Chebsey Parish Council Annual Meeting 13th May 2024

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting. No public present.

Cllr S Edge, Cllr D Foster-Birks, Cllr P Jones (SBC)

Chair’s Report May 2023 to April 2024

It would be remiss of me at the start of this report not to acknowledge the impact Covid 19 still has on our Parish and the work we attempt to do within it.

Firstly, our sympathy goes out to all those who are still suffering from long term side effects of Covid and the continued impact on businesses within the parish. As a Parish Council we have seen how numerous meetings which were zoom meetings revert back to face- to –face meetings, however some still continue to be zoom.

We have continued to lose the option of SBC’s Planning Dep’t sending out a “hard copy” of planning applications, this has and continues to cause a great deal more work and makes applications far more difficult for Councillors to consider.

Obviously the other area which is extremely worrying is the cost of living crisis and the impact this continues to have on individuals and families within the parish. The weekly Drop In continues at the Parish Hall in Chebsey every Thursday with numbers increasing to mid twenties some weeks. Once again, we are extremely grateful to Chebsey Parish Hall for offering their venue for this important weekly meeting place for residents.

With the cost of living crisis, Councillors were very aware when it came to agreeing the precept for 2024/2025 that any increase remained as low as possible.

In September we lost the services of Cllr Bob Jones due to the deteriorating health of his wife. We are indebted to Bob for the work he did on behalf of the local parishioners; he is certainly missed greatly as a Councillor but also as a friend. At the present time we therefore have a vacancy on the Parish Council, if anyone is interested, please apply.

We have had a very busy year, some positives and some negatives. Overall, however, I feel we have made many achievements. The workload certainly seems to have been far greater during this year with outcomes far more difficult to achieve due to protracted consultation times and processes, along with new working practices by outside bodies. With all this being taken into consideration we might only be a small parish council, but we do achieve results and some of our results are the envy of much larger parishes.

During the year we have held 11 ordinary meetings and 1 extra ordinary meeting all being held here in the Parish Hall. St Luke’s our previous home is finally looking as though it should be useable late Autumn due to the fire which took place in September 2022. We are grateful to Chebsey Parish Hall for accommodating us in what can only be described as tragic circumstances at St Luke’s

The extra ordinary meeting was held to discuss the Parish Council’s response to the sale of the car park and field at the Railway Inn, Norton Bridge. After a motion passed at an extra ordinary meeting of FONB when 72 villagers attended it was unanimously agreed to apply for an Asset of Community Value. A joint response was very quickly coordinated between FONB and Chebsey PC, and I am pleased to report that SBC agreed with our submission and placed an Asset of Community Value on the pub itself and the car park. This will remain in place for a period of 5 years when a new application will need to be made. This exercise was a fantastic example of community groups pulling together to achieve results. Thanks must go to all who helped achieve this result with such a short deadline. The Parish Council certainly played a key role in the application.

The Meecebrook proposals have been put on the back burner at present due to the government announcing the withdrawal of Phase 2a of the HS2 line. We are led to believe that SBC are re-evaluating this garden village project as they still require a suitable site, hence we cannot assume the Meecebrook proposal is not dead and buried.

With the issue of local community leaders and safety continually being on the agenda

The PC decided to implement several new policies. Policies to help protect the safety of Councillors and parishioners alike, policies which many other PC have. This follows

On from the Public Participation policy which we adopted last year. We continue to review our working practices and endeavour to implement policies where we feel they are needed.

It is anticipated that other policies and risk assessments will need to be considered in the coming year.

Once again, we have implemented a lead and assistant role for key services/issues within the Parish Council to which all Councillors hold one of these positions. This has worked reasonably well, however with one Councillor down this impact quite considerably. The reason behind the role allocation is that it gives all Councillors a level of responsibility for a key area eg planning; highways etc.

Our highways still cause us great concern, with remaining pot holes, blocked gullies, lanes in such a poor condition that they cannot be resurfaced. I can report that the issue that was present on Parsons Bank for many years was rectified in May last year, however it was apparent very quickly that the full problem wasn’t addressed as water is still running down the road albeit to a far lesser extent.

The state of the roads, gullies etc. Have been a constant issue for the Parish Council during this and previous years, also the ditch at the back of the bus shelter in Chebsey was a major concern as it was silted up and therefore unable to take a large amount of rainwater. We are extremely grateful to the Amey Volunteer Initiative and the support of Cllr Jeremy Pert in getting this problem rectified.

Increased traffic particularly when major A and motorway links are temporarily closed due to accidents or planned maintenance, the latter causing a major increase in traffic numbers but also increase in speed, the overall result being a nightmare for residents.

On numerous occasions we have requested the mobile speed camera to come to the parish and monitor speeds of vehicles at key times of the day, ie. The beginning and end of the working day. We finally got a response from Staffordshire Safer Roads and between October 23 and March 24, 31 speeding tickets were issued.

Gulley emptying and road sweeping has continued to be a major issue, with some lanes continually wet for the whole yearly cycle of weather due to blocked gullies and rubbish. When the lanes were finally swept in Chebsey earlier this year, 25 tonne of rubbish was removed!

The state of the roads, the verges and road edge subsidence has also become a major problem, an example being Shallowford Bank Scamnel, Parsons bank etc. A meeting was held with a Highways representative in March, however all but one issue was classed as “non urgent “. The one issue that was accepted was the broken drain opposite the bus shelter in Chebsey and this was fixed at the same time as the ditch clear out.

Fly tipping has continued to be a problem within the parish, particularly along Worston Lane and several of the lanes around Chebsey. We ask that you be observant when you are in the lanes of individuals dumping rubbish.

Informal litter picks have continued throughout the parish, and we are indebted to all who participate in collecting the litter off the roads verges etc. Within our parish. Strretscene has continued to support us with bags, litter pickers etc.

Concerns have been raised at the state of some of the footpaths in the Parish and this has been taken up with the appropriate department, however they are classed as low priority and therefore it is impossible to say when work will be done to clear them.

Work has been done by volunteers and coordinated by FONB on Tommy’s Trail and this is now in very good order. Once again, we are indebted to all the volunteers who have given up their time to do this work, also thanks to FONB for organising the working parties that have done this work along with work on the Recreation Area in Norton Bridge.

Discussion has taken place in relation to requesting whether Tommy’s Trail could be added to the definitive footpath map. Correspondence has been sent to the appropriate body however, they inform us that it would cost in the region of £4000, something which neither the Parish Council nor FONB have.

This is somewhat disappointing news, especially given that we have been consulted once again re4 alleged footpaths to which there is no justification for their addition on the definitive map. There is no physical evidence of these footpaths, and they haven’t been used for many many years and therefore it is considered none of the 4 footpaths would be an asset to the footpath network. The PC’s response has been made to the Countryside Right of Way Panel: however, we now have to wait before we can make our objections once again.

As a Parish Council we have continued to work with local organisations for the benefit of the parish. FONB have been particularly active, including following up on the bus survey with the County Council and the bus operator. All this hard work paid off as a new bus service started in January 2024. Whilst it had a few teething problems at the beginning it now seems to be running smoothly.

Thanks also must go to FONB for their continued support financially towards defib pad costs and the grass cutting at the Recreation Area.

The equipment in the recreation area has raised a few concerns in the annual inspection report. Once again FONB and the PC are working through the guarantees etc. And we are pleased to report that work will commence on the repairs needed very soon.

A new company, G Tec won the contract for this year’s grass cutting with a very competitive tender.

We are pleased to report that Chebsey Village Trust have also agreed to help with the defib costs for the Chebsey defibrillator once signatories on the bank account are resolved.

We are also indebted to the work created by Chebsey Parish History Society who continues to document local history for the benefit of the Parish. They plan to print a new book ”Places 2” at the end of the year.

I am pleased to report that we continue to have the Civic Amenities Lorry on 7 occasions per year. Whilst this is a major expense to the PC we believe that it is a vital resource as it is greatly used by local parishioners.

Planning matters have taken up a great deal of our time this year and it’s not been easy with several being very complex. 7 have been permitted, 3 refused, 1 discharge of conditions, 1 consent not required and 2 applications are still pending.

Several enforcement actions have been reported however, we have had no feedback from the planners re any of the outcomes. We have raised our concerns with the planners re the inconsistencies with their enforcement actions.

Also, grave concerns have been raised about the lack of consistency shown by planners in the decision making process as well as the length of time it is taking to determine the outcome of applications, something which is unacceptable.

Viewing of Planning Applications has been far more difficult for the Parish Council as previously mentioned due to the Borough Councils Planning Dept. Deciding not to send out a full sized hard copy to the PC, thus we have to rely on each and every Parish Councillor to access at home on small screens and therefore not being able to view the complete application at one time, a far from satisfactory situation.

As a Parish Council we do not feel supported appropriately by the Planning Dept. And have deep concerns with its lack of cooperation in dealing with our concerns and requests.

In relation to Finances, we are ever mindful of how we spend the precept as it gives us very little scope to develop new ideas or deal with new requests.

In November we closed our Nat West account and opened an online account with Lloyds so that the online banking can be done more efficiently.

Also in November, Sue our Parish Clerk had her annual appraisal.

During the year the defibrillator at Norton Bridge was found not to be charging properly and a new cabinet was required at the cost of £497.

New pads have continued to be purchased by the Parish Council at all 3 sites.

As previously reported when the parish council elections took place last May we were hopeful that an election would not be necessary due to the cost to the parish. As a parish we could ill afford this and therefore several councillors were prepared to withdraw their nomination papers if they were aware of any potential additional candidates. Unfortunately, we were not aware of any additional candidates until after the closing date for applications and the deadline for withdrawals, hence a full election had to take place. The election expenses bill was received in December for a total of £2276.73. As this is such a huge bill for the PC to pay, we have reluctantly agreed to pay it in 4 yearly instalments starting in April this year. We have challenged the overall bill with the Elections Office as we were aware on the day before and on the election day that numerous postal votes had not been received, hence we duly informed the Elections Office. Cllr Pert has now taken this up with SBC on our behalf.

Network Rail has once again been contacted re ragwort on the land by the side of the railway at Norton Bridge and a site meeting arranged.

The PC website, we are experiencing issues with this and have written to SCC in the hope of arranging a meeting to discuss the issues and how they can be resolved.

As a PC we were consulted on the new Boundary constituencies, we raised our concerns re us retaining our rural element. Chebsey Parish is in with Stafford now and Stone is in with Penkridge and Great Wyrley!

On a positive note, and with much relief, we are pleased to report that the Railway Inn in Norton Bridge is thriving as a business, and we are grateful to the owners for all they do for the parish.

It has been a very difficult few months for the proprietors when the land and car park were put up for auction in March, however now that a local person has purchased it and informed the community that they wish for everything to remain as it is then a sigh of relief can be had by all.

During the year we held our annual Christmas Afternoon Tea to which 166 meals were served and 25 children saw Santa. It was agreed prior to the event that any profit raised would be used towards defib costs. The profit from the day was £815.20.As stated earlier in my report a new defib cabinet was required at Norton Bridge at a cost of £497 hence a large proportion of this money was quickly spent.

Earlier in the year a parishioner came and gave a talk on Asian Hornets and the impact they could have on our native bee population. Posters have been displayed on all the notice boards in the Parish to raise awareness.

Finally, to finish the year off, there was a nomination for Unsung Hero Award made by Cllr Jeremy Pert. Eight representatives from our local community groups went of Afternoon Tea on 19^th April in the Council Chambers where we were met by the Lord Lieutenant and the Chairman of the CC. The groups represented were Chebsey PC, Chebsey PCC, Chebsey Parish Hall Committee, Chebsey Parish Local History Society, FONB and two young people representing the volunteers of the Christmas Afternoon Tea. A wonderful afternoon was had by all who attended.

Summing up  

Obviously, we have lots of potential challenges ahead, but I feel we are in a reasonably good place to deal with them.

What has been achieved during this last year simply couldn’t have been achieved without the support of individuals within the community eg. Litter picking, help at events, weekly checks of the defibs and Recreation Area, etc. etc. the list is endless.

I would also like to thank organisations within the community FONB, Parochial Church Council, Chebsey Parish Local History Society and Chebsey Parish Hall for their help and assistance in our endeavour to improve the facilities for individuals within the parish.

Without community groups working together to achieve goals and activities etc. things just couldn’t and wouldn’t happen.

Thank You each and every one of you who have helped in some way over the last year- your contribution is invaluable, and it really does make a difference. With budget cuts at borough and county levels we will need to rely on local parishioners more and more so please consider helping in some way if you don’t already.

Finally, as this is the last meeting of the calendar year, as Chair I appreciate and acknowledge the support from fellow Councillors and our Parish Clerk. I would also once again request this support for whoever is appointed Chair for the coming year.

Thank you that concludes my 2023/24 report.

Cllr M Ainsworth-Hickman Old Mill Farmhouse.

Cllr R Hopley nominated Cllr M Ainsworth-Hickman for the position of Chair; Cllr B Samra seconded the nomination. Cllr M Ainsworth-Hickman signed the Declaration of Office and the clerk witnessed the signature.

Cllr B Samra nominated Cllr R Hopley to be Vice Chair, Cllr J Lawson seconded the nomination.

Due to the absence of two councillors this item will be carried forward to the meeting to be held on 3^rd June 2024.

The minutes of the meeting held on 22^nd May 2023 were approved as a true record of the meeting.

The Chair thanked everyone for their attendance and closed the meeting at 19.24