Approved minutes of Full Council meeting held on Tuesday Dec 7th, 2021, at 7.15pm Shenstone Village Hall.

112 Register of members in attendance

Cllr David Salter, Chairman (Shenstone Wood End), Cllr David Thompson, Cllr John Branch, Cllr Lesley Edgley, Cllr Stuart Jones, Cllr Neil Perry & Cllr Rita Hancocks (Shenstone)

Cllr Sheila Beilby, Cllr Gail Nicholls, Cllr Val Neale, Cllr Nicola Macdonald (Stonnall)

Cllr Nicki Gobran, Cllr Kelly Harrison & Cllr Nick Smith (Little Aston).

County Cllr David Smith. Shirley O’Mara (Clerk)

113 Acceptance of apologies. None

114 Public Participation.

Members of the public are invited to address Council for a maximum of 15 minutes. None.

115 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.

116 To accept and confirm minutes of the last Full Council meeting on Tuesday 9^th Nov 2021.

Duly approved & signed.

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

Right of Way Stonnall Playing Fields to Church Lane. Cllr Nicholls & Cllr Beilby reported that the work had been completed to a very high standard & that residents had commented on how pleased they are with the results.

Garnet Close, Stonnall: trees requiring attention on unadopted land. A land registry search has been submitted to establish ownership.

Friends of Shenstone Tower: consider action to make safe 4 x grave plots around construction area. The Clerk is still waiting to hear from the stonemason.

118 To receive reports from District and County Councillors.

Cllr David Smith reported on:

• Clearance of Church Lane. This was paid for out of Cllr Smith’s community fund.
• Cllr Smith said he had been asked why the hedge had not been cut all the way down & he said it was because part of it was private property.
• Cllr Macdonald said that it was she who had asked the question & she was not referring to the part of the hedge in private ownership but a separate section that, having been left, now looks unsightly. There was some discussion regarding how this has been managed with a suggestion from Cllr Salter that the Parish Lengthsman will investigate & potentially rectify next week.

• Cllr Smith has been contacted by a “20’s plenty “group who he expects will be in touch with Parish. He personally supports the group, but County are neither supporting nor opposing. The Clerk confirmed that no contact from the group has been received so Cllr Thompson asked for the details of the group to be shared, adding that a 20mph zone can have a powerful impact. Also, that with Lichfield District Council giving a clear steer of increased traffic volumes to come, traffic & traffic calming measures will become ever more important.

• There is new funding available focusing on climate change. Up to £500 is available for any single project.

• Speed of traffic on Little Aston Road is an ongoing issue with measures being looked at but Cllr Smith said he cannot see money being available short term.

• A resident has been in contact with County regarding parking issues in Richard Cooper Road. Cllr Smith said that there are not the funds available to reopen the traffic order & the resident in question had not objected to the proposals before they came into effect. Cllr Thompson said that the resident could not have foreseen the problem & would like to see detail of the communications between Cllr Smith & Highways on this matter. Cllr Smith said he will share.

Cllr Perry asked if any kind of review of the parking measures is scheduled adding that although they seem to be highly successful, other issues have come to light.

Cllr Smith said that he did not think so. Cllr Perry then asked if this could be investigated and include in that review the Richard Cooper Rd problem.

Cllr Smith will consider.

• Cartersfield Lane flooding- Flood relief team on site today.

• Development at Shire Oak. Walsall Council are actively pursuing this site for development which could see a housing application for 2000 homes. Cllr Smith said that we need to look at mitigating the effects of this by improving the Shire Oak junction.

• Stonnall Youth & Community Centre lease: Cllr Smith shared the information covered in item 121. He also confirmed the management committee of Stonnall Youth & Community Centre have signed the acceptance of the new agreement.

Cllr Thompson raised the subject of the forthcoming traffic survey & wished to clarify Cllr Smith’s email response to the request for information detailing the exact positioning of the survey equipment. There was some debate about what is and is not possible with Cllr Thompson emphasising that the correct positioning is essential to prevent flawed data. Cllr Smith said data on the new sites should be possible but not a complete list of every position and there is no budget for it. Also, Cllr Smith said he had not had confirmation that Council would pay for the new sites- the Clerk confirmed that a full list of additional roads had been sent some time ago but would re-send.

119 Finance.

Current financial position & transactions for approval 7^th Dec 2021

All transactions to date were shared – link to Financial Transactions spreadsheet.

Current finance position Nat West Current Account £905.00.

Nat West Business Reserve Account £53,316.43. Nat West Liquidity Account £162,393.14 (no changes or additions to ring fenced funds as approved at previous Full Council meetings). Unity Trust Account £141,373.16.

120 Planning.

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

Cllr Thompson reported:

• looking at engaging a land surveyor to do a boundary confirmation on the Lammas Land. All research on the 3 investigations completed with satisfactory outcome so no further action.

• The Lichfield District Council local plan has gone to the inspectorate. Our neighbourhood plan reviews will be in 2022/23.

• Planning application 21/01849: demolition of existing property & re-build.

No angle for objection.

Next meeting of the Neighbourhood, Planning & Property Committee Meeting Tuesday Feb 22^nd Shenstone Library at 5.30pm.

121 Stonnall Youth & Community Centre: update on transfer of lease.

Following legal advice, it was requested that the liability for any pre-existing breach to the lease is removed. This was to protect against an unreasonable accusation being identified later following termination. However, Staffs County Council have confirmed in writing that any new owner or occupier or other third party of the site has no right to enforce any obligations of the current lease, currently or after surrender and also as the Council is providing funds in lieu of the demolition obligation, there can be no way for any claim over any building condition to be made – this will be made clear in the surrender. The SCC to alter their wording to give us the clarity we are seeking and matters can proceed.

122 Richard Cooper Room:

discuss RICS survey & next steps. The survey has been completed but we are still awaiting the report. A brief overview was provided which does not seem to indicate the issues are as serious as previously feared. The Management Committee are fully informed to date with another meeting scheduled for January.

123 Shenstone Village Hall:

land registry investigation. Cllr Thompson reported that having looked at Land Registry documents relating to Shenstone Village Hall & Shenstone Playing Fields the Village Hall is land locked by the Playing Fields land ownership.

It was proposed that the Parish Council act to facilitate a meeting with both parties to decide attempt to set out and agree a workable solution to access and maintenance issues & use of the car park. Cllr Branch explained the long period of misconception that has existed between the two parties & that Council can only mediate. It was confirmed by Cllr Thompson that this was indeed the intention.

124 Coronavirus measures:

use of CO2 monitor. Cllr Jones reported the successful use of the Co2 monitor in the library & highly recommends one for every village hall.

Cllr Salter said that all halls are encouraged to apply to Council for grant funding should they wish to purchase a monitor of their own.

125 Agreement & ratification of Clerks salary from April 2021.

Cllrs Beilby & Salter gave Council the full background to the Clerk’s current salary, the statutory duty to pay 1.75% increase from 1^st April & the Employment Committees wish to reward the Clerk with a bonus which is not permissible. However, after lengthy discussions as to the Clerk’s position on the pay scale it was proposed that the Clerk is moved to Scale 25 backdated to April 1^st. RESOLUTION: Proposed Cllr Jones, seconded Cllr Hancocks & unanimously approved.

126 December Newsletter.

The newsletter has gone for printing & will be ready for distribution early next week.

Several Councillors complimented the issue especially the focus on promoting the good works achieved over the last months. Future issues should do the same with particular emphasis on the work of the Lengthsmen & the use of Community Grants.

127  H.M. The Queen Jubilee 2022 celebrations.

An article has been included in the newsletter asking residents to share ideas for how to mark the occasion.

128 Next meeting of Full Council Tuesday January 11^th, 2022, 7.15pm Shenstone Village Hall