Meeting 4th February 2019

MINUTES OF PARISH COUNCIL MEETING

Meeting of the Parish Council
held on Monday 4th February 2019
at 7.30 pm at Edingale Village Hall.

Members present:
Cllr Startin (Chair)
Cllr Cliffe
Cllr Dhillon
Cllr Meikle
Cllr Wesley

Mrs M Jones, Clerk, PCSO Alex Trusler and 6 members of the public.

1. To receive apologies
Cllr Lacey and Cllr Mason had apologised. The apologies were accepted.

2. To receive any Declarations of Interest
None received.

3. To approve the Minutes of the meeting of 7th January 2019
The minutes were approved and signed by the Chair.

4. To adjourn the meeting, to hold the Public Session and to reconvene the meeting.
PCSO Alex Trusler said that police officers would aim to attend a Parish Council meeting at least every 6 months, and reports would be sent to other meetings. The main trend in crime across Staffordshire was for vehicle thefts, although police patrols were being effective. There had been an increase in residential burglaries in the area, but anti-social behaviour had reduced. Cllr Startin gave some feedback about tractor thefts when vehicles were taken out of the county. PCSO Alex said that community intelligence was very useful; people should report anything suspicious. Although crime was increasing resources were limited and the team had to cover a large area. He advised on crime prevention techniques, such as the use of a Faraday bag for keyless cars or even an old style steering lock.
The Village Hall Chair reported on slow progress on the car park. A grant had been received from County Cllr Alan White towards comfortable chairs.
There would be an orchard planting day on Monday 11th February, which involved the participation of the school.
Residents discussed the problems of parking at the junction of Pessall Lane and Croxall Road which made it difficult for lorries to turn and had caused some damage. PCSO Alex would contact the school to request that staff parked elsewhere and to ask them to write to parents. Some of those present suggested that issuing warning notices would help.
5. To receive the Clerk’s Report
Community Speed Watch – the volunteer training session would take place on Saturday 23rd February at 10 am. 30 mph bin stickers would be ordered to remind traffic of the speed limit, Cllr Meikle volunteered to deliver them. Chetwynd Bridge road narrowing – to ensure the safety of the historic bridge and the public, concrete road narrowing barriers and a one-way system with traffic lights was being introduced. This could last for many years as a replacement bridge was required. Catton Hall had been informed of this and given Highways contact details for traffic planning. Website – this needed to be modernised in due course. Highways matters – the road signs at A513/ Catton Road junction had been reported and some still needed reinstating. Highways had confirmed that the pothole in Pessall Lane had been repaired. Pessall Lane pavements; the County Council had requested the developer to surface those outside the newer houses, but would take no action at present on the rest of these or along the service road off Croxall Road which had been previously reported. Defibrillators – An order had been placed for a replacement pad. RESOLVED to approve the Clerk’s report.

6. To receive correspondence
Lichfield District Council; news items.
SPCA bulletins; election information.
Village Hall calendar of events 2019
Staffordshire Police, information for Parish Council

7. To receive Councillor’s Reports
Cllr Cliffe said there were a lot of holes on Pessall Lane and would report it.
Cllr Dhillon said that a neighbour had asked for permission to trim a tree at Rowley Close; this was agreed.
Cllr Wesley had been approached by residents commenting on the good job the tenants of the Black Horse were doing, and as it was an Asset of Community Value it was agreed to write to the tenants saying that the community appreciated their hard work to improve the pub.
Cllr Startin noted that a lorry had been stuck on the pub car park and it was hoped that the surface would now be repaired.

8. To consider any planning matters 19/00042/COU New Buildings Farm; conversion of buildings to form 4 dwellings including demolition of garage and lean to, and erection of a two storey building comprising of garages and apartment with associated works; Prior notification had been granted for the change of use of a storage building to two dwellings conditional on improved visibility splays onto the A513. RESOLVED to object to this further application; although redundant agricultural buildings could be redeveloped for housing in the countryside there would be too many buildings on the site, Cllrs had concerns about the traffic impact on the A513.
Local Plan Review; consultation on this would last until March.

9. To consider Best Kept Village competition An expression of interest had been sent to the new organisers. More volunteers were needed to join in events such as a community clear up.

10. To consider tenders for grass cutting It was agreed to accept the tender received from a local firm, Village Gardeners. The Clerk would contact them to request the required paperwork before the work commenced.
11. To receive an update on bus and taxi transport A taxi had been organised for Tuesdays, a passenger informed the company of numbers and collected donations, and users were grateful for the support of the Parish Council. Very few from Edingale now used the Friday bus and Harlaston no longer required it. It was agreed to review the arrangements at the March meeting.

12. To receive election dates and information The election would take place on 2nd May and the Annual Meeting of the Council and Annual Parish Meeting could take place on 13th May. The Clerk would obtain nomination papers from the District Council and send these to existing Councillors who wished to stand again and would assist with details required for the form. The final date for the receipt of the completed nomination papers would be 3rd April at 4pm, papers to be hand delivered to Lichfield District Council by that deadline. If more than 7 nominations were received a poll would take place at the Village Hall along with the District Council election.

13. To receive the Financial Report. The bank reconciliation was noted, currently £6,205 in the current account. The precept request had been submitted to the District Council. The Cambridge Building Society interest for last year was £41.16. RESOLVED to approve the Financial Report.

14. To approve the payments on the payment schedule Mrs M Jones, salary and expenses, £283.76; Elford Parish Council, share of bus hire less donations December £157.70; Acorn Taxis, January £105.02 Society of Local Council Clerks, Clerk’s membership £32.84 Information Commissioner, data fee £35.00 RESOLVED to approve the payments.

15. Date of next meeting; Monday 4th March 2019.
The meeting closed at 20.30 p.m.