Draft minutes of Neighbourhood Planning & Property Committee Meeting Tuesday April 18^th at 11.00am Shenstone Parish Office.

1 Register of members in attendance

Cllr David Thompson (Chair), Cllrs David Salter, Lesley Edgley, Gail Nicholls, Stuart Jones & Simon Fisher.

2 Acceptance of apologies. None

3 Public Participation.

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

4 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 in Item 13.

5 To accept and confirm minutes of the last Neighbourhood Planning & Property Committee Meeting Feb 6^th 2024.

Signed & accepted.

6 Planning applications- update including outstanding applications and objections.

Objections submitted by Council regarding Haddon House, 176 Birmingham Rd & the proposed development behind Main Street, Shenstone all upheld & permission refused.

Awaiting the traffic management plan relating to Rakes Lane bird farm.

7 The Lichfield District Council/South Staffs Water Renewable Heating Business Case Project.

Cllr Thompson has been awaiting details of the Officer at Lichfield District Council that will be dealing following a change of job, this has now been confirmed & can be pursued. Cllr Salter confirmed District Cllr Mike Wilcox remains supportive.

8 Lammas Land Boundary incursion: update.

There has been no update from D.A.S since the submission of the witness statement by the Lammas Land Chair. Clerk to chase.

9 Review of Neighbourhood Plan Review progress.

Both Shenstone & Little Aston Plans reviews progressing embedding the statutory land use element into both. The non statutory land use element including traffic is back with the working group to be refined into a format that is not overwhelming.

A timeline is required from Navigus for the rest of this year & into 2025. Clerk to chase.

10 Shenstone Playing Field Management Committee: proposal to hold AGM, update on playground plans & management of Shenstone Country Club.

Cllr Thompson briefed the Committee on a recent Shenstone Playing Fields Committee Meeting as well as a previous meeting with Lisa Mbatu, their Chair, regarding the make up of the Committee which appeared to have inaccuracies.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

The Parish Council as the Custodian Trustee is to secure the 2015 charity commission approved constitution as election of the current committee is based on a 1988 constitution. If so, the current governance mandate may be negated.

The Parish Council has requested that, given the possible situation above, an AGM is held as soon as practicable and the SPFMC take no significant decisions. The Parish Council is concerned this may not have happened.

The Parish Council is concerned that the position of SPMC Chair appears to have been recently endorsed without the required committee majority vote.

The Parish Council is now aware that the SPFMC have developed alternative proposals for the location of new play equipment and have now also informed neighbouring residents of this work.

The Parish Council notes with great concern, the deteriorating relationship between the Country Club and the Management Committee.

11 Village entry gates on Birmingham Road.

There has been no response on this from County. Clerk to chase.

12 Footherley Road bench access works. Progress.

A specification is required in order for the Clerk to get quotations.

Cllr Thompson to action.

13 Little Aston Recreation Ground: renewal of paths

Cllr Salter, as Chair of Little Aston Recreation Ground (LARGA), briefed members on the requirement for new paths at Little Aston Recreation Ground, which is owned by the Parish Council. Paths were laid in 2009 & have been in a poor state for some time. Cllr Salter was seeking recognition from Council of all liability and consideration of a sizable contribution in principle towards re-surfacing. He confirmed that the Management Committee have a professional fundraiser already on the case. After discussion it was requested that a Business Case be submitted including:

1. a professional survey of the condition.

2. three comparable quotes.

3. might there be a simple ‘topping-up’ option?

4. could it be a phased approach?

5. how was the original path funded?

6. how much will LARGA be contributing?

7. what other grant funding options have been explored/achieved?

8. are there any barriers with the tripartite situation with Fields in Trust?

9. what are the LARGA Trust, or the PC’s obligations in respect of maintenance?  

10. what figure/percentage of costs are being applied for?

Cllr Salter said that he will take the request back to the Management Committee .

14 Shenstone Lawn Cemetery: burial authority review including addressing capacity.

The Clerk confirmed that following a review of the cemetery by Mark Ridgeway there are approximately 30 full grace plots left & 278 cremated remains spaces.

There is therefore no cause for concern for some years and the established rules do not need to be amended.

RECOMMENDATION: No action required.

15 A.O.B

Cllr Nicholls asked if there has been any response from County Flooding Officers re the flooding on Stonnall Playing Field & next steps. There has not. Clerk to chase.

The Clerk passed on a query from Stonnall Conservation Society re the map at Stonnall Pound which is in need of repair. Cllr Jones confirmed that in order to progress the original artwork & photographs need to be found or the work will be prohibitively expensive.

As Council is intending to include a statement in the revised Neighbourhood Plans about the preservation and promotion of wildlife corridors across the Parish more data & new maps are required. The Staffordshire Ecological Record Manager has provided a quote for the following data for all three Wards for £500.00.

• provide the parish with up-to-date information and maps on the status of the ecology across its area.

• be in line with the aims of the Parish Council’s Environmental Policy/Strategy.

• support the District Council’s environmental aspirations and enhance their mapping by providing more detailed spatial information.

• be a baseline for ecological enhancement and the preservation and future development of wildlife corridors by interested parties.

• provide hard evidence should it be required in connection with planning application decisions.

RECOMMENDATION: Cost unanimously approved.

A letter has been received from a Shenstone resident asking if Council would be prepared to ask the owner of the Bluebell wood lane bordering Footherley to allow some access to residents over the coming months.

The Committee agreed and a letter of request will be sent immediately.

16 Next meeting of Neighbourhood, Planning & Property Committee Tues June 18^th at 5.30pm