ALBRIGHTON PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of the meeting held on
Thursday 15th January 2009 at the Red House
Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held at the Red House on Thursday 15th January 2009.
PRESENT: Cllrs P Lusk (Chair), D Beechey (Vice Chair), R Blincoe, N Hester,
M Holden, P Illes, D Johnson, R Kidson, D Murray, J Nelson, S Pledger.
CLERK: M Ward.
MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC: Three members of the public were in attendance.
PUBLIC SESSION:
Mr Rob Sankey and Mr Tom Harris raised the issue of youth facilities in the village. They noted that there had been improvements at the Abney Avenue playground and the new skateboard park was shortly to open but they felt that a youth club for 13 – 18 year olds was missing from the provision for young people. They felt that it should operate one night a week on a Wednesday or Thursday for a period of two hours for both boys and girls. A variety of activities could be considered such as the use of DJ equipment and dancing classes in addition to the usual socialising opportunities. The Chair invited them to return for a fuller discussion when youth provision was the main agenda item at the planning meeting on 5th February.
Mr Johnson who lived at The Limes raised the question of the planning application for the The Hollies at 18, Cross Road. He had some concerns about the safety of the school children given that traffic did not always keep to the speed limit and he was also concerned over the fencing. However, on balance he felt that the development could be beneficial and he was not over worried about the possible restrictions on the views from his property.
APOLOGIES:
Cllrs. R Balkwill, G Beechey, M Pate and S Pate.
DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST:
Personal:
There were no declarations of personal interests.
Prejudicial:
Cllr. J Nelson declared a prejudicial interest in item 17.
Cllr P Lusk declared a prejudicial interest in item 9 bullet point 3.
MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING:
Two amendments were made to the attendance and apologies entries and the list of members who left the meeting for two planning applications. An additional sentence was added to item 15 which expressed the Council’s support for the proposed Local Joint Committee.
With these amendments Cllr. D Beechey proposed that the minutes were a true record and the proposal was seconded by Cllr Blincoe. The motion was unanimously approved.
MATTERS ARISING:
With regard to the Parish Flyer Cllr D Beechey reported that he had worked through the HMRC toolkit regarding self employment and he had also spoken to the Status Inspector at the HMRC Dudley office with regard to the tax status of the drivers of the Parish Flyer. Both investigations confirmed that the drivers were self employed. Donington Parish Council had been informed of these conclusions and the matter had been discussed at the Joint Meeting of the two parishes.
Cllr Pledger asked whether extra police had been deployed in the village over the Christmas period and Cllr Hester reported that he had had some problems with the Council web site. Cllrs. Holden and Illes had been given the wrong address on the site but this has now been corrected. In response to a query from Cllr. Kidson the Chair reported that there had been no news of the whereabouts of the Council speed visor but he would contact Cllr. Pate to see if he had had any success with his enquiries at Shirehall.
PLANNING;
FUL/08/0900 Change of use from single dwelling to two dwellings Field View, 60 High Street, Albrighton.
Resolved to recommend:
No objections.
FUL/09/0002 Erection of two detached houses, one pair of semi-detached houses and a detached double garage and construction of vehicular accesses, 18 Cross Road Albrighton.
Resolved to recommend:
Objections and refusal. The Council was of the view that the application represented over development of the site and it was out of character with the existing house and the area. The Council also objected on highway and parking grounds and it was concerned that an already dangerous situation close to a primary school would be exacerbated by extra driveways and the need to move a school bus away from the Newhouse Lane/Cross Road junction.
OUT/08/0907 Outline application (including access) for residential development, medical centre and ancillary uses land east of Shaw Lane.
Cllr. Nelson suggested that the Council should create a forum of Councillors, representatives from the Governing Body of St Mary’s School and the medical centre to produce a coordinated response to the outline planning application and future applications with regard to this development. Bridgnorth District Council was prepared to delay the response deadline in order to give time for the forum to meet.
Cllr Nelson proposed that the Council should be minded to support the proposal but needed to consult the school and the medical centre before communicating a decision. He proposed a meeting on 5th February 2009 which he was prepared to organise. Cllr. D Beechey seconded the proposal which was unanimously agreed. Cllrs. Kidson, Lusk, Nelson and Pledger agreed to be the four Council representatives on the new forum.
08/0777 Erection of a rear extension at 17 High Street, Albrighton
Received and noted.
08/0798 Erection of three detached dwellings after demolition of existing dwelling at 54 Station Road, Albrighton.
Received and noted.
08/0497 Conversion of a redundant farm building into a dwelling house at High House Farm, High House Lane, Albrighton.
Received and noted.
08/0787 Erection of a two storey building forming four holiday apartments at land at rear of Albrighton library, Station Road, Albrighton.
Received and noted.
11 Long Croft, Albrighton.
Received and noted.
UPDATE ON BLACKSMITH’S SMITHY:
Cllr. Hester reminded members that they had discussed the issue of the Blacksmith’s Smithy on several occasions and it was still in the same dilapidated state and was an eyesore at the entrance to the village. If it was not to be included in the development east of Shaw Lane something needed to be done regarding the future of the buildings and the site.
Cllr Murray suggested that a letter should be written to the owner asking what he intends to do with the building. This was agreed by Councillors.
RESOLVED: The Clerk to write to Mr D Thompson to enquire what plans he had for the building and the site.
Cllr. Hester stressed the need for a mechanism to bring back unresolved items to Council for further consideration so that issues did not become overlooked and forgotten. The Chair agreed to consult the Clerk on the way that this might be achieved.
DCAE COSFORD REPORT:
The Chair welcomed Mo Ashan to the meeting. Mr Ashan is to take the place of Sqn. Ldr. Lee and will attend future meetings on behalf of DCAE Cosford
Mr Ashan brought three items for consideration to the meeting. Firstly, he suggested that
12th September should be the date for the approbation ceremony. The suggested date had been discussed by Donington Parish Council and had gained their support. Sqn. Ldr. Lee had visited the site at Patshull Road/Cross Road which the Council was proposing to buy and he had written to the Clerk about possible improvements. Mr Ashan informed members that the widening of Long Lane had been supported by Donington Parish Council. Councillors welcomed all three items and agreed the date for the approbation ceremony in September. Mr Ashan also informed members that Air Commodore Gammon was due to retire in March and the Cosford air display would take place on Sunday 14th June.
POLICE REPORT:
PC Salt handed out the latest crime statistics and reported that crime in the area continued to decline. There had been no particular problems with the Shrewsbury Arms but there had been one or two difficulties at the new skateboard park and several young people had had to be spoken to. The skateboard park was scheduled to be opened at the same time as the extensions to the school in mid March. Cllr. Pledger recorded her dissatisfaction over the way some visitors had been dealt with regarding the skateboard park and said that she was still experiencing problems with some young people in the area.
Cllr. Hester asked for clarification of the statistics and Cllr. Murray asked about the increase in the category of theft and handling. Cllrs. D Beechey and Blincoe had attended a meeting with West Mercia police and reported that statistics for all settlements were now available on the West Mercia web site.
A recent incident at the Wyevale garden centre had proved to be a false alarm.
FINANCE:
Following the recent budget discussions and agreement the Clerk reported that he had completed the precept paperwork and returned it to SCC which recorded a precept requirement of £84,550. Members noted that the necessary administration had been completed in good time to meet the 31st January deadline.
The Chair reported that the Finance Committee had met that afternoon and had gone through the bank reconciliation statement for the last month. Members of the committee had approved the statement and reported that there were no matters that required the urgent attention of the full Council.
Cllr Lusk left the meeting for this item.
Cllr Nelson reported that a black and white photocopier and a colour photocopier had been moved from the Chair’s former office in Wolverhampton to the Parish Office. They have been made available to the Clerk and they were already proving very helpful with regard to the production of documents. Cllr. Nelson said that it was appropriate that the Council should pay the maintenance costs of the machines in addition to the cost of consumable items and proposed that these expenses should be borne by the Council. The motion was seconded by Cllr. Johnson and unanimously agreed.
The list of 15 cheques for payment identified as Appendix A was proposed for approval by Cllr. D Beechey and seconded by Cllr. Johnson. The proposal was unanimously agreed by the Council.
HOUSING:
The Council considered the letter from Mr. Mark Pritchard MP in which he stated that new affordable housing should only be built on brown field sites. New housing would need to be supported by the necessary infrastructure and should be offered to local people. While members were sympathetic in principle they noted that the lack of brown field sites in Albrighton would drastically restrict new affordable housing and lead to infill in gardens of larger properties.
RESOLVED: The Clerk to write to Mr. Mark Pritchard MP and invite him to the presentation proposed by South Shropshire Housing Association (see below).
A letter from South Shropshire Housing Association suggesting a meeting and presentation by them on possible affordable housing solutions which might be considered in the development east of Shaw Lane was considered. Members felt that it would be a useful exercise and welcomed the proposal.
RESOLVED: The Clerk to write to South Shropshire Housing Association accepting their proposal regarding a presentation on housing solutions for the development east of Shaw Lane at a date to be agreed in the future.
ANNUAL REPORT 2008/09:
In order to produce an annual report outlining the Councils activities for the current financial year the Chair suggested the formation of a working party to produce a draft for consideration by the full Council. Members supported this idea and Cllrs. Lusk and D Beechey agreed to meet and produce the first draft.
LCR MAGAZINE SUBSCRIPTION:
Cllr. D Beechey asked why the LCR Magazine was no longer received by members as had been the case in the past. The magazine was regarded as a useful source of news and updates. The Clerk explained that the renewal of the subscriptions had clearly been overlooked during the change of Clerk last spring and he had contacted LCR to ask about renewing the subscriptions to members. Unfortunately, a full year’s subscription would be demanded for the remaining issue in February and he suggested that the matter should be rectified at the start of the 2009/10 financial year. This suggestion was agreed by Councillors.
RESOLVED: The Clerk to order five additional copies to the one currently delivered to the Council Office. All copies to be delivered to the office and circulated via a rota drawn up by the Clerk on the ratio of one copy per three Councillors.
CLERK’S TRAINING:
The Clerk informed Councillors that a number of training opportunities were available from RBS and one regarding the submission of end of year returns using the Council software would be particularly useful. He had tentatively reserved a place for 5th February at the Swindon headquarters of RBS and this proposal was supported by the Council. Further training on the finance software was agreed in principle if the Clerk felt that it would be useful.
Councillors were also informed of a training module related to the new Power of Well being which was being launched at the County Training Partnership networking day on 17th February 2009. If a Council is to be eligible to exercise the new power 80% of Councillors would need to be trained in its use. Members noted that a whole Council could engage with the two hour module and it was felt that this approach offered the most efficient way of achieving the necessary training.
RESOLVED: The Clerk to write to SALC and ask for the training in the Power of Well being to be delivered to the whole Council at a date to be arranged.
WASTE SKIPS 2009/10:
Cllr. Illes introduced his paper on the proposed schedule of compaction skips for 2009/10. He suggested that despite price rises the Council should continue to use Pink Skips from Ketley, Telford. His proposals were approved by the Council
RESOLVED: The Clerk to ensure that the schedule is placed on the Council website and write to Tong, Boningdale and Donington Councils to inform them of the new schedule.
Cllr. Illes also referred to the problem of rubbish being dumped on privately owned ground in Abney Avenue. Cllr. Blincoe informed Councillors that one of the new plastic recycling skips in Abney Avenue needed to be moved on to the site of the former Bridgnorth District Council garages but the rubbish would first need to be moved. If this proved to be unsuccessful a move to the allotments at Loak Road was a further possibility. Cllr. Illes informed members that a new scheme called Stop the Drop contained some very good ideas and he would like to develop a new draft policy using some of the material contained within this scheme and bring the draft to the Council at a later date. Cllr. Blincoe agreed to join him in the writing of a new Council policy.
RESOLVED: The Clerk to contact Bridgnorth District Council to arrange for the removal of rubbish from the privately owned site in Abney Avenue.
RENTING OF GARAGE AT ASHGROVE:
The Clerk informed Councillors that a garage had been obtained from Bridgnorth District Council in Ashgrove for the storage of mowing equipment and Christmas lighting. The keys had been received and passed to the Village Warden who was going to add a new bolt and padlock to improve security. The rent for the garage is £12.66 per fortnight payable by monthly Standing Order.
Cllr. Illes also asked whether the Village Warden could clean some of the village signs which were difficult to read.
RESOLVED: The Clerk to instruct the Village Warden to clean any dirty road signs during the winter months now that grass area maintenance is at a minimum.
LICENCE TO PLANT AT PATSHULL ROAD/CROSS ROAD:
A letter drafted by Cllr. Kidson had been sent to County solicitors suggesting amendments to the recently received Licence to Plant on the junction of Patshull Road/Cross Road. An emailed reply stated that the suggestions would need to be considered by the appropriate officer and a response would be sent following this consultation.
FUTURE ACCOMMODATION FOR THE CLERK:
Cllr. Nelson left the meeting for this agenda item.
Councillors considered the accommodation requirements of the Clerk when Severn Trent Water moved from the current office at 82b High Street at the end of July 2009. Cllr. Illes suggested that the obvious place was an office in the refurbished Red House but there were concerns that the accessibility of the Parish Office by the public might be lost if it was located there. Cllr. Murray informed members that thirty new regeneration officers were to be appointed when the new Unitary Authority came into being all of whom would need to be located in the appropriate part of the county. He suggested that a shared use of 82b High Street would allow the Parish Council to retain its present facility and provide an ideal base for the Albrighton/Shifnal regeneration officer when he/she was appointed.
RESOLVED: Cllr. Murray to provide the Clerk with the relevant details of the new proposals. The Clerk to write a letter suggesting a shared office at 82b High Street for the local Regeneration Officer and the Parish Clerk.
CORRESPONDENCE:
Cllr. Kidson informed members that he had contributed an article on the flooding strategy in Albrighton and the adoption of unadopted sewers by the water companies to the National Flood Forum winter 2008 newsletter. He is to attend a meeting on the adoption of unadopted sewers at the House of Commons on 27th January 2009. He had also contributed an article to the Bridgnorth Journal although unfortunately it contained some reporting errors.
A request for volunteers for Trail Blazers will be displayed on the notice board and no objections were made to the proposed list of street collections submitted by Bridgnorth District Council.
A request for funding for a project in Kenya in the summer of 2009 was rejected on the grounds that a Parish Council cannot make a grant to an individual. Cllr. D Beechey suggested that the Albrighton Relief in Need charity might be able to help and undertook to contact it on the applicant’s behalf.
COUNCILLORS’ REPORTS:
Cllr. Holden said that the Albrighton District Footpaths Association was concerned over the possible threat to the woodpeckers at the Patshull Road junction and a survey was needed to establish the facts regarding the woodpecker habitat.
Cllr. Balkwill had asked the Chairman to inform members of the Education Sunday service at St. Mary’s Church on 8th February.
Cllr. Johnson asked whether any response was planned by the Parish Council to mark the retirement of Air Commodore Gammon at DCAE Cosford. The Chair was asked to consider the matter and respond as he felt appropriate.
Cllr. Hester described the settlement of a small number of travellers on vacant land in Beamish Lane, apparently at the invitation of the landowner. The Clerk had liaised with Bridgnorth District Council and Shropshire County Council and discussions had taken place with the travellers and the owner of the land. Local residents had also been involved. It was understood that the site would be vacated within a few days and the Clerk and Cllr. Hester would monitor the situation closely.
TIMES AND DATES OF FUTURE MEETINGS:
The parking of the Idsall School bus at Newhouse land was requested as an agenda item for the planning meeting on 5th February 2009 and disabled access to Albrighton station to be placed on the agenda for the Parish Council meeting on 19th February 2009.
There being no further business the meeting closed at 10.00 pm.
Signed……………………………………………Date…………………………………….Chairman.