Minutes of the Meeting of Eccleshall Parish Council held on 19^th April 2023

A meeting of Eccleshall Parish Council was held at Broughton Parish Rooms on 19^th April 2023 at 7.30pm. This meeting was followed by a meeting of the Planning Committee at 9.10pm.

50/23).   Present were:-

Councillor P. Jones (Chairman)           Councillor B. Delanchy

Councillor R. Taylor                            Councillor J. Jones

Councillor S. Kean                              Councillor D. Hill

Councillor S. Mifflin                              Councillor S. Perren

Councillor C. Ryan-Bloor                     Councillor R. Langford

Councillor G. Dale                              Councillor L. Dale

Mrs Stacey Worden (Clerk)

Borough and County Councillor J. Pert (until 8.07pm)

Five members of the public

51/23.)   Apologies were received from Cllrs. Leather, Reid and Wilkins.

52/23).  To consider Declarations of Interest and Councillor requests for dispensation relating to       items on the agenda.

There were no requests to receive, and no declarations of interest were made.

53/23).  Public Participation:

There were five members of the public in attendance. Three residents spoke on the following topics:

• Parking and Speedwatch:- The resident advised Cllr. Reid has received a copy of recent Speedwatch data, to compare with the data from the speed indication devices. It has been confirmed that the Speedwatch team can operate within the new 40mph zones and they will consider operating in those areas in the future. The resident registered his interest in joining the Parking Working Group when convened in May. Ongoing parking issues were identified along Churchfield Road and Gaol Butts but the resident is having issues with reporting via the County Council parking link.
• Parking:– a resident spoke with regards to a potential location for parking, located on land to the rear of the library and asked for the council to support this opportunity. The proposal has been received by the Clerk and will be considered by the Traffic Management Committee.
• Sewerage system:– the resident spoke about Sancerre Grange and the overspill from the attenuation pond and asked whether this overspill is piped to the river instead of the sewage works. Concerns were also raised about flooding to properties on Green Park. It was noted that if gutters and drainpipes were re-organised to flow into the combined system with foul water that these pipes were relatively small and would become overwhelmed.

54/23).  To approve the minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on March 15^th 2023

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

55/23).   Report from the Borough Councillor, County Councillor, and police representatives

Borough and County Councillor J. Pert provided a report. Updates included:

• Councillors were thanked for their service and work over the last 4 years. Congratulations were expressed to those seeking to retire.
• The Secretary of State recently visited the Stafford Campus of the Newcastle and Stafford Colleges Group to see the significant transformation undertaken since 2016.
• Work is ongoing with the Market Square regeneration and Shire Hall Business Centre is now 2/3rds full. Work has commenced on Stafford History Centre.
• The proposed Institute of Technology, to be sited near the railway station, is fully funded and has received planning permission.
• Pert attended a ceremony in Croxton to plant a tree to commemorate the upcoming Coronation of King Charles III.
• Eccleshall Tennis Courts have completed work to resurface both courts.
• The planned new speed limits are now in place within the Parish. Speed vans will be in operation along these roads in due course.

Members raised concerns regarding the need to provide necessary infrastructure within Eccleshall to support the growth of the area, to include parking provision. Cllr. Pert noted that evidence would need to be provided to show a need for parking and whether post pandemic there is still a requirement for additional parking. Cost of acquiring land would be significant. Comments were made regarding the potential for shopkeepers to park elsewhere to release spaces for visitors, and also the general poorer quality of parking which reduced the overall number of available spaces.

Potholes were discussed – work is planned to use the additional funding from central government to address the worst potholes in the area. The current list includes ones at the top end of Eccleshall and some in Croxton. If members wish to advise Cllr. Pert of any others, this will need to be advised within the next few days.

Borough Councillor P. Jones provided a report. Updates included:

• The last surgery before the pre-election period was held on Saturday 18^th March
• Recent meetings attended include the Borough Council’s Audit & Accounts committee and Health and Wellbeing Committee and chaired a meeting of the Stafford & District ACCESS group. The last full Borough Council meeting in the County Council chamber was held on Tuesday 18th April – the last meeting in the position of Deputy Mayor.
• On Friday 28th April he will be in attendance as part of the bodyguard for the Mayor to the Opening of the Law Courts in Stafford.

(Borough and County Councillor J. Pert left the meeting at this point).

56/23).   To consider any requests by councillors regarding committee membership

It was resolved to approve the addition of Cllr. Ryan-Bloor to the Enhancements committee membership.

57/23).   Committee Updates:

  Traffic Management:

• The minutes of the meeting held on the 5^th April 2023 were noted.
• It was resolved to approve the recommendation to liaise with Highways for feasibility of installing an additional Speed device location in Croxton and obtain contractor costings for consideration.
• Members received the summary speed device report (produced from the original committee reports) and considered approval to upload to the council website after 4^th May and publicise via Facebook for public interest. It was resolved to approve publication of the report, post election. It was also resolved to approve the Clerk to work with Cllr. Reid to make some temporary adjustments to the speed indication devices in order to collect extra data to help with future analysis. Cllr. Reid was thanked for his work on the reports.
• It was resolved to approve the recommendation to set up a parking working group, reporting to the Traffic Management Committee, with membership to be agreed at the 17^th May Annual Meeting of the Council.
• It was resolved to approve the recommendation to write to local businesses to encourage alternative options to parking in the High Street.
• It was resolved to approve the recommendation to submit an FOI to Staffordshire County Council to ascertain compensation costs incurred as a result of pothole damage within the parish and to find out the total number of potholes reported within the parish and how many of these have been repaired, both requests over a 12 month period.
• It was resolved to approve the recommendation to contact highways to find out timescales for follow up works to the High Street road surface.
• It was resolved to approve the recommendation to write to Cllr. Pert to explore options for speed mitigation measures in Croxton and reinstatement of a 30mph roundel in a key speed area.

Footpaths:

• Work is ongoing with the circular walks project – all walks have been checked and final proofreading is being undertaken.
• The Bench to Bench walks booklet is proving popular – all stock of the parish version has been used and we are now distributing the Borough Council version.

Enhancements:

• The minutes of the meeting held on the 5^th April 2023 were noted.
• It was resolved to approve the recommendation to award the watering contract to Perry’s of Eccleshall.
• It was resolved to approve the recommendation to approve G-Tec to undertake pavement clearance works along the Stafford Road as TGM are not able to complete the works at this time.
• It was resolved to approve the recommendation to delegate the Clerk, in conjunction with the Enhancements Chairman, to provide lists and authorise work to the lengthsman contractors, within the approved budget.
• It was resolved to approve the recommendation to commission 3 x quarterly operational inspections of Croxton play area by HAGS, at a cost of £70 per inspection.
• It was resolved to approve the recommendation to write to Stafford Borough Council to reiterate the ongoing interest of the Parish Council to take over the Beech Road play area and to request an update on the request.

  Policy and Resources:

• There were no updates to report.

  Events:

• The minutes of the meeting held on the 5^th April 2023 were noted.
• An update on the Coronation Picnic was provided by Cllr. Taylor. 462 tickets were sold at the library on the 15^th April to date this is now 540. Only 28 car parking tickets have been sold. Cllr. Taylor needs a minimum of 4 additional marshals and asked members if they know anyone who can volunteer. Shifts are 11-2pm or 2-4.30pm.
• The Croxton afternoon tea event is very popular and only 6 out of 80 tickets are still available.

58/23).    Flooding:-

• Members received feedback from Eccleshall Flood Action Group (EFLAG) on the public meeting held on the 13 April:
  • There were 10 attendees in total, including a representative from Severn Trent Water.
  • Topics included flooding in the areas of Green Park, Castle Mews and the High Street.
  • EFLAG noted that new build properties must have separate systems for surface water and foul water but older properties may have a combined system where surface water runs into one main sewer system which puts added load to the system. Some properties may have soakaways in place to drain away excess surface water.
  • Severn Trent are continuing to survey Eccleshall and have a live map of the drainage system which is updated daily. Whilst not publicly available they were happy to show this to meeting attendees. This helped to resolve a query about the direction of a drainage pipe on Stafford St near to the Stone Road roundabout, showing that the pipe ran down Stone Road, to Cherry Tree Close and to the sewerage works.
• It was resolved to invite the Severn Trent representative to meet with the Parish Council in order to talk about the flooding issues and to view the live map.
• Members considered the questions from EFLAG to be asked of relevant flood authorities in order to support and progress resolution of current issues. It was resolved to contact the County Flood Authority in relation to updating of advice to reflect recent incidents of flooding and why Eccleshall is a ‘Top 5’ area of concern for flooding in Severn Trent’s Staffordshire review, but not mentioned by the County Flood Authority Team. It was also resolved to contact County Highways to ask if certain gullies and drains be added to a higher-frequency rota for cleaning (including Croxton and Stafford Rd/St) and to ask for what further measures can be taken to prevent flooding in Stych Lane in Slindon. Residents of Castle Mews are in the process of liaising with landowners and the Council will await further information.
• The council also considered a request to support residents for action to resolve flooding on Langot Lane, Fairoak. The issue was raised some time ago with the relevant authorities but there was no resolution as to who was responsible for the flooding – landowners, County Council or Severn Trent Water. It was resolved to write to the County Council to ask for this to be revisited in order to provide a resolution for the residents.

59/23).  To provide an update to discussions with Stafford Borough Council regarding the Eagle Street Art location

There has been no progress made with Stafford Borough Council – the Parish Council has been asked to consider what associated works/actions it is prepared to consider and to record a formal position on whether there is interest in taking over the public toilets in that area.

It was resolved to put this on the May meeting agenda for the new council to consider it if wishes to continue with the project and if so, what further proposals are required in order to proceed.

60/23).  To consider alternative dates and options for the Annual Meeting and Community Forum due to issues with availability of a suitable room.

The only available day for a room of a suitable size for a forum in May is a Friday evening, which is not expected to be a popular day to encourage attendance. It was resolved to hold a smaller annual meeting on May 24^th 2023 in order to comply with the legal requirements and to hold a larger forum later in the year when an appropriate venue can be secured.

61/23).  Clerk’s report, containing liaison representative updates.

The report was received and noted.

62/23).  Correspondence

• Members considered the Rural Services Network offer for 12 months trial membership to the new Rural Village Services group. It was resolved to accept the offer and review the benefits prior to the renewal.

63/23).  Chairman’s Report:-

The Chairman provided a report. Points included:

• He recently participated in a staffing committee for the annual Clerks appraisal and attended the EFLAG meeting on the 13^th
• Members of the Council were thanked for their support during the past 4 years of chairmanship.
• The respective chairmen of the committees (Cllr. Libby Dale – Traffic Management and Enhancements, Cllr. Delanchy – Planning, Cllr. Taylor – Footpaths and Events) and members were also thanked.
• Thanks were also expressed to Cllr. John Leather, who is standing down from the Council. His expertise will be missed.
• The Chairman also thanked the Clerk for her help and support.

64/23).  Financial Matters

• To accept the Financial report and bank reconciliation to 31^st March 2023:

       It was resolved to accept the financial summary, which includes the bank reconciliation up to and  including 31^st March  2023.

Payments made since the last full Council meeting were received and noted as follows:

• To approve accounts for payment April 2023:-

Authorisation was sought for payment of the following accounts:

All were in favour and the accounts will be paid accordingly.

65/23).  Items / Date and Venue for next meeting:-

The next meeting of the Parish Council is scheduled for 17^th May 2023, Broughton Parish Rooms at 7.30pm. Agenda items can be forwarded to the Clerk for consideration.

There being no further business, the Chairman declared the meeting closed at 9.05pm.