Meeting 3rd February 2020

DRAFT MINUTES OF PARISH COUNCIL MEETING

Meeting of the Parish Council
held on Monday 3rd February 2020
at 7.30 pm at Edingale Village Hall.

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

Present: Mrs M Jones, Clerk, and 3 members of the public. The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.

1. To receive and approve apologies
Cllr Lacey had apologised. Approved.

2. To receive any Declarations of Interest
None received.

3. To approve the Minutes of the meeting of 6th January 2020
The minutes were approved and signed by the Chair.

4. To adjourn the meeting, to hold the Public Session and to reconvene the meeting.

Wildlife pond – The Parish Council’s contractor gave information about the proposed location on the Rowley Close open space following his meeting with Cllrs Startin and Mason. The next step would be to consult residents for their views for and against the proposal. Cllrs discussed local people’s comments about safety and flooding. It was agreed to seek confirmation from the County Council’s Flood Risk Assessment Officer that it would not cause flooding. All residents would be informed by leaflet and asked to send a response with positive or negative comments. Cllr Mason would compose the leaflet and Cllr Purkess would liaise with the Village Hall Committee on combining delivery of this with their newsletter during February. Details would be added to the website. The proposed location would be marked out on the ground.

Best Kept Village – The competition was changing to make it more relevant and to reflect community activities in the villages which entered. A meeting would take place in Longdon later in the week to give information on this; representatives from Edingale would attend.

5. To receive the Clerk’s Report
Code of Conduct training – the Clerk had attended this and gave an update on the key points; details from the presentation at Lichfield’s Parish Forum had been circulated to Cllrs. Tree trimming at Rowley Close – Cllr Mason had met the tree surgeon to explain the work required, he would send a quote. Cllrs would be informed of this and the work ordered by the Clerk if it was reasonable.
Climbing frame – the dumped equipment was causing concerns about children’s safety to the Village Hall Committee; Cllr Startin had previously offered to remove it as the owner had not cooperated with the request.
Cllr Startin would take it away as soon as possible.

6. To consider any planning matters There were no applications. Comments had been sent on the Local Plan Review. Planning had been informed about the new gateway in Mill Lane.

7. To consider meetings regarding flooding
A meeting had been arranged for Councillors on 21st February with the Environment Agency who wished to explain a project for the area to them. A public meeting to discuss other matters could then be arranged for a later date. Cllr Mason said that this should include information about future plans for Walton Bridge as this was an alternative route for villagers.

8. To consider proposal to construct a village pond
This had been covered during the open session. RESOLVED that villagers would be informed of the proposal and their responses would be discussed at the next Parish Council meeting.

9. To consider Best Kept Village competition
RESOLVED that Edingale would enter again; entry would be prepared in February/March.

10. To receive correspondence
SPCA bulletins, details of Cllr training courses
LDC, various news items
Staffs Community Foundation, Best Kept Village information, grant alert for energy projects forwarded to the Village Hall
Resident regarding clearance of roadside ditches to limit flooding
Harlaston Parish Council suggestion of a joint litter pick along Harlaston Lane. Cllr Mason would liaise with their Clerk about this.

11. To receive Councillors’ Reports
Cllr Cliffe expressed the concerns of some local people about a Bromford resident and these were discussed.
Cllr Mason offered votes of thanks to two local residents, one for picking up litter and one for trimming hedges. He would pass on the thanks of the Parish Council to them.

12. To receive the Financial Report (a) The bank reconciliation was given; £8049 was in the current account following the receipt of £2371 for reclaim of VAT. (b) Capital fund £68,528 in total – Cambridge Building Society change of signatories completed; Mrs Jones, Mrs Cliffe, Mrs Purkess (c) Buckinghamshire Building Society FSCS self-declaration signed RESOLVED to approve the Financial Report.

13. To approve the payments on the payment schedule Mrs M Jones, salary, overtime and expenses £415.15; HMRC £21; Acorn Taxis, hire £315; Society of Local Council Clerks, Membership £63; RESOLVED to approve the payments.

14. Date of next meeting; Monday 2nd March 2020. 7.30pm
The meeting closed at 8.45 p.m.