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 meeting of Full Council Tuesday 14th March 2023 at Little Aston Community Centre at 7.15pm.
204 Register of members in attendance
Cllr David Salter – Chair (Shenstone Wood End), Cllrs Sheila Beilby, Gail Nicholls, Val Neale, Mick Cox, Duncan Gleig & Phil Whitehouse (Stonnall), Cllrs Stuart Jones, Rita Hancocks, Lesley Edgley, Leona Leung, David Thompson, Neil Perry (Shenstone). Cllr Kelly Harrison (Little Aston) . County Cllr David Smith.
Shirley O’Mara (Clerk). PCSO Tom Passmore
205 Acceptance of apologies.
District Cllr Joe Powell.
206 Public Participation.
Members of the public are invited to address Council for a maximum of 15 minutes.
PCSO Passmore briefed Council with the following data:
Calls to Police between 14/02/23-14/3/23.
Shenstone 77 to the Police
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Vehicle crime 5
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Burglaries- 2
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Anti-social behaviour 4
Stonnall 19 calls to the Police
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Vehicle crime 0
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Burglaries- 2
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Anti-social behaviour 0
Little Aston 24 calls to the Police
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Vehicle crime 3
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Burglaries 2
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Anti-social behaviour 0
206 There have been incidents of anti-social behaviour in Lincoln Croft with Police currently examining camera footage.
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Currently investigating accidents at the junction of Chester Rd & Lazy Hill & Chester Rd/Gravelly Lane.
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Maintaining a good level of community engagement. were well attended.
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Following a discovery of a cannabis factory in Stonnall, investigations are ongoing.
Cllr Thompson asked if there are any successes to report. PCSO Passmore said that yes there are with links with organised crime groups re vehicle crime being identified and pursued.
Cllr Jones asked about the Lazy Hill/Chester Rd accident hotspot and the ongoing issues there with repeated incidents. Cllr Nicholls added that this was a major concern for her which she also wished to raise. PCSO Passmore said that the reports of the accidents have been requested from West Midlands Police. County Cllr Smith said that he has a meeting next week on the same subject, though there was some confusion requiring clarification of the exact locations of concern.
Once clarified, Cllr Smith said incidents should be reported on the Staffs County website as well as the Police so that he can follow up. Cllr Salter asked PCSO Passmore if he could provide incident numbers to date so that Parish can pursue. This was agreed.
Cllr Nicholls stated that the Parish Council needs to put more pressure on for some action to be taken.
207 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
208 To accept and confirm minutes of the last Full Council meeting on Tuesday 13th Dec 2022, Duly approved & signed.
209 Clerk’s update on outstanding issues from last meeting:
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Lammas Land investigation into boundary incursion. Update.
The Clerk reported that despite several attempts to contact the Solicitor she has not had a response. Will continue to chase.
210 To receive reports from District and County Councillors.
County Cllr Smith reported:
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Staffs County are not in support of the “20 is plenty” campaign & Whittington have been instructed to remove the signs they have erected.
- Cllr Thompson said that despite County’s position Kinver are progressing with a referendum and success in Dimbles.
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Cllr Thompson thanked Highways Officer Bethany Tranter for forwarding data on four of the areas identified in the recent traffic surveys. He asked how long it would be before the data for the remaining locations would be released.
- Cllr Smith said he has a meeting regarding this next week. It was agreed that a meeting with a Highways Officer would be required to translate the data which Council look forward to receiving.
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District Cllr Salter briefed Council on the forthcoming Elections drawing attention to the email detailing processes and important dates.
- Cllr Whitehouse asked if it was worth considering pooling resources so that experienced Councillors could share advice and experience with those newer to Council. Cllr Salter said that he thought this could confuse matters and suggested the briefings session on offer from District Council.
211 Finance.
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Current financial position & transactions for approval 14th March 2023. Use this link to access this month’s financial transactions spread sheet
Nat West Current Account £905.00. Nat West Business Reserve £53,507.26
Nat West Liquidity Account (Ear marked funds) £93,036.38.
Unity Account £71,462.32
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Consideration of purchase of 4 x Union Flags for Coronation. £185.00 each.
RESOLUTION: Wait until all grant applications received & decide then.
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Consideration of applications received for Coronation Events.
£1650.00 £250.00. £250.00. £2465.00
RESOLUTION: Wait until all grant applications received & decide then.
Next meeting of Finance, Legal, Health & Safety Committee Tuesday 25Th April 2023 at 5.30pm Shenstone Community Library.
212 Planning.
Approve planning applications received in last month and update on any objections/ developments. No updates to discuss. Use this link to access this month’s planning applications spreadsheet
Next meeting of the Neighbourhood, Planning & Property Committee Meeting Tuesday May 23rd at 5.30pm Parish Office.
213 The Decarbonisation of Shenstone and Stonnall Feasibility Study.
Update. Awaiting details of funding opportunities in April, further communications with South Staffs Water & a response from developers of the proposed housing development on Shenstone Business Park .
214 Highways Meeting: Update on matters discussed including consideration of purchase of gateway signs £474.15 to £866.55 each dependent on size.
Cllr Thompson briefed members on a very successful meeting with Mary Lee of South Staffs Highways. Mary visited the proposed site on Birmingham Rd to approve suitability for gateway signs and confirmed the size & positioning required.
She is also progressing the possible land grab issue on the Birmingham Rd, the re-painting of the “Slow” markings on Pinfold Hill & the problems with the badly damaged/missing kerb stone edging on Main Street, Shenstone.
RESOLUTION: Council voted unanimously to purchase two gateway signs up to the value of £2,000.
Cllr Whitehouse asked that gateways could be looked at in the future for Stonnall.
215 Staffs County Council Traffic Survey: update on data
Covered under 210.
216 Street Lighting: feedback on research into alternative supply. Nothing to report.
217 Review and adopt:
Health & Safety Policy
RESOLUTION: Unanimously approved & signed.
Procurement Policy: Two tweaks requested- increase Clerk approved spend to £500 from £300 & in section re advertising tender opportunities, add “trade press”.
Asset Register: RESOLUTION: Unanimously approved
218 in accordance with the provision of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, Section 5 of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations and Paragraphs 2, 3 and 7 of the Council’s Access to Information Rules, the public and press be excluded during consideration of the following item:
Meeting with South Staffs Water re Malkins Coppice.
Cllr Thompson briefed Council on a meeting with South Staffs Water on March 7th to discuss lease renewal. Representatives of South Staffs will report back to their Directors with a view to a later meeting in April.
