Parish Council Meeting September 2023

Minutes of Denstone Parish Council Meeting 19th September 2023

1. Present – Cllr Jess Turner (Chair), Cllr B Wright, Cllr M Shermer, Cllr E Edmonds, Cllr M Flower, Cllr Stratton, Borough Cllr Steve Sankey, and Julie Sadler (Clerk)

Apologies: Cllr J Mountney

There were 5 Members of the village at the meeting.

2. The Minutes of the Meeting held 10^th July 2023 – The minutes were agreed by all as a true record of the meeting and were signed and dated by Cllr Turner (Chair).
3. The Minutes of the Extraordinary Meeting held 21^st August 2023 – The minutes were agreed by all as a true record of the meeting and were signed and dated by Cllr Turner (Chair).
4. To receive declarations of interest – Cllr Turner item 7a.
5. Adjournment for public participation
   1. A member of the public informed the meeting that one of the plum trees on the railway line had broken. Cllr Wright volunteered to have a look and if necessary dig it up. Action Cllr Wright.
   2. Borough Councillor Sankey informed the meeting that he had received several complaints about the college traffic. It was agreed that a meeting would be set up with the head of the college and also a traffic count arranged. Cllr Shermer volunteered to organise the traffic count. Cllr Edmonds would report back to the Parish Council on both issues at the November Meeting. Action Cllr Shermer and Cllr Edmonds.
6. Matters Arising/Clerk’s Report
   1. Correspondence Received
7. Code of Conduct Review – The clerk informed the meeting that a new code of conduct model had come out and suggested this be put on the agenda for the next meeting. This was unanimously agreed by the councillors. Action Clerk.
8. Concessionary Travel – The clerk informed the meeting that she had received some posters from SCC to inform people of concessionary travel. It was unanimously agreed that these would go on the noticeboard and the website. Action Clerk

• Bus Service in the Village – Cllr Shermer raised the issue of the bus not coming into the village due to a road being closed. Clerk to check to see if this has been rectified. Action Clerk

1. Overgrown Hedge – The clerk informed the meeting that she had received an email from a member of the village regarding an overgrown hedge. It was confirmed that the hedge has now been cut. Clerk to reply. Action Clerk
2. Talks in the Village Hall – The clerk informed the meeting that she had received some posters from the village hall regarding talks taking place in October and November in the Village Hall. It was agreed that a copy of the posters would go on the website and on the noticeboards. Action Clerk
   1. Councillor Vacancy Update – the clerk informed the meeting that no applications for this position had been received but the notices would be left up and if the clerk receives any applications this item will be put back on the agenda.
   2. Defibrillator – the clerk informed the meeting that the new sponsor board had been amended in accordance with the comments received from the councillors. This has now gone to be printed. Once it is back the defibrillator will be reinstalled on the village hall. The clerk will liaise with Cllr Shermer when this can be done. Action Clerk and Cllr Shermer.
   3. Remembrance Wreath – it was unanimously agreed by the councillors that a contribution of £40 would be made to the Royal British Legion for a wreath. Cllr Edmonds agreed to lay the wreath. Clerk to order the wreath. Action Clerk
   4. External Audit Report – The clerk informed the meeting that the report had now been received from Mazars. The only issue raised by Mazars was that a box on the Governance Statement had been ticked yes instead of no for the public notice for last year. The report and the letter from Mazars would be put on the website along with the completion statement of the audit. It was agreed that if a member of the public would like a copy of the audit documents then a nominal fee of £1.00 would be required. Action Clerk
   5. Gardener/Lengthsman –
      1. the clerk informed the meeting that a request had been made by Mayfield Parish Council for a copy of the lengthsman’s contract used by Denstone. It was unanimously agreed as long as all the personal details were removed first. Action Clerk
      2. It was agreed that Stuart Smith would be the new lengthsman with immediate effect. The hourly rate of £11.50 was agreed. The contract would be signed outside of the meeting.

• It was agreed that the equipment would be kept on the church grounds. Clerk to inform the previous Lengthsman that he should return any equipment to Cllr Wright’s house.

7. Planning (Permitted & Refused are decisions by ESBC)
   1. P/2023/00986 – Rosebank, College Road, Denstone, Staffordshire, ST14 5HR – Erection of a replacement garage with annexe accommodation above including balcony. It was agreed that the application is a small-scale development to provide ancillary accommodation. It is within the settlement boundary and will replace the existing garage and the materials are sympathetic to the character of the area.  It would appear that the proposed development meets national, local plan and neighbourhood plan policy by virtue of making the best of previously developed land to provide ancillary living accommodation for an older person.  It was agreed by the majority of the Parish Council not to object to this application. Cllr Turner was unable to vote.
   2. P/2023/00875 – Erection of a detached dwelling – Cherry Tree Cottage, Hollington Road, Rocester, Staffordshire, ST14 5HY – Cllr Turner informed the meeting that this was just a duplicate application as the previous application had expired. It was unanimously agreed by the Parish Council that there were no objections to this application.
   3. NP review update – Cllr Turner informed the meeting of the following:
      1. We are about to proceed to Regulation 15 which is when we submit our required documents into the Local Planning Authority to enable them to proceed to Reg 16 and their opportunity to perform consultation.
      2. Prior to the meeting all councillors had been sent the 3 required documents to review – The Draft Neighbourhood Plan, The Basic Conditions Statement and the Consultation Statement Document.

• Following feedback received in the meeting the documents will be updated where required and will be submitted into ESBC.

1. Once submitted into ESBC then the documents will be uploaded to the website.
2. ESBC will then proceed to run Reg 16 process where members of the public can again make comments if required
3. Following Regulation 16 will be Examination. If required following examination there may be a referendum

• At the end of all of this process is when the new Neighbourhood Plan will become the current document, although we understand that the plan holds some legal weight following regulation 16.

Cllr Wright then raised the following comments on the documents referred

1. Denstone Meadow does not seem to be on the Map – Cllr Turner agreed to check and rectify.
2. Cllr Wright asked if Roberts Green a local green space. Cllr Shermer confirmed that it was not.

• Cllr Wright asked if there are any brownfields sites. It was confirmed that some land off Taylors Lane was brownfield.

1. Cllr Wright said that the document refers to the Railway Line as a walk way when in fact it is a bridleway.

Cllr Turner confirmed that all points will be looked at and the documents amended. Action Cllr Turner and the Clerk.

8. Highways – Cllr Shermer
   1. SIDS – Cllr Flower informed the meeting that he would gather six months’ data for the next meeting. Action Cllr Flower
   2. Feasibility Study – Cllr Shermer said that there was nothing further to report at this time.
   3. Potholes – Cllr Turner agreed to take some photos of the potholes on Alton Road and College Road and forward them to the clerk. The clerk will then report them to SCC. Action Cllr Turner and Clerk
9. Denstone College Liaison – Cllr Edmonds agreed to arrange a meeting. See item 5B. Action Cllr Edmonds
10. Green Spaces – Nothing to report at this time.
11. Liaison
    1. Village Hall Meeting on the 7^th October – It was agreed that Cllr Wright and Cllr Turner would attend the meeting at the village hall on the 7^th Cllrs Shermer and Stratton will be working at the event. Clerk to inform Dave Shooter. Action Clerk
    2. Village Hall update – Cllr Stratton inform the meeting that:
       1. The village hall had purchased a new flag pole and were awaiting a new flag.
       2. There would be several events for fundraising. Murder Mystery on Friday 10^th November, Christmas lights switch on 19^th November, New year lunch on 7^th January 2024 and a Dance Party on the 19^th January. For more information please see the village hall website https://denstonevillagehall.weebly.com/news–whats-on.html

• The village hall would like to thank Stuart for doing an excellent job with the hedge around the village hall.

The Parish Council expressed their sincere thanks to the Village Hall Committee for doing an excellent job with recladding the village hall.

12. Play Area
    1. Funding for the play area – It was agreed that this would be removed from any future agenda and the Parish Council would pay for the cost of the new fence around the play area.
    2. Play Area Report – Cllr Flower is still collating the reports on a weekly basis and sending them to the clerk.
    3. Fencing Update – Cllr Flower informed the meeting that the fence is complete we are just awaiting finalising the gate adjustment. All councillors agreed that the fence looked excellent. Action Cllr Flower
    4. New Signs – Cllr Flower agreed to take photos of the old signs and get quote for new ones and bring them to the next meeting. Action Cllr Flower.
13. Miscellaneous
    1. Denstone Show – Cllr Flower informed the meeting that the show had been a huge success and they had over 400 entries. There had been a small profit but not as much as they had hoped. The Parish Council expressed sincere thanks to the show committee for all their hard work. Cllr Flower thanked the Parish Council for sponsoring the bouncy castle.
    2. DE-Fib at North end of the Village – It was agreed that the leaflet that the clerk produced was very good and the clerk is to print 100 copies for delivery. Cllr Flower informed the meeting that he had seen a defibrillator in Rocester that was attached to a fence. It was therefore agreed to hold off printing the leaflets for the time being whilst the clerk contacted the clerk at Rocester for more information. Action Clerk
    3. Bus Shelter – Cllr Edmonds volunteered to contact Jonathan at Denstone College to see what they use on their shelters before taking any further action. Action Cllr Edmonds.

With regards to repairing the bus shelter at Stubwood Cllr Wright confirmed that this was in hand.

1. War Memorial – Cllr Edmonds informed the meeting that the heavy rain was washing soil onto the war memorial and suggested putting a retaining wall on the wall to prevent this happening. The councillors agreed this was a good idea. Cllr Edmonds agreed to try and source some old stone. Also the flagpole is looking a little rusty. It was therefore suggested this was removed and replaced with a new one. This was agreed by the parish council. Cllr Edmonds agreed to look into both issues and report back at the November meeting. Action Cllr Edmonds.
2. Guttering for Bus shelter in the village – Stuart Smith (Lengthsman) confirmed that guttering on the bus shelter came away when he was taking down the ivy. It was agreed that the lengthsman would obtain a quote for the replacement of the guttering and bring it to the next meeting.
3. Pizza Wagon – Cllr Shermer informed the meeting that the Pizza Wagon had been on College Road for weeks. This was impairing the exit of the village hall carpark, it was taking valuable parking spaces that were already scarce in the village and also covering the view of the flower beds. It was unanimously agreed that the clerk would write to the Tavern and ask if the wagon can be moved as it always used to sit on their land. Action Clerk

14. Payments – To approve the following payments: Proposed by Cllr Stratton and seconded by Cllr Edmonds. All payments below 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 August 2023 = £25.00 [LGA 1972 s142 & 144]
    26. Clerk’s pay for August 2023 (Made by Standing Order) = £453.37 [LGA 1972 s112]
    27. J Etherington – Cleaning Village Hall toilets July 2023 – £40 August 2023 = £50 total =£98.45
    28. N Power – Electricity – August 2023 £29.17
    29. Stuart Smith – Hedges in the village – £113.93
    30. Andrew Hillman Lengthsman – July 2023 £103.78 August = £57.31 total =£161.09
    31. AEDdonate – £772.50 plus VAT £154.50 totalling £927.00
    32. Almec Fencing Limited – £2106.00 plus VAT £421.20 totalling £2527.20
    33. Mazars for external audit = £252.00
    34. Denstone Diary – Credit of £103.00

        items for Future Agenda

No items raised for the next meeting.

Date of next meeting: Monday 9^th October 2023 at 7.00 pm in the Village Hall Denstone