(Annual) Parish Council Meeting 7 April 2022

Minutes of Denstone Annual Parish Council Meeting 7th April 2022

1. Attendees: Cllr M Shermer (Chair), Cllr S Ratcliffe, Cllr J Turner, Cllr B Wright, Cllr E Edmonds, Cllr C Kelly, Cllr K Stratton, Cllr J Mountney and Julie Sadler (Clerk)
   Apologies: Cllr L Fountain and Borough Councillor S Sankey.
2. Election of Chair – Cllr Wright proposed, and Cllr Shermer seconded that Cllr Turner was to take over as the Chair. Councillor Turner accepted. Agreed by all.
3. Election of Vice Chair – Cllr Turner proposed and Cllr Edmonds seconded that Cllr Mountney would remain as Vice Chair. Cllr Mountney accepted the position of Vice Chair.
4. The Minutes of the Meeting held on the 3rd March 2022 – The minutes were agreed by all as a true record of the meeting and were signed and dated by Cllr Turner (Chair).
5. Declaration of Interest – None.
6. School Issues
   Cllr Shermer informed the meeting that she had discussed the issue of parking outside the school with Richard Rayson, Richard agreed to talk to the Education Road Safety Officer who goes into schools to promote Pester Power. He confirmed that he would talk to the officer and come back to the clerk. It was also agreed that the clerk would contact the PCSO and ask him visit the school in the morning and afternoon to support the school. The clerk confirmed that she had contacted Richard again, and as yet she had not received a reply and the PCSO. It was agreed that she would continue to chase. Action Clerk
   The headteacher from All Saints school was at the meeting with two other colleagues. She confirmed that the PCSO had attended in the past and it was successful when he did. Cllr Shermer advised the headteacher that every time an incidence happens at the school then they should report it to the PCSO. David Boden also stated that the Parent Body a group called Foal could possibly help with this issue.
   David Boden also raised the issue of the sadness of the village that we were not entering the Best Kept Village Competition this year. Cllr Turner informed Mr Boden that a member of the village had sent out flyers regarding getting together a committee but no one replied to this. It was agreed that we will try again next year.
   Mr Boden also raised the issue of the tree on the corner of College Road. Cllr Shermer informed him that this was on the list for the Lengthsman. Cllr Mountney said that she would ask the Gardeners at Alton Towers to see if they could prune the tree.
7. Adjournment for Public Participation
   Dog Fouling was raised by a member of the village. This was mainly on College Road. It was agreed that Cllr Turner would send a poster to the clerk to print out and laminate and put up in this area. A copy would also go on Denstone Matters Facebook Page and the Website. Action Clerk and Cllr Turner
8. Matters Arising/Clerk’s Report
   a. Correspondence Received
   • Best Kept Village – as discussed in item 6.
   • SIDs – Cllr Shermer confirmed that she had spoken to John Kavanagh at JCB and he had confirmed that JCB would give £5000 in funding towards the cost of SIDs to be sited at Stubwood. The Parish Council expressed their sincere thanks to JCB. Clerk to follow this up. Action Clerk
   • Post Office – Cllr Kelly volunteered to check if the post office attended the village on Monday. Action Cllr Kelly
   • Notice board – Cllr Edmonds volunteered to look at the one in the village, Cllr Shermer said that the one in Stubwood was being looked after. It was agreed that both noticeboards would be refurbished in October. Action Cllr Edmonds
   • Community Forum – Cllr Stratton attended the meeting on March 22nd 2022. She gave a brief update of the meeting. It was agreed that a link to the Joy App would be put on the Facebook Page and the Website. Action Clerk
   Minutes of Denstone Annual Parish Council Meeting 7th April 2022
   • Website – it was agreed that a Zoom meeting would be set up with Lascombe Consulting, Cllr Kelly and the clerk. Cllr Kelly to send available dates to the clerk. Action Cllr Kelly and Clerk
   • Electricity – The clerk informed the meeting that she had received 3 invoices for January, February and March which will be added to the agenda. It was agreed that the clerk would contact Npower to see if the lights come on and go off on a timer or are light sensitive. Action Clerk
   b. Accounts – The clerk informed the meeting that she had brought the accounts to be checked by Cllr Kelly and Cllr Ratcliffe. It was agreed that they would be checked and given back to the clerk before the next meeting. Action Cllr Ratcliffe and Cllr Kelly
   c. Alton Towers Traffic Meeting – Cllr Wright gave a brief update of the meeting. It was also agreed that the clerk would contact Simon Cartledge and confirm that the Parish Council were happy with the additional sign suggested, also ask him when the large posts are going to be taken down and thank him for all his help over the signage. Action Clerk
   d. Public Space Protection Order – The clerk confirmed that she had contacted the ESBC and they had confirmed the requests would be submitted.
   e. Insurance Cover for Events – The clerk confirmed that the Parish Councils insurance company had confirmed that they would only cover events that were organised by the Parish Council. This means that the show and the committee for the Jubilee event will have to get their own insurance. The clerk informed the meeting that liability cover from Zurich started at £96.00. It was agreed that if both committee’s brought quotes to the next Parish Council meeting, the councillors would look at funding the quote.
   f. Councillor Vacancy – As Cllr Shermer was leaving the Parish Council at the end of the meeting, there would be a vacancy for a parish councillor. It was agreed that the clerk would contact the ESBC regarding the resignation and would put up an advert for a new councillor on the website and the Facebook page. A poster would also go on the noticeboards. Cllr Mountney requested that the clerk check the procedure for recruiting a new councillor and if we could increase the number of councillors at Denstone. Action Clerk
9. Planning (Permitted & Refused are decisions by ESBC)
   a. P/2022/00260 – The Parish Council unanimously agreed to accept decision of the NPMG. Clerk to forward the document to the ESBC that was sent out to all councillors prior to the meeting. Action Clerk
   b. P/2022/00312 – It was unanimously agreed that there was no objection to this application.
   c. P/2021/01300 – The clerk informed the meeting that she had received clarification today that the ESBC had refused this application.
   d. P/2019/01489 – Cllr Turner informed the meeting that there was no significant update to report only that they were still awaiting information from the ESBC.
10. Parish Councillor Roles
    The Parish Councillors discussed the roles and each role was assigned to a councillor. It was agreed that Cllr Turner would update the spreadsheet and resend it out to the councillors. Action Cllr Turner
11. Feasibility Study
    The clerk informed the meeting she had not heard from Richard Rayson, so would chase him on this matter. Action Clerk
12. Denstone College
    Cllr Shermer informed the meeting that she and Cllr Edmonds had attended a working group at Denstone College, the minutes were sent out to the councillors. However, they would still attend meetings with the head of the college so councillors should continue to put their thoughts forward
    Minutes of Denstone Annual Parish Council Meeting 7th April 2022
13. Broadband
    Cllr Turner informed the meeting that the latest update from Open Reach was very disappointing has they had ignored all the work Cllr Sankey had done. Cllr Sankey would take this further and report back at the next meeting.
14. Junior Play area
    It was agreed that this would be forwarded to the next agenda.
15. Queens Platinum Jubilee
    Cllr Ratcliffe informed the meeting that the committee had received funding towards the event from Alton Towers. The committee were looking at insurance cover as this was no longer possible from the Parish Councils insurers (see item 8e). The clerk was asked to contact Cllr Sankey regarding insurance for the road closure. Action Clerk
16. Signing of Cheques
    Cllr Wright volunteered to be a signature for the Parish Councils bank. Clerk to obtain necessary documents and bring them to the next meeting. Action Clerk
17. Village Hall
    Cllr Shermer informed the meeting that the internal work of the village hall had now been completed apart from refurbishment of the toilets. The next plans were to refurbish the outside of the building. The celebration of its 60th year would be a 60’s night in December. Further information would be given nearer the time. The Village Hall is also going to produce a newsletter.
18. Graveyard Contribution
    It was unanimously agreed that the Parish Council would contribute £500 towards the up keep of the graveyard.
19. Highways Issues
    a. Lady Meadow Lane – no further action as not all dwellings were occupied yet
    b. Potholes & drainage issues in the village – none
    c. Footpaths and Pavements – none
20. Finance/Payments – The payments were proposed by Cllr Ratcliffe and seconded by Cllr Edmonds. The cheques were signed at the meeting and the clerk will distribute
    a. Webmaster pay for March 2022 = £25 [LGA 1972 s142 & 144]
    b. Clerk’s pay for March 2022 (Made by Standing Order) = £397.80 [LGA 1972 s112]
    c. Clerks Back pay April 2021 to April 2022 = £179.40
    d. J Etherington – Cleaning Village Hall toilets March 2022 = £50
    e. Tracy Hardy – Gardener – March 2022 = £27.50
    f. Graveyard Contribution – £500
    g. SPCA Annual Subscription £305.36
    h. Russ Whitehurst – Lengthsman March 2022 =£30 + £10 for mower = £40
    i. Defibrillator Train Village Hall – £21.00
    j. Npower January, February and March invoices totalling £107.48
    items for Future Agenda – None
    It was agreed that the date of future Parish Council meetings would change to the 2nd Monday of the month. Clerk to contact the Village Hall. Action Clerk
    Date of Next Meeting The next Parish Council Meeting will be on Monday 9th May 2022 at 7pm in the Village Hall Denstone
21. Clerks Salary Move to Level 16 SLC1 – it was unanimously agreed to increase the clerk’s salary and award the backpay for April 2021 – April 2022
    Denstone Website – http://denstonevillage.uk