ALBRIGHTON PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of the Planning Meeting
Thursday 3rd December 2009
Minutes of the planning meeting Thursday 3rd December 2009.
Present: Cllrs. P Lusk (Chair), D Beechey (Vice Chair), N Hester, M Holden, P Illes,
D Johnson, R Kidson, D Murray, J Nelson, S Pledger.
Public Session: No members of the public were in attendance.
Personal:
None.
Prejudicial:
Cllr. J Nelson declared a prejudicial interest in agenda item 3.
A meeting to decide on the location of the Community Access Point and the parish office had been arranged with Shropshire Council for 6th January 2010. Cllrs. Lusk, D Beechey and Murray would attend and represent the parish council. Once a decision had been agreed it was likely to be 90 days before the county would be ready to open the access point. It had already been agreed that the parish office could remain at 82b High Street, Albrighton on the current terms and plans were now well advanced to raise the pavement outside the office which would help with the provision of disabled access and reduce the flooding risk during heavy rain. The discussions with the county would also need to decide on the frequency of attendance and the number of days that the proposed access point would be open to the public.
The Chair reported on a meeting that had taken place with Ms. Carolyn Healey and Ms. Amy Davies of Shropshire Council regarding the future management of the playground at Abney Avenue. The land now belongs to Shropshire Council who are responsible for the play equipment. No written agreement on the division of responsibilities between the parish council and Bridgnorth District Council had ever existed. Three options were now available regarding the future management of the facility – it could remain with Shropshire Council, it could become the responsibility of the parish council or a partnership arrangement could be negotiated between the two councils. Members attending the meeting wished to proceed with a partnership arrangement and it was also agreed that the oldest equipment for younger children needed replacement which would require a financial contribution from the parish council. The joint leisure committee had also recommended the provision of equipment for the disabled.
It was agreed that the safety checks and maintenance of the equipment would be done by a Shropshire Council member of staff on a fortnightly basis with a further visual check by the clerk who would receive some training from the county. Future maintenance and depreciation could be met from a joint budget between the two councils while the development of the facility would be discussed at the joint leisure committee who would make recommendations to the two parish councils. Ms. Healey agreed to produce a written agreement which would be made available to the parish council for future discussion.
A discussion paper written by Cllr. Kidson had been distributed to members outlining a possible future strategy for raising the tourism potential of the Albrighton area. Cllr. D Beechey stressed the need for a local hotel which would offer employment and boost the businesses in the village. A check of websites produced only one attraction for the Albrighton area when it was clear that a number of opportunities were available locally. Cllr. Kidson suggested that the council website should be expanded to include a tourism link and approaches should be made, together with local traders, to the Shropshire Tourist Board in order to raise the profile of the Albrighton area. Tourist maps produced by the board needed to be revised to include references to attractions close to the village. Cllr. Hester suggested that a hotel in the development east of Shaw Lane might be a possibility and the area was well served with good transport links by road and rail. It was a great pity that the Aerospace Museum at Cosford was advertised as being close to Shifnal with no mention of Albrighton. It was also reported that the churches were hoping to set up a Shropshire Churches Tourist Board.
It was agreed that a joint meeting of the council, the Civic Society and the Albrighton Traders should be arranged at some point in 2010.
Resolved: the clerk to write to the Shropshire Tourist Board and arrange a joint meeting with the council, the Civic Society and the Albrighton Traders and investigate with Cllr. M Pate the addition of a tourist section on the council website.
Cllr. Johnson reported that he had obtained two quotations for the development of the War Memorial. One was unacceptably high while the other was more reasonable but he felt that it would be sensible to seek two further quotations before the council made a decision. Once a quotation had been agreed he would complete the necessary paperwork for a grant application. Cllr. Johnson was thanked for his work on behalf of the council.
Cllr. D Beechey reported that he looked into the matter of public participation at council meetings including the advice offered by Charles Arnold-Baker in his volume “Local Council Administration”. The advice offered is that the practice of setting aside a period when the public can ask questions or even make statements represents good practice as long as the period is defined and it is clearly understood that the public must not take part at any other time. Cllr. Beechey felt that in exceptional circumstances the Chair could suspend standing orders for a period if a member of the public should be heard. He proposed that the appropriate section of section 1 of the Draft Standing Orders should be amended to include a reference to a period of 15 minutes for public participation as was currently the practice to be extended at the discretion of the Chair. The proposal was seconded by Cllr. Kidson and agreed by the Council
Planning applications:
09/03545/FUL Erection of general storage building Cosford Grange, Albrighton.
No objections.
The council received and noted a letter from the new owners of 18 Cross Road regarding their plans for the development of this location. Cllr. Kidson had a report from objectors to the scheme which could be duplicated for any member requiring a copy. The Chair reported that a consultation meeting regarding the parking difficulties in the Newhouse Lane area had been arranged following the trials recently conducted by the county.
Cllr. Nelson reported that he had further consultations with Albrighton Cricket Club and the position of the council with regard to possible future funding had been made clear. They were now discussing their proposals with their architect and Ms. Andrea McWilliams regarding the possibility of a grant from the Local Joint Committee.
The Chair went through the items of correspondence. An item from Land Registry regarding the registration of the village green needed further attention and would be placed on a future agenda. Cllr. D Beechey promised to follow up a letter on rural community engagement and the clerk was asked to make further enquiries about the missing bench on Kingswood Road. It was reported that a pool table had been provided for the village which had been located in the Wesley Hall but it had had to be removed. A table tennis table was also available if the suitable location could be identified.
Cllr Hester gave a brief update on the proposals to develop a new medical centre in the south of the village. The Chair agreed with members that the Christmas dinner should be arranged for 7.00 pm for a 7.30 pm start.
The verge by Kingswood nursery where Gas Alliance had stored their pipes had been left in an unacceptable state and the clerk was asked to contact the company and ask them to reinstate the land. Cllr. Nelson thanked Cllr. Johnson for all of his hard work regarding the installation of the Christmas lights and the Chair agreed to talk to Cllr. S Pate about the terms attached to the proposed new office/storage facility offered to the parish council that was located on the top floor of the Red House. It was reported that the CCTV system would be fully operative from 7th December and the clerk agreed to contact Sqn. Ldr. G Lee inviting him to the Christmas dinner on 8th Dec.
Signed………………………………………..Date………………………………………
Chair