Meeting 3rd July 2023

DRAFT MINUTES OF PARISH COUNCIL MEETING

Meeting of the Parish Council
held on Monday 3rd July 2023
7.30 pm, at Edingale Village Hall
Members present:
Cllrs Startin (Chair), Baughen, Cliffe, Maskery, Mason, Meikle and Sivieri
Present: Clerk, Mrs Jones, one member of the public
101/23 To receive and approve Apologies
None, all present.
102/23 To receive any Declarations of Interests Cllr Baughen declared an interest in the planning application at Willow Cottage.
103/23 To approve the draft Minutes of the Meeting of 5th June 2023. The draft Minutes were approved and signed.
104/23 To adjourn, to hold the public session, to reconvene the meeting. A member of the public informed the Parish Council that a resident had dumped a chopped down hedge on the bank behind the Village Hall. It was agreed that it was fly tipping and it was disappointing that a village resident should do this. The Village Hall Committee would be informed as they owned the land.
105/23 To receive the Clerk’s Report
Highways – Highways Liaison Officer informed about poor signage of the recent road closure on A513 and passed it on to the Traffic Management team. Holy Trinity Church – representatives would attend the September meeting to discuss the recent correspondence regarding tree trimming and land ownership. Gov.uk emails – the Clerk would contact various bodies for advice on setting these up and try to arrange these over the summer. Website – this had been updated with policies and audit information. Right of Way 13a – correspondence from the County Council Rights of Way team had been shared with Cllrs. Drains – resident reported Hatchett Lane drains had not been cleared; reported to Highways. Councillors would check others in the village. Pension Regulator – the Declaration of Compliance completed.
104/23 To consider any Planning matters.
Application 23/00685/FUH 5 Blakeways Close, ground floor front extension; RESOLVED no objection. Application 23/00629/FUH Willow Cottage, two storey side and front extension; RESOLVED no objection. Neighbourhood Planning – The Local Plans team would be invited to explain the process to the Council prior to the next meeting.
107/23 To consider Best Kept Village Community Competition
There had been two judges visits and a third was possible in July. Everything was neat and tidy. The presentation evening was due on 6th September.
108/23 To receive an update on Chetwynd and Walton Bridges Correspondence received from District Cllr Bennion and Christopher Pincher MP, both continued to monitor the situation with the bridges and lobby for funding for a new bridge, no information from the County Council on whether a width restriction would also be applied. Councillors agreed that monitoring of vehicles ignoring the weight limit was important. Cllr Startin outlined the problems the issue would cause during harvest and would contact the County Council directly.
109/23 To receive Councillors’ Reports
Cllr Cliffe – overgrown hedges affected visibility on the road near the school and other blind bends. Cllr Startin added that this was a problem on the entire route from the Aboretum through Croxall to Edingale.
Cllr Meikle – no progress had been made on a planned Nature Walk, he would contact various authorities for advice.
He asked for the contractor to spray weeds along the path through Rowley Close open space; the Clerk would request this work to be done.
Cllr Mason – some chain fencing had been dumped to the left of the Blakesley Close land, he and Cllr Startin would arrange removal.
He would obtain a replacement barrel to install when the work to refurbish the parish pump was done in the autumn.
Cllr Sivieri – Black Horse Community Asset status; the Clerk to contact Lichfield District Council.

110/23 To receive Correspondence
Staffordshire Parish Councils Association weekly bulletins Staffordshire County Council – road closure notice Harlaston Road 29-31 August CPRE newsletters Residents queries – PCSO to attend Edingale; drains in Hatchett Lane
111/23 To receive a Financial Report
The bank reconciliation stood at £14,915, with a sum to be transferred from capital in respect of the payment for solar panels.
It was RESOLVED to approve the report. See appendix 1.

112/23 To approve payments on the Payment Schedule.
Staff costs; salary, expenses, pension and PAYE, £412.60
Village Gardeners, mowing, £566.48
It was RESOLVED to approve the payments. Cllr Startin would authorise these.

Date of next meeting
Monday 4th September 2023. The meeting closed at 8.30 pm.

Appendix 1 Financial Report, July 2023

(a) Bank Reconciliation Current
Balance bf 9,995.92 Cooperative
less payments 11,192.24 Community Acc.
Plus receipts 16,112.28
Total 14,915.96 14,915.96

Expenditure for solar panel less VAT to be transferred from Cooperative 14 Day account to current account. £959 to be reclaimed from HMRC as the Parish Council is VAT exempt.

(b) Co-op signatories
Co-op Bank has confirmed that these are Mrs Jones, Cllrs Cliffe, Sivieri, Maskery and Startin.
Clerk will confirm online authorisers with the bank.

(c) 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

(d) Audit
Information sent to External Auditors and published in accordance with regulations.