Parish Council Meeting 3 March 2022

Minutes of Denstone Parish Council Meeting 3rd March 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, Borough Councillor Steve Sankey and Julie Sadler (Clerk)
Apologies: Cllr L Fountain and Cllr J Mountney
2. The Minutes of the Meeting held on the 3rd February 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 – None.
4. Adjournment for Public Participation
Nothing was raised.
5. Matters Arising/Clerk’s Report
a. Correspondence Received
It was agreed by the Parish Council that the new date for the Defibrillator Training would be 23 April 2022 9.00-10.30. Clerk to contact everyone and let them know. Action Clerk
The Parish Council agreed for the Lengthsman to take the mower and the strimmer in for a service. Clerk to inform the Lengthsman. Action Clerk
The clerk informed the meeting that she had contacted Sarah Bentley regarding the recent email informing the Parish Council that the SCC would no longer be contributing any labour on the railway line but would be asking Parish Councils if their Lengthsman could help out. Clerk to keep councillors informed. Action Clerk
b. Internal Audit
The clerk informed the councillors that Janice Jackson had agreed to carry out the internal audit of the accounts for Denstone Parish Council.
c. Lease for Old Railway line
The clerk brought a copy of the lease to the meeting. The lease had been signed by both parties and stamped by SCC. Clerk to keep.
d. Alton Towers Traffic Meeting
The clerk informed the meeting that the next meeting with Alton Towers would be on the 14th March at 1pm at Oakamoor Village Hall. Cllr Wright offered to attend. Clerk to send details to all parties and confirmation to the Oakamoor clerk. Action Clerk
e. Sign for Railway gate
Cllr Shermer informed the meeting that the new sign was now up on the railway line gate. The cost of the sign was £24.00. The sign was made from some recycled signs that Cllr Wright had provided. Hence the reduction in cost.
f. Annual Parish Meeting date
It was agreed that the Annual Meeting will take place on the 7th April just before the Annual Parish Council Meeting.
g. Councillor Vacancy
The clerk informed the meeting that she had advised the ESBC that Councillor Shermer would be leaving the Parish Council after the meeting on the 7th April 2022. After that time the clerk will advertise for a new councillor.
It was agreed that Cllr Shermer would remain on the NPMG (Neighbourhood Plan Monitoring Group) and attend Denstone College meetings with Cllr Edmonds as a resident.
Cllr Turner passed a document amongst the councillors showing a breakdown of the various roles in the parish council. It was agreed that this would be an item on the next agenda for further discussion. Action Clerk
6. Planning (Permitted & Refused are decisions by ESBC)
a. P/2021/01300 – Retention of agricultural building – Bankhouse Farm, Oak Road, Denstone, ST14 5HT It was unanimously agreed by the Parish Council that the email sent by Urban Vision to all
Minutes of Denstone Parish Council Meeting 3rd March 2022
councillors prior to the meeting would be sent onto the ESBC before any decision could be made on the application. Clerk to send to Alan Harvey ESBC tomorrow. Borough Councillor Steve Sankey informed the meeting that this application would go to the planning committee. He wasn’t sure of the date but definitely not the March meeting. Cllr Shermer informed the meeting that 3 people could speak at the meeting, A member of the Parish Council and 2 residents. Action Clerk
b. P/2022/00077 – Erection of an enlarged rear dormer and replacement rear conservatory – 16 College Road, Denstone, ST14 5HR – It was agreed that there would be no objection to this application. c. P/2019/01489 – Cllr Turner informed the meeting that an email had been received from the planning department at the ESBC confirming that the Flooding mitigation report has now been received, and they are reviewing this over next week or two. We are expecting to receive a copy of the report for review once the ESBC have concluded. A decision notice is expected to be issue towards the end of the month. The good news is that due to the support shown from the village via the Outcome Based Loan (OBL) and Denstone Matters events, we now have enough money raised to go ahead with the legal matters when required, our solicitor and barrister are aware of potential timelines.
7. Best Kept Village
Karen Lillistone attended the meeting and offered to take on the role as coordinator of the Best Kept Village Competition for the village this year. It was agreed by the Parish Council that they would do anything they could to support Karen. Cllr Shermer said that she would provide Karen with all the information that she had when the village last entered and Cllr Wright offered to provide the maps that would be required for the entry. The Parish Council agreed to fund the cost of the entry fee. It was agreed that the clerk would express an interest which was the next stage. The Parish Council thanked Karen for taking on the role. Action Clerk.
8. Consultation with Head of Highways
Cllr Shermer informed the meeting that she and the clerk met with Richard Rayson who is the Head of Highways at SCC. A walk round of the village was carried out and various issues discussed.
a. School Parking – After discussing this with Richard Rayson Cllr Shermer informed the meeting that the use of white lines would be of no use as Richard confirmed that they cannot be enforced. However, 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. Clerk also to contact the School and ask them to attend the next Parish Council meeting and update them on the above. Action Clerk
b. Potholes – Cllr Shermer informed the meeting that the Richard Rayson had confirmed that JCB were using the Pothole Pro to fill the potholes in the surrounding area. The clerk will send a list of potholes to Richard Rayson. Cllr Turner agreed to put an article on Denstone Matters Facebook page asking residents to send the details of potholes around the village to the clerk, Action Clerk and Cllr Turner
c. College Road – Richard Rayson suggested that the Parish Council ask Cllr Sankey to contact Cllr Philip Atkins and ask him if he could fund a Feasibility Study on the Urban Centre of the village. Cllr Sankey agreed. Clerk to send an email to Cllr Sankey. Action Clerk
9. Denstone Voluntary Car Scheme
Cllr Shermer confirmed that there was still £274.10 left from the funding received from CCF. It was agreed that this would be paid to the Denstone Voluntary Car Scheme to help with their insurance which is due later this year.
Minutes of Denstone Parish Council Meeting 3rd March 2022
10. Broadband Cllr Steve Sankey informed the meeting that he had received further correspondence from OpenReach and they are very close at sorting out the broadband for the village. Cllr Turner agreed to send an email to all those who expressed an interest. Action Cllr Turner.
11. Bird Scarer
Cllr Stratton agreed to talk to the Landowner and ask that next year could he possibly take on board looking at some of the suggestions made by the NFU. Cllr Shermer confirmed that she had been informed that the bird scarer would cease on the 3rd March. Action Cllr Stratton.
12. SIDS
Cllr Shermer informed the meeting that she had heard from John Kavanagh at JCB regarding contribution towards the cost of the SIDS for the village. He confirmed that the discussions were taking place with the decision makers and he would update us as soon as possible. It was agreed that no further action would be taken until we had heard from JCB.
13. New Signs
The clerk informed the meeting that it had been agreed to remove the large sign completely and put a small warning sign to the north of the existing bus stop. It was agreed that this was on the wrong side of the road. Clerk to contact Simon Cartledge (SCC) and ask what the reasons were with regards to putting the sign there. Action Clerk
14. Play area inspection
Cllr Shermer discussed the action plan that was sent out to all councillors prior to the meeting regarding the work that needs to be carried out on the play area. It was agreed that the Parish Council would advertise for a handyman to carry out the work. Clerk to do a poster for the noticeboard, Facebook page and the website. Action Clerk
The license was signed for the play area at the cost of a £1.00. It was also agreed that the Parish Council would pay £45.00 for the contribution to the compost bin for 2022.
15. Queens Platinum Jubilee Meeting.
Cllr Shermer informed the meeting that 11 people turned up to the meeting on the 10th February. A co-ordinating group had been set up which was being led by James Durose. The street party will take place on the 5th June 2022. Cllr Sankey confirmed that the road closure had been agreed he is just awaiting confirmation in writing. There will be no charge for this. James confirmed that the committee are looking into funding for the event but request that the Parish Council provide the insurance for the event and pay for the St Johns Ambulance if required. The clerk was asked to contact the insurance company and ask for the additional cost for up to 700 people attending the event. It was unanimously agreed that if the cost was no more than £200 then the clerk could go ahead and confirm it with the insurers. Action Clerk
16. Village Hall
Cllr Shermer asked if a member of the Parish Council would like to take her place as representative of the Parish Council on the Village Hall Committee when she steps down in April. There were no volunteers for this so it was agreed to discuss this further at the next meeting when councillors had chance to think about it.
17. Highways Issues
a. Lady Meadow Lane – no further action as not all dwellings were occupied yet
b. Potholes & drainage issues in the village – see 8b
c. Footpaths and Pavements – Footpath FP17 – the clerk informed the meeting that she had reported this to SCC. Cllr Turner agreed to find out who the landowner was for this land. Action Cllr Turner
Cllr Stratton raised issue regarding moss on the pavement on Lady Meadow Close and a pavement issue outside Lady Meadow Close. Action Clerk
Minutes of Denstone Parish Council Meeting 3rd March 2022
18. 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 February = £25.00 [LGA 1972 s142 & 144]
b. Clerk’s pay for February 2022 (Made by Standing Order) = £397.80 [LGA 1972 s112]
c. Clerk’s expenses = £10.20
d. Clerk’s expenses – replacement for lost chq – 102434 = £15.99
e. J Etherington – Cleaning Village Hall Toilet February = £40
f. Russ Whitehurst February 2022 = £30.00 + Expenses = £12.25 (Moss Killer) total =£42.25
g. Sue Edmonds – Plants = £156.90
h. Freemans – Cutting of Hedges Play area and War Memorial = £540.00
i. Sue Ratcliffe Bins = £106.00
j. JSA – Railway Sign – £24.00
k. Denstone Voluntary Car Scheme – £274.10
d. TBMST – License and Bin Contribution = £46
items for Future Agenda
• Noticeboards
• Councillors Roles
• Signing of cheques
Date of next meeting: The next Parish Council Meeting will be on Thursday 7th April 2022 at 7pm in the Village Hall Denstone
Denstone Website – http://denstonevillage.uk