ECCLESHALL PARISH COUNCIL – ENHANCEMENTS AND PRESERVATION COMMITTEE – Wednesday, 3^rd December, 2025

A meeting of the Enhancements and Preservation Committee was held on Wednesday, 3^rd December 2025 at Eccleshall Community Centre, after the Planning Committee meeting, at 7.50pm.

  Present were:-

Councillor S. Perren (Chairman)         Councillor D. Hall

Councillor D. Hill                                     Councillor C. Wilkins

Councillor A. Reid                                   Councillor R. Langford

Councillor R. Taylor

Mrs S. J. Worden (Clerk)

No members of the public

1).    Apologies:-

Apologies were received from Cllrs. Dale, Jones and Ryan-Bloor.

2).    Minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday 1^st October 2025:-

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

3).   Asset inspections:-

• There are no updates to report.

4).   Croxton Play area and Outdoor Gyms:

• Inspection Reports:

The annual reports have been delayed until February. This is not an issue as an alternative inspection was conducted in November and the area recorded as low risk.

Cllr. Langford requested clearance of overhanging tree branches from the site perimeter.

5).   Biodiversity Enhancements:

• The latest meeting was held on the 1^st December – the agreed minutes and any activity updates will be brought to the parish council meeting in January.

A summary was provided as follows:

• The planting voucher scheme is ongoing, with the current suggestion that the £5 vouchers would be exchangeable for a lavender plant as opposed to a hanging basket contribution. Johnsons and Fletchers would provide the plants and accept the vouchers. The council contribution would be £300 for 60 vouchers and the Ecclian Society will match this to provide 120 vouchers in total.
• Methods of publicising and issuing the vouchers were considered. The vouchers would be redeemed on a first come first served basis until numbers were reached.

The parish newsletter is usually late June, too late for the scheme, so an alternative suggestion was to advertise and give the vouchers out as part of the Parish Council Showcase on the 9^th June 2026. Any leftover vouchers could be issued from the library where there would be an accompanying window display.

• Reid will also ask the Borough Council if there is any match funding available for the scheme as it aligns with some of their initiatives.
• The Scouts completed the bulb planting at the crossroads and were given chocolates and food from Perry’s as a thank you, as well as some S ’mores ingredients for a campfire evening.
• The swift box at the Church will be a longer-term project as a faculty is required to approve the installation which can take months. Cllr. Taylor will ask if there are any opportunities at the castle for a swift box location.
• The Community Centre is being considered for erection of house martin/swallow boxes subject to site visit.
• Mifflin is researching costs for bird and bat boxes for places such as Elford Heath. Costs of up to £100 for all the boxes have been approved in the first instance.
• Langford attended a presentation by the Community Foundation of Staffordshire who run the Best Kept Village Competition. The format has been changed to encourage community involvement and environmental improvements. Cllr. Langford and the Clerk will attend an information webinar and report back to advise if it is worth considering participation.

6).   Beech Road Community Park:

• The committee received the notes from the latest working group meeting on the 20^th November:
  • The Clerk is still chasing quotes for a boundary fence adjacent to residential properties.
  • The bug hotel will be repaired w/c 8^th
  • It was resolved to approve the cost of £575 to purchase and install a bike rack by the entrance to the park. The area is owned by the Borough Council, who have given approval for the installation.
  • There are still instances of dog fouling on the site, and additional warning signage that were put up were torn down the same day. It is reliant on community consideration for all park users.
  • The planting project was discussed, and the group are looking at a 3-4 raised beds, with drought resistant, fragrant, bee/butterfly plants to create sensory interest. The aim is to start in spring, and the Clerk has been provided with contacts in the meantime to research costs for planters made of sleepers. Watering in hot periods will be necessary – options to consider include watering with the grounds maintenance contract or a weekly water as part of the bloom watering contract.
  • It was resolved to approve G-Tec Grounds maintenance as the contractor to undertake the annual Beech Road hedge cut at a cost of £300 plus VAT.

7).   Provision of goalposts:

The Clerk consulted the football club on any suitable options, who have advised that size is only dependent on the age range of the children who will be using the goal. Fixed posts will require ground sockets for installation. Whilst there is grant funding available, this would only be for a pair of posts and not a single goal. Concerns were raised that if a net was not part of the installation, the ball could end up on the road or in neighbouring gardens as it is not a large space for balls kicked at height and with force. Nets cannot be permanently left in place as they cause a hazard to wildlife. It was concluded there was no suitable option at this time to consider, but the space can continue to be used as an informal space for kickabouts.

8).   Stone Road Cherry Tree:

A columnar cherry will be available from Johnsons in the early part of next year, and the Clerk has registered an interest for notification when ready. It was advised that planting any time before the end of March will be suitable, but to ensure it becomes established, it will need regular watering for the first two years after planting. G-Tec have agreed to collect and plant the tree. Cllr. Taylor will ask a nearby neighbour if they would help with regular watering.

9).    Elford Great Crested Newt Pool Project

The newt partnership has responded to advise that they are still keen to consider options at Elford Heath, but are awaiting funding from compensation sites before this can be revisited.

Ongoing maintenance at Elford Heath was also discussed – it has been some time since the latest works and the Clerk suggested that a tree survey should be undertaken to identify any required tree works. The area could also be discussed with Mr. Cadman of the Wildlife Trust to see if there are any improvements that could be undertaken to enhance the site for visitors and increase biodiversity. It was agreed for the Clerk to progress this to obtain quotes and options for enhancement works, to report back.

10).  Lengthsman Scheme

The Clerk has requested vegetation clearance around the speed signs at the entrance to Croxton.

The work to dig off the Church Street pavement between the washpits and Kerry Lane was completed in November and has greatly improved pedestrian access.

11). Correspondence:

• Following on from the requests to cut back encroaching hedges, one conifer hedge on Main Road Croxton, is still to be cleared and has completely blocked the pavement. There has been no response from the resident. It was agreed to escalate the request to Homes Plus to request their support.

12).  Items for next meeting:-

Any items for consideration to be sent to the Clerk.

13).  Date of Next Meeting:-

February 4^th, 2025, following the Planning Committee meeting.

There being no further business, the Chairman declared the meeting closed at 8.45pm.