Parish Council Meeting 9 May 2022

Minutes of Denstone Parish Council Meeting 9th May 2022

1. Cllr J Turner (Chair), Cllr S Ratcliffe, Cllr B Wright, Cllr E Edmonds, Cllr K Stratton, Cllr J Mountney, Cllr L Fountain and Borough Councillor S Sankey and Julie Sadler (Clerk)
   Apologies: The clerk informed the meeting that she had received a letter of resignation from Cllr Kelly prior to the meeting. Therefor there were now 2 councillor vacancies to fill. Cllr Turner expressed sincere thanks on behalf of the Parish Council to Cllr Kelly for all her hard work.
2. The Minutes of the Meeting held on the 7th April 2022 – The minutes were agreed by all as a true record of the meeting and were signed and dated by Cllr Turner (Chair).
3. Declaration of Interest – None – however the clerk did remind all councillors to send the register of interest forms to her as soon as possible.
4. Councillor Vacancy
   It was agreed that this item would be brought forward due to commitments of one of the candidates.
   Councillor Turner expressed that there were 2 vacancies on the Parish Council and the clerk had received applications from four members of the village which had been sent out to the councillors prior to the meeting. Two of the candidates were present at the meeting, Miss K Lillistone and Mr M Flower, and were invited to stand and introduce themselves to the meeting. After the introductions the candidates were asked to leave the room for a moment. The councillors then voted and the votes were passed to the clerk. The applicants were asked back into the room and Cllr Turner informed the meeting that the successful candidates were Mr M Flower and Miss K Lillistone. It was agreed that the clerk would update the other two candidates. Cllr Turner welcomed the new councillors to the meeting. Action Clerk
5. Adjournment for Public Participation
   The meeting was informed by a member of the village that TaylorMade were moving premises and it was agreed that a letter of thanks be sent to them. Action Clerk
6. Agenda Format
   Cllr Turner informed the meeting that following on from the accountabilities discussion the agenda had been split according to each councillor. If any councillor would like anything added for the next meeting, then they should inform the clerk. Borough Councillor Sankey’s items have been brought to the top as he now has to split his time with Denstone and Rocester as they both meet on the same day.
7. Matters Arising/Clerk’s Report
   a. Correspondence Received
   • Graveyard contribution – the clerk informed the meeting that she had received a letter of thanks from the Church.
   • ESBC Forum – The clerk informed the meeting that the next forum meeting was on the 25th May, the topic for discussion was planning and Cllr Turner had agreed to attend. Action Cllr Turner
   • PC Meeting date change – The clerk informed the meeting that all meetings would now take place on the 2nd Monday of the month at 7pm except the December meeting which would be held on Thursday 8th December.
   b. Electricity – The clerk confirmed that she had received confirmation from Npower that the lights in the village were light reactive and not on a timer.
   c. Insurance – It was unanimously agreed that the clerk was to renew the insurance with Zurich. Action Clerk
   d. Councillor Vacancy – see item 4.
   e. New Printer/Scanner – The clerk informed the meeting that her current Printer/Scanner had broken and she required a new one. The clerk had sent out details of a scanner for discussion prior to the meeting. The councillors unanimously agreed for the clerk to order the Printer/Scanner even though it was more expensive it was more environmentally friendly as it was run on ink from a tank rather than cartridges. Action Clerk
   Minutes of Denstone Parish Council Meeting 9th May 2022
8. Planning (Permitted & Refused are decisions by ESBC)
   a. P/2019/01489 – Cllr Turner informed the meeting that discussions instigated by ESBC were ongoing. Legal advice has been taken and discussion progressing nicely with encouraging prediction. The Next steps are very clear and these are already underway with the NPMG. As soon as we have any response from ESBC councillors will be updated accordingly.
   b. Neighbourhood Planning Training/Grant – It was agreed that the clerk will ask the SPCA to set up training for all Denstone councillors who wish to attend and include councillors from other Parish Councils in the area. Cllr Turner and Stratton put their names forward so far. Any other councillor wishing to attend should contact the clerk. Details of when the training will take place will be issued as soon as it is arranged. Cllr Turner has agreed to apply for the grant to rewrite the Neighbourhood plan, Cllr Sankey suggested that this should be done in line with the Local plan which will not be for the next 12 months. Action Clerk and Cllr Turner
9. Broadband
   Borough Cllr Sankey updated the meeting. He confirmed that he would continue to update councillors as and when there was any further information.
   Cllr Sankey also reported that there was an electronic newsletter out that people could sign up to receiving. It was agreed the clerk would include this with the minutes. It will go on the website ad Facebook Page.https://securelinks1.cmadvantage.co.uk/linkapp/cmasubs.aspx?LinkID=pageid986790jkkzqhxh@f@f@nnnj9@z@f@nnnj9@f@f Action Clerk
10. Highways
    a. Feasibility Study – Cllr Edmonds confirmed that this has been agreed but will take some time. Updates will be passed on as and when we hear from Richard Rayson
    b. SIDS – The clerk confirmed that she had spoken to John Kavanagh from JCB who had confirmed the £5000 funding. However, it was agreed that the SIDS would be mobile ones so they could be moved around. The clerk had contacted Richard Rayson regarding his conversation with John Kavanagh but was still awaiting a reply. A meeting will hopefully be set up with Richard to discuss this. Clerk to chase. Action Clerk
11. Denstone College
    Cllr Edmonds confirmed that there was a Parking & Transport working party meeting on 14th May. Margaret Shermer would be attending and will update Cllr Edmonds as he is unavailable. A further meeting will be arranged later in the year after the exams. Any topics anyone wants to raise should be passed to Cllr Edmonds via the clerk. Action Cllr Edmonds
12. Greenspaces
    Cllr Wright confirmed that he had taken over the responsibility of the Safety WhatsApp group for the Lengthsman and the gardener.
    Cllr Wright reported that the Old Railway Line is looking exceptionally good at the moment thanks to all the hard work that has been done.
13. Website
    The clerk reported back on the meeting with Carolyn. It was agreed that she could contact the clerk or Cllr Kelly regarding anything about the website. However, now Cllr Kelly had resigned Cllr Lillistone was asked if she wished to take over. She agreed. The clerk informed the meeting that Cllr Kelly had agreed to do a handover.
    Cllr Turner suggested that due to Cllr Kelly’s late resignation an agenda item to review the accountabilities should be put on next months agenda. This was unanimously agreed.
    Minutes of Denstone Parish Council Meeting 9th May 2022
14. Liaison
    a. Village Hall – Cllr Stratton informed the meeting that there hadn’t been a Village Hall meeting since the last Parish Council Meeting so there was nothing to report.
    Cllr Turner confirmed that she had received a News Letter regarding the Village Hall 60th celebrations.
    However, not everyone in the village had received one.
    Cllr Stratton confirmed that the caretaker of the village hall was retiring at the end of the year. Clerk agreed to check with the insurance company to see if Mr Etherington was still covered to work for the Parish Council.
    b. Queens Platinum Jubilee – James confirmed that the committee would be decorating the street this weekend and more helpers were still required.
    The clerk raised the issue of the funding that is being paid into the Parish Councils bank account from Alton Towers. James confirmed that the committee have been keeping a record of all monies spent so far so are happy to receive the money when it comes into the account.
    It was unanimously agreed by the Parish Council that they would pay the insurance for the event but only up to £200.
    c. School – Cllr Mountney confirmed that she had contacted the school regarding the Feasibility Study and will keep them updated.
    d. Post Office – Cllr Mountney confirmed that the Post Office would no longer be coming to the Village according to the Post Office website.
15. Play Area
    Cllr Beckett-Fountain reported the following:
    • she had received a quote for the work that needed doing on the play area but was still awaiting further quotes.
    • a group of dads from the village had cleaned and treated the floor for algae/moss a further treatment at the start of autumn is scheduled. The roundabout edges had been sanded where the protective covering had started to peel. The rough patches on the fence had also been sanded but that there are a couple of posts showing signs of wood rot, (hence the need to get quotes for the fence as well as the safety gates.) Cllr Mountney asked Cllr Beckett-Fountain if the fence needed to be replaced and she said that although it is currently ok the posts will need replacing in the near future. Several of the posts had been replaced previously.
    • Cllr Beckett-Fountain thanked the Sports Trust for the repairs they had completed to the outside of the pavilion and wooden drain.
    • The clerk raised the issue of the Action plan that was sent out a couple of meetings ago. Cllr Becket-Fountain said she hadn’t got this. Clerk agreed to resend to all. Cllr Mountney suggested applying for funding and agreed to resend the email to Cllr Beckett-Fountain containing the information on community funding. Action Cllr Beckett-Fountain, Cllr Mountney and Clerk
16. Alton Towers
    a. Tree Pruning – Cllr Mountney confirmed that the gardeners at Alton Towers could not help with the pruning of the tree in the village. Cllr Ratcliffe volunteered to see if the gardeners at JCB could help out.
    b. Signage – Cllr Mountney confirmed that this was all sorted now.
17. JCB
    Cllr Ratcliffe asked what was happening regarding the reducing of the speed limit on Alton Road. He confirmed that JCB Security team had offered to carry out Community Speed Watch if that would help matters. Cllr Mountney/Cllr Wright agreed to raise this at the Alton Towers meeting on the 16th May.
    Cllr Ratcliffe confirmed that there had been an increase in JCB Machinery Traffic this was due to moving it from one site to another. Action Cllr Mountney and Cllr Wright
    Minutes of Denstone Parish Council Meeting 9th May 2022
    Cllr Turner asked about the Community Speedwatch, it was confirmed that over 20 cars had been caught speeding through Stubwood last week but more volunteers are required. Clerk agreed to do a poster again asking for Volunteers. Action Clerk
18. Finance
    Signing of Cheques – the clerk brought the necessary paperwork for Cllr Wright to complete and then pass to Cllr Edmonds and Cllr Stratton to sign before passing back to the clerk.
19. Payments – The payments were proposed by Cllr Ratcliffe and seconded by Cllr Wright. The cheques were signed at the meeting and the clerk will distribute
    a. Webmaster pay for April 2022 = £25 [LGA 1972 s142 & 144]
    b. Clerk’s pay for April 2022 (Made by Standing Order) = £412.75 [LGA 1972 s112]
    c. Clerk’s expenses April 2022 – £10.20
    d. Clerks Travel Expenses – Internal Audit £18.00
    e. Scanner/Printer – Julie Sadler – £242.78
    f. Zurich insurance Renewal – £1544.14
    g. N Power – April 2022 = £31.97
    h. J Etherington – Cleaning Village Hall toilets April 2022 = £40
    i. Tracy Hardy – Gardener – March 2022 = £22.50
    j. Russ Whitehurst – Lengthsman April 2022 = £200.00
    items for Future Agenda –
    • Potholes
    • Review Accountabilities
    • New Councillors
    Date of Next Meeting Monday 13th June 2022 at 7pm in the Village Hall Denstone
    Denstone Website – http://denstonevillage.uk
    Note – since the meeting there has been a change to the appointment of one of the new councillors. This will be discussed further at the next meeting.