Meeting 5th June 2023

DRAFT MINUTES OF PARISH COUNCIL MEETING

Meeting of the Parish Council
held on Monday 5th June 2023
7.30 pm, at Edingale Village Hall
Members present:
Cllrs Baughen, Cliffe, Maskery, Mason, Meikle and Sivieri
Present: Clerk, Mrs Jones
83/23 To receive and approve Apologies
Cllr Startin had apologised as he was on holiday, his apology was accepted. Cllr Mason chaired the meeting.
84/23 To receive any Declarations of Interests None given.
85/23 To approve the draft Minutes of the Meeting of 15th May 2023. The draft Minutes were approved and signed.
86/23 To adjourn, to hold the public session, to reconvene the meeting. No members of the public had attended.
87/23 To receive the Clerk’s Report
Highways – Parish Council notified of road closure for repairs to railway bridge on A513 June 2nd – 6th and had circulated this information.
Walton Bridge – correspondence from Walton Parish Council forwarded by Cllr Wheelton concerning delays in replacement of the bridge; to reply expressing support. As this was the only viable alternative if Chetwynd Bridge had to close these concerns would be passed on to Christopher Pincher M.P. and Staffordshire County Council.
Tree trimming request – Cllr Meikle would liaise with the resident and the contractor would be asked to do this if it was deemed necessary.

88/23 To consider any Planning matters.
20/00647/OUT Land adjacent to Walton House: an objection had been sent.
23/00563/FUH New Buildings Farm, conversion of storage building to residential. RESOLVED no objection, as this represented an improvement on the previously granted permission for five dwellings.

89/23 To consider the Internal Auditor’s Report and to appoint an Internal Auditor for the financial year 2023-24.
The recommendations of the report were discussed. RESOLVED to approve the report and to appoint Kim Squires Internal Audit Services as Auditor.
90/23 To approve the Annual Governance Statement.
RESOLVED to approve the Annual Governance Statement 2022/23.
91/23 To approve the Annual Accounting Statements.
RESOLVED to approve the Annual Accounting Statements 2022/23.
92/23 To approve Certificate of Exemption from Limited Assurance Review.
RESOLVED to approve the Certificate of Exemption from Limited Assurance Review for 2022-23.
The Annual Governance and Accountability Return would be published according to Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015.

93/23 To consider Best Kept Village Community Competition
Cllr Meikle said that a second visit by the judges could take place in June, although this had not yet been confirmed. He said that the village looked well, although there was occasionally some litter after the recycling bags were collected. Further visits could take place during the summer.
Cllr Sivieri had been asked about grass left on paths after cutting; this was a by product of the mowing, caused by particularly fast growth at this time, most of the grass was mulched and it was uneconomic for the Parish Council to pay for it to be swept or collected.
94/23 To consider works to the wall around the parish pump The Parish Council discussed arranging for the wall to be re-pointed by a local person with the necessary expertise; proposed by Cllr Sivieri, seconded by Cllr Maskery and RESOLVED that the maintenance work would be organised.
95/23 To consider funding for drawing plans for Village Hall improvements No quote had yet been received for this, the item would be deferred.
96/23 To consider setting up a village Nature Trail Discussion took place on the creation of a trail to show the flora and fauna of the village. The Trent Rivers Trust would be asked for advice and possible funding would be investigated. Cllrs Mason and Meikle would set up a working group for those interested in furthering this project, and more information would be available for a future meeting.
97/23 To receive Councillors’ Reports
Cllr Cliffe suggested sending a letter of complaint to Highways about the poor signage around the closed A513 road at the railway bridge. The dates had been inconsistent so drivers didn’t know whether it was closed or re-opened. The Clerk would contact Highways.
Cllr Meikle referred to information on Rights of Way in a recent planning application, The Clerk would contact the County Council Rights of Way team about this.
He also enquired whether the Parish Council should consider beginning work on a Neighbourhood Plan; the Clerk would contact the District Council to ask if they could send a planner to talk about the process to the Council.
Cllr Sivieri had been asked by residents about churchyard maintenance. He was informed that, although the Parish Council donated towards this, the management was the responsibility of the Parochial Church Council.
Cllr Mason had been asked about growth of weeds and nettles along the brook at Rowley Close. It was agreed that there was a balance between the needs of wildlife, safety and appearance of the area, no action would be taken at present.

98/23 To receive Correspondence
SPCA bulletins and training information
Trent Rivers Trust, event to take place on 6th September
Staffordshire County Council, health and well-being initiative;
Data protection service, the Clerk would act as Data Protection Officer.

99/23 To receive a Financial Report
The bank reconciliation stood at £20,472.33
It was RESOLVED to approve the report. See appendix 1.
RESOLVED to appoint Cllr Maskery as Member of the Parish Council with responsibility for finance.

100/23 To approve payments on the Payment Schedule.
Staff costs; salary, expenses, pension and PAYE, £406.60
Acorn Taxi –final payment £73.44
Village Gardeners, mowing, strimming, sign cleaning £616.48
Kim Squires, Internal Audit, £141.35
Neal Energy Solutions, solar battery remaining cost £4315.50 (to be transferred from capital to current account in due course)
It was RESOLVED to approve the payments; Cllr Maskery would authorise these, subject to the receipt of the correct VAT invoice from Neal Energy solutions.

Date of next meeting
Monday 3 July 2023. The meeting closed at 8.45 pm.

 
Appendix 1 Financial Report, June 2023
(a)
Bank Reconciliation Current
Balance bf 9,995.92 Cooperative
less payments 5,635.87 Community Acc.
Plus receipts 16,112.28
Total 20,472.33 20,472.33

Receipts – SCC additional grass cutting £119, Taxi passengers’ final donation £105

(b) Capital funds

Cooperative Buckinghamshire Cambridge TOTAL CAPITAL
14 Day account Bond Council Saver
1.28% 3% 1.25%
16,200.16 43,992.01 5,643.91 65,836.08