PC Minutes 1st September 2020
| Attendees: Cllr M Shermer (Chair), Cllr J Mountney, Cllr C Kelly, Cllr E Edmonds, Cllr B Wright, Cllr J Turner, Cllr K Stratton, Borough Councillor S Sankey and Julie Sadler (Clerk).Also present at the meeting was Russell Whitehurst. Apologies None – The clerk is to remind all councillors by email that if they are unable to attend the meeting then they should send their apologies giving their reasons to the clerk prior to the meeting. | Clerk | |
| The minutes of the meeting held on the 14th July 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 – Cllr Sankey informed the meeting that the chair ofRocester Parish Council had recently passed away.It was unanimously agreed that the clerk would send condolences to the new chair on behalf of the Parish Council.Cllr Sankey informed the meeting that the Development Committee at ESBC had agreed not to update the Local Plan for the next 12 months. The meeting was informed that when Denstone College return after the break, all the children were due to arrive at the same time no matter what their year. It was therefore agreed that the clerk would contact the college to ascertain if this is the correct procedure as this could cause traffic problems in the village. | Clerk Clerk | |
| Matters Arising/Clerk’s report Correspondence Received – Cllr Shermer informed the meeting that there had been a Village Hall Meeting and the following decisions had been made. The hall would open on the 1st September 2020The clock at the Village Hall would be replaced.The sign for the Village Hall is still on going. Christmas Lights would happen this year, but there would be no switch on event as usual. The Car park would remain closed between 7am and 11.45 am on a Sunday morning to support the Tavern. Cllr Shermer informed the meeting that there is still £374 left in the SCC COVID19 support 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. It was unanimously agreed that the clerk would reply to the parishioner who had contacted her regarding an issue of verbal abuse in the village and offer their support and asked to be copied into any further correspondence. The clerk and the chair had received an email regarding an issue with a public footpath from a member of the public. It was agreed that the clerk would reply informing them that the parish council agreed that the email would be forwarded on to the SCC regarding this issue for them to deal with. Clerks Training Course the knowledge via Zoom – the clerk informed the meeting that Ellastone Parish Council had agreed to pay 50% of the cost of the training.Bridleway application update – The clerk had received a call from the legal team at the SCC informing her that even if the application is agreed then anyone with access will still be able to use the road. They also have a very large backlog at the moment so it could be some considerable time before a decision is made. Clerk to pass this information onto the parishioner who raised this issue. Trees update – The Parish Council would like to pass on their sincere thanks to Cllr Wright and Duncan Sadler for removing the two dead trees on the main road. Clerk to contact the parishioner who raised this issue and ask him if he has any ideas for what to replant in their place. Cllr Shermer also to contact TaylorMade with regards to removing the stumps of the trees. Cllr Shermer also ask the clerk to raise the issue of the tree stump outside her house as this is still extremely dangerous. | Clerk Clerk Clerk Clerk Clerk | |
| 6. | Planning Applications (Permitted & Refused are decisions by ESBC – P//2020/00803 – Conversion of Outbuilding to for ancillary dependent living accommodation – Ash Lea, Quixhill Lane, Prestwood, ST14 5DD – No objectionsConsultation for Planning Changes – Cllr Shermer informed the meeting that after discussing this issue with the Neighbourhood Planning Monitoring Group it was agreed that the main concern of these changes was that they would weaken or null the Neighbourhood Plan. It was therefore agreed that a few of the NPMG would look in detail and report back to the next parish council meeting. Cllr Shermer also suggested that the parish councillors also look at these changes and pass any comments onto her before the next meeting. This would then enable the parish council to sign off the comments at the next meeting so they could be submitted before the 17th October 2020. | Clerk Cllr Shermer and Councillors |
| 7. | Drains & Ditches – It was raised that the brook behind the shop building still needs dealing with. Clerk to email Gary Plant regarding this and copy in the Lengthsman. Cllr Shermer also informed the meeting that the clerk reported the drains by the roundabout in the centre of the village after the upsurge of mud. We are awaiting further action on this. | Clerk |
| 8. | Website Accessibility – The clerk updated the parish council on the progress to date. After a detailed discussion it was agreed that the clerk would contact the Digital Team at SCC and inform them that the Parish Council would still like to go forward with the Silver Package as soon as they can. However, in the meantime the website has started to be updated and Cllr Kelly is working with the clerk and Lascombe Consulting Ltd to include an accessibility statement and make sure that the website is compliant with the new regulations. The Parish Council agreed the cost of the domain at £14.99 +VAT and the £58 annual fee for the website software update for the Memorise theme, to make the functionality easier to work with and update. | Cllr Kelly and Clerk |
| 9. | Zoom Account – Cllr Mountney informed the meeting that she could no longer provide the Zoom account after the September meeting. Cllr Sankey agreed to use his account to host the meetings from October. Cllr Shermer thanked Cllr Sankey. | |
| 10. | Denstone College proposed Changes – Cllr Shermer informed the meeting that herself and Cllr Edmonds were to meet the Head of Denstone College again on the 4th December. They would update the Parish Council on the outcome of this meeting. | |
| 11. | Tom Boden Memorial Sports Trust Licence for the Play area – The clerk informed the meeting that she had not received the licence for the play area so she would contact David Boden regarding this. | Clerk |
| 12. | Junior Play Area/Village Hall Toilets – It was unanimously agreed to put up the poster created by the clerk and a copy of criteria set by the government for play areas. This would be put on the gate of the play area to inform all members of the village why the play area has remained closed. It was also agreed to pay the cost of the repair to the swing of £145.00. | Clerk |
| 13. | Denstone Meadow – Cllr Edmonds informed the meeting that the wild flower meadow had come on recently and more work on the area was being done this weekend. The next task was the erection of the fencing at the river and after that they would look at completing a risk assessment of the area. | |
| 14. | Ward Boundaries – Cllr Sankey updated the meeting on what is currently happening with this. Cllr Shermer asked for this item to remain on the agenda. | |
| 15. | Highways issues Traffic issues & Stubwood sub-committee –No further update from Richard Rayson on this.Potholes – Cllr Shermer informed the meeting that a substantial amount of work had been carried out in the village on Marlpit Lane and more recently on College Road. The village are very thankful for this. Footpaths – NonePavements – None | |
| 16. | To approve the following payments: Proposed by Cllr Edmonds and seconded by Cllr Wright. 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 July & August 2020 = £50 [LGA 1972 s142 & 144] Clerk’s pay for July & August 2020 (Made by Standing Order) = £379.28 [LGA 1972 s112]Clerk’s Expense’s July & August £61.17J Etherington – Cleaning Village Hall Toilets August 2020 £40.00Russ Whitehurst – Lengthsman July & August 2020 = £172.45Peter Robotham – Junior Play area = £145.00Peter Robotham – Denstone Meadow Fishing Permits – £49.50Ellastone Parish Council – 50% share for Training for Clerk = £25.00 items for Future Agenda Denstone Diary | |
| Dates of next meeting – Tuesday 6th October 2020 at 7.00pm via https://zoom.us |
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