Parish Council Meeting February 2025

Draft Minutes of Denstone Parish Council Meeting 10th February 2025 at 7.00pm

1. Present

Cllr Turner (Chair),Cllr M Flower, Cllr Wright, Cllr Stratton, Cllr Mountney, Borough Councillor Steve Sankey (ESBC) and Julie Sadler (Clerk)

There were 7 members of the public present at the meeting.

Apologies Cllr Shermer and Cllr Edmonds.

2. To receive declarations of interest – None.
3. To approve the minutes of the 13^th January 2025. The minutes were approved and agreed by all as a true record of the meeting. They were signed and dated by Cllr Turner (Chair)
4. Local Government Reorganisation in Staffordshire – Cllr Steve Sankey informed the meeting that the reorganisation of local government is not a new thing and has been happening for many years. He confirmed that it is unlikely that Staffordshire will be following this route anytime soon but advised the Parish Council to go along to the meeting if they are available. It was agreed that the clerk would book a place for Cllr Turner and herself and they would report back at the next meeting. Action Clerk
5. Adjournment for public participation
   1. Overgrown Hedge at Heywood Hall – it was raised by a member of the public that the hedge surrounding Heywood Hall was overgrown. It was agreed that the clerk would send a letter requesting the hedge be cut. Action Clerk
   2. Drains – It was raised by a member of the public that the drains were still blocked outside the church and on Alton Road. It was agreed that the clerk would contact SCC again. Action Clerk
   3. Potholes – The pothole on the B5031 was raised again, Cllr Flower volunteered to send the clerk a photo to enable her to report it to the SCC. It was agreed that the “report it” link for potholes and drains etc would be put on the Denstone Matters Facebook page as well as being included in the minutes. https://www.staffordshire.gov.uk/Report/Report.aspx Action Cllr Flower/Clerk
6. Councillor Vacancy – The clerk informed the meeting that she had received 2 applications for the position of Parish Councillor. All information had been sent out to all the councillors prior to the meeting. Unfortunately, Mr Pickford was unable to attend the meeting but would still be put forward for the position. The other applicant was Mr Ashley Oldroyd-Clarke who was present at the meeting and gave a brief insight into his background. A vote was taken by the Councillors, and it was agreed by a majority that Mr Oldroyd-Clarke would be co-opted on as the new Parish Councillor. Cllr Oldroyd – Clarke was asked to join the remainder of the councillors present. It was agreed that the clerk would send out all necessary documents to the new councillor and inform Mr Pickford of the decision. Action Clerk
7. Matters Arising/Clerk’s report
   1. Correspondence Received
      5. JCB Golf Event 25 – the clerk informed the meeting that she had received an email from JCB inviting the chair to a meeting at JCB on the 20^th February 2025 at 5.30pm. Cllr Flower and Cllr Oldroyd – Clarke also expressed an interest in attending. It was agreed that the clerk would contact JCB. Action Clerk
      6. Footpath leading to Roberts Green – the clerk informed the meeting that she had received an email from a member of the public requesting that the hedge be cut on the footpath leading to Roberts Green. It was agreed that clerk would hold back asking the lengthsman to carry out this task until contact was made with the owner of the land whose hedge it was. It was agreed pictures of the footpath would be taken and sent to the clerk.
   2. Railway Line Fence – the clerk informed the meeting that she had heard from the Ranger who confirmed that SCC were putting the replacement of the fence out to tender and would up date her as soon as he knew anything further.
   3. Additional litter Bin – It was agreed that no further action would be taken with this as 2 new bins had been put in the village.
   4. Street Light on Jardines Lane – Clerk informed the meeting that she had contacted Eon and was waiting for a response. It was agreed that the clerk would chase them. Action Clerk
   5. War Memorial Hedge/Tree on Oak Road – The clerk confirmed that the hedge and the tree had now been cut and had come in on budget.
   6. Domain Change – Prior to the meeting the clerk issued details to the councillors of the outcome of the meeting regarding the domain change. The councillors agreed that the clerk would move forward with this for emails only at this time. The choice of the domain name would be denstoneparishcouncil.gov.uk Action Clerk
8. Planning (Permitted & Refused are decisions by ESBC) – Cllr Turner
   1. P/2024/01361 – Erection of single storey front, side and rear extensions and two storey rear extension – Folly Farm, Alton Road, Denstone, Staffordshire, ST14 5DH – it was unanimously agreed that there were no objections to this application.
   2. NP Review – Cllr Turner informed the meeting that a letter had been sent to Thomas Deery requesting a meeting with him and his planning colleagues and the Parish Council were still waiting for a date for that meeting.
   3. Planning support payment – Cllr Turner informed the meeting that an invoice had now been received from Urban Vision for planning support work that had been carried out.
9. Highways –
   1. Feasibility Study – In the absence of Cllr Shermer the clerk informed the meeting that a number of dates had been sent to the Parish Council for a meeting to discuss the feasibility Study. A date would be agreed on Cllr Shermer’s return.
   2. Data Collection B5031 decision – The clerk informed the meeting that this would also be discussed at the meeting with SCC item 9a.
   3. Potholes – See item 5c.
10. Liaison
    1. Village Hall – Cllr Stratton gave an update from the Village Hall meeting on the 17^th The Christmas lights were a huge success raising a large sum of money for the hall. The other fund raising event planned is Fish & Chip lunch on the 21^st March, more details to be advertised shortly. The village hall also need more people to join the 49 club. Cllr Turner agreed to get in touch with the organiser regarding putting an advert on Denstone Matters Facebook page. Action Cllr Turner.
11. Finance
    1. VAT return – the clerk informed the meeting that she had nearly completed the VAT return to send to HMRC. Action Clerk
    2. Internal Audit – the clerk informed the meeting that the previous internal auditor was no longer practicing but she had sourced a new one. This was agreed by the Parish Council.

12. Miscellaneous
    1. Denstone Meadow – it was agreed that this would be put onto the next agenda as councillor Edmonds was not present. Action Clerk
    2. Community Right to Bid – Roberts Green – Cllr Turner informed the meeting that the application had been made and the parish council would keep the village up to date.
    3. Benches – Cllr Wright confirmed that the Parish Council had received 2 benches from Alton Towers. One has been placed on the Old Railway Line near the footpath to the church and the other on the grass just before Lady Meadow Close on the B5031. The Parish Council would like to give their sincere thanks to Alton Towers for the 2 benches.
13. Payments – To approve the following payments:

The clerk went through the payments individually. The payments were proposed by Cllr Stratton and seconded by Cllr Wright and agreed by all. The payment for S Ratcliffe would be made by cheque. The cheque was written by the clerk and signed by Cllr Flower and Cllr Stratton at the meeting. All other payments would be processed online by Cllr Shermer and Cllr Flower. All invoices would be signed and would be returned to the clerk once actioned.

25. Carolyn Hinton – Website – pay for January 2025 = £25.00 [LGA 1972 s142 & 144]
26. Clerk’s pay for January 2025 (Made by Standing Order) = Net Pay £550.63[LGA 1972 s112]
27. Clerks expenses – Ink for Printer – £32.06
28. HMRC – Clerk – Tax – January 2025 – £134.40
29. N Power – Electricity – January 2025 – £59.65
30. Urban Vision – Planning Support – £1156 plus VAT + £231.20 = £1387.20
31. Sue Ratcliffe – Emptying Bin’s on the Old Railway = £106.00
32. D Green Tree Care – Hedge War Memorial/Tree Oak Road – £350.00
33. TaylorMade – Servicing Gardener’s tools – £363.78 + £72.75 (VAT) = £436.53

items for Future Agenda

1. Councillors’ Accountabilities
2. Broadband
3. Denstone Meadow
4. Tom Boden Memorial Sports Trust License

Date of next meeting – The date of the next meeting will be 10^th March 2025 at 7.00pm in the Village Hall Denstone.

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