Meeting 4th July 2022

DRAFT MINUTES OF PARISH COUNCIL MEETING
Meeting of the Parish Council
held on Monday 4th July 2022
7.30 pm, at Edingale Village Hall
Members present:
Cllrs Startin (Chair), Cliffe, Dhillon, Lacey, Maskery, Mason and Meikle
Present:17 members of the public and 3 representatives of Staffordshire County Council Highways.
50/22. To receive and approve apologies
None received.
51/22. To receive any Declarations of Interest
None received.
52/22. To approve the draft Minutes of the meeting of 6th June 2022 The Minutes were approved and would be signed at the next meeting.
53/22. To adjourn the meeting, hold the public session, to reconvene
Engineers from Staffordshire County Council explained that during the last month further structural assessments of Chetwynd Bridge had taken place and the arch ribs are cracking. If one breaks, the bridge will be closed. Therefore the 18 tonne weight limit will be imposed in August. Due to the structural condition of the bridge the weight restriction needed to be imposed sooner rather than later as any delay might result in the bridge failing and being closed until the new bridge is built which would be a disaster for the area. It will take at least 2 years for the new bridge to be built.
Various points were made by members of the public present. It was suggested that the bridge would need to be available for traffic in excess of the 18 tonne limit on various dates in August, including important times for farming and dates for the Bloodstock Festival at Catton Hall. They would look into this but the engineers reiterated that if they allowed heavier vehicles to cross for longer, there was the risk of further damage.
Cllr Startin offered to provide loading information for farm vehicles to forward to the engineers so individual vehicles could obtain an exemption to cross the bridge.
It was hoped this would be a way forward for the farming community.
The representatives from Staffordshire County Council were thanked for coming and left the meeting along with most of the public. 6 members of the public remained.
A report was given by Mr Dayman on quotes for solar panels for the Village Hall. The Parish Council would be approached for 50% of the funding. A decision was needed as soon as possible as prices were rising and ideally the work should be done in August. The Parish Council thanked him for his presentation and would consider how best to deal with this.
54/22. To receive the Clerk’s Report
None given due to illness.

55/22. To consider any Planning matters
No new matters.
Cllrs to be consulted on any applications received before the September meeting.

56/22. To consider outcomes of discussion on Chetwynd Bridge
It was agreed that Cllr Startin would contact the engineers with technical information so that exemptions could be made.

57/22. To consider progress on village name signs
The National Forest had agreed to grant £1209.98 towards the signs and installation costs. Suppliers would now produce the gates and signs; Highways’ contractors would install these once permits were arranged.
58/22. To consider the Best Kept Village Community Competition
A further round of judging has taken place. Cllr Meikle had mentioned the state of the school playing field to the school and that was resolved a couple of days later. Cll Meikle congratulated everyone on their efforts and encouraged all to continue to keep things as tidy as possible. The results of the competition were usually announced in September.

59/22. To consider parking near Village Hall entrance
Highways had sent information; the only option appeared to be Access Protection Marking. The Village Hall Committee would be informed of this by Cllr Maskery as they were responsible for the building.

60/22 To consider County Council land adjacent to Village Hall field
The Clerk had contacted the Headteacher for her view but there was no response yet. It had been suggested that the Parish Council should consider buying this land and this would be carried forward to the next meeting.

61/22 To consider tree planting for HM Queen’s Green Canopy scheme
This would be carried forward for consideration at a future meeting.

62/22 To receive Councillors’ Reports
Cllr Dhillon had been asked about the future of the school – he was advised that this was discussed with the Headteacher at the Annual Parish Meeting who reassured Cllrs that the future of the school was no more of an issue than it had ever been. Low numbers had also been a concern.
Cllr Mason thanked everyone for their help at the Open Gardens and Scarecrow Weekend.
Cllr Mason was continuing talks with the Trent Rivers Trust about local lands.
Cllr Mason mentioned that the owners of a property on Woodyard Drive had suggested that Christmas lights could be put in the sycamore tree on the land by the post box; this was something to consider closer to Christmas. They also asked for some hedgehog warning signs to be put around the village and it was agreed that this should be investigated.
Cllr Startin mentioned that the verges had not been mowed and asked for the Clerk to chase up the County Council about this.
A member of public had asked about the fallen tree at the football club at Harlaston. The Clerk would be asked to write to Edingale Swifts FC to ask if they could arrange for the tree to be removed.
Cllrs were favourable towards the proposal to contribute towards solar panels on the Village Hall and would consult the Clerk about how to proceed. In the meantime, Cllr Maskery would ask the Committee to complete a grant application form.

63/22. To receive correspondence
Staffordshire Parish Councils Association; Bulletins, Welcome Pack
Edingale Village Hall newsletter Staffordshire Police, launch of local policing initiative Gallaghers confirmation of insurance renewal Emma Small- Trent Rivers Trust, River Mease improvement proposals
64/22. To receive a Financial Report
The current account stood at £20,441.
RESOLVED to approve the Financial Report, see Appendix 1.

65/22.To approve the payments on the payment schedule
Staff costs, £487.37
Village Gardeners, mowing £539.50
Coralie Wells, sign and logo development £200
It was RESOLVED to approve the payments; Cllr Purkess would authorise these.

66/22. Date of next meeting
Monday 5th September 2022, 7.30 at Edingale Village Hall.
The meeting closed at 8.50pm