SEIGHFORD PARISH COUNCIL Minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on Monday 18 th November 2013 at Great Bridgeford Village Hall. Those present; Parish Councillors-Mrs G Cox[chair]; Mr P Eveson [deputy chair]; Mr W Brown; Mr R Eld; Mrs H Sammons; Mr M Eld; Mrs J Wetton; Mr D Price. Mr R Sutherland [Borough Councillor] Mr F Chapman [County Councillor] Mr D Jones, clerk to the council and three members of the public. 1/Councillor Cox welcomed those present; the meeting started at 19.30 hours. 2/Apologies; no apologies received. 3/No declarations of interest were received from the councillors. 4/Matters raised by the general public. A resident of Derrington, Mr Moore, explained that he runs a football club for under 10 year olds and would like to use the playing field for practice on a Saturday. There is no problem with this proposal in fact the council welcomed usage of the facility. Councillor Chapman reported the following to the meeting; There is improving news on the job front as the number of recipients of job seekers allowance in Staffordshire has shown a decline in numbers. He is a member of the Police & Crime Panel, who are tasked with scrutinising the performance of the Crime Commissioner Has recently been to London to discuss progress to date on these new posts He had been approached by a resident of Great Bridgeford regarding the speed limit through the village. He has spoken to Chris Mitchell of Highways about the issue who explained that, following a recent review of roads through the County including A513, and taking into account local concerns and the low accident rate, Highways consider the current limit appropriate. Councillor Price spoke on behalf of the residents and explained that the campaign to reduce the speed limit to 30MPH had been ongoing for a number of years and that despite a petition and meetings with the previous council administration nothing had been done. There is still a functioning speed watch group who are still detecting many instances of vehicles exceeding the speed limit. He read a report to the meeting outlining the background, the concerns of residents and the action that had been ongoing [the full text of this report is attached to these minutes]. It was agreed that the council would write to Highways and reiterate this request. 5/ The minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on 16 th September 2013; The minutes, having been previously circulated, were accepted as a true record.
6/ Matters arising from these minutes; Pedestrian Crossing at Great Bridgeford; Councillor Chapman contacted Highways on our behalf about this. They responded that this crossing was put into a county wide review of crossing works some time ago, but unfortunately funding for this type of work is very limited, a figure in the region of 60000 was quoted, so it is unlikely that the matter will be reconsidered in the immediate future. Proposed motocross track at Seighford; a site meeting was held involving Borough Councillor R Sutherland, Parish councillors G Cox, H Sammons, J Wetton and R Eld with a representative from the Express & Star. Unfortunately the subsequent editorial in the newspaper was supportive of the project, ignoring local concerns. 7/ The minutes of the extraordinary meeting held on 27 th September 2013 at Seighford Village hall. The minutes, having been previously circulated, were accepted as a true record. 8/Matters arising; Councillor Sutherland reported that he is meeting shortly with Mr Roy Wood to discuss the matter. It is easier to nominate premises that are currently trading than ones that are up for sale. 9/Great Bridgeford Playing Field; Ash Trees; Tenders have been received. However Councillor Price suggested that as the Parish council were tenants the Borough Council should be approached to define responsibility. Clerk to look at lease and seek clarification from the Borough Council Legal Department. 10/Financial matters; A/ Payment of the following invoices was approved by the councillors. Clerk s expenses 60.88 [post dated 19 th December Clerks salary 677.60 [post dated 19 th December PAYE 169.60 [post dated 19 th December Wicksteed 127.80 [paint for play equipment] Grant Thornton 120.00 [audit fees] Rob Keyzor, Tree surgeons 420.00 [work on oak tree at Derrington] Stafford Borough Council 72.00 [civic amenity collection] Great Bridgeford VH 17.50 [hall hire] B/ Grant request from St Matthews Church; The Parochial Church Council had requested a grant towards the cost of upgrading the heating system.. Councillor Price proposed a grant of 500 which was seconded by Councillor R Eld and agreed by the meeting unanimously C/ clerk reported that the Annual Governance Statement had been signed off by Grant Thornton. 11/ Correspondence received;
The clerk advised the meeting of the correspondence received since the last meeting. Staffordshire Parish Councils Association; Inaugural edition of SPCA gazette-annual report and accounts 2012/3 Stafford Borough Council; Invitation to Borough Carol Service Sunday 22 nd December 2013; response by 2nd December. Staffordshire County Council; Invitation to superfast broadband event on 22 nd November [by email]- The County are seeking individuals to become involved with the School Admissions Appeal panel.[by email] Staffordshire Archive & Heritage Service ;Autumn newsletter Local government Commission; Electoral review of Stafford comments on proposed changes invited by 7 th January 2014. 12/Planning matters; Application 13/19142/FUL-application to develop land at Ash Covert off Seighford Lane as facility for riding off road bikes; This is still pending but has been called in before the Planning Committee. Application 13/19580/HOU-The Gables Long Lane, Derrington, was handed to the Derrington ward councillors for consideration. An email had been received from the Borough Council planning department asking for the council s views on dispensing with paper copies of applications and viewing planning applications on the Borough website. The councillor s views were; the Borough council s website is not robust and often fails when being viewed; looking at documents is difficult as the resolution is not always clear; looking at an A3 plan on a laptop is virtually impossible; not all residents of the parish are computer literate and even own a computer, they would be disadvantaged; any printing would have to be done by the parish thus passing on costs to them. these comments will be passed on. 13/Roads, Highways & Playing Field matters; The next Neighbourhood Highways Team visit is due in December on 2 nd & 3 rd work in Great Bridgeford is still outstanding from last year Footpath from Bridgeford to Creswell is in need of cutting back, but this will involve traffic control and is not suitable for the NHT
Dog waste bags ; 5 cases of 800 bags have been used since May; the Council discussed the ongoing cost but decided that it was in the public interest to provide them especially as there has been a positive impact at the Millennium Green since they were introduced. Clerk to order a further supply. Derrington; Paint for red phone box ; the council considered that the quote of 100 for 5 litres is quite high. Clerk to explore other sources. Derrington; Church Lane; the flooding issue. Councillor Sutherland has been in touch with Highways who have promised to look at the problem. Great Bridgeford; access by vehicles to the railway storage facility off the Newport Road is damaging the verge. Derrington; Councillors Cox & Sammons are exploring the provision of new equipment on the playing field and are meeting shortly with a representative of Wicksteed leisure. Grants available are conditional on matched funding from the Parish council. The January meeting will decide the precept for 2014/5 so provision will be made in the budget if possible Seighford; the road outside Beeches Farm,were the buffalo cross, is in need of sweeping. Clerk to write to owner. The next meeting is; on 20 th January 2014 at Derrington VH Meeting ended at 2105.
Useful Telephone Numbers; Police non emergency- 101[for contact regarding anti social behaviour ] Streetscene-619401[contact for fly tipping] CLARENCE-0300 111 8000[this is the Staffordshire County Council number for reporting Highways problems such as potholes]. Email;contactus@staffordshire.gov.uk Stafford Borough Council-01785 61900.