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Here are the minutes of the latest Oulton and Moddershall Parish Council Meeting
Forthcoming Parish Council Meetings will be held at Moddershall Village Hall on the following dates
Wednesday 11th November 2009
Wednesday 13th January 2010
at 7.30 p.m.
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STONE RURAL PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of Parish Council Meeting held on 8 July 2009
at Moddershall Village Hall at 7.30pm
Present: Councillors M.J. Kenny (Chairman)
Mrs P. Dimberline D.B.L. Fletcher
R.Hawley P. Proctor
T.D. Scrivens M. Tyler
W.J. Wooliscroft
County Cllr I.M. Parry
Borough Cllr D. Davis
Richard Jarrett (Parish Clerk)
09/19 QUESTIONS FROM MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC
There were no members of the Public present on this occasion.
09/20 APOLOGIES
Apologies were received from Cllrs. J. Henderson and P.Proctor and Mrs J. Wright (Village Agent).
09/21 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
Cllr D. Davis declared that he was a Director of Groundwork, Stoke-on-Trent (Item No.9 on Agenda).
09/22 MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON WEDNESDAY 6 MAY 2009
The minutes of the previous Parish Council Meeting held on 6 May 2009 were approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.
09/23 MATTERS ARISING NOT ON THE AGENDA
(i) The Clerk advised members that the new Parish Notice Board for Meaford had been installed adjacent to the Nursery School/George & Dragon P.H. on the A34 spur road. The Clerk would serve as the keyholder.
(ii) Mrs Dimberline drew attention to The Boar Inn at Moddershall and the current state of the pool in front of the Public House.
Action: It was agreed that the Clerk should write to the owners, Enterprise Taverns, setting out the Parish Council¡¯s concerns at the condition of the pool.
Note: The Clerk visited the site on 14 July to discover that The Boar Inn had been purchased by a new owner in the last few days and that the state of the pool had already been addressed by contractors who were looking to re-open the public house by September 2009.
09/24 PLANNING OBSERVATIONS
The minutes of the Planning Committees held on 11 May 2009 and 15 June 2009 were noted for the record.
The Clerk drew Council Members attention to the Public Inquiry due to be held on Tuesday 21 July 2009 concerning the Gypsy Pitches Planning Application at Spot Acre. The Public Inquiry is to be convened at SBC, Civic Centre, Stafford commencing at 10.00am.
09/25 CHAIRMAN¡¯S ANNOUNCEMENTS
Cllr Kenny indicated that as Chairman he had always believed that he should endeavour to remain impartial with respect to matters coming before the Parish Council; however with regards to the Wind Turbine proposals (Item No.10 on Agenda) he declared that he could not be impartial.
09/26 REPORTS FROM COUNTY AND DISTRICT COUNCILLORS
The Chairman commenced this item by congratulating County Councillor Ian Parry on his appointment as Deputy Leader of Staffordshire County Councillor following the recent County Council elections and the new Conservative Administration
Cllr. Parry advised members that the Conservative County Council would be looking to invest significantly in Highways and that hopefully there will be better services from the new administration for Parishes with community gangs work being given more prominence. It was intended to review all County Council services with there being a new focus on ¡®Communities¡¯. The Local Members financial initiative (LMIS) was to be re-designated as the Staffordshire Local Communities Fund.
Cllr. Parry confirmed that the Cemex UK Quarrying initiative has withdrawn the Fulford Dale proposal from the bid leaving only the Moddershall Grange proposals. However Staffordshire County Council now wish to push ahead with the waste side of the strategy and push back the timetable for the minerals strategy. The new County Council intends to go back to the Regional Assembly to renegotiate Staffordshire¡¯s mineral quota downwards on the grounds that Staffordshire already provides a disproportionate amount of the regions mineral requirements.
Cllr. Fletcher informed Cllr. Parry that the County Council has not in recent years offered good value for money in terms of the Highways Procurement model ¨C the way that procurement is currently being undertaken provides the best deal for the supplier/provider and not the ratepayers and there is an urgent need to undertake a review of procurement policies to address this imbalance.
Borough Cllr. D.Davis informed members that the Local Development Framework process was progressing to schedule and there had been a significant level of responses to the first consultation phase. The responses received were in some cases alarming but in other instances were quite surprising. A second consultation document clarifying and refining the options would be issued in the autumn. As far as Stone RPC was concerned Cllr Davis very much doubted whether there would be any substantial building programme within the Parish boundary.
9/27 PRESENTATION ¨C CANAL FOOTPATH IMPROVEMENT PROPOSALS
Mr Declan Riddell, Landscape Manager for Groundwork Stoke on Trent & Staffordshire made a short presentation outlining the proposals for extending the recent footpath improvements from Stone through to Barlaston ¨C a stretch of 4 kilometers. The project being undertaken in partnership with SCC/SBC is in its early stages and Groundwork were hoping to identify local community groups to become involved and thereby strengthen the bid for financial resources to undertake the improvement work.
It was hoped that the improvement work would tie in with access to Downs Bank and Cllr. Davis indicated that SBC hope to make a S. 106 contribution and see a link made with the developments at Meaford.
In response to a query from Cllr. Scrivens, it was pointed out that Stone Ramblers were already involved with the proposals and that U3A also have a local walking interest group. Cllr Dimberline queried whether local Scout groups might be willing to assist with the work involved?
Cllr. Fletcher asked whether there were any proposals to extend the footpath improvements south of Stone to Burston at some future stage? Mr. Riddell indicated that this might be a longer-term possibility but would clearly be dependent upon resources being available.
Cllr Scrivens suggested that the aim should be to establish an improved footpath surface from Barlaston through to the centre of Stoke on Trent.
Cllr Hawley asked how it was intended to improve the current footpath and what was going to be done to stop off-road bikers from travelling the footpaths and damaging the surfaces. It was acknowledged that this was a problem given that the installation of permanent ¡®kissing gates¡¯ would prevent disabled people reliant on wheel chairs or motor-scooters from accessing the towpaths. However the issue would have to be addressed by the local Police service.
Finally Cllr Kenny thanked Mr Riddell for attending and making his presentation and asked that the Parish Council be kept informed of the progress being made with this canal footpath improvement project.
9/28 ASTON BY STONE WIND TURBINE EXHIBITION ¨C 27 JUNE 2009
It was reported that some 300 plus visitors had attended the Severn Trent Water/TNEI Exhibition held at Aston Village Hall on Saturday, 27 June 2009 and the Consultants had taken the ¡®comment¡¯s logs available at the exhibition away for analysis. It seemed that the majority of comments were opposed to the wind turbine proposals but there were some more neutral observations recorde.
It appears that the Planning Application for a test mast may be delayed slightly and might not now be submitted to SBC until some time in August. Cllr.Davis pointed out that the first planning application was only for a test rig and that from the Planning Authority¡¯s perspective it would be very difficult to shorten this stage in the process down; furthermore it would be very difficult to find sufficient bone fide planning reasons to reject this first planning application. Although Cllr Davis indicated that he would call in this Planning Application, it was probable that Planning Officers would ultimately grant permission to erect this test mast,
Cllr Davis reminded members that objections to the Planning Application at the Development Control Committee would be limited to one speaker who would have no more that 3 minutes in which to convey all objections etc,. Members were also reminded that given the proposed location of the wind-turbine towers, the process of objecting to the Application under planning legislation rests with Stone RPC; adjoining Parish/Town Councils would be consulted.
It was agreed that the Parish Council should be looking to establish and lead a Joint Task Force comprising Stone RPC, Sandon & Burston PC, Salt & Endon PC, Marston Parish Meeting and Stone Town Council. Cllrs. Parry and Davis would also be members of this Joint Task Group which would be chaired by Cllr. Kenny and serviced by Richard Jarrett (Clerk). This alliance would need to establish a ¡®fighting fund¡¯ which could be used to finance a representative to speak on behalf of the Joint Task Force against the initial planning application and to fund publicity and legal counsel should the proposals progress in the longer term to actual construction of the wind-turbine towers.
Action: It was decided that the Clerk should write on behalf of the Parish Chairman to the Parish Clerks of the aforementioned Parishes inviting their respective Chairmen to join the Joint Task Force in opposing the Severn Trent Water proposals to erect three wind-turbine towers on the location known as Aston Hall Farm, Aston By Stone.
9/29 VILLAGE AGENT REPORT
This item was deferred as the Village Agent was not present.
9/30 ANNUAL AUDIT RETURN 2008/09
The Clerk briefed members as to the completion of the Annual Audit Return for submission to the Audit Commission and the distribution of the ¡®Exercise of Electors Rights¡¯ Statutory Notice to the Parish notice boards.
Cllr Proctor expressed concern at the scale of the Parish Council¡¯s current balances and referred to the Audit Commission¡¯s previous advice to the Council that local councils were not allowed to accumulate excessive balances (i.e. balances should not exceed twice the council¡¯s annual precept.
Cllr Fletcher considered that unless the Council is able to identify appropriate expenditure and thereby reduce the current balances significantly, then it would need to consider setting a zero precept for the next financial year - 2010/11.
A short discussion ensure regarding the Parish Council¡¯s ownership of Moddershall Village Hall, its usage by the village and the possible costs of repairing/replacing this at some future date. Cllr Kenny asked that the matter of Moddershall Village Hall be placed on the Agenda for the September 2009 meeting of the Council.
Action: Members authorised the Chairman to sign the Annual Audit Return ¨C as required ¨C on their behalf.
9/31 THE POWER OF WELL-BEING
The Clerk advised members of the new general well-being powers which had been introduced by the Local Government Act 2000 and which had been implemented for eligible Parish Councils with effect from 31 December 2008.
The power of well-being was intended to provide qualifying Parish Councils with a wider and more flexible range of spending powers than the existing provisions of S.137 of the Local Government Act 1972.
The power of well-being has a broader scope than the use of s.137; the power to spend on well-being is related to:
¡ñ the whole or part of a local council¡¯s area
¡ñ any persons present in the area including those who live, work or visit the area
¡ñ an individual person¡¯s activity (providing that it promotes the area¡¯s well-being)
¡ñ any person or any area outside the parish if the council thinks it will promote its own area¡¯s well-being
A Parish Council must determine its eligibility at a meeting of the full council, the criteria for eligibility being as follows:
¡ñ At least two thirds of members on the council when exercising the power must have stood for election
¡ñ At least 80% of members must have attended the relevant training module (NALC/SPCA)
¡ñ The council must have a community engagement statement of intent in place
¡ñ The Clerk to the Council must be ¡®qualified¡¯ (CiLCA 2008)
¡ñ The Parish Council should be accredited as a ¡®quality council¡¯
Action: Members noted the implementation of the new general power of well-being and agreed that the Clerk should return this item to the September Committee Agenda having explored the eligibility criteria in more detail and in particular the requirement that the Clerk should be qualified in terms of holding the Certificate in Local Council Administration (2008)
9/32 COUNCIL STANDING ORDERS AND FINANCIAL REGULATIONS
The Clerk reminded Council Members that they should hold ¨C and be familiar with ¨C
copies of the Council¡¯s Standing Orders and Financial Regulations.
Action: The Clerk to arrange for additional copies to be made available to Members.
9/33 CLERK¡¯S REPORT
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