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 Tuesday June 13^th at Little Aston Village Hall at 7.15pm

30 Register of members in attendance.

Cllr David Salter – Chair (Shenstone Wood End), Cllrs Gail Nicholls, Val Neale & Phil Whitehouse (Stonnall), Cllrs Stuart Jones, Lesley Edgley, David Thompson (Shenstone). County Cllr David Smith.

Shirley O’Mara (Clerk). PCSO Racheal Orwin.

2 members of the public (Little Aston residents)

31 Acceptance of apologies. Cllr Mick Cox & Cllr Leona Leung

32 Public Participation.

Members of the public are invited to address Council for a maximum of 15 minutes.

Two residents raised with Council their serious concerns regarding speed along Little Aston Road. There have been a number of incidents with concerns reported to County on a number of occasions as well as shared with the PCSO Andrea Horsnall.

Potholes outside the homes of the residents have also added to the problem- also reported to County but classed as non-urgent.

Cllr Salter will ask the Safer Road Partnership to look at the area but invited Cllr Smith from County to comment.

Cllr Smith said that the data received from the recent traffic survey does not support any action being taken. Only accidents resulting in personal injury are recorded so he has no evidence to act. He is however trying to introduce a Traffic Regulation Order to reduce speeds to 30 as part of a Little Aston wide study but it will be a hard battle. Cllr Whitehouse has emailed Cllr Smith separately with more detail of the residents issues which Cllr Smith will deal with.

Cllr Jones asked what County are doing to lobby the authorities to report on all traffic incidents not just those that are accidents recorded. Cllr Smith responded that it is not a County responsibility but that Council should & provide as much evidence as possible to him to enable him to do what he can.

At this point Item 40 was brough forward- Lazy Hill/Chester Rd dangerous junction: update on actions.

Cllr Nicholls briefed Council on the historical details & the very disappointing response received from County concluding that immediate interventions are not necessary.

This news is extremely disappointing, and Council are committed to addressing this further. Cllr Whitehouse stated that the public expect Council to do something. RESOLUTION: A task group will be formed, and a formal Parish letter of response sent to County at Staffs & Walsall. This will be in partnership with SCAR.

In the meantime, Cllr Edgley suggested that cutting the grass back at the junction would open up visibility.

At this point item 43 was brought forward: Highways review: update on traffic surveys.

Cllr Thompson referred to an email received that morning from Cllr Smith with two attachments relating to the traffic survey data & queried the rest. Cllr Smith said that there had been six attachments. There was some considerable confusion as to how this information had failed to be communicated. On investigation the email with six attachments was located & shared.

However, only part of the survey data is included with the Clerk mentioning to Cllr Smith that she pointed this out to a County Officer two weeks ago. Cllr Smith said he will chase.

It was confirmed that once received and analysed Council will seek a meeting with the Community Highways Manager to discuss next steps. Cllr Smith suggested that other Parish Councils could be invited.

PCSO Racheal Orwin, in attendance, made notes of all traffic concerns to take forward.

She reported the latest crime figures for the period: 69 reports in Shenstone, 17 in Stonnall & 31 in Little Aston. Police clinics are planned for “Dobbies” in Shenstone as well as those already in the diary. Junior Cadets have started at Little Aston Primary School with St. Peters in Stonnall next.

33 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:

Cllr Salter declared an interest in items 44 & 45.

Dispensations were approved for the following for a period of four years:

Cllr Salter Little Aston Recreation Ground & Richard Cooper Rooms, Cllr Jones Friends of Shenstone Tower, Shenstone Village Hall & the Lammas Land Committee, Cllr Cox for Stonnall Community Centre & SCAR, Cllr Neale for Stonnall Community Centre, Cllr Whitehouse for

Stonnall Community Centre & SCAR & Cllr Nicholls for Stonnall Village Hall & Stonnall Playing Fields.

34 To accept and confirm minutes of the last Full Council meeting on Tuesday 11^th April 2023.

Approved & signed.

35 Clerk’s update on outstanding issues from last meeting:

• Lammas Land boundary incursion update.

The Clerk read a letter from Pickering’s Solicitors outlining actions to date & the options available to Council.

Cllr Thompson said whilst glad of a response it should be recorded that the delay in responding to communications is not acceptable. After some discussion the following resolution was made RESOLUTION: A meeting to be arranged next week to refresh what has been done to date & agree next steps.

Cllr Whitehouse queried likely costs. Cllr Jones said that if legal costs are prohibitive for Council then the Chairman of the Lammas Land Committee is prepared to coordinate crowd funding.

36 To receive reports from District and County Councillors.

Cllr Smith was very pleased to comment on developments at Lichfield South as well as plans to remove contamination of the 10 acres of land at Lichfield Rural Councils refuge dump in order for it to be used for locating several hi-tech manufacturing units.

37 Co-option of six new Parish Councillors: recommendations from Employment Committee and ratification.

Cllr Thompson briefed Council on the interviews held on June 6^th. There were 13 applicants with interviews conducted by Cllrs Thompson, Salter & Nicholls with the Clerk in attendance.

The decision of the panel was unanimous with individual scoring almost identical across the board. RESOLUTION: Council unanimously ratified the decision to appoint as new Councillors

Emma Scothern, Ruth Graham, Christopher Callow, Stuart Harrison, Simon Fisher & Dino D’Ambrosio. In addition, one other candidate will have a re-invite if a vacancy occurs in the future.

38 Finance.

Current financial position & transactions for approval as of 13^th June 2023. Link to Financial Transactions spreadsheet

Transactions were shared with no questions raised.

Nat West Current Account £905.00. Nat West Business Account £53,646.57. Nat West Liquidity Account ring fenced funds for ear marked projects £93,427.17.

Unity Account £208,448.29

Cllr Edgley asked if there has been any progressing setting up a new bank account in order to meet financial guidelines. The Clerk confirmed that this needs to wait until a Chair of the Finance Committee is appointed.

Next meeting of Finance, Legal, Health & Safety Committee Tuesday 20^th June May 2023 at 5.30 Shenstone Community Library.

39 Planning.

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

Cllr Thompson commented on the recent objection which has been upheld for application 23/00340/FUL and is pleased that this disfiguring back land development has been declined again.

Cllr Whitehouse queried application 23/00216 change of use from residential dwelling to residential institution. Cllr Thompson said this is not a material planning issue.

Feedback from the Neighbourhood, Planning & Property Committee Meeting: Tuesday May 23^rd including RECOMMENDATION: waste bin at corner of Little Aston Lane & Walsall Rd.

RESOLUTION: Unanimously approved.

40 Lazy Hill/Chester Rd dangerous junction: update on actions.

Covered under public participation

41 Shenstone/Stonnall Renewable Heating Working Group meeting with the Heat Network Development Unit 07.06.23

South Staffs Water continue to be very interested in taking the study forward to the next stage, particularly in Shenstone due to the redundant pumping station and the bore hole, but also looking at Stonnall too. With regard to government funding, a utility company (South Staffs Water in this case) is not allowed to apply for Round 13 funding, only a District Council is. 77% funding is from the government with 23% match funded from District- however this 23% can be paid for by a partner.

The next stage is a meeting with Kirsty Charlesworth at Lichfield District Council.

42 Shenstone Playing Fields Committee 06.06.23 AGM Report.

At the AGM, the Playing Fields Committee was refreshed to include new members, a large component of which are parents of Greysbrooke School pupils. There is a real appetite to reinvigorate the playing fields & form a closer collaborative relationship with Shenstone Village Hall.

43 Highways review: update on traffic surveys.

• Resident report of Little Aston Road speeding.

Covered under Item 32.

44 Consideration of Councillor led grant to support “Shenstone Seniors Brunch Club” £177.01

RESOLUTION: Majority approved.

45 Consideration of a request for funding towards a commemorative bench at Little Aston Village Hall for a long-standing Trustee of Community Association: £750 bench cost

RESOLUTION: Unanimously declined on the grounds of existing funds held.

46 Replacement signs in Stonnall: Several signs in the centre of Stonnall are worn away & need replacing. RESOLUTION: investigate costs Cllr Smith suggested that Parish may wish to consider repairs to other County signs which could have overlays with the PC logo. To be investigated.

47 July newsletter. The deadline for copy for the next newsletter is July 22^nd. The Clerk will email a list of those articles to be included as well as the “author” of each article.

48 Next meeting of Full Council July 11^th 2023 Shenstone Community Library 7.15pm