Approved minutes of Shenstone Parish Full Council Tuesday 14th September 2021 7.15pm at Shenstone Village Hall.

52. Register of members in attendance

Cllrs David Salter, Sheila Beilby, David Thompson, Rita Hancocks, Stuart Jones, Neil Perry, John Branch, Gail Nicholls, Val Neale, Kelly Harrison & Nick Smith.

County Cllr David Smith.

Mr Richard Smith & Mr Robin Stubbs, Mrs Valmae Hassall.

Clerk: Shirley O’Mara

53. Acceptance of apologies.

Cllrs Lesley Edgley, Nicky Macdonald, Mick Cox & Nicky Gobran. District Cllr Elizabeth Little.

54. Public Participation.

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

The members of public in attendance did not participate

55. 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 David Salter expressed an interest in Item 64 as Chairman of LARGA.

56. To accept and confirm minutes of the last Full Council meeting on Tuesday 13th July 2021.

Duly approved & signed.

Cllr Salter addressed Council to state that the last meeting of Council in July was not conducted entirely to protocol at times & that he takes full responsibility as Chairman. This will not happen again

57. Clerk’s update on outstanding issues from last meeting:

Update on quotes re re-surfacing path from Stonnall Playing Fields to Church Lane.

Consider quote from J. E. Thompson Plant Hire for £4338.54 inc VAT.

Cllr Nicholls confirmed that the work is in line with County guidelines with approval from County & the landowners.

RESOLUTION: Council voted unanimously to approve the next stage which is seeking permission to proceed. Cllr Salter mentioned that a French drain or a trench through the hedge at the lowest point would also be beneficial to avoid flooding.

A quote from Lichfield District Council for £550 for an additional bin outside the chip shop on Burnett Rd has been received.

RESOLUTION: Approved unanimously.

58. To receive reports from District and County Councillors.

County Cllr David Smith reported:

• He will sort out the approval for the work on Stonnall footpath as soon as he receives the information

• He has agreed the extension of Shenstone Library lease.

• Highways work progressing but with delays due to Covid.

• If Council decide to reject the offer from County re SY&CC (item 61) then costs for demolition must be supplied as well as an agreement to pay legal costs.

• There is a consultation document submitted by Walsall Council for the development of 800 houses at Shire Oak between Barracks Lane & Chester Rd. He stated that if it goes ahead, we should attempt to secure the maximum community iiinfrastructure benefit should be secured for Stonnall.
  Cllr Thompson said we should look to what LDC has required for communities affected by the 800-house development at Rugeley. There will be a Highways County meeting amidst concerns re traffic.

• A Highways traffic survey starts soon focusing on weight, speed, volume and time of day running for 24 hours over 7 days. Cllr Smith has requested that Council think about which roads should be included. Cllr Thompson said that this will be discussed at the next Neighbourhood Planning & Property meeting.

• There is currently a bus survey being conducted for County.

Cllr Smith suggested a “Ring & Ride” system may be a way forward.

Cllr Branch expressed considerable frustration at the delay to the planned works in Shenstone stating it has been almost two years since the traffic measures were approved, particularly as there is considerable work going on around the village & Lichfield.

Cllr Smith explained that the labour force is running at a reduction of one third due to Covid & there is also a difficulty sourcing material nationwide.

Cllr Branch reiterated that the impact of all developments seems to be resulting in an increase in volume of traffic.

County Cllr David Salter reported that the District County Members Community Fund is available with up to £300 grant funding per member available.

59. Finance.

Current financial position & transactions for approval as at 14th Sept 2021 – see attached financial transactions spreadsheet

Nat West Current Account: £905.00, Nat West Business Reserve £53,515.10, Nat West Liquidity Account Ear marked funds £162,372.90 & Unity Account £145,256.06.

Feedback from External Auditor on audit report & completion.

The Clerk reported that the External audit fully signed off with no qualifications.

However, on submission of one document relating to trust funds, the Clerk had left these boxes blank as they do not apply to this Council. However, she has been reminded that she should state “not applicable” rather than just leave blank.

This has been rectified.

Feedback from Finance, Legal, Health & Safety Committee Meeting on July 20th.

RECOMMENDATIONS: 1) Following recent building surveys on Stonnall Youth & Community Centre & the Richard Cooper Room, it was agreed to wait until Full Council in September to agree how much should be ring fenced from funds for potential renovation.

RESOLUTION: SY&CC to be progressed by Working Group & Richard Cooper Room for discussion at the next Neighbourhood Planning & Property Meeting.

2) re-gravelling of the Stonnall Footpath from the Playing Fields to Church Lane: item covered under Clerks update

3) Calder Crossing, Lammas Land: survey due on 29th July. item covered under Item 62.

4) Neighbourhood Plans re-fresh. Ring fence £20,000.

RESOLUTION: It was agreed that £20,000 should be ring fenced for now with plans likely in 2022. The cost may be reduced if there is no need for a referendum regarding boundary changes.

5) Refurb of Parish Office Kitchen. £2,500 maximum.

RESOLUTIION: Unanimously approved

6) Investigate costs of installing Wi-Fi in the Village Halls.

Council unanimously supports any applications for Community grant funding for this

Initiative.

7) It was also agreed following the suggestion of Cllr Salter that funds should be reserved to absolutely clarify, through legal channels, the responsibilities and obligations that the Parish Council has regarding its assets and particularly its associated bodies. The Clerk was charged with seeking advice from Staffs Parish Council Association regarding recommended Solicitors.

RESOLUTION: Unanimously agreed to ring fence £10,000 for legal instruction.

Confirm the next meeting of Finance, Legal Health & Safety Committee Tues 26th Oct 2021 at 5.30 Shenstone Community Library

60. Planning.

Approve planning applications received in last month and update on any objections/ developments including – see attached planning applications spreadsheet

1. Meeting with officers of LDC Re: LP40 and Neighbourhood Plans.

Boundary Changes: A NP has a designated boundary unaffected by Parish boundary adjustments. Designation boundaries can be amended but the type of Parish boundary adjustments we identified does not automatically require an amendment.

NP Changes: If an existing NP is revised as a result of a review following the LP2040 the revised NP is given to a Planning Inspector to consider whether a referendum is required. The decision will rest on the number/importance of the changes made.

Shenstone Industrial Estate Housing Development Planning Application: The case officer has confirmed it is still a live outline application with LDC queries about the application still to be resolved. In response to a question about the implications of the Shenstone housing contribution to LDC supply not going ahead LDC officers identified (that a judgement will need to be made re compensation.

Financial support to refresh an NP: Confirmed that there is grant funding available for some aspects of a refresh.

Travellers: The level of site provision was queried as the Parish Council had experienced off site settlements and the officers explained the difficulties of provision.

2. Response to the LP 40 consultation.

See document attached.

3. Fox and Hounds Pagoda amendment.

This application has been withdrawn.

4. Cartersfield Lane, Elford Homes proposed planning application.

Cllr Thompson welcomed County Cllr David Smith’s useful notes on this matter & shares concerns but stated that this is a very strong bid. However, an objection will be submitted.

5. Lammas Land boundary enquires update and further action required.

Two out of the three boundary investigations have been concluded with those validated following extra definition of title. There has been no response from the third enquiry. RESOLUTION: Council instructed the Clerk to seek a quote re costs for Legal advice on this matter.

Confirm next Neighbourhood, Planning & Property Committee Meeting Tuesday Sept 21^st at 5.30 Shenstone Community Library

61. Stonnall Youth & Community Centre: update from Working Group & consider recommendations.

Cllr Thompson briefed Council as follows:

The Working Group has met twice since the last Parish Council meeting on 13th July. The first meeting was on the 26th July with members of the SYCC Management Committee. This meeting further explained the Parish Council proposal not to accept the SCC offer of ownership of the SYCC and instead propose that the Management Committee follow a trusteeship ownership option. The second meeting on 23rd Aug was called to discuss the response of the SYCC Management Committee to the Parish Council proposal. This second meeting followed confirmation to the Parish Clerk that the SYCC Management Committee wished to progress the trusteeship option. The second meeting allowed the Working Group to clarify several additional transaction details. These included the confirmation that the Management Committee (a) have not made up their mind if they will retain or demolish the SYCC and (b) the SYCC Management Committee will follow the recommendations of the RICS 3 survey and (c) confirmation that the SYCC Management Committee will not be asking the Parish Council to be a Custodian Trustee.

The Working Group firstly recommends that following the SYCC Management Committee expression of interest in the trustee ownership option the Parish Council informs the SCC that it does not wish to accept the ownership offer and instead the SCC should offer trustee ownership to the SYCC Management Committ

ee.

The Working Group secondly recommends that it now negotiates with the SCC the early lease termination requirement of the demolition of the SYCC. The Parish Council will seek competitive tenders to establish the cost of this work and if the demolition cost is to be translated into a commuted sum because the building is to be retained the Parish Council will request that the sum is directed in full to the new SYCC Trustees.

The Working Group thirdly recommends that any future support for either a retained or a new SYCC will need to be upon application and will be transparently consistent with the Parish Council financial support requirements and timing of applications for support given to all other community organizations in the Parish Council area.

Conclusion.

The Working Group is very pleased that the Parish Council recommended option of the SYYC Management Committee progressing the Trusteeship option has been accepted.

The Chairman that asked for votes on the three recommendations:

RESOLUTION: Council voted unanimously to support all three recommendations.

A letter will now be prepared as the formal response to County & sent to Ian Turner & County Cllr David Smith.

Discussions re potential terms, etc will be discussed at the next Working Party meeting

62. Lammas Land survey of Calder Crossing: feedback & next steps

Cllr Jones shared the recommendations from the survey:

• The bridge should be carefully jet washed/cleaned off.

• All timber decking affected by wet rot (c. 10no.) should be replace accordingly as soon as practicable to avoid inevitable failure. All replacement timber should be pre-treated.

• Wet rot to the corner posts at point A and B is not considered severe although it is likely to be more cost effective replacing the posts rather than localised splice repairs etc. Elsewhere posts remain in satisfactory condition. See attached survey report

• All yellow moss to the underside of the bridge should be eradicated accordingly as soon as possible

• All replacement timber should be pre-treated of exactly the same size/gauge.

• All timberwork to the bridge should be treated with an appropriate wood preservative, sympathetic to its immediate environment. Due to the role and position of the footbridge all necessary precautions should be considered with regard to any cleaning/timber treatments/remedial work.

• The ground approaching both ends of the bridge should be made up accordingly to resolve the potential trip hazards to users.

• All foliage adjacent to the bridge should be periodically, heavily managed.

RESOLUTION: Council instructed the Clerk to seek a quotation for the above work.

63. Update on Footherley Rough.

Cllr Jones asked Council for permission to approach the landowner of Footherley Rough to ask him to explore the possibility of leasing the land on a ‘pepper corn’ rent to create a Community Woodland managed by the Parish Council, length of lease to be determined.

RESOLUTION: Council unanimously approved that the approach may be made with further discussions at a later date.

64. Consider request from Little Aston Recreation Ground Committee to increase annual funding of £1500.00 per annum.

RESOLUTION: After some discussion it was agreed to leave the funding as is but remain supportive of community grant requests for additional funding.

65. New footbridge proposal for Lynn Lane /Industrial Estate right of way.

RESOLUTION: Clerk to notify Staffs County first

66. Review Procurement policy

Risk assessment

Risk management policy

RESOLUTION: Unanimously approved & signed.

67. New loop path requests on the Lammas land

Cllr Thompson shared a request for the Lammas Land Committee to consider strimming a swathe of grassland near the railway line to create another looped path.

Council were supportive of this action & Cllr Jones will take this to the Lammas Land Management Committee.

68. Greysbrooke School Autumn Tree planting on Lammas Land:

Consider Lichfield District Council assistance to undertake weed control after planting between the saplings. (year one possible 4-5 occasions) followed by 2-3 times annually thereafter or as requested by the Parish Council. £210 + vat per occasion.

RESOLUTION: Unanimously approved.

69. Millennium Clock. Repairs required to make it work again.

RESOLUTION: Clerk charged with investigating cost of repairs

70. Increased reports of dog fouling on Shenstone Street pavements.

Following a significant increase in fouling, the Clerk is requested to schedule the Lengthsman to stencil penalty warnings in roads around the village.

71. Confirm location of three donated trees for Jubilee.

To be discussed next month when more information re species, height, etc is known. Cllr Thompson said that a tree to replace the very old Oak that was cut down following disease outside the doorway of St John the Baptist would be a good idea.

72. Date of next meeting: Tuesday Oct 12th, 2021, at 7.15pm Shenstone Village Hall.