Parish Council Meeting 2 December 2021

Minutes of Denstone Parish Council Meeting 2nd December 2021

1. Attendees: Cllr M Shermer (Chair), Cllr S Ratcliffe, Cllr C Kelly, Cllr B Wright, Cllr E Edmonds, Cllr L Beckett-Fountain and Julie Sadler (Clerk)
   Apologies: Cllr J Turner, Cllr J Mountney, Cllr K Stratton and Borough Councillors Steve Sankey.
2. The Minutes of the Meeting held on the 4th November 2021 – The minutes were agreed by all as a true record of the meeting and were signed and dated by the Chair.
3. Declaration of Interest – Cllr B Wright raised an interest with item 8 on the agenda.
4. Adjournment for Public Participation
   a. A member of the Denstone Show Committee attended the meeting and informed the Parish Council that the show in 2021 was a tremendous success and had made a profit of just over £1000. He also informed the meeting that the committee have already started putting together plans for the show in 2022 which will be held on the 3rd September 2022. The clerk informed the meeting that she had heard back from the insurance company and they had now raised the number of people attending the show to 500 at any one time without increasing the Parish Councils insurance. This was agreed by all to be a more realistic figure. The clerk concluded by asking if a member of the show committee could attend the Parish Council meetings throughout the year to update the councillors on how the plans are progressing with the show. This was agreed by both the committee member and the councillors as a good idea.
   b. Cllr Ratcliffe informed the meeting that he had been approached by a parishioner from Narrow Lane to see if the Parish Council could investigate Narrow Lane being made a one-way street. It was agreed that this was a good idea and the clerk was asked to contact Richard Rayson (SCC) regarding this and report back at the next meeting. Action clerk.
5. Matters Arising/Clerk’s Report
   a. Correspondence Received – the clerk informed the meeting that the play area was due to be inspected on the 6th December 2021. Cllrs Shermer and Beckett-Fountain both asked if they could attend. It was agreed that the clerk would contact the inspector to establish a time and get back to the councillors. Action clerk.
   The clerk informed the meeting that she had received an email from Cllr Kelly regarding the other Councillors’ thoughts on continuing to hold face to face meetings in the current climate. This was discussed and agreed that the clerk would contact all Councillors week commencing the 19th December to see if they wanted to go ahead with the January meeting or move it to February. It was agreed that if the January meeting was to go ahead all members of the parish council would take a Lateral Flow Test on the morning of the meeting. Action clerk.
   The clerk informed the meeting that she had received an invoice from Sue Edmonds for all the planting work that she had done in the village. It was agreed that the invoice would be paid at the next meeting. Cllr Shermer expressed her thanks to Sue Edmonds for all the work she has done in the village. Action clerk.
   Draft Minutes of Denstone Parish Council Meeting 2nd December 2021
   b. Lease for Old Railway line – The clerk informed the meeting that she had brought a copy of the lease for signature. This was signed at the end of the meeting by Cllr Shermer and witnessed by Cllr Edmonds. It was also agreed that the clerk would renew the sign on the railway line as it was looking exceptionally tired. Cllr Shermer raised that the padlock had disappeared from the gate but had now been replaced. Clerk to update the relevant people with the new code. Action clerk.
   c. Alton Towers Traffic Meeting – The clerk informed the meeting that she had heard from Cllr Mountney and the meeting with Alton Towers was on the 9th December at 3pm. There were councillors attending from Alton, Ellastone, Denstone, Cotton and Farley Parish Councils as well as Cllr Worthington.
   d. Bus Shelter – Cllr Beckett-Fountain informed the meeting that she had been informed that the school children no longer use the bus shelter in Stubwood. Cllr wright agreed to talk to a member of the village to see if he could take a look at it and possibly repair it. Action Cllr Wright.
   e. Precept 2022/23 – After further discussions it was unanimously agreed that the contingency fund would be increased by a further £600 and the precept for 2022/23 would be increased in line with inflation to £16,500.00. Clerk to pass on the details to the ESBC following the January meeting. Action clerk
   f. Defibrillator Training – The clerk informed the meeting that the date for the training had been changed to Saturday 29th January 2022 10am to 12pm. This has now been booked with the village hall. Clerk to produce a poster for the noticeboards and the website. If anyone would like to book a place on the course, please contact the clerk by telephone or email. Action clerk.
   g. Denstone Show – discussed in item 4a.
6. Planning (Permitted & Refused are decisions by ESBC)
   a. P/2020/01335 – The objection was sent to the ESBC by the clerk.
   b. P/2021/01369 – A site visit was carried out by the Neighbourhood Plan Monitoring Group and a discussion had with the neighbours. Due to the outcome of this it was agreed that the Parish Council had no objections to this application. c. P/2019/01489 – Cllr Shermer informed the meeting that she had received an email from the ESBC stating the following: Given the matter to be resolved is a technical one and one which falls below the remit of the statutory consultees (Environment Agency or Staffordshire County Council Flood Team) the council will seek independent expert advice on the report submitted. The email was concluded by stating that it is envisaged that the Parish Council will not be hearing anything further before the new year.
7. Speeding Traffic on Alton Road – Russ Whitehurst informed the meeting that he was going to talk to the Shaun (PCSO) whilst Cllr Sankey had agreed to talk to Cllr Akins and Cllr Barker regarding this. This item will be kept on the agenda.
   Draft Minutes of Denstone Parish Council Meeting 2nd December 2021
8. New Signs – The clerk informed the meeting that she had heard from Lisa Hall (SCC) regarding the signs. The councillors were asked their thoughts on the signs in 2019. However, no response was given so highways thought that it was good to go ahead. However, Cllr Wright confirms that the new signs are not the same as what was suggested in 2019. It was agreed that Councillor Wright would confirm the details of the changes to the clerk who would pass this onto Lisa Hall.
9. Denstone College – Cllr Shermer informed the meeting that the scheduled meeting with the Head of Denstone College had been rescheduled for the 13th January 2022. Cllr Shermer asked all councillors and parishioners what they would like to raised, at this meeting. This will be on the agenda of the next meeting or items can be sent directly to the clerk before the meeting. It was also agreed that a further traffic count would be carried out before the meeting with the college.
10. Broadband – Cllr Turner passed on the following update to Cllr Shermer. Cllr Turner and Cllr Sankey had a meeting with Openreach last week. The process from the meeting was that Cllr Sankey would update the Openreach spreadsheet to ensure all of the properties in the Parish of Denstone are included. Then Openreach will re-do the quote based on the new housing list and will provide this to us within 2-3 weeks (bearing in mind the time of year, this could be longer) Once we have the list for the cost of all the houses, we can use a ‘bullseye’ approach to decide where the density of properties and the cost line best meet, and then we can set the boundary as to where the fibre broadband can be installed on this first phase. Once this boundary is agreed then it will literally be a case of knocking on doors to get enough people to ’sign up’ to fibre broadband, so that the subsidies can be claimed from the government to try and cover as much, if not all of the Openreach build cost. Once we get to a stage where we have people who have ‘pledged’ to sign up, Openreach apply for all the necessary grants for us and the build can commence.
    Openreach have to build within a certain timeline to make sure they qualify for their grants, so the whole process should be completed in the region of 8-12 months’ time – which is excellent. Cllr Shermer expressed sincere thanks to Cllr Turner and Cllr Sankey for all their dedicated work with this.
11. Climate Action Plan Fund – Cllr Shermer informed the meeting that she had passed these details onto the Village Hall Committee.
12. Village Hall – Cllr Shermer informed the meeting that the Village Hall has a new sign and next to the sign a new plaque is to be installed in the memory of Denis & Muriel Parker. W/C the 10th January 2022, the hall will be closed for a week for internal renovations to be carried out.
13. CSW – Russ informed the meeting that the Community Speed Watch groups are still going out twice a week. It was raised again about having Speed Indication Devices in the village. Clerk to forward details onto the parish councillors and Russ. Cllr Ratcliffe agreed to contact JCB to see if they could supply any funding towards the cost of these. Cllr Shermer asked the clerk to keep this item on the agenda. Action Cllr Ratcliffe and clerk.
14. Parish Council Forum – Cllr Beckett-Fountain volunteered to attend the Zoom meeting on the 9th December on behalf of the Parish Council. Clerk to send Sara Botham Cllr Beckett-Fountains contact details. Action clerk.
    Draft Minutes of Denstone Parish Council Meeting 2nd December 2021
15. Highway Issues
    a. Lady Meadow Lane – clerk to chase ESBC again. Action clerk.
    b. Potholes & drainage issues in the village – Cllr Wright informed the meeting that there were two potholes outside the Farm Shop. Action clerk.
    Cllr Beckett-Fountain raised the issue of a blocked drain outside the bus stop on the B5031. Russ agreed to take a look at it. Action Russ.
    c. Footpaths and Pavements – nothing to raise.
16. Finance/Payments – The payments were proposed by Cllr Edmonds and seconded by Cllr Ratcliffe. The cheques were signed at the meeting and the clerk will distribute
    a. Webmaster pay for November 2021 = £25.00 [LGA 1972 s142 & 144]
    b. Clerk’s pay for November 2021 (Made by Standing Order) = £397.80 [LGA 1972 s112]
    c. Zoom Subscription 12 months – Julie Sadler – £143.88
    d. Eon Lighting November 2021 = £25.85 [Parish Councils Act 1957 s3]
    e. J Etherington – Cleaning Village Hall Toilet November 2021 = £50.00
    f. Russ Whitehurst – Lengthsman November 2021 = £90.00
    g. Tracy Hyder – Gardener – £10.00
    items for Future Agenda
17. Money raised for Neighbourhood Plan Fund
    Cllr Shermer concluded the meeting by expressing her thanks to the members of the Parish Council and the Clerk for all their efforts and commitment during the last year. 2021 has been a most difficult year for many for varied reasons, not least because of the Covid 19 Pandemic. However, stalwarts that we are, we have continued to meet over Zoom and have worked hard for the residents of our village. Denstone Parish Cllrs have made a huge difference to our village and enabled much maintenance work to be undertaken throughout. Cllrs have always listened to and acted upon requests and concerns of residents to the best of their abilities. Especial thanks must go to the members of the NPMG for the sterling work they have done throughout the year, often under extreme stress! In conclusion, I say a big “well done” to you all and a huge thank you. Have a great Christmas and I look forward to working with you all in the New Year. Thank you.
    Date of next meeting: The next Parish Council Meeting will be on Thursday 6th January 2022 at 7pm in the Village Hall Denstone.