ECCLESHALL PARISH COUNCIL – ENHANCEMENTS AND PRESERVATION COMMITTEE – Wednesday, December 6^th 2023

A meeting of the Enhancements and Preservation Committee was held on Wednesday, 6^th December 2023 at Eccleshall Community Centre, after the Planning Committee meeting, at 7.45pm.

Present were:-

Councillor C. Ryan-Bloor (Chair)        Councillor G. Dale

Councillor D. Hill                               Councillor R. Taylor

Councillor C. Wilkins                         Councillor D. Hall

Councillor G. Dale

Mrs S. J. Worden (Clerk)

No members of the public

Observers: Cllr. A. Reid, Cllr. M. Gosling.

 1).    Apologies:-

Apologies were received from Cllrs. Perren, Jones and Langford.

2).    Minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday 4^th October 2023:-

The minutes, which had previously been noted by the Council, were agreed and signed.

3).   Asset inspections:-

Members were provided an update on outstanding remedial works to assets – the Stafford Road bus shelter panel has been damaged and is awaiting repair, and the new Eyeswell notice board is pending installation.

Costs for additional asset refurbishments:-

• Bus shelter at Croxton:

The bus shelter has significant rot to the rear and sides. It is not possible to obtain matching panels at present due to stock shortages. It was resolved to recommend acceptance of a quote for £295 to refurbish the shelter by using good panels from the back of the shelter to repair the sides and purchase suitable alternative panels to replace to the rear of the shelter.

Adoption of the circular blue bench on the Stone Road:-

• The Rotary club has agreed to the adoption of the circular blue bench on the Stone Road by the council. This will be refurbished next spring, along with the blue bench at the roundabout.

4).   Refurbished BT boxes:-

• To receive an update on any responses to repurposing of the BT box on the Washpits

The Ecclian Christmas tree is currently sited in the box. Cllr. Hill will contact Bishops Lonsdale PTA to explore the opportunity for children to display artwork in there, which could also be rolled out to local youth groups.

• Fair Oak defibrillator installation.

The defibrillator has been purchased and installation planned over the next two weeks. Martin Watson will register the unit and train the nearby resident on the necessary checks. The resident has agreed for the power supply to be provided from their property to the unit which has avoided the need to reconnect the box to the main power lines at a considerable cost. The committee were in favour of the recommendation to reimburse the resident for power used at a cost of £20 a year.  Cllr. Gosling noted that the First Responders hope to be back up and running by next summer. There are 6 prospective new candidates under consideration, who will need to undertake a week’s training course before they are able to start work.

5).   Croxton Play area and outdoor gym:

Annual inspection of play area and outdoor gym areas:

Members received the annual inspection reports for consideration. The only item of concern noted by the inspector at Croxton was the pending repair to the log walk, which has since been completed. There were no items of concern recorded at the outdoor gym areas, but there were some minor issues with required replacement of missing covers and handle ends, for which the clerk is obtaining quotes.

6).   To consider quotations for pavement clearance works along the Newport Road from Cross Butts to Wincote Lane:-

Payment has been made for the booking of traffic management and the work will be completed over the winter months.  A date is yet to be confirmed.

7).   Consideration of the quotation received by Staffs County Council for replacement of the damaged and missing oak posts in the town centre.

In the recent meeting with Highways, County representatives advised that the repair and replacement of the oak posts would not be a priority as funding is not currently available. Instead, they have provided a quotation for the Parish Council to consider funding the repairs. It was noted that the posts do provide protection to pedestrians by preventing cars mounting the built out crossing points or parking in the wrong areas. It was resolved to recommend approval of the quotation of £2500 to replace 10 oak posts. It was also noted that this would then be an expectation for the council to maintain and replace the posts moving forward, which should be considered in future budgets.

8).   Consideration of a suggestion to install an additional metal notice board on the High Street pavement in order to raise the profile of the Parish Council and its activities.

Members considered the idea and noted the benefits to having a more visible notice board than the one used for parish notices by the library. The blue board by the pharmacy is mostly used for community notices. It was agreed that the Community Engagement Working Group would discuss this further at its meeting next week and feedback on suggested locations.

9).   Feedback on Elford Heath jetting works:

There are concerns that the new pipe is sitting too high to allow the water to drain effectively towards the pond. The clerk will continue to chase the contractor to review the installation to see if a solution can be reached so that silt can still be prevented from blocking the pipe whilst improving the drainage.

10).  Feedback regarding overgrown hedges on Newport Road and Pershall Lane:

At the last inspection, only one resident had a hedge pending cutting back on the Newport Road. They have contacted the council to advise this is booked in and awaiting the availability of the contractor.

11).  Lengthsman Scheme – feedback on recent activity and collate any new work requests.

At the last meeting it was suggested that the milestones would benefit from a clean and vegetation clearance. Once the clerk is advised of the locations of the milestones this can be passed on for action. A member asked whether the lengthsman would cover tree removal on the open space to the front of Overton Manor. It was suggested that if the maintenance company would not do this, would there be a resident happy to help in the first instance.

12). Correspondence:-

• There was no correspondence for consideration.

14).  Items for next meeting:-

Any items for consideration to be sent to the Clerk.

15).  Date of Next Meeting:-  February 7^th, 2023, following the planning meeting.

There being no further business, the Chairman declared the meeting closed at 8.20pm.