Parish Council Meeting

Minutes of the Meeting of Eccleshall Parish Council held on July 21^st, 2021

A meeting of Eccleshall Parish Council was held at Broughton Parish Rooms on 21^st July 2021 at  7.30pm. This meeting was followed by a meeting of the Planning Committee at 9.15pm.

The meeting opened with prayers

88/21).  Present were:-    

 Councillor P. Jones  (Chairman)           Councillor L. Dale

Councillor R. Taylor                              Councillor S. Mifflin

Councillor G. Dale                               Councillor B. Delanchy

Councillor S. Perren                            Councillor C. Wilkins

Councillor P. Stenning (until 8.40pm)   Councillor R. Langford

Councillor J. Leather                            Councillor J. Jones

Councillor A. Reid

Mrs S.J. Worden (Clerk)

2 members of the public

89/21.)    Apologies were received from Cllrs. Amos, Kean and County Councillor Pert.

90/21).   To consider Declarations of Interest and Councillor requests for dispensation relating to  items on the agenda.

Cllr. Mifflin declared an interest in the Croxton play area repair quotes and will not participate or vote on the item.

91/21).    Public Participation:

     A member of the public spoke to raise their concerns about glasses left out overnight from pubs that are causing a hazard to pedestrians. The Council was asked to speak to the pubs in question to ask for their support in clearing up at the end of the night. Cllr. Taylor advised she was planning to talk to the landlords for support with the issue of cigarette butt littering and would bring it to their attention.

92/21).    To approve the minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on May 5th, 2021:

The minutes, which had been previously circulated, were agreed and signed.

93/21).    To receive any reports from Borough and County Councillors:

Borough Councillor P. Jones advised his attendance at the second face to face meeting of the Borough Council at Rising Brook Church on the 20^th July.

94/21).   Committee Updates:

Traffic Management: 

There were no updates to report. Cllr. Reid noted he had passed on a resident request for support regarding the erection of ‘kids at play’ signs at appropriate locations and requested this to be discussed at the next meeting, at the earliest opportunity.

Footpaths:

• An update was received regarding the purchase of a new strimmer at a cost of £329.17 plus VAT and the disposal of current main strimmer as it was beyond economical repair.

Enhancements:

• The Parish Council considered and resolved to approve the committee to undertake a scoping exercise on potential locations and associated costs for outdoor gym equipment. A report will be presented for consideration by the Council in due course.
• Feedback on the tree works on the Eyeswell Open space was received. 2 x Ash and 1 x Robina trees were outstanding from the original proposal but it was agreed to leave these in place. The Ash trees had been trimmed and were causing no issues. The Robinia was providing screening to an adjacent property.
• Keyzors had revisited the site to assess a group of conifers sited near Usulwall Close. Removing the conifers will open up the entrance to the Open Space and improve the outlook. It was resolved to approve the quotation of £750 plus VAT to remove the conifers. Cllr. Dale advised she has spoken to the resident whose property backed onto the trees. It was noted that the soil in that area would be acidic so appropriate planting such as rhododendrons would need to be considered.
• 2 quotations were received for the work the replace the rotting logs on the log walk at Croxton Play area. It was resolved to approve the quotation by Mifflin Garden Services at a cost of £570 plus VAT to replace 4 posts and one cross beam with play grade posts.
• Feedback on the Helping Hand fund was provided to the Parish Council. The scheme ran from March 1^st until 31^st May 2021 and vouchers were provided to help 9 families in need.

Policy and Resources:

There were no updates to report.

The Sustainability and Climate Change Working Group currently report to the Enhancements Committee. It was resolved to change the line of reporting so that the group report directly to the Parish Council.

95/21).    To consider the draft Business Plan for 2021 – 2024

Members reviewed the draft plan. It was resolved to:

• Accept the Business Plan with an amendment to section 11.6 regarding transport and speed proposals.
• For the Clerk to obtain a quote and approve printing of 10 copies for distribution.
• Upload the final document onto the website and add an item to the September agenda to consider plans for publicity and engaging with the community.
• Retain the working group in order to feed into budget planning for 2022-23 and to review and revise the plan in line with the budget and for review at the Annual Council meeting in May 2022.

It was noted that the Business Plan is a flexible document and allows the Council to adapt plans should new opportunities arise.

The Business Plan working group membership consists of Cllrs. Reid, L. Dale, Stenning, P. Jones and Langford.

96/21).    Nominations for the SBC Community Awards

It was resolved to nominate Eccleshall Cares for the second year, in recognition of their ongoing work to support the community. Cllr. Reid agreed to provide a statement to support the application, in conjunction with the Clerk.

Cllr. P. Jones agreed to look into the voting system to determine if it is a public voting system.

97/21).    Update on the new Parish Council Website.

The new website is up and running, as are the new email addresses. The Clerk requested that all members visit the website and is happy to receive any suggestions for updating content.

There are some technical issues to resolve regarding direct email access via the webmail server but this is being looked at by the SCC web team and will be resolved. All members should be receiving their emails with no issue via the temporary diversion.

Members were asked to try to logon to their emails directly and contact the Clerk if any issues arise.

98/21).   To consider plans for the annual Civic Service in October 2021

Covid-19 prevented the Civic Service from being held in October 2020. It was resolved to proceed with the arrangements to hold the service in October 2021. Cllr. P. Jones will contact the Holy Trinity church to ask for availability around the 24^th or 17^th October. It was noted that they currently have a backlog of ceremonies to undertake. If Holy Trinity was not available, it was proposed to approach St. Paul’s, Croxton.

The Council also discussed options including providing more substantial refreshments and possibly linking it to a public meeting later in the day.

99/21).    To consider and adopt the new Parish Council Communications Policy

The new Communications Policy was reviewed by the Council. The new policy incorporates the existing Social Media policy. It was resolved to adopt the policy.

100/21).   To consider and adopt the Bring your Own Device Policy

The policy is a generic policy, clarifying the responsibility of councillors to ensure practical measures are in place to ensure the safety of Council information held on their own devices. This includes using passwords, not allowing others to access Parish Council information and to ensure any security software is up to date.

Members noted concerns regarding paragraph g), relating to the possibility that data held on personal devices could be subject to scrutiny by Parish Council representatives or other parties during legal proceedings. The Clerk agreed to clarify this with SPCA to understand potential implications and provide feedback at the September meeting where the policy will be reconsidered.

101/21).   To receive the minutes of the Bishops Wood working party and consider recommendations

The minutes and supplementary notes were circulated prior to the meeting and were received by the Council. The Working Group recommended the Council approach the Forestry Commission to discuss the possibility of a Community planting scheme. The scheme could be tied into the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations in 2022. The Council resolved in favour of this course of action and the Clerk will write to the Forestry Commission to initiate the conversation.

Cllr. P. Stenning left the meeting at this point.

102/21).    To receive the Clerk’s Report, including representative updates.

The Clerks report and liaison reports were received and accepted.

103/21).     Correspondence

• The introductory letter from Shropshire Fire and Rescue Station Manager was received and accepted.
• The council considered a request from a resident asking if the Parish Council could liaise with the Borough Council to provide signage on a shared access track on FP17 in relation to fly tipping warning signs and to highlight the dangers to dogs off lead where the path is used for vehicle access. It was resolved that the Council were supportive of this course of action and will liaise with the responsible authorities to request an appropriate course of action.

104/21     Chairman’s Report:-

Cllr. P. Jones provided the following update:

• He attended the Stone Area Parish Liaison Group meeting earlier that day.
• 2000 newsletters have been printed and 1800 copies distributed in the town by the scouts. Councillors were asked to take copies for their areas outside of the distribution zone. Cllr. Langford will take copies for Croxton, and Cllr. Leather for Slindon. The newsletter is also available to view online. Members discussed how the newsletters could be distributed to the whole parish. Concerns were raised with the Royal Mail service, which missed out some addresses with a recent mailshot. It was suggested that the Clerk contact Croxton Garage and the Star at Copmere to ask if they will have some for patrons to take.

105/21).    Financial Matters  

To accept the Financial report for July 2021:

It was resolved to accept the financial summary, which includes the bank reconciliation up to the 30^th June 2021.

Payments made since the last meeting under delegated authority to the Clerk were received and noted as follows:

To approve accounts for payment July 2021:-

Authorisation was sought for payment of the following accounts:-

All were in favour and the cheques were signed accordingly.

106/21).  The Parish Council resolved to approve delegation to the Clerk for dealing with items of emergency and payments of accounts until the next Parish Council meeting, in consultation with the Chairman and Vice Chairman.

107/21).    Items / Date and Venue for next meeting:-

The next meeting of the Parish Council is scheduled for 15^th  September 2021, commencing at 7.30pm. The Clerk will look into a venue change to Offley Hay Village Hall and will confirm the location in due course.

There being no further business, the Chairman declared the meeting closed at 9.10pm.