7 May 2019

Parish Council Minutes Apr 2019

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BRERETON  AND  RAVENHILL  PARISH  COUNCIL

 

Minutes of a Parish Council meeting held at the Parish Hall, Ravenhill Park, Brereton, on Tuesday, 2nd April 2019.

 

Present

 

Councillors R Easton [Chairman], K Ansell, Mrs P Ansell, Miss IJ Brown, Mrs DM Easton,             PA Fisher, Mrs W Fisher, Mrs G Harvey, TA Jones and GN Molineux.

 

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Miss C Harvey and Mrs R Harvey and

District Councillor D Foley.

 

Mr PG Davies, the Parish Clerk, was also in attendance.

 

  1. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

 

No declarations were given at the commencement of the meeting.

 

  1. MINUTES

 

RESOLVED

 

That the minutes of the meeting held on 5th March 2019, be approved and signed as a      correct record.

 

  1. CCAONB

 

The Chairman introduced Richard Harris [Land Management Officer] to the meeting.        Mr Harris tabled a copy of the new Management Plan 2019 – 2024 for the AONB and he undertook to send an electronic copy to the Clerk.

 

Members raised the following matters:-

 

  1. the lack of proper enforcement by the County Council in relation to minerals and waste within the AONB;
  2. some concern was expressed about 4 x 4’s and the consequential nuisance they could create;
  • a Neighbourhood Development Plan was being prepared and the Parish Council would welcome input from the AONB in the process;
  1. if the need arose in the future, the Parish Council would hope that the AONB would not object to an extension of Stile Cop Cemetery;
  2. the Parish Council were totally opposed to fracking, particularly on the AONB;
  3. reference was made to the removal of numerous broad leaf trees on the old mineral line [top of Colliery Road].

 

Mr Harris, in noting all of the above, undertook to report back to the Parish Council on [v] and [vi].

 

The Chairman thanked Mr Harris for attending the meeting.

 

  1. POLICE MATTERS

 

The Clerk circulated the Police Report for February 2019.

 

  1. CANAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECT

 

The Parish Council remained very concerned about the lack of progress being made by the

 

Canal and River Trust [CRT] in finalising the Agreement with the Parish Council and it was

 

RESOLVED

 

That the Clerk write again to the CRT requesting an urgent response to the correspondence sent in respect of the Agreement with the Parish Council and if no progress is made, the Clerk acquaint the local MP with the position.

 

  1. HIGHWAY MATTERS

 

The Clerk circulated an email from Mark Keeling [Community Infrastructure Liaison Manager] responding to various highway matters previously raised by the Parish Council.

 

RESOLVED

 

            That the Clerk write again to Mr Keeling in respect of the following:-

 

Redbrook Lane

Members remained concerned about the dangers associated with the junction of Redbrook          Lane with Main Road for the reasons previously set out in past correspondence and the        minutes of the Parish Council.

 

Main Road – Trees

The Parish Council considered that a letter should be sent by the County Council to the owners of the property concerned requesting that they take action to top or lop the trees and also to inform them that they had a duty to inform their insurance company of the dangers posed by the trees to the public highway.

 

Wall on Wharf Road

The Parish Council would urge the County Council to vigorously pursue this matter with the owners as the wall is in a dangerous state and could collapse at any time.

 

Wharf Road

The Parish Council remained concerned about double parking and members considered that restrictions in the vicinity of the nursery should be considered.  Reference was made to an incident where a lorry could not gain access due to indiscriminate parking.  This highlighted the fact that this could also apply to emergency vehicles, hence the need for some form of restriction.

 

  1. INDISCRIMINATE PARKING

 

RESOLVED

 

  1. That the Clerk write to both Parking Enforcement at the District Council and the Police regarding indiscriminate parking in Redbrook Lane which was causing a particular problem outside 48 Redbrook Lane and he refer to circumstances which had arisen when a local resident attempted to report the matter.

 

  1. That in the letter in [1] above, reference be made to parking on double yellow lines in the vicinity of the Co-op, Redbrook Lane, and the added dangers associated with this area due to its close proximity to a major road junction.

 

  1. TOPPING AND LOPPING OF TREES – SEABROOK ROAD

 

The Chairman paid tribute to all those volunteers who had assisted with the project to remove overgrown trees from a garden in Seabrook Road.  The owner of the property concerned and local residents were very grateful for the action which had been taken by the Parish Council.

 

  1. BIRCH LANE – FIRE

 

The Clerk reported that Royal Mail were very sorry to hear about the fire in Birch Lane.    They were, however, very pleased that Mr Martin Rogers and his colleague, Josh, were          able to assist Councillor Fisher in rescuing two dogs.  They wanted the Parish Council to be

assured that their efforts would be shared and recognised.

 

  1. ROAD SAFETY FUNDING

 

Councillor Fisher, along with the Clerk, would be preparing a bid for funding for a Road Safety Scheme within the parish.

 

  1. DOCUMENTATION

 

The Clerk tabled the following documents for the information of the Parish Council:-

 

  • HS2 update
  • BRACE Newsletter
  • Staffordshire Pension Fund – Employer Focus

 

  1. LEA HALL COLLIERY SITE AND RUGELEY A POWER STATION

 

The District Council had advised that the Authority had received £10,000 in Section 106 monies from the above sites.  The sum had been obtained for the purpose of enhancing pedestrian/cycle links via Love Lane and the canal towpath.  The work was currently under discussion with the County Council and the Canal and River Trust and it was expected that the funds would be spent during the 2019-2020 financial year.

 

  1. POSTAL VOTING

 

The Clerk reported that if there was a local election for the Parish of Brereton and Ravenhill, this Council would incur the full cost of charges associated with postal voting.

 

  1. 2 LARCH ROAD, BRERETON

 

The Parish Council noted that in the absence of the Clerk, the Chairman had sent a letter to HM Land Registry regarding the possessory title of the above property.  Members noted the circumstances which had resulted in the letter being sent and it was

 

RESOLVED

 

That the action taken be approved and confirmed.

 

  1. FLYING THE RED ENSIGN

 

RESOLVED

 

That a ceremony to fly the Red Ensign be held outside the Parish Hall on Monday,

2nd September 2019, at 11.00 am and Mr John Turner [a former Merchant Seaman] and his wife be invited to attend.

 

  1. LOCAL BUS SERVICES

 

The Clerk had circulated an email from the County Council regarding the withdrawal of certain bus services.  Members were concerned that the withdrawal of service 842 would result in no services being provided to the north, ie Hixon and Uttoxeter, etc for the residents of Brereton and Rugeley.  The withdrawal of the service would undoubtedly disadvantage the local community.

 

Members also expressed their concern that parishioners travelling by bus to Stafford Hospital had to change services in Stafford.  There was no longer a direct service to the hospital from Brereton and Ravenhill.  No information had been disseminated locally on these changes and, in particular, no guidance had been given on the services available from Stafford centre to the hospital.  The situation was again disadvantageous to local residents, particularly the elderly and disabled.

 

RESOLVED

 

That the foregoing views be conveyed to the County Council.

 

  1. PLANNING COMMITTEE

 

RESOLVED

 

That the minutes of the Planning Committee held on 5th March 2019, be approved.

 

  1. PARISH HALL MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE

 

RESOLVED

 

That the minutes of the Parish Hall Management Committee held on 6th March 2019, be approved.

 

  1. FINANCE AND MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE

 

RESOLVED

 

That the minutes of the Finance and Management Committee held on 6th March 2019, be approved.

 

  1. DATE OF NEXT MEETING

 

The Parish Council had previously agreed that the Annual Parish Council Meeting would be held on 14th May 2019, at 7.30 pm.

 

  1. PUBLIC FORUM

 

Following concern expressed by a resident, the Clerk undertook to include highway issues in respect of Lodge Road in his correspondence with the County Council.  The main issues related to indiscriminate parking on footpaths and verges, making access for the disabled and people with pushchairs particularly difficult.

 

 

 

 

______________________

[Chairman]