| | Attendees: Cllr M Shermer (Chair), Cllr J Mountney, Cllr C Kelly, Cllr E Edmonds, Cllr L Beckett-Fountain, Cllr B Wright, C Cllr K Stratton, Cllr S Ratcliffe, Borough Councillor S Sankey and Julie Sadler (Clerk).Also present at the meeting was Russell Whitehurst. Apologies Cllr J Turner | |
| | The minutes of the meeting held on the 2nd June 2020. The minutes were agreed by all as a true record of the meeting and will be signed by the Chair and the clerk at the next available meeting. | Clerk and Cllr Shermer |
| | Declaration of interest None | |
| | Adjournment for Public Participation – None | |
| | Matters Arising/Clerk’s report Correspondence Received – The Parish Council received a letter from Mr Bostock thanking them for all the work that has been done in the village. Mr Bostock also raised the issue of the two dead trees on the B5031. As these trees had been reported a number of times by the Clerk to the SCC it was unanimously agreed by the Parish Council that the clerk would contact SCC and inform them that the Parish Council intend to remove the dead trees and plant some others in their place unless they hear any objections from the SCC within the next 7 days. In the meantime, Cllr Shermer agreed to contact TaylorMade and ask for a quote to remove the trees. Clerk also to contact SCC regarding the tree stump on College Road as this is dangerous. The clerk is to request that this is taken away. The Bridleway request – The Parish Council received an email from a member of the village stating that they had received a Notice of Application for Modification Order that Prestwood Lane is to be a Bridleway. This was discussed prior to the meeting by the councillors and the clerk had contacted the legal team dealing with the application. Samantha Finney a legal officer in the team has informed the parish council that If they accept the application, they will contact all landowners and the Parish Council for their comments before a decision is made. However, at this time they have a backlog of applications so it may be sometime before this application is dealt with. Cllr Shermer agreed to reply to the member of the village with an update. Clerks Training Course the knowledge via Zoom – The clerk asked if the Parish Council would support her in paying for a 2-day course with the SPCA called the knowledge. This would cost £50. The course covered a large area of topics and would be extremely useful to the clerk. The Parish Council gave their full support for the clerk to undertake this course. However, it was suggested that the clerk ask that the clerk ask Ellastone Parish Council to pay half the fees. The clerk informed the councillors that she would do this and get back to the councillors at the next meeting. | Clerk Cllr Shermer Clerk Clerk Cllr Shermer |
| 6. | Planning Applications (Permitted & Refused are decisions by ESBC – P/2020/00511 – Conversion of existing barn to form guest house accommodation Class (C1) including installation of windows, rooflights, flue and air source heat pump – Beech Farm, Quixhill Lane, Prestwood ST14 5DD – No ObjectionsP/2020/00660 – Erection of a detached garage – Hill House College Road Denstone ST14 5HL – No Objections | |
| 7. | SCC COVID19 Support Fund – Cllr Shermer informed the meeting that there is still £374 left in the fund if anyone else knows of anyone in the village using their own money to help others in the community at this time, then please contact Cllr Shermer. | |
| 8. | Access – Crumpwood Weir – Prior to the meeting the Weir had been discussed very extensively by the councillors, an email was sent to JCB as previous owners and I also contacted Steve Williams (The Ranger). The Estate Manager of JCB confirmed that the bridge at Crumpwood Cottage is private access only so the new owners are well within their rights to put up signage or restrict access. The Ranger confirmed that the footpath is not a designated public right of way and the bridge over the river is now owned by the new occupant of Crumpwood Cottage. There has never been an official access / egress point between the Greenway and Crumpwood so it would seem that the new owner is within his rights to prevent access onto his land. Due to this information the Parish Council decided that this is not the responsibility of the Parish Council and they agreed not to take it any further. However, Borough Councillor Steve Sankey informed the meeting that he had decided to take this matter further as he had received complaints from several members of the village. He informed the Parish Council that he was going to approach the Ramblers Association to see if they would go down the process suggested by the ranger. | Cllr Sankey |
| 9. | Discarded Face Masks – Cllr Shermer was contacted by a member of the village stating that there were discarded facemasks outside the JCB carpark. Cllr Shermer contacted John Kavanagh at JCB who acted swiftly, by putting processes in place to prevent this happening anymore. Cllr Shermer would like to thank JCB for taking this issue seriously and acting accordingly. | |
| 10. | Denstone College proposed Changes – Cllr Shermer and Cllr Edwards attended a meeting at Denstone College with Miles Norris to discuss the proposed changes at the college. Miles confirmed that there was no data as yet however as soon as there is, he will contact the councillors again. It was agreed that Cllrs Edwards and Shermer will represent the Parish Council with this going forward Cllrs Shermer and Edwards will arrange a meeting with the Head for the end of the Autumn Term when more information should be available. Cllr Shermer to contact him regarding this after the meeting. The clerk is to chase Cllr Turner with regards to her letter to Richard Rayson and Alan Harvey. | Cllr Shermer Clerk |
| 11. | Lady Meadow Bridge – Cllr Shermer is to send a letter of thanks to Richard Rayson for all the work that has been carried out on Lady Meadow Bridge. | Cllr Shermer |
| 12. | Junior Play Area/Village Hall Toilets – After further guidance and much discussion it was unanimously agreed to leave the junior play area closed at this time. This will be reviewed again at the meeting in September. | |
| 13. | Denstone Meadow – Cllr Edwards informed the meeting that TaylorMade are to come out to the site and lay turf so that they can put down plastic matting for wheelchair access. There will also be a rail put near the path of the river to warn people of the dangers. | |
| 14. | Ward Boundaries – This was discussed at great length by the councillors and it was unanimously agreed that Borough Councillor Sankey would send some bullet points to Cllr Shermer who would then put a detailed document together which would be sent round to all councillors for feedback. This would then be put on the consultation website. | Cllr Sankey Cllr Shermer Clerk |
| 15. | Highways issues Traffic issues & Stubwood sub-committee – Richard Rayson informed Cllr Shermer of the new scheme suggested for Stubwood Hollow. As this was only sent out to councillors on the day of the meeting, they had not had a real chance to look at it. However overall, they were happy with it but it was agreed that they would send their comments to Cllr Shermer by Thursday 16th July and she would then forward these onto Richard Rayson.Potholes – There is another pothole outside Denstone Farm Shop, clerk to report to SCC.Footpaths – NonePavements – None | All Councillor Shermer Clerk |
| 16. | To approve the following payments: Proposed by Cllr Beckett – Fountain and seconded by Cllr Ratcliffe. The clerk informed the meeting that she would send all of the invoices to Cllr Shermer for the outstanding payments. Cllr Shermer would then write the cheques and sign them and get a second signature from either Cllr Stratton or Cllr Edmonds. Webmaster pay for June 2020 = £25.00 [LGA 1972 s142 & 144] Clerk’s pay for June 2020 (Made by Standing Order) = £379.28 [LGA 1972 s112]Clerk’s Expense’s – Travel for Internal Audit =£18.00Eon Lighting June 2020 = £22.49 [Parish Councils Act 1957 s3]J Etherington – Cleaning Village Hall Toilets June 2020 = £50.00Edward Edmonds – £90 – for payment to W Burton and Sons – Denstone Meadow. Russ Whitehurst – Lengthsman June 2020 = £85.70Churnet Valley Joinery – Denstone Meadow = £144.00Sue Edmonds – Plants – £40.00-£40.00 from G Plant this was passed to Sue Edmonds.ICO – Information Commissioner = £40.00JCA Graphics – Denstone Meadow = 103.20Denstone Meadow – Wildwood Wisdom Cooperative = £125.00 items for Future Agenda Drains and Ditches – Cllr Beckett-FountainDitch behind the shop – Clerk to contact Gary Plant regarding this, Russ agreed to help if required. | |
| | Dates of next meeting – Tuesday 1st September at 7.00pm via https://zoom.us | |
