Parish Council meeting 6th June 2022

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting. A member of the public asked if the Parish Council had reported the need for traffic calming at the entrance to Station Road Norton Bridge. The Clerk advised him that a report had been sent to Highways   P. Lees and Cllr J Pert had also been made aware. An email has been received from Stafford Safer Roads who are looking at doing a traffic speed survey.

The Chair reminded everyone about the Jubilee Cream Tea which will take place on 11^th June 2022. The weekly “Drop in” will restart on 7^th July 2022. This has been approved by the PCC .The Chair has received feedback from the Civic amenities driver that the service appeared to have been used for commercial purposes. The service is for general waste only. Please refer to the posters on the notice boards which show clearly the use of the refuse wagon.

Cllr P Jones has been appointed as Deputy Chairman of the Planning Department.

Cllr J Pert mentioned the remarkable community spirit at the Jubilee celebrations across Staffordshire. He has recently been to an award ceremony where Friends of Norton Bridge received an award.

Cllr J Lawson (Holiday)

None.

Item 22/80 email received from Stafford Safer Roads they are looking at conducting a traffic survey. A report was sent to Highways Department (report number 4282591.)

Item 22/93 email received giving details of the council website. The PC can give the go ahead to change the website whenever they are ready, they need to advise the website developers which package is required and the developers will then get the website ready to go live .Action: to discuss at next meeting.

The minutes from the meeting held on 9^th May 2022 were approved by the Cllr’s present as a true record of the meeting.

Mr Weaver has kindly accepted an invitation to the meeting to answer questions from members of the public. 

The Chair welcomed Mr Weaver to the meeting and thanked him for attending.

Mr Weaver explained the reason for the survey was to find out the need for Social Housing in the Parish, he apologised that not everyone had received a survey. A fee was paid to Staffordshire County Council and he thought that they had provided the information required.

Members of the public asked questions about the location and amount of properties. They questioned the location due to the fact there are no footpaths, no bus stop and speeding traffic.

Members of the public were advised of the Borough Council website which sets out the planning policies.

Mr Weaver said that at this point Midlands Rural Housing have only been employed and paid to conduct the survey. This is only the first part of the journey and until the analysis has been completed and the need established he does not know how things will proceed. There will only be a planning application if the need exists.

Mr Weaver showed a plan of where the houses could potentially be located.

Local residents told Mr Weaver they were totally devastated that the first they knew about his plans were when the survey arrived through their letter boxes. They have concerns that if the properties are built, it will devalue their homes.

Cllr J Pert advised Mr Weaver to contact him and he would share information on working with the community. 

It was mentioned that there are already social houses available in the local area.Mr Weaver asked the Parish Council to find out details of any empty properties in the parish.

Mr Weaver offered to return to the Parish Council Meeting once he has received the results of the survey and will listen to the views of the public. Action: Clerk To advise date of meeting and issue agenda.

The Chair thanked Mr Weaver for attending the meeting and he left at 20.21.

No Validations or Decisions made since the last meeting.

The Chair spoke of the frustrations with the Planning Department, the length of time validations and decisions were taking. The Chair asked Cllr P Jones for updates on Enforcements. Cllr P Jones asked the clerk to email the details and he would check. Action: Clerk

Cllr B Jones asked for any updates on Item 22/85 Old Mill Farm House Chebsey. The Chair said she had contacted the Planning Department to view the register for Lawful Development Certificates, she has had no response. Cllr J Pert asked for the details and said he would look into it. Action: Clerk To forward email replies from SBC to Cllr J Pert.

Nat West Account balance as at 25^th May 2022        £6550.09

BHIB yearly insurance                                    (947)        £492.08

Invoice for Flyers                                            (948)          £81.00

Clerks Salary June 20222                              (949)         £180.20

                                                                 Balance        £5796.81

Un presented cheque          Liz (937)                                £18.04

Balance       £5778.77

All payments approved by Cllr’s present.

Clerk to advise Cllr P Jones re website address and payments made.

Discuss Budget forecast sheet.

Cllr B Jones talked through the details of the budget sheet; he has used the 2021/22 account details to produce the sheet. The Cllr’s will look over the sheet and discuss it further at the next meeting.

Cllr R Hopley and Cllr B Jones are now signatories along with Cllr M Ainsworth- Hickman for the Chebsey Parish Council Current Account.

22/104 i Certificate of Exemption.

22/104 ii Annual Governance Statement.

22/104 iii Accounting Statement.

22/104 iv Dates for exercise of public rights. 8^th June 2022 to 19^th July 2022.

All forms discussed and approved by Cllr’s present. The RFO/Clerk and Chair signed all the documents.

The internal audit report was read and improvements noted. The asset list and budget details will be discussed at the next meeting.

Action Clerk: The forms will be displayed on the website. The Notice of exercise of public rights will also be displayed on the Notice Boards.

The Chair requested the Clerk to contact Paula Lees to arrange a meeting with the Chair to visit the area’s where the gullies require attention .P. Lees did agree at the meeting on 11^th March 2022 to meet with Cllr J Green to look at the gully situation. Action: Clerk To Contact P. Lees

31 replies were received. Thank you to everyone who returned the survey.

The Parish Council has analysed the responses and not unsurprisingly recognises that there are some significant variations across the parish. In some cases close neighbours may have even a fast fibre connection in one household and a slow copper based service in the other. Action: The Parish Council will write to major providers, such as BT/Openreach, to enquire if there are ways to deliver a more consistent service throughout the parish. We will provide a further update when we have their feedback.

The broken bench has been removed from the recreation area. Some refurbished benches have been made available to the Parish Council and Friends of Norton Bridge. Suggestions for placing the benches will be discussed.

No updates on HS2. The Chair has a leaflet on HS2 funding ideas. This will be discussed at the next meeting.

The tree planting was very successful. Local children got involved with the planting and had an enjoyable time.

About 35 people attended the lighting of the Beacon on 2^nd June.

The Cream Tea will take place on Saturday 11^th June 2022 bookings are going well. Donations can be made to the Alzheimer’s Society.

No requests have been made for an election to take place; the closing date for requests is Midnight tonight (6^th June).

A vacancy notice will be on the Notice Boards and the website, with a closing date of 30^th June 2022

Email from Stone Liaison Group re School Travel.

Change of date for Stone Liaison Group meeting to 27^th July 2022

Email from B Cash with a reply from Will Quince MP re Children’s homes.

Discuss the Budget sheet and asset list. Discuss the wording and purchase of the plaques for the jubilee trees. Discuss a commemorative plaque for D. Davies  and J Green. HS2 funding.