Parish Council Meeting May 2023

Minutes of Denstone Annual Parish Council Meeting 10th May 2023

1. Present – Cllr Jess Turner (Chair), Cllr B Wright, Cllr E Edmonds, Cllr M Shermer, Cllr S Ratcliffe, Cllr Stratton, Cllr J Mountney, and Julie Sadler (Clerk)

Apologies: Cllr M Flower, Borough Cllr Steve Sankey, and Borough Cllr Laura Beech

• Members of the village attended the meeting.

2. Election of Chair – Cllr Shermer proposed, and Cllr Stratton seconded that Cllr Turner was to remain as the Chair. Councillor Turner accepted. Agreed by all.
3. Election of Vice Chair – Cllr Turner proposed, and Cllr Edmonds seconded that Cllr Mountney would remain as Vice Chair. Cllr Mountney accepted the position of Vice Chair. Agreed by all.
4. The Minutes of the Meeting held on 13^th April – The minutes were agreed by all as a true record of the meeting and were signed and dated by Cllr Turner (Chair). However, a fact on the minutes was incorrect Roberts Green is not a green space. The 3 green spaces in the village are, Olivers Green, Denstone Meadow and the Railway line. Cllr Shermer apologised for this oversight.
5. To receive declarations of interest – None.
6. Adjournment for public participation – Cllr Turner began by informing the meeting that a poster was put out on the noticeboards, Facebook, and the website after the last meeting at the request of a member of the parish inviting suggestions from the parish. She confirmed that the Parish Council had received several suggestions and all those who had made suggestions had been invited to the meeting this evening. A member of the Parish was at the meeting and suggested a Bike pump track for the village. The parishioner informed the meeting that this is for all ages and there are several of them in villages around the country and they thought it would work well in Denstone. Cllr Turner thanked the parishioner for his suggestion and this along with all the other suggestions would be passed onto Borough Cllrs Sankey and Beech as they would be moving this forward. Action Clerk
7. Matters Arising/Clerk’s Report
   1. Correspondence Received – The clerk confirmed that she had been informed by Cllr Mountney that the bin on Roberts Green was getting full again. It was agreed that the clerk would contact the ESBC regarding this and copy Cllr Sankey in on the email. Action Clerk
   2. Accounts – The clerk confirmed that the accounts had been checked by Cllr Ratcliffe and would be passed onto Cllr Flower for a second check. They would then be passed to the clerk as soon as possible, so that they could go to the internal auditor before signing off at the next meeting on the 12^th June 2023. Action Cllr Ratcliffe, Cllr Flower and Clerk
   3. Register of interests – All forms had been sent to the councillors before the meeting. It was agreed that these would be returned to the clerk by 15^th May 2023. Action Clerk
   4. Insurance – the clerk informed the meeting that the insurance had increased to £1,755.14. This was unanimously agreed by all councillors.
   5. Councillor Vacancy – The clerk informed the meeting that as Cllr Lillistone had stepped down there was now a vacancy for a Parish Councillor. As the result of the election showing only 8 councillors had already been displayed. It was unanimously agreed that the clerk would put out an advert for the vacancy. Action Clerk
8. Planning (Permitted & Refused are decisions by ESBC)
   1. P/2023/00404 – Erection of single storey rear extensions – Meadowcroft House Hollington Road Rocester ST14 5HY – Cllr Turner confirmed that the NPMG feel there is no reason to object to this application and that would be our recommendation. This was unanimously agreed at the meeting by all council members. Action Clerk
   2. P/2022/00953 Bankhouse Farm Outcome – Cllr Turner confirmed that the planning officer had informed the Parish Council that this retrospective planning application had been refused. It was unanimously agreed by the councillor’s that the clerk would write to the officer and ask what the next steps would be. Action Clerk
   3. NP review update – Cllr Turner informed the meeting that the Neighbourhood Plan Draft is with the ESBC. However, their initial opinion is negative which is good as it means that there will be a negative impact on the environment. The NPMG are therefore proposing that we move forward with Regulation 14. We will be posting leaflets to every household informing them of this phase before consultation starts on 23/05/23 and lasts for 6 weeks.  Posters will also be put around the village informing residents of this.
      There will be a copy of the plan for people to look at in both Telephone boxes in Denstone and Stubwood as well as a copy will be held in The Tavern for people to read.  There will be 2 public consultation events where people can come and ask questions and propose feedback, these are happening on Sat 3^rd June in Village Hall from 11am – 12:30pm and Monday 12^th June from 5:30pm – 6:30pm before the PC meeting. This was unanimously agreed by the Parish Councillors.

Cllr Mountney expressed her thanks to all members of the NPMG for all their hard work. This was agreed by all members.

9. Highways – Cllr Shermer
   1. SIDS – Cllr Flower had sent some data to all councillors which had been downloaded from the SIDs prior to the meeting. Cllr Ratcliffe volunteered to put the data into a format that was easy to understand so this could be put on the website and shared with JCB. Action Cllr Ratcliffe
   2. Feasibility update – Cllr Shermer confirmed that the draft plans previously presented by the Highways Department were fully reviewed and discussed and the next steps were as follows:
      • Project Engineer to write his Project Report with Costings
      • Report then sent to Lisa Hall & Richard Rayson (SCC)– Community Infrastructure Manager
      • Report then would be sent to County Cllr Philip Atkins who will decide whether this project can be approved and funded.
      • If approved by Cllr Atkins, then the Project Report is sent to the PC
      • The time scale for this process is in the region of 6 months, we can therefore expect to receive the final decision in November/December this year.
      • PC will then arrange Community Consultation events.

Parking at the school was also discussed. Cllr Mountney agreed to drop an email to the school regarding where they were with the walking bus. Action Cllr Mountney

1. Potholes – Nothing further to report.

10. Denstone College Liaison – Cllr Edmonds confirmed that it was nice to see in the weekly newsletter from the head of the college that traffic speeding will be reported to the Police. Cllr Edmonds agreed to contact the College with regards to the promised itinerary for the party on June 24^th so this could be put on the website and noticeboards. Action Cllr Edmonds
11. Green Spaces – Cllr Wright
12. Staffs Way – Nothing to report yet.
13. Alley – Cllr Wright confirmed that the alley between Weavers Close and Marlpit Lane had been strimmed. Cllr Turner expressed her thanks to councillor Wright.
14. Liaison – Cllr Stratton
    1. Village Hall – Cllr Stratton confirmed that there was nothing to report. The clerk asked that thanks be passed onto the village hall for repairing the broken tap in the outside toilet so quickly.
15. Play Area – Cllr Flower

Cllr Flower was not able to attend the meeting, so he passed on the following to the clerk who read it out.

1. Funding for the play area – It was agreed at the last meeting that no further action would be taken until after the local elections
2. Play Area Report – Inspections have been completed and the log up-dated to week 18. Also given that Cllr Lillistone has stepped down we need another Councillor who could cover during Cllr Flowers Absent. Cllr Mountney agreed at the meeting to do this.
3. Fencing Update – There is no up-date regarding the refurbishment of the Sports hut due to the current circumstances, however and as agreed at the last meeting the order has been placed for the fencing and gate. As we have included installation the order has been placed with Almec Fencing Ltd, approved contractors for IAE at the prices quoted and a site visit has been arranged with them at the playground on Monday 15^th May 2023 at 11.00am.

14. Miscellaneous
    1. Village Enhancement Programme – Cllr Turner informed the meeting that along with Bike Pump track the other suggestions were
       • a play area for older children on the railway line with gym type equipment x 3
       • Extension to the carpark.
       • Funding for the village hall

Cllr Turner expressed thanks to all the people who had taken the time to contact the clerk with their suggestions. It was then agreed by the councillors that no councillor wished to specifically lead on any of the projects, but Cllr Mountney and Cllr Edwards were happy to help and give advice. Whichever project is taken forward then the children of the village need to be asked what they want. Also, when the Parish Council were looking at installing an open-air gym on the railway line the grant funding was refused as the funders didn’t believe that this would be fully used.

It was agreed that the clerk would write back to all parishioners who had made suggestions thank them and inform them of the above. Action Clerk

1. Old Website – It was agreed that this would be moved to the next meeting as the clerk needed to discuss this with the person who deals with the website. Action Clerk
2. DE-Fib at North end of the Village – Cllr Edmonds suggested that a defibrillator be installed at the north end of the village. Clerk to email Cllr Edmonds with all the details. Action Clerk
3. War Memorial – Cllr Turner informed the meeting that the work on the War Memorial will start week commencing 15^th May 2023. It was agreed pictures would be taken before and after the work has been carried out.

15. Finance – Cllr Ratcliffe/Cllr Flower

Nothing to raise.

16. Payments – To approve the following payments: Proposed by Cllr Edmonds and seconded by Cllr Stratton. All payments would be processed online by Cllr Ratcliffe and Cllr Wright all invoices would be signed and would be returned to the clerk once actioned. Action Clerk, Cllr Shermer and Cllr Flower.
    25. Lascombe Consulting – Website – pay for April 2023 = £25.00 [LGA 1972 s142 & 144]
    26. Clerk’s pay for April 2023 (Made by Standing Order) = £453.37 [LGA 1972 s112]
    27. J Etherington – Cleaning Village Hall toilets April 2023 = £40
    28. Andrew Hillman – payment for April Lengthsman = £117.23
    29. Zurich Insurance £1755.14
    30. VAT Refund 2022-31March 2023 – £2,602.72

        items for Future Agenda

No items raised for the next meeting.

Date of next meeting: Monday 12^th June 2023 at 7.00 pm in the Village Hall Denstone