Approved minutes of Full Council Meeting Tuesday October 10^th, 2023, at Little Aston Community Centre.

82 Register of members in attendance

Cllr David Salter (Shenstone Wood End), Cllrs Gail Nicholls, Phil Whitehouse, Val Neale & Dino D’Ambrosio (Stonnall), Cllrs Stuart Jones, Lesley Edgley, David Thompson, Christopher Callow,

Simon Fisher (Shenstone), Cllr Emma Scothern & Stuart Harrison (Little Aston).

Shirley O’Mara (Clerk).

PCSO Tom Passmore

83 Acceptance of apologies. Cllrs Mick Cox, Ruth Graham & Leona Leung.

84 Public Participation.

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

PCSO Passmore shared the statistics from both August & September to date.

Period 8th Aug to 8^th Sept: 17 crime related calls to Staffs Police from Shenstone, 15 from Stonnall & 7 from Little Aston.

8^th Sept to date: 14 calls from Shenstone, 6 from Stonnall & 14 from Little Aston.

A PCSO update will appear in the next newsletter.

Tom also shared details of an ANPR consultation questionnaire to be shared.

85 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

86 To accept and confirm minutes of the last Full Council meeting on Tues 12^th Sept 2023:

Duly accepted and signed.

87 Clerk’s update on outstanding issues from last meeting.

Office flagpole- Cllr Salter is further researching land ownership.

Malkins Coppice – The Clerk & Cllr Jones to meet South Staffs Water on Oct 28^th.

Confirmation of Traffic Working Group: Cllrs Salter, Whitehouse, Scothern & D’Ambrosio.

Meeting to be scheduled shortly.

The Clerk confirmed that as no location can be found in Stonnall for Parish meetings in 2024, meetings will take place in turn in Shenstone & Little Aston. To be reviewed.

88 To receive reports from District and County Councillors.

County Cllr Smith briefed as follows:

• He has shared details of the costings relating to a school crossing in Forge Lane, Little Aston.

• A petition relating to Chester Rd junction safety concerns has been completed with Cllr Smith commending the efforts involved. It will be presented to Staffs County Council on Thursday where a statement from Walsall County Council Leader is also expected.

• There has been a successful event held at Shire Oak Quarry with residents able to see for themselves how much land has been reclaimed and is back to meadow.

• There have been changes to the bus service through Stonnall with members of the Coffee Club providing positive feedback.

• There are still discussions ongoing re moving the bus stop outside MacDonalds/the Business Park at Wall Island. However, the bus companies are not being very cooperative.

• Cllr Smith made a request to the Parish Council to release funds that it holds on behalf of the people of Stonnall. The funds relate to a grant secured for the formation of the Stonnall Neighbourhood Plan in 2014, the remaining balance of which remains unspent.

Cllr Smith said there is a strong feeling in the village and within the group involved in the first neighbourhood plan that they manage the plan again. County Council will also be doing a County Plan which could be in conflict.

Cllr Salter pointed out that legislation dictates that where a Parish Council exists, it should lead on a neighbourhood plan with community engagement & participation.

The Clerk reminded Council that at the September meeting resolutions were made to Include Stonnall in the Parish Council planning process. Cllr Smith stated that the

Parish Council has “jumped the gun” in making this decision and should have consulted the local group. It was pointed out that Council was unaware that a group existed.

At this point the Clerk pointed out that there could be no further progress on this item as a) in order to discuss & potentially revisit resolutions, Standing Orders need to be suspended b) five Councillors need to request in writing that the resolutions are re-addressed and that c) following discussions there is a second vote on the recommendations.

Cllr Thompson, for the purpose of clarity, then explained the background of meetings which led to the resolutions being made at the September meeting. Involvement of any community group would be hugely valuable with the same hoped for in the other  Wards.

Cllr Smiths stated that the funds remaining were not necessarily for the purpose of neighbourhood planning but were the groups to manage but that the group would work collaboratively with Council if it was. Cllr Edgley requested that documentation be provided to explain the grant & any stipulations around it. This request was  declined by Cllr Smith.

 Discussions continued for several minutes with input from most Councillors present.

Cllr Smith stated that he believed that both sides wanted the same thing and suggesting that he & the Chair of Council meet separately to discuss further. This request was declined by Cllr Salter & rebutted by some of Council. Cllr Thompson restated that funds held are solely for the benefit of Stonnall residents of and that engagement on future plan revisions by those residents is welcomed.

District Cllr Whitehouse briefed as follows:

• Nothing to add to items reported in September.

• A residents surgery held in Stonnall with County Cllr Smith, District Cllr Joe Powell & PCSO Tom Passmore, as well as Cllr Whitehouse himself, was held on Oct 7^th.

A summary of what was discussed was shared with members with all items now with the relevant departments to deal. It was a good event with subjects discussed useful in shaping conversations & decision making.

• A resident’s surgery will next be held in Little Aston Village Hall on Oct 28^th.

Cllr Thompson asked that his thanks to Cllr Salter were recorded for the LDC headline reviews he has provided. Cllr Whitehouse stated that his briefings were intended to update Council as there has been no district input since November. Cllr Thompson stated he was referring to a period of eight years.

District Cllr Salter briefed as follows:

• re a school crossing patrol in Little Aston, members were asked to approve a request for more information & a risk assessment. RESOLUTION: Unanimously approved.

Cllr Harrison said he hoped any patrol would have an impact in reducing speed of traffic.

89 Finance.

Current financial position & transactions for approval as of 10^th Oct 2023. Link to financial transactions spreadsheet.

Unity Bank £159,280.25. Nat West Current Account £905.00. Nat West Business Reserve £53,883.67. Nat West Liquidity Account ring fenced funds for ear marked projects £94,282.21.

Transactions for Sept & October to date were shared.

Following feedback from the External Auditor that Council is required to move to an income & expenditure reporting model, the Clerk has instigated modifications to the existing ledger reporting system to enable the necessary data to be extracted. On 5^th Oct this system was demonstrated to the internal auditor, Alan Topliss, & met with his approval.

A follow up meeting is arranged in December to review.

An invoice for the ledger modification work will be provided by Nicholas Bagley.

In the meeting Alan also completed the six-month audit, approved the wording of the revised standing orders & reviewed the forecast & budget which the Clerk will share with Council in November.

Change of bank signatories for Nat West Bank accounts.

The following resolutions were made.

RESOLUTION: Removal of Sheila Beilby & Jean Wilson as authorised signatories.

Confirmation of Shirley O’Mara, as Finance Officer & Clerk, Cllr Gail Nicholls as

Chair of Finance Committee & Cllr David Salter as Chair of Council, be added as

authorised signatories.

Clerk/RFO to have full access to online banking.

All resolutions unanimously approved.

Next meeting of Finance, Legal, Health & Safety Committee Tues Nov 28th, 2023, at 5.30 pm Shenstone Community Library.

90 Planning.

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

Cllr Thompson confirmed objections are still outstanding re Haddon House, Eastridge Croft & Raikes Lane chicken farm. Cllr Salter added that he was aware that the owners of the Raikes Lane development have offered £10K towards road surfacing to address that part of the objection.

Next meeting of Neighbourhood Planning & Property Committee Tues Oct 24th at 5.30pm – Parish Office

91 Neighbourhood Plan refreshes: update & next steps.

Widely discussed under item 88. Cllr Thompson added that the first meetings with Navigus will be on Thurs 26^th Oct for both the Little Aston working group & the Shenstone working group with Stonnall to follow, drawing on the energy & desire from residents to form groups of people old & new to benefit the community. Cllr Harrison mentioned the importance of democratic oversight & accountability & Cllr Nicholls full transparency.

92 Lammas Land Boundary incursion: feedback from solicitor & consideration of next steps.

Following a request from the other parties Solicitors, further information has been requested of Friend Associates, who conducted the boundary survey. This information, once received, will be passed on but a face-to-face meeting with Council’s Solicitors, Pickering’s, will also be arranged.

93 Trees in Lower Lawn Cemetery: roots damage to Wall in Eastridge Croft.

Consideration of tenders received for tree removal & planting.

The Clerk reported that the order for works has been approved by LDC & is currently in the period of public consultation. Tenders will be sought for November consideration.

94 Review and adopt Standing Orders.

RESOLUTION: Unanimously approved.

95 Consider & adopt, if approved, Green policy.

RESOLUTION: The policy shared was unanimously adopted as a starting position with a review requested at a later date. Clerk to schedule.

96 Playdale Playground inspections: report & next steps.

Reports were shared with Council. The Clerk confirmed that it is now the responsibility of the management committees to address the findings & action with a mix of self-funding & grant applications as appropriate. Works can be completed by other specialist contractors, the management committees themselves or by the Parish Lengthsmen.

97 Consideration of purchase of tree in Main Street, Stonnall to replace a damaged tree previously removed. Approx £250.00.

RESOLUTION: After discussion it was agreed that the Clerk will seek approval from Highways & establish more detailed costs before Council discuss again at a later meeting.

98 The Heat Networks Delivery Bid for Detailed Feasibility Funding.

Cllr Thompson will be submitting a bid for the next round of RCEF funding by the end of next month for consideration by the Midlands Hub.

99 Shenstone Christmas Market: request to fund public liability insurance £130 & music licence £125.00.

RESOLUTION: unanimously approved.

100 Stonnall Christmas Fayre: consideration of Councillor led grant for £400.00 towards costs.

Application withdrawn. A grant application for a Christmas tree & fittings will be submitted at a later date.

101 Facebook/Canva account: Cllr Harrison will demo in November. A potentially important method of improving Council communication.

102 Shire Oak Quarry donation to Stonnall Scouts: request to include article in newsletter.

At a pre meeting to discuss Newsletter articles, the group agreed that a thank you for the generous donation should be included.

103 Consideration of lock up garage for Lengthsman tools.

Costs of two options were shared. Further investigation required.

104 Friends of Shenstone Tower: request for financial assistance with insurance.

Cllr Jones explained that Historic England require the insurance in the first few years to cover full rebuild costs, the insurance is very high at £4K per year. Cllr Jones asked that Council consider assistance in line with other community buildings. RESOLUTION: It was agreed that Council will consider this early next year as current insurance only just paid & no contribution to that sought.

105 Consideration of Councillor led grant for purchase of home thermal imager for Shenstone Community Library. £646.80.

Cllr Thompson explained what the thermal imager can be used for & how it can be utilised for the benefit of residents. Cllr Whitehouse asked if the imager could be used in Stonnall & Little Aston also & Cllr Jones confirmed it could be. Cllr Whitehouse also asked if the insurance for the imager would cover repair/replacement costs. Cllr Jones said that accidental damage was included but did not have the exact detail.

RESOLUTION: Unanimously approved.

106 Next meeting of Full Council 14^th November 2023 at Shenstone Community Library.