Meeting 3rd October

DRAFT MINUTES OF PARISH COUNCIL MEETING

Meeting of the Parish Council
held on Monday 3rd October 2022
7.30 pm, at Edingale Village Hall
Members present:
Cllrs Startin (Chair), Dhillon, Cliffe, Lacey, Maskery, Mason and Meikle
Present: Mrs M Jones, Clerk, 3 members of the public
90/22. To receive and approve apologies
None, all present.
91/22. To receive any Declarations of Interest
Cllr Meikle enquired about declaring an interest in item 98. This was not necessary as no pecuniary interest would be involved.
92/22. To approve the draft Minutes of the meeting of 5th September 2022 The draft Minutes were approved and signed.
93/22 To adjourn the meeting, to hold the public session, to reconvene
The members of the public had attended to observe the meeting and had no comments to make.

94/22 To receive the Clerk’s Report
Solar panels – It had been confirmed that the panels had been installed on the Village Hall and were working, but the battery had yet to be supplied due to a nationwide shortage.
Maintenance tasks – the contractor would shortly trim the hedges at the agreed rate. He had quoted for the work to improve the footpath between the Church and meadows at £747 including stone and equipment hire, to commence during the last week of October and it was agreed that this was acceptable. The path would need to be closed while the work was done.
Defibrillators – Cllr Maskery had offered to arrange the software upgrade and information would be forwarded to her.
Land to the rear of the notice board – Cllr Mason had discussed the concerns raised at the last meeting with the residents who were maintaining the wildlife area and the Parish Council had sent a letter to them confirming the terms of their use of the land.
Road closure – Main Road in Harlaston would be closed from Haselour Lane from 24- 28 October for Severn Trent works.
30 mph road sign – the sign on Croxall Road had finally been reinstated by Highways.
Poppy wreath – the church warden would be asked if this was still at the church.

95/22 To consider any Planning matters.
(a) 22/00435/COU Land to rear of Holly Down, Church Hollow; Change of use of land from equestrian to domestic amenity, erection of a post-and-rail timber fence on the southern boundary and retention of the existing raised vegetable planting beds, concrete hardstanding and chicken pen/run enclosure. The application confirmed the existing domestic use and there was no adverse effect on nearby properties. RESOLVED that the Parish Council had no objection.

(b) 22/01204/FUH Willow Cottage Church Hollow; two storey side and front extension. There was no impact on neighbouring properties and it was RESOLVED that the Parish Council had no objection.

96/22 To consider development of a Parish Council logo.
Work had previously begun on a logo, although this was not completed as the National Forest logo had been used for the village signs. However, the logo could be used on correspondence and the website. It was agreed to ask for an estimate for completing this work, and for Councillors to be able to give their approval to the proposed design before completion.

97/22 To receive an update on the village gateways
A date for installation had not yet been confirmed but correspondence indicated this was progressing. The gates on Croxall Road would be off-set as the nearby landowner had not allowed installation opposite the village name sign. An enquiry had been made to the County Council about the extent of highway land and once this had been received an alternative site by the school fence had been identified. This would not block visibility or cause difficulty for vehicles turning out of Pessall Lane, and great care had been taken to place them to comply with highway regulations.
The insurers would be informed of the acquisition of the gates.

98/22 To consider a donation towards the Senior Citizens’ Christmas Meal
Edingale Village Hall had forwarded a request for a donation to be used towards the Senior Citizens’ Christmas Party. As the paperwork was in order it was RESOLVED to make the donation.

99/22 To receive Councillors’ Reports
Cllr Meikle reported that Edingale had been awarded joint third in the Best Kept Village Competition’s Community Spirit section, he showed the certificate which would be displayed at the Village Hall. He thanked all those who had helped keep the village tidy during the judging period and those who had contributed to this creditable result. When the judges’ comments were available he would produce a report on possible improvements to make next year. Cllr Startin thanked Cllr Meikle and his team of helpers for their hard work.
Cllr Meikle also raised the issue of blue bins being rejected by Lichfield’s recycling teams and stressed that homeowners should contact the District Council who would send a team the next day if there had been an error.
Cllr Meikle had attended the online training on Neighbourhood Plans and confirmed that such a plan would not be appropriate for Edingale as no further building would be possible due to the lack of sewage capacity.
Lastly, he mentioned considerable annoyance locally about the amount of dog mess in public areas and appealed to all owners to clean up after their dogs, especially where children play. Other Councillors suggested residents could photograph offenders to send information to the District Council, but it was agreed that this was rarely possible.

Cllr Mason confirmed that the tree surgeon had inspected the trees on the Parish Council land and had also identified a damaged one on the Village Hall land which had been notified to the committee. Two of the elms on the island by the Black Horse were now dead and various other trees around the village had lower branches that needed removal. The tree surgeon had been asked to quote for this work for the Council to consider at a future meeting.
Cllr Mason also asked about hedge cutting usually organised by Cllr Startin and it was confirmed that his contractor would do this work on various sites around the village soon.
Cllr Mason had adjusted the metal kissing gate near the church so that it now closed.

100/22 To receive Correspondence
SPCA bulletins
Lichfield District Council, various surveys, see website
Royal British Legion, Whitwick branch – enquiry about a march through Edingale to the National Memorial Arboretum, the Village Hall was not available on the date in question and the Parish Council was unable to assist.
Edingale Village Hall, details of forthcoming events, put on notice board.
Resident regarding need for pavement cleaning – an enquiry about the cleansing schedule would be made to the District Council, although ideally this should be done after leaf fall; hedges would be trimmed soon and those responsible for vegetation growing over pavements would be asked if they could help to clear it.

101/22 To receive a Financial Report
See appendix 1

102/22 To approve payments on the Payment Schedule.
Staff costs, including repayment of Highways order and computer diagnostics £533.53
Acorn Taxi, £146.88
Village Gardeners, mowing and strimming £539.50
It was RESOLVED to approve the payments; Cllr Maskery would authorise these.

103/22 Date of next meeting
Monday 7th November 2022.

The meeting closed at 8.35 pm