Parish Council Meeting 11 July 2022

1. Cllr J Turner (Chair), Cllr B Wright, Cllr E Edmonds, Cllr K Stratton, Cllr M Flower, Cllr K Lillistone, Cllr J Turner, Cllr L Beckett-Fountain, Borough Councillor S Sankey, and Julie Sadler (Clerk)

Apologies: Cllr S Ratcliffe.

8 Members of the village attended the meeting.

2. The Minutes of the Meeting held on 13^th June 2022 – The minutes were agreed by all as a true record of the meeting. Cllr Turner (Chair) signed and dated the minutes.
3. Declaration of Interest – None
4. Adjournment for Public Participation

A member of the public expressed their sincere thanks to the Parish Council for all their hard work throughout the year.

5. Matters Arising/Clerk’s Report
6. Correspondence Received – The clerk informed the meeting that a member of the public requested to view the Parish Councils accounts and a meeting was held with the Chair and the clerk on the 6^th July in the Village Hall.

The clerk informed the meeting that she had been informed that there would be a further meeting with Alton Towers and surrounding Parish Councils on the 7^th September at 1pm in the Port and Starboard in the conference centre. Cllr Wright and Russ Whitehurst volunteered to attend on behalf of the Parish Council and report back at the next meeting.

1. Review Councillors Accountabilities – Cllr Turner informed the meeting that this item had been left on the agenda in case any member of the council would like to change their accountabilities. It was agreed that this would be left on the agenda for the September meeting. Cllr Flower requested that the document be dated each time it was changed. Action Clerk
2. Data Protection Renewal – It was unanimously agreed that the Parish Council would renew the subscription with the Information Commissioner.
3. Planning (Permitted & Refused are decisions by ESBC)
   1. P/2019/01489 – Cllr Turner informed the meeting that there was no further update on this item. The Parish Council were still awaiting a reply from the ESBC.
   2. Neighbourhood Planning Training – The clerk informed the meeting that she had heard from the SPCA regarding the training. Hopefully she would have a date for the training by the meeting in September. With regards to the grant. This has been applied for. Thanks to Margaret Shermer, Jacquie Payne, and Cllr Turner for their work on this. However, they are still waiting for a decision. Cllr Turner informed the meeting that she would keep the councillors up to date on this.
   3. P/2022/00260 – The clerk informed the meeting that she had received revised details on this application which she had sent out to the councillors prior to the meeting. It was agreed that as these details had only just been received from the ESBC the clerk would inform Alan Harvey at the ESBC that the councillors would like until the 25^th July 2022 to make any comments on the changes at the latest. Clerk to contact Alan Harvey. Action Clerk.
4. Broadband – Cllr Sankey

Cllr Sankey confirmed that there were no further updates from the last meeting. Cllr Turner informed the meeting that when she and the clerk met with Kate Griffiths MP on the 16^th June this was discussed, and Kate agreed to look into this.

8. Highways – Cllr Edmonds
   1. SIDS – Cllr Edmonds informed the meeting that a site visit was being held on the 20^th July with Lisa Hall to discuss the positioning of the SIDs in the village.
   2. Potholes – The clerk informed the meeting that she had reported several potholes around the village to the SCC including the one outside the Farm Shop. Cllr Edmonds informed the meeting that the pothole raised at the last meeting on the roundabout after the Farm Shop had now been filled in. Cllr Turner raised the issue of a pothole on the way to Ellastone. Clerk agreed to report it. Action Clerk.
   3. Hedge at the junction of College Road and Narrow Lane – Cllr Edmonds informed the meeting that the owner of the hedge had agreed for Denstone College to cut the hedge. Denstone College had agreed to cut the hedge at the end of August. Thank you to Denstone College.
9. Denstone College Liaison

Cllr Edmonds informed the meeting that there would be a meeting of the Parking and Transport working group at the start of next term. Nothing further to add now. Cllr Turner suggested that if any councillor had anything they would like Cllr Edmonds to raise at the next meeting, they should let him know as soon as possible.

10. Green Spaces – Cllr Wright
    1. Staffs Way – Cllr Wright brought the meeting up to date on the latest email from the Ramblers. He volunteered to approach The Staffordshire Ramblers first before going onto the SCC. Action Cllr Wright
    2. New Bench – It was agreed that the clerk would order a brown Witton Bench from Marmax Recycled Products. This would be sent direct to Cllr Wright who would then position it on the green. It was agreed that a plaque would not be purchased at the time. Action Clerk
11. Website

The clerk informed the meeting that she had contacted Christine Kelly regarding an email she had received from Carolyn Hinton regarding the website. The reason for this was Christine had dealt with all the recent changes regarding the website. Cllr Lillistone informed the meeting that the issue was regarding changing the domain name. Clerk agreed to go back to Christine and then inform the councillors of the outcome. Action Clerk

12. Liaison
    1. Village Hall – Cllr Stratton informed the meeting that there was nothing further to report as there had not been another Village Hall meeting.
    2. Queens Jubilee – Cllr Turner asked on behalf of the Jubilee Committee whether the funding from Alton Towers had come into the bank account yet. The clerk stated that she would check the account again and let Cllr Mountney know if it had been received. Action Clerk
    3. Bunting in the village – Cllr Beckett-Fountain reported that the bunting near the play area had fallen. Cllr Flower asked if the bunting could remain up until after the Denstone Show on the 3^rd September 2022. It was agreed that the clerk would contact Pete Smith to see if the bunting could be put back up or taken down completely near the play area. However, could the remaining bunting be left up until after the show but no later than 30^th Action Clerk
    4. Insurance for the show – The clerk raised the issue of the insurance for the show. It was unanimously agreed that the Parish Council would support the cost of the insurance up to £200. Cllr Flower agreed to inform the Parish Council of the cost of the insurance as soon as possible. Cllr Flower informed the meeting that for future shows the committee hoped to become self-sufficient. The clerk informed Cllr Flower that if the committee were looking to get sponsorship from local businesses, she has a contact at JCB.
    5. Schools – Cllr Mountney informed the meeting that there was nothing to report from the schools.
13. Play Area – Cllr Beckett-Fountain
    1. Action Plan update – Cllr Becket-Fountain informed the meeting that the play area group were slowly making their way through the action plan.
    2. Box, gate, and the fence – The clerk raised the issue of these items. Cllr Beckett-Fountain informed the meeting that she had received a quote for the fence and a new gate. After further discussions the Parish Councillors agreed that further quotes would be gathered for the fence and gate in line with the yearly report and brought to the next meeting in September. At that meeting a decision can be made. With regards to the box. Cllr Edmonds informed that the box did belong to the Parish Council as he put it in 15 years ago. Cllr Flower volunteered to mend the box by 17^th July and send a picture to the clerk so this could be forwarded to the parishioner who had raised this issue on more than one occasion.
14. Alton Towers

Cllr Mountney informed the meeting that Alton Towers were hosting the Commonwealth Games Queens Baton Relay on the 19^th July 2022. All locals will be allowed in free after 6.30pm.

15. JCB
16. Tree Pruning – Cllr Turner informed the meeting that the tree has now been pruned thanks to JCB for this.
17. Family Day update – Cllr Lillistone updated the meeting on the Family Fun Day from JCB. This will take place on the 16^th July however increase in traffic will be seen w/c 11^th July until the 20^th It was agreed that Cllr Lillistone will put something on the Facebook page. Action Cllr Lillistone
18. Finance
19. Signing of Cheques – The clerk passed a form to Cllr Flower for him to complete and then get signed by Cllr Stratton and Cllr Edwards so that he could sign cheques on behalf of the Parish Council. Once this is signed the form will be passed back to the clerk. Action Cllr Flower, Edmonds, Stratton, and Clerk
20. Online Banking – once all new signatures have been added and confirmed the clerk will investigate setting up online banking.
21. Miscellaneous
    1. Box outside the old shop – it was agreed that the clerk would contact Gary Plant and ask him to remove the box or give his permission for the Parish Council to remove it. Action Clerk
    2. The garden border either side of the seat in front of the Village Hall – the clerk informed the meeting that Russ Whitehurst the Lengthsman has already chopped down the Pampas grass. He confirmed that he will continue to monitor it and treat it with weedkiller if necessary.
    3. War Memorial – The clerk informed the meeting that the Lengthsman has cleared all the weeds from this area, but they have grown back. It was agreed that the clerk will contact Gary Plant to ask if he is free to grout the area or could he recommend someone who is. Action Clerk
22. Payments – To approve the following payments: Proposed by Cllr Flower and seconded by Cllr Beckett-Fountain. The cheques were signed by Cllr Edmonds and Cllr Stratton and distributed by the clerk. Action Clerk
    25. Lascombe Consulting – Website – pay for June 2022 = £25.00 [LGA 1972 s142 & 144]
    26. Clerk’s pay for June 2022 (Made by Standing Order) = £412.75 [LGA 1972 s112]
    27. J Etherington – Cleaning Village Hall toilets June 2022 = £50
    28. Russ Whitehurst – Lengthsman June 2022 = £100 + £10 petrol = £110.00
    29. Tracy Hyder – gardener – May & June 2022 =£116.50
    30. SPCA Training for Cllr Flower & Cllr Lillistone £60.00
    31. ICO – Data Protection – £40.00
    32. N Power – Electricity – June – £28.72

items for Future Agenda

How to support Ukraine families in the village

Support the cost of the village Lengthsman – ESBC

Date of next meeting: Monday 12^th September 2022 at 7.pm in Denstone Village Hall.