Meeting July 6th 2020

EDINGALE PARISH COUNCIL

MINUTES OF PARISH COUNCIL MEETING

Meeting of the Parish Council
held on Monday 6th July 2020
at 7.30 pm, online.

Members present:
Cllr Startin (Chair)
Cllr Cliffe
Cllr Dhillon
Cllr Mason
Cllr Meikle
Cllr Purkess

Present: Mrs M Jones, Clerk

1. To receive and approve apologies
Cllr Lacey had apologised for family reasons and his apology was accepted. District Cllr Ashley Yeates had also apologised as he had another meeting.

2. To receive any Declarations of Interest
None.

3. To approve the Minutes of the meeting of 1st June 2020
The Minutes were approved and would be signed by the Chair at the next face to face meeting of the Council.

4. To adjourn the meeting, to hold the Public Session and to reconvene the meeting.
No members of the public had attended.

5. To receive the Clerk’s Report
Chetwynd bridge – comments had been sent on the consultation regarding the proposed 40mph speed limit; the Parish Council had asked that this speed limit be extended to include the small bridge on the road to Catton, and for Chetwynd Bridge to be made wide enough for farm vehicles. County Cllr Alan White had confirmed that the funding of £2.35 million was for the refurbishment, not a new second bridge as previous information for landowners had indicated.
Councillor training – online courses were available to book, Cllrs Meikle and Mason asked to be sent further details of these.
Digital Mapping – the Clerk had done a training session on a digital mapping service for Parish Councils, a 3 month trial was available followed by a subscription of £48 per year. Its uses included access to Ordnance Survey, Environment Agency flood plans, Land Registry data and recording assets. Cllr Startin recommended an alternative free option and the Clerk would look into this.
Website – Photos of Virtual Open Gardens and VE Day had been uploaded. The Digital Team at Stafford had sent information on ensuring conformity with the new Accessibility Regulations coming into force in September.
Footbridge on Right of Way 14 – Reported to the Rights of Way team and would be addressed if resources allow. The fencing contractor would be contacted for a quote.
Audit – The Annual Governance and Audit Report had been submitted for Audit and publicised according to regulations.
Code of Conduct – Consultation had begun on a draft Model Member Code of Conduct which had been updated to make it more accessible and relevant.
Councillors discussed a possible breach of the existing Code of Conduct by Cllr Lacey. Two Cllrs had received complaints from some residents who had found a social media post offensive and the Clerk had written to him about this. He had subsequently discussed the matter with the Monitoring Officer at Lichfield District Council who had advised him on compliance with the Code of Conduct.

6. To consider any planning matters Applications received:
20/00588/FUH Hollows End Church Hollow No objection
20/00647/OUT Land adj Walton House Church Hollow Objection sent: errors regarding amenities, Right of way, narrow access, loss of amenity for neighbours, impact on Mease Special Area of Conservation and SSSI, size of property.
20/03/867 Cemex Plant Orgreave, Alrewas Objection to increased traffic on and around A38

7. To consider potholes and road damage.
A number of potholes and road works signs on Harlaston Road had been reported to Highways. One had been marked on Pessall Lane although there were more along the road. A number of pavements had been marked for repair and the Clerk would ask Highways about the plans for this work.

8. To consider trees on land behind Rowley Close.
A resident had contacted the Parish Council about trees overhanging into gardens and saplings growing on land behind the houses. The landowner had been notified and the work would take place in Autumn.

9. To receive correspondence.
SPCA, bulletins and training
Staffordshire County Council weekly report
Lichfield District Council news updates
National Forest update
Community Speed Watch update

10. To receive Councillors’ Reports
Cllr Cliffe asked that residents be reminded that traffic from farm vehicles would increase over the summer and that vehicles should be parked safely along Croxall Road to allow these to pass without any problems.
She also asked that the contractor be asked to strim around the Edingale sign on Croxall Road, and Cllr Mason suggested the same on Harlaston Road.
Cllr Mason asked whether anything had been heard about the taxi service, but it was suggested that the users were not ready to resume this yet.
Cllr Meikle asked whether the playground would be opening soon. Cllr Purkess said that this would be reconsidered over the next couple of weeks. There had been concerns about cleaning the equipment, although other local play areas had been opened with the responsibility for this passed to parents, and signs would need to be put up make this clear.
Cllr Meikle had noticed fly posting around the village and it was agreed that the Clerk would contact those responsible to ask them to remove the posters, to prevent this setting a precedent.
Cllr Meikle also asked whether the Black Horse had re-opened and Cllr Mason said that it appeared to be well organised to cope with the new government advice.

11. To receive the Financial Report (a) The current account currently stood at £16,227. (b) The comparison against the budget for the first quarter was given. (c) The capital fund remained the same at £68,577.

12. To approve the payments on the payment schedule Mrs M Jones, salary and expenses £285.42; The Village Gardeners, mowing £478.50; Lichfield District Council, bin emptying £780.00 Elford Parish Council, share Zoom cost £11.99 RESOLVED to approve the payments.

13. Date of next meeting; Monday 7th September 2020, 7.30pm
The meeting closed at 20.10 p.m.