ALBRIGHTON PARISH COUNCIL
PLANNING MEETING
Thursday 6th November 2008
Minutes of the Planning Meeting held at the Red House on Thursday 6th November, 2008.
PRESENT: Cllrs P Lusk (Chair), D Beechey (Vice Chair), G Beechey, R Blincoe,
M Holden, P Illes, D Johnson, R Kidson, D Murray, J Nelson, M Pate, S Pledger.
Public Session:
No members of the public were in attendance.
Cllrs. R Balkwill, N Hester, S Pate.
No member made a declaration of interest, either personal or prejudicial.
The Chair distributed notes of a meeting of the Transport Group. He summarised the situation since the arrival of Mr. David Frizzell who is the present contractor. The current contract regulates the fares and the operating hours and the Council maintains and fuels the vehicle. The contractor keeps the income from the fares. Mr Frizzell and his colleague is employed on a self employed basis for a six month period which expires in January 2009 after which a decision will be made about the longer term arrangements for the Flyer. To date there had been positive feedback from the users but there had been some concerns over a failure to complete all of the daily returns. Both drivers had been told that they must complete all parts of the paperwork.
A letter from Donington Parish Council had expressed concerns about several issues but the Chair assured members that the insurance had been checked and amended as appropriate and the contract had been signed. Procedures had been checked with Shropshire County Council and it had been agreed that all parts of the daily record should be completed. Cllr D Beechey said that his checks with Bridgnorth District Council had confirmed that operational details needed to be recorded and a failure to do so could compromise the Clerk of the Council. Cllrs. Pate and Murray also urged that records should be completed in full and Cllr Pledger asked if the drivers could issue some kind of ticket or receipt to each passenger carried on the Flyer. Cllr. Murray also requested that the current fare tariff be displayed in the vehicle.
Cllr. Pate proposed that the matter be referred to the Transport Group to review the contract and conditions of employment and have them checked by the Revenue and SCC before being put into operation. The motion was seconded by Cllr. D Beechey and agreed by the Council.
Cllr. Kidson reported on his meeting with local residents and made available his notes of the meeting. There had been agreement that the land at the junction of Patshull Road/ Cross Road is untidy and in need of maintenance and the group had made four recommendations to the Council for future action as follows:
Cllr. Pate was concerned that a large amount of subsoil had been placed on the land by contractors from the skateboard park and he reminded members of the limits of their authority as individual Councillors.
Cllr D Beechey expressed concern over the decision to buy the land and he would have preferred that it be handed to the Nature Reserve who could liaise with the new Unitary Authority. Cllr. Kidson suggested that the Albrighton Conservation Society could be revamped and take on the responsibility for the land. Cllr. Pate proposed that Cllr Kidson’s recommendation should be supported by the Council. The proposal was seconded by Cllr. Nelson and agreed by the Council.
Cllr. Kidson was thanked for his work on this matter.
A letter had been received from the Clerk of Donington with Boscobel Parish Council which urged that the proposed leisure forum should be a joint formal committee of the two Councils. Three members from each Council would be elected to serve on the committee and they would invite non-voting representatives from the various leisure interests to attend the meeting when their interests were included on the agenda. Members of DPC were opposed to any kind of open forum which, in their view, would be inefficient and confusing.
Cllr. Murray was able to provide background information regarding the discussion and Cllr. Pate urged the Council to work to the Parish Plan and develop a community leisure strategy for submission to SCC with a request for funding. Cllr Murray suggested that Albrighton Parish Council should support the idea of a joint formal committee of the two Councils to engage with groups from the village as appropriate. He urged that the matter be vigorously pursued in order that possible funding for the community is not lost. The Council supported Cllr. Murray’s suggestion.
The three members representing Albrighton Parish Council on the proposed new joint committee are Cllrs. R Blincoe, R Kidson and D Murray.
In the absence of Cllr. Hester the request for updates on the Blacksmith’s House and Smithy and the pedestrian refuge at the junction of Shaw Lane and High Street was deferred.
No objections.
· FUL/08/0777 Erection of a rear extension 17 High Street, Albrighton.
No objections.
Planning Permission Granted:
· 08/0574 Erection of a two storey side extension and single storey rear extension and a detached garage at 19 Delaware Avenue, Albrighton.
· 08/0603 Erection of a single storey front and rear extensions at 16 Bredon Close, Albrighton.
Received and noted.
Tree Preservation Order:
· To remove 1xSilver Birch Manor Court, Cross Road, Albrighton.
No objection. Suggest to BDC an appropriate tree be planted to replace the Silver Birch.
The Clerk left the meeting for the Council to consider a request for an overtime payment for a maximum of six additional days work to prepare the submission to SCC for the renewal of Quality Council Status. The request was granted and the Clerk returned to the meeting.
The Council was informed of progress with the new website and a request had been made for AlbrightonParishCouncil.gov.uk which was currently being processed. There would be a charge of £100.00 plus VAT.
The closing date for the Quality Status submission is 31st December 2008 and a progress report would be placed on the agenda of the next Parish Council Meeting.
The briefing on Local Joint Committees to be held in Shrewsbury on 12 November, 2008 will be attended by Cllrs. P Lusk and D Murray and the Clerk M Ward.
The Clerk was asked to establish what sum was being requested for the maintenance of the St. Mary’s churchyard during 2009/10 and to distribute the leaflet describing new services available from Albrighton library.
The Chair asked for volunteers to help tidy up the churchyard at 10.30 on Saturday 8th November prior to the remembrance services the following day. He also informed members that the Severn Trent Water plans for the Bushfields area of the village were available for inspection in the office in the High Street.
Cllrs. Johnson and Kidson will make the arrangements for the switch on of the Christmas lights in early December and it was agreed that a more significant display will be erected outside the Red House this year. The Council were informed of the sponsorship by Barhale of this year’s lights and asked that their thanks be recorded in the minutes.
Cllr. Murray reported that he had contacted the owner of the land adjacent to the station approach and he was amenable to the suggestion that it could be leased for additional car parking.
· Finance Committee Thursday 20th November at 3.00 pm at the Council office.
· Parish Council Meeting Thursday meeting Thursday 20th November at 7.15 pm at the Red House.
· Planning meeting Thursday 4th December at 7.15 pm at the Red House.
There being no further business the meeting closed at 9.05 pm.
Signed………………………………………..Date…………………………………..
Chairman