Parish Council Meeting March 2023

1. Present – Cllr J Turner (Chair), Cllr B Wright, Cllr E Edmonds, Cllr K Lillistone, Cllr M Shermer, Cllr S Ratcliffe, Cllr M Flower, Cllr J Mountney, Borough Councillor S Sankey (ESBC), Borough Councillor Laura Beech and Julie Sadler (Clerk)

Apologies: Cllr K Stratton

5 Members of the village attended the meeting.

2. The Minutes of the Meeting held on 13^th February 2023 –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 – Cllr Turner informed the meeting that she knew someone associated with RJS Pavers one of the companies who are submitting a quote for the work to be done on the War Memorial.
4. Adjournment for Public Participation
5. Councillor Turner informed the meeting that Cllr Sankey will send all future items to be discussed at the meeting to the clerk prior to the meeting so that they can be put on the agenda so members of the village can see in advance items for discussion.
6. Cllr Laura Beech introduced herself. She is currently the Borough Councillor for Yoxall but will be standing with Cllr Sankey at the coming elections.
7. Matters Arising/Clerk’s Report
   1. Correspondence Received –

• Hedgehog Letters – Cllr Turner informed the meeting of the correspondence she had received from a member of All Saints School regarding the visit they had from Hoglets. This is a charity that goes around informing schools about what they do. It was agreed that a copy of the letter would be put on the website. Action Clerk
• Defibrillator – It was agreed that Cllrs Ratcliffe and Mountney were to be back-ups for the defibrillator should this be required by Cllr Wright.
• Skip on College Road – Cllr Shermer informed the meeting that the skip on College Road had now been removed. Therefore, no further action required.
• Kings Coronation Volunteering Day – it was suggested that a litter pick be carried out in the village on the 8^th May 2023. However, it was agreed that all councillors would have a think and come up with suggestions for the next meeting in April, the play area was also mentioned. Action All
• Bin on Roberts Green – The clerk raised the issue of the bin not being emptied on Roberts Green. Cllr Sankey agreed to chase this with ESBC and report back to the clerk. Action Cllr Sankey
  1. War Memorial – Cllr Turner informed the meeting that the Parish Council had now received 2 quotes for repairing the War Memorial Site. One from RJS and one from MJD both local companies. A member from RJS was present at the meeting and gave a breakdown of what work he would carry out. Cllr Turner expressed her thanks. Richard then left the meeting. A vote was then taken, and it was unanimously agreed to ask RJS to carry out the work. Cllr Turner did not vote. Clerk to thank RJS and MJD and inform them of the outcome. Action Clerk
  2. New Lengthsman – The new Lengthsman attended the meeting and introduced himself to all councillors present. It was agreed that the final handover would be done with Russell Whitehurst later in the week. The Parish Council expressed their sincere thanks to Russ for all the work that he had done.
  3. Elections – The clerk gave out the nomination papers to all councillors who wanted to complete the form. It was agreed that the clerk would send all the councillors their voters numbers by email. Action Clerk
  4. Insurance – the clerk confirmed that the SIDs were now covered by the insurance policy, however there would be no increase for the current year. However, it would increase when the renewal took place in June 2023.
  5. Best Kept Village – It was unanimously agreed that the village would not entre the Best Kept Village Competition this year.
  6. Annual Meeting date – It was agreed that the Annual meeting would take place on Wednesday 10^th May at 7.30pm this year. Clerk to book this with the Village Hall. Action Clerk
  7. Aprils Meeting – The April meeting will take place on Thursday 13^th April at 7pm.

6. Planning (Permitted & Refused are decisions by ESBC)
   1. P/2023/00041 – Retention of use of first floor existing garage as an aesthetics clinic. Bank House Farm Oak Road Denstone – It was agreed that in relation to the retrospective planning application P/2023/00041 Denstone Parish Council have no objections to the detail in this application. However, Denstone Parish Council would like it noted that this is the 3rd retrospective application to be made by the owners of this property, which seems to show a disregard for the process that should be followed in relation to planning.  The Parish Council would like to note that we would not like a precedence to be set that retrospective applications from this address become the normal way of practice.  Also, that each of the retrospective applications need to be judged on their own merits as we understand that there is still one case under review. It was also raised that there is a Bridle path that should be addressed. Action Clerk
   2. NP review for Cllrs to vote on next steps

Cllr Turner informed the meeting that the Neighbourhood Plan Review had now been sent to the ESBC for screening. It will possibly take six weeks before the report comes back. Then there will be formal public engagement after which the Reg 14 is issued, and the document becomes legal. Cllr Mountney expressed sincere thanks for all the work carried out by the NPMG. Cllr Turner then stipulated that the Parish Council received a grant for £9160 and the following net payments no VAT included will needed to be paid.

Consultant – Urban Vision – £7150

Reg 14 and Public Consultation – £1500

Hire of the Village Hall – £42.00

Lavin Printers – £302.50

Lavin Printers – £10.00

Total £9004.50

£155.50 will be returned as not used.

The Parish Councillors unanimously agreed for all of this spend.

7. Highways – Cllr Shermer
   1. SIDS – the clerk informed the meeting that the SIDs had now been installed and were working successfully. A photo shoot with JCB would take place in the next week or so.
   2. CSW – Russell Whitehurst informed the meeting that 2 exercises had been carried out on College Road in the last week. However, no one was found to be speeding.
8. Potholes – The clerk informed the meeting that both the potholes outside Denstone Farm Shop had now been reported to the SCC.
9. Denstone College Liaison – Cllr Edmonds
   1. Hedge – Cllr Turner expressed sincere thanks to Denstone College for the cutting of the hedge around the play area.
   2. Cllr Shermer stated that discussions had been held with the head of Denstone College and she had sent out notes from the meeting to all councillors. Cllr Shermer did confirm that the head informed her that the number of pupils had not increased, and she was supportive of all the suggestions made by the Parish Council and is working alongside the school in the village. Cllr Edmonds confirmed that he had been to a meeting at the college regarding the party in the summer where it was agreed that it would be good idea for some members of the college to come and present their proposals to all the Parish Council, which they will be doing as an agenda item on the 13^th
10. Green Spaces – Cllr Wright
11. Staffs Way – Cllr Wright informed the meeting that this is still moving slowly but he will keep the councillors updated.
12. Footpath – The clerk informed the meeting that she had received an email from a member of the village concerning the bridge crossing the stream on the boundary between Denstone College (path Denstone 22a) and Smalley (path Croxden 20). This had now been reported.
13. Liaison – Cllr Shermer
    1. Village Hall – Cllr Shermer confirmed that as the minutes of the latest meeting hadn’t yet been circulated, she would update the councillors at the next Parish Council meeting
14. Play Area – Cllr Flower/Cllr Lillistone
    1. Funding for the play area – Cllr Flower informed the meeting that Sara Botham had informed him that there was no funding currently available, but she would keep looking and keep him up to date.
    2. Play Area Report – Cllr Turner informed the meeting that things were currently on hold with this, but the Parish Council would be updated as soon as possible.
15. Miscellaneous
    1. Village Enhancement Programme – Cllr Sankey confirmed that the council had been awarded the money, the scheme had not started yet but the criteria had been set. He expressed that it would be good if the Parish Council could possibly do some match funding, but it was not essential. Cllr Turner informed that during an unrelated conversation with a member of the Village Hall Committee they had expressed an interest in increasing the size of the Village Hall Car Park.  This would not only allow more people to attend the Village Hall Functions and park safely nearby, but this could also help with other ‘issues’ in the village.   It was acknowledged that the Village Hall were not the owners of the land, and that any possibility of this project going ahead would of course require discussions with the landowner before any progression with grant application was even considered.

Cllr Sankey stated that he would check with the conditions of the grant to see if this type of project would fulfil the criteria.  Another suggestion for funding was an outside Gym on the railway line. This will be discussed further at next meeting.  Action Cllr Sankey

1. Bins on railway line – it was suggested that one of the large grey bins be moved to the bottom of the path up to the church on the railway line to prevent the problem with the overflow of the smaller bins. Clerk to ask Sue to do this. Action Clerk

13. Finance – Cllr Ratcliffe
    1. Online Banking – The online banking had now been set up successfully.
    2. Financial Regulations – The clerk distributed revised financial regulations to all councillors to incorporate the changes of paying by online banking where possible before the meeting. The revision was unanimously agreed at the meeting. All payments would be made online apart from a few people who had yet to supply the clerk with bank details.
14. Payments – To approve the following payments: Proposed by Cllr Ratcliffe and seconded by Cllr Edmonds. The 3 cheques were signed by Cllr Shermer and Cllr Flower and distributed by the clerk. The online payments were processed by Cllr shermer and Cllr Flower all invoices were signed and would be returned to the clerk once actioned. Action Clerk, Cllr Shermer and Cllr Flower.
    25. Lascombe Consulting – Website – pay for February 2023 = £25.00 [LGA 1972 s142 & 144] – online
    26. Clerk’s pay for February 2023 (Made by Standing Order) = £453.37 [LGA 1972 s112]
    27. Clerk’s expenses February 2023 – £15.20 – online
    28. J Etherington – Cleaning Village Hall toilets February 2023 = £40.00 – chq
    29. N Power – February 2023 – Electricity – £21.03 – online
    30. Russ Whitehurst – Lengthsman February 2023 = £30.00 – chq
    31. Michael Bloor – installation of SIDs in Stubwood = £1553.00 – online
    32. SPCA – Training Elections – £36.00 – online
    33. SPCA – Annual Subscription – £289.24 – online
    34. Sue Ratcliffe – Dog Poo Bins = £106.00 – chq
    35. Urban Vision Consultation (NP) = £7150.00 + VAT £1430.00 = £8580.00 – online
    36. Village Hall – Hire of room 11^th and 13^th February (NP) = £42.00
    37. Lavin’s Printers Brochures & Leaflets (NP) = £302.50 – online
    38. Lavin’s Printers Posters (NP) = £10.00 + VAT £2.00 = £12.00 – online

        items for Future Agenda

• Denstone Meadow
• College Present
• Volunteering Day

Date of next meeting: Thursday 13^th April 2023 at 7pm in the Village Hall Denstone.