Meeting 6th March 2023

EDINGALE PARISH COUNCIL

DRAFT MINUTES OF PARISH COUNCIL MEETING

Meeting of the Parish Council
held on Monday 6th March 2023
7.30 pm, at Edingale Village Hall

Members present:
Cllrs Startin (Chair), Cliffe, Maskery, Mason and Meikle
Present: 6 members of the public
Minutes taken by Cllr Maskery

33/23. To receive and approve apologies
Cllr Lacey had apologised for health reasons and his apology was accepted.
Cllr Dhillon had apologised as he was away, his apology was accepted.
Mrs Jones, Clerk, was also absent for health reasons.

34/23. To receive any Declarations of Interest
The following comments were noted:
Cllr Mason – to reimburse payment for replacement tubs, plants and compost
Cllr Maskery – payment of room rental to Edingale Village Hall (also has role as Treasurer to Village Hall, not a pecuniary interest)

35/23. To approve the draft Minutes of the meeting of 6th February 2023 The draft Minutes were approved and would be signed at the next meeting.
36/23 To adjourn the meeting, to hold the public session, to reconvene
Questions from Member of Public:
How can the Parish Council inspire those with unkempt gardens to get them in order for judging for the Best Kept Village Competition? It was suggested that a Facebook post should be made by the Clerk a couple of weeks before judging. Posting a letter through doors was also suggested, asking people whether they need help with their gardens.
Has the Parish Council approached HS2 for a grant for inconvenience to residents? It was suggested that the Clerk write a letter asking whether anything is available due to the impact of the A38 Lichfield junction being closed for long periods and also many night closures were due during the summer.
37/23 To receive the Clerk’s Report
Village signs -The sign company had confirmed that they were not liable for replacement signs, as they had been drilled to make them fit before being contacted for instructions. Decision – to put some silicon where the signs have been drilled and then take no further action.

Tall trees in Church Lane – The tree surgeon had checked these for safety and provided a verbal report. Decision – Clerk to write to Holy Trinity Church asking them to carry out remedial work.

Speed limit in Pessall Lane – Highways had been contacted about this enquiry and the officer had confirmed the lane was within the 30mph limit. Decision – Clerk to write to ask Highways for a reminder/repeater sign. Clerk also to request new priority sign going over Pessall Brook as sign is missing.

38/23 To consider any Planning matters.
No new applications or decisions to report.
A Planning Appeal had been notified for the solar farm application at Lullington, no action would be taken by Edingale Parish Council.
39/23 To consider development of a Parish Council logo
It was RESOLVED to accept version 3 of the designs provided by a local graphic designer.

40/23 To consider replacing the flags
The School’s Headteacher had confirmed she did not know the whereabouts of the keys to the flagpole. A member of the public offered to photograph the lock and send it to Cllr Maskery so a decision on the lock could be made.

41/23 To consider joining CPRE Staffordshire
The membership was £36 per year. It was RESOLVED that the Clerk would apply for membership for this year and this would then be reviewed.

42/23 To consider maintenance
It was RESOLVED to ask the contractor to clean the name signs as required at a cost of £75 per clean, it was anticipated that this would only be required once a year. The Clerk should request this to be done in April just prior to Best Kept Village judging.

43/23 To consider correspondence on Chetwynd Bridge.
The Parish Council noted further information received from Mr Pincher on this matter from the Chief Executive of Staffordshire County Council.
It was RESOLVED that the Clerk should ask the necessary authority to put in place some form of enforcement to catch those disobeying the weight restriction rather than threaten to close the bridge. The Clerk should also contact County Cllr Alan White to ask for his help to expedite the new bridge.

A traffic notice had been received advising that the bridge would be closed overnight from 9pm – 6am from March 13th to 18th.
44/23 To consider Best Kept Village Community Competition
The Head Judge of the competition had spoken before the meeting about the criteria for judging this year.
It was RESOLVED that Edingale would enter. Cllr Meikle would make the application and it was RESOLVED that the Parish Council would pay the entry fee.

45/23 To consider May 2023 elections
It was noted that photo ID was now required for those voting. Cllr Maskery will ask the Editor of the Parish Magazine to include information about this.

The Clerk should obtain nomination forms from Lichfield District Council and email copies to each of the present Councillors.
The Clerk should put information on the Parish Council noticeboard and Facebook advising Parishioners where they can find information about becoming a councillor.
Key dates had been circulated.

46/23 To receive Councillors’ Reports
Cllr Cliffe and Cllr Startin mentioned potholes again and would try to obtain more information to report them to Highways.
Cllr Meikle reported a manhole cover which needed attention on the Rowley Close open space. He would report it to Severn Trent to arrange for it to be repaired.
Cllr Mason had replaced 2 flower barrels; it was noted that more new ones may be needed next year.

47/23 To receive Correspondence
SPCA bulletins and Cllr training information
Lichfield District Council design codes workshop
Lichfield Police update

48/23 To receive a Financial Report
The bank reconciliation stood at £8473.
It was RESOLVED to approve the report. See appendix 1.

49/23 To approve payments on the Payment Schedule.
Staff costs; salary, expenses, pension and PAYE, £412.60
Acorn Taxi – invoice not yet received
Village Gardeners, hedge clearance and footpath £360
Cllr Mason, planters, compost and bulbs £104.46
Staffordshire County Council, gateway installation £1700
Npower, electricity for Christmas illuminations, £18.67 and £15.98
Edingale Village Hall, room hire £176
It was RESOLVED to approve the payments; Cllr Maskery would authorise these.

It was RESOLVED to approve the Village Hall grant of £1000 for the Coronation event.

50/23 Date of next meeting
Monday 3rd April 2023. The meeting closed at 8.35 pm.

Appendix 1
Financial Report
Date 27/02/2023
Bank Reconciliation Current
Balance bf 11,747.20 Cooperative
less payments 22,141.46 Community Acc.
Plus receipts 19,214.25
Total 8,819.99 8,819.99

Includes receipts of £1209.98 National Forest grant for signs and taxi donations for January and February of £165
Performance against budget

Heading Budget To end of year Remaining
Staff costs 4600 4608 -8
Admin 2879 2769 110
Room hire, taxi, subs etc
Maint. 6921 7712 -791
Grass cutting, trees etc
S137 2400 2400 0
Donations, church, party
-689

Transfers
Amounts to be transferred from capital (Cooperative instant access account) to current account for assets – barrels (79.98) and costs of signs and gateways (3403.32 exc. VAT plus installation 1700 = 5,103.32 less grant from National Forest of 1209.98 = 3893.34).
Total from Cooperative Instant access account 3973.32

Grant to Village Hall for Coronation Event
To approve request for grant of £1000 as in budget 2023-2024

Village Hall room rental
To note an increase from £6 to £8 per hour from April – £176 a year as opposed to the budget sum of £132 – this has not increased for many years and costs are rising.