Parish Council Meeting June 2024

Minutes of Denstone Parish Council Meeting 10^th June 2024

1. Cllr Turner (Chair), Cllr M Flower, Cllr C Naylor, Cllr Wright, Cllr E Edmonds, Cllr Stratton, Cllr Ratcliffe, Cllr Mountney, Borough Councillor Steve Sankey (ESBC) and Julie Sadler (Clerk)

Apologies: Cllr M Shermer. There were 10 Members of the village at the meeting.

2. The Minutes of the Annual Parish Council Meeting held on the 21^st May 2024 –The minutes were approved and agreed by all as a true record of the meeting. They were signed and dated by Cllr Turner (Chair)
3. To receive declarations of interest – None
4. Adjournment for public participation
   1. Broadband – Cllr Sankey confirmed that he had still not heard anything from Connect Fibre with regards to broadband in the village. Cllr Sankey to chase. Action Cllr Sankey
   2. Volunteers– Cllr Turner introduced Scott Doherty and David Green. Scott confirmed that he and Dave, had lived in the village and would now like to give something back by offering their time free of charge on the last Saturday in the month starting next month. Scott is a builder and Dave is a Tree surgeon. They have put an article on Facebook. Cllr Turner thank both for coming to the meeting and introducing themselves.

Cllr Sankey also confirmed that he had received an offer from a young man wanting to volunteer in the village as part of his Duke of Edinburgh Award. Cllr Sankey agreed to pass on the details of Scott and Dave to the young man. Action Cllr Sankey

Cllr Mountney introduced the lengths man who was at the meeting to Scott and Dave. Cllr Turner thanked everyone for their generous offers to help the village.

5. Matters Arising/Clerk’s report
   1. Correspondence Received
      1. Paths – The clerk informed the meeting that she had received an email asking if the lengthsman could keep the paths between Marlpit Lane and the Weavers and the Weavers and Alton Road clear. This was agreed by all. Clerk to reply to the member of the public. Action Clerk
      2. Contribution to the church for the mowing of the grass – The clerk informed the meeting that she had received an email requesting the Parish Council’s usual contribution to the church for the mowing of the lawn. It was unanimously agreed that the Parish Council would make the usual contribution of £500 to the church. Action Clerk
   2. Drains – The clerk informed the meeting that she had received a response from Cllr Atkins regarding the drains on College Road. He had confirmed that it was identified that the drains require a CCTV survey to be undertaken to determine what further works are needed to the drainage system. Cllr Turner has already replied to Cllr Atkins asking when this will take place.
   3. Railway Line Fence – the clerk informed the meeting that she had contacted the ranger regarding the waterlogged path and the fence and is still awaiting a reply. Clerk to chase. Action Clerk
   4. Alton Towers Meetings – the clerk informed the meeting that she had received an email from Alton Towers regarding the meetings stating that the new liaison person wanted to meet members of the Parish Council so she can become familiar with who she was talking to in the future. The joint parish meetings with Alton Towers would remain. Clerk to go back to the liaison officer for a date for the meeting. Action Clerk
6. Planning (Permitted & Refused are decisions by ESBC) – Cllr Turner
   1. P/2024/00578 – Listed Building Consent for the conversion of former Stubwood Methodist Chapel to form dwelling, installation of flue to rear roof elevation, removal of pulpit, installation of woodburning stove and internal partitions – Stubwood Methodist Chapel.
   2. P/2024/00546 – Conversion of former Stubwood Methodist Chapel to form dwelling and installation of flue to rear roof elevation – Stubwood Methodist Chapel, Stubwood Lane

It was unanimously agreed that the Parish Council would not object to the above applications as both applications have been reviewed against both of the Neighbourhood plans the current one and the emerging one and neither application contravenes with any of the policies.

1. Bank House Farm Appeals – Cllr Turner confirmed that there were now two separate appeals in for Bank House Farm. Appeal 3324113 – this is an enforcement appeal and the clerk will continue to keep the councillors updated on this. Action Clerk

Appeal 3344567 – is a recent appeal – it was agreed that the Parish Council had no objection to the original application for change of use, their only issue was it was the owners third retrospective planning application. The Parish Council agreed to support the decision made by the ESBC.

1. NP review update – Cllr Turner informed the meeting that they were still awaiting confirmation of a meeting before we could move forward with this. Clerk to chase. Action Clerk

7. Highways – Cllr Shermer
   1. Feasibility Study – In Cllr Shermer’s absence Cllr Turner confirmed that the Parish Council had received confirmation that the engineer said that he is waiting for the final approval of all options. As soon as the Parish Council receive anything further it will be shared with the village.
   2. Data Collection B5031 decision – the clerk confirmed that the current survey lines on the B5031 are not what has been requested by the Parish Council. Cllr Sankey agreed to ask Cllr Atkins what this was in connection with and get back to the Parish Council. Action Cllr Sankey.
   3. Potholes – Cllr Turner raised the issue of a pothole on Oak Road. Cllr Mountney volunteered to send a photo to the clerk to report to the SCC. Action Clerk and Cllr Mountney.
8. Liaison – Cllr Stratton
   1. Village Hall – Cllr Stratton confirmed that there was no further update at this time.
9. Play Area – Cllr Flower
   1. Update of Actions on Play area report – Cllr Flower informed the meeting that when the report was carried out on the play area in December 30 points were raised out of those 7 were just to monitor and 6 have already been actioned. A huge thanks was expressed to Gary Plant for his help with the tarmac under the gate. It was agreed that the clerk would send a letter of thanks. Action Clerk
   2. Roundabout – The clerk informed the meeting that she had heard back from Hags regarding the cost of the repair of the roundabout. The reason for the high installation cost was due to it being a two man job. Cllr Flower stated that he had requested 2 further quotes from other companies. It was agreed that the clerk would contact the insurance company and see if items on the play area needed to be repaired by an accredited company or was it something the parish council could do themselves. Action Clerk
10. Miscellaneous
    1. War Memorial – Cllr Edmonds confirmed that he would relook at what was to be done on the war memorial for safety reasons. He also raised that there were weeds growing on the war memorial. Cllr Turner agreed to contact RJS paviours as the work carried out guaranteed that weeds would not grow through the paving. Action Cllr Turner and Cllr Edmonds.
    2. Carved Tree – Update – Cllr Ratcliffe agreed to pass on the contact details of Scott and Dave to JCB regarding sorting out the tree. Action Cllr Ratcliffe.
    3. Denstone Wild Life Meadow – Cllr Edmonds asked, could £100 of the £200 maintenance given to the Denstone Wild Life Meadow from the Parish Council be allocated to the lengthsman for cutting the footpaths on the meadow. This was unanimously agreed.
11. Payments – To approve the following payments: The clerk went through the payments individually. Two invoices were added as they were not in when the agenda sent out. The payments were Proposed by Cllr Ratcliffe and seconded by Cllr Edmonds and agreed by all. All 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. Lascombe Consulting – Website – pay for May 2024 = £25.00 [LGA 1972 s142 & 144]
    26. Clerk’s pay for May 2024 (Made by Standing Order) = Net Pay £398.92 [LGA 1972 s112]
    27. Clerk’s Expenses – May 2024 Laminating Pouches A4, Glossy – £13.92
    28. HMRC – Clerk – Tax – May £95.60
    29. J Etherington – Cleaning Village Hall toilets May 2024 = £44.99
    30. N Power – Electricity – May 2024 £45.37
    31. Stuart Smith Lengthsman – May 2024 £138.96 + £11.34 (Carburettor Gasket) total £150.30
    32. SPCA – Training for Cllr Naylor – £36.00
    33. Janice Jackson Internal Audit – £75.00
    34. Contribution to the mowing of the Church – £500

Date of next meeting:  Thursday 11^th July 2024 at 7.00 pm in the Village Hall Denstone.