.

6 Meeting with Staffs CC preschool planning officers.

Scheduled for 16th Sept at 10.00am.

7 A.O.B.

The appointment of a project manager was acknowledged & the contact from Mr John Punch of Stonnall welcome.

8 Next meeting Weds 30th Sept 4.00pm via Zoom.