PC Minutes 14 April 2025

Denstone Village

Draft Minutes of Denstone Parish Council Meeting 14th April 2025 at 7.15pm

  1. Attendees: Cllr Turner (Chair), Cllr E Edmonds, Cllr M Flower, Cllr K Stratton, Cllr M Shermer, Cllr Ratcliffe, Cllr Mountney, Cllr Wright, Cllr Oldroyd–Clarke, Borough Councillor Steve Sankey and J Sadler (Clerk) Apologies – None

10 members of the village present

  1. To receive declarations of interest – None.
  2. To approve the minutes of the 10th March 2025 – The minutes were approved and agreed by all as a true record of the meeting. These were signed and dated by Cllr Turner (Chair).
  3. To sign the minutes of the 10th February 2025 – A copy of the minutes was brought to the meeting and signed and dated by Cllr Turner (Chair) these were agreed at the last meeting.
  4. Adjournment for public participation – A member of the public raised the issue regarding the hedge at Heywood Hall and the Three Gables on Main Road. The clerk informed the meeting that the hedge at Heywood Hall had been cut, however Cllr Oldroyd-Clarke volunteered to have a word with the owner of the property. Cllr Turner volunteered to send a picture to the clerk of the hedge at the Three Gables. The clerk would then write to the owner of the property. Action Cllr Oldroyd-Clarke, Cllr Turner and the Clerk
  5. Councillors Accountabilities – A number of issues were discussed regarding the changes to the accountabilities. It was agreed that the clerk would amend the document accordingly and send a copy to all councillors. A copy of the document would also be put on the website for all members of public to see. Action Clerk
  6. Matters Arising/Clerk’s report
    1. Correspondence Received
      1. The clerk informed the meeting of an email regarding the footpath towards Robert’s Green. It was agreed that the clerk would ask the lengthsman to clear this. Action Clerk
      2. The clerk raised the issue of the bridge in disrepair off the railway line. As no one in the village knew who the owner of the bridge was Cllr Sankey agreed to talk to Cllr Atkins regarding funding the repair. Cllr Wright also volunteered to contact The Ramblers Association as this is often used by a number of walkers. Action Cllr Sankey and Cllr Wright
    2. Railway Line Fence – the clerk informed the meeting that she had heard back from the ranger stating that they had given contractors until the end of the month to quote and then work to be done by mid-May. Hopefully this will be completed by the next meeting.
    3. Railway Line Leak – Cllr Sankey confirmed that he had heard back from Severn Trent Water regarding the leak and they had stated that the leak was coming from a property on Frances Close. However, due to Data Protection they would not give him any further details. The councillors ask if the owner of the property had been contacted. Cllr Sankey was not sure but volunteered to contact Severn Trent again and find out if they had. He would then report back to the clerk. Once confirmed the clerk would then write to all properties in Frances Close. Action Cllr Sankey and the Clerk
    4. Street Light on Jardines Lane – the clerk confirmed that she had heard from Eon confirming that the material has been ordered for the works, once they have received the material, they will get the work scheduled in, unfortunately there is a long lead time on the lanterns. As soon as a date for the work is confirmed Eon will contact the parish council.
    5. Drains – College Road – The clerk confirmed that during the meeting on the 26th March with Staffordshire County Council they confirmed that they had done all they could regarding the drain, and the remaining issue is the ditch at the back of the field, which is the responsibility of the owner. It was unanimously agreed that the clerk would write to the owner. Action Clerk

It was also agreed that the ditch at the back of the shop needed to be cleared. Cllr Mountney volunteered to ask Gary Plant for his help with this. Action Cllr Mountney

  1. Drains – B5031 – Clerk to contact Staffordshire County Council (Samantha Griffiths) to see if the scheduled work has been carried out on this and also the drains on the B5032. Action Clerk
  2. Domain Change – The clerk was asked to contact the support officer regarding the domain change to see what options he could offer regarding advising the councillors. It was suggested that a visit to the village would be most helpful. Action Clerk
  3. Planning – Cllr Turner
    1. P/2025/00215 – Demolition of existing conservatory to facilitate the erection of a two storey rear extension, conversion of existing garage into a study and installation of a first floor side window – 15 The Weavers, Denstone, Staffordshire, ST14 5DP. It was unanimously agreed by the parish council that there were no objections to this application.
    2. NP Review – Cllr Turner informed the meeting that an agreement had been reached with ESBC regarding the Neighbourhood plan. This would now be going to committee;

However, a date was not known as yet. Then it would go out for referendum. Hopefully this will be completed by the summer.

Cllr Turner confirmed that all the money donated to Denstone Matters and held in the Parish Council’s bank account, for the potential high court case was now no longer required. Forty eight separate payments totalling £13,950 need to be refunded out of the parish council bank account. It was unanimously agreed by the parish council for these transactions to take place.

  1. CRBT – Cllr Shermer confirmed that as yet she had not heard anything further regarding this but would of course keep chasing it. Action Cllr Shermer.
  2. Highways – Cllr Shermer
    1. Feasibility Study – Cllr Shermer informed the meeting that she and the clerk had met with three members of Staffordshire County Council. A private apology was made by one member of the SCC for the lack of communication between the SCC and the Parish Council and it was confirmed that this would not happen again.

During the meeting Cllr Shermer was presented with a copy of a Feasibility report that was carried out in July 2024. It was discussed but agreed that it would be better if a further meeting could be held in the village with an engineer and all members at the meeting to walk around the village and establish what needs to be done. It was agreed that this would take place in the next two months.

  1. Data Collection B5031 – The clerk informed the meeting that this was also discussed at the meeting on the 26th March with SCC. The clerk was informed at the meeting that the SCC already had some data for the B5031 and agreed to send this to the clerk before the next Parish Council meeting. However, this has not been received. It was agreed that the clerk should contact Richard Rayson (SCC) regarding this. Action Clerk
  2. Potholes – nothing raised.
  1. Finance
    1. Planning Fund – Refund – Cllr Turner – this was discussed during item 8b.
  2. Village Hall – Cllr Stratton
    1. Cllr Stratton informed the meeting that due to the last fish and chip supper being such a success then the village hall will be holding another. Date to be arranged. There will also be another Murder Mystery evening on the 9 May tickets available. See the village hall website for further details https://denstonevillagehall.weebly.com/whats-on.html
    2. Cllr Shermer asked who was responsible for the noticeboards in front of the village hall. It was agreed the Parish Council would take responsibility for theirs and the Village hall should take responsibility for theirs. Cllr Stratton agreed to pass this onto the village hall. Action Cllr Stratton
  3. Miscellaneous
    1. Hedge-laying Denstone Meadow – it was unanimously agreed to pay the invoice out of the Denstone Meadow Fund.
    2. Mileposts – It was unanimously agreed that the parish would not join in the paint buying with other councils. Action Clerk
    3. V E Day Celebrations – Cllr Mountney informed the meeting that 49 tickets had been purchased so far. Cllr Flower informed Cllr Mountney that the committee would need an events licence from ESBC. Cllr Mountney informed the meeting that they had received the road closure for the day, the clerk confirmed that this had now been put on the website.
    4. Benches on the Railway Line – Cllr Mountney asked for this to be put on the next agenda. Action Clerk
  4. Payments – To approve the following payments:

Cllr Turner went through the payments individually. The payments were proposed by Cllr Ratcliffe and seconded by Cllr Oldroyd-Clarke and agreed by all. Three of the payments paid in the planning Fund were paid by cheque. These cheques were written by the clerk signed by Cllr Flower and Cllr Shermer. All other payments below apart from the one for Open Strike which is being withheld until the domain is sorted would be processed online by Cllr Shermer and Cllr Flower. All invoices would be signed and would be returned to the clerk once actioned in accordance with the Financial Regulations.

  1. Carolyn Hinton – Website – pay for March 2025 = £25.00 [LGA 1972 s142 & 144]
  2. Clerk’s pay for March 2025 (Made by Standing Order) = Net Pay £550.63[LGA 1972 s112]
  3. HMRC – Clerk – Tax – March 2025 – £134.40
  4. Stuart Smith – Lengths man – March 2025 – £74.75
  5. Martin Evans – Hedge laying – £720.00
  6. Planning fund Refund 48 separate payments totalling – £13,950.00
  7. Open Strike – Domain Change – £325.00 – not paid

items for Future Agenda

  1. Benches on the railway line
  2. Playground update

Date of next meeting – The date of the next meeting will be 12th May 2025 at 7.00pm in the Village Hall Denstone.

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