Minutes of Meeting held in the upstairs room of The Wheel on Thursday 17th. August 2017.

Present: Councillor J. Sargeant (Chair).

Councillors T. Beastall, R. Lovell, D. Sargeant, C. Taylor & S. R. Weston.

District Councillor N. Hawkins.

One Member of the Public.

In Attendance: John Bourne, Clerk to the Council.

29/17. Apologies for Absence.

There were no apologies for absence.

30/17. Declarations of Interest.

There were no declarations of interest at this point.

31/17. Chairman’s Address.

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting.

32/17. Public Comments.

District Councillor Hawkins gave further up date details of the Local Plan process. The infill boundaries in the village had been removed from the plan and there was no number mentioned for housing requirement.

Any comments on the proposals would need to be submitted by 22nd. September 2017.

33/17. Minutes of Last Meeting.

The minutes of the meeting held on 29th. June 2017 had been circulated. It was agreed that they be signed as a true and correct record.

34/17. Matters Arising.

Staffs. Moorlands District Council had been contacted twice to ascertain whether a small Council meeting would constitute an “event” which would be in breach of planning restrictions imposed on Dunwood Hall, the suggested venue for future meetings, but no reply had been received. District Councillor Hawkins was asked to take up the matter on behalf of the Parish Council.

She intimated that a possible meeting venue could be Horton Village Hall.

The County Council had been contacted again regarding the complaints about the solid board safety fencing which had been erected on the old New Inn site obstructing vision for drivers entering or leaving Denford Road and also causing a hazard for pedestrians. A reply stated that the fencing was on private property so there could not be a request for it to be removed. The company involved had been contacted by the County Council but no reply had been received. The County Council suggested that the Parish Council contact the owners. This was agreed.

No requests for co-option onto the Council had been received but the member of the public, Keith Shaw, present at the meeting, volunteered to be co-opted onto the Council. Mr Shaw did not live in the parish but qualified by living within three miles of the parish boundary and was also owner of land in the parish. This offer was unanimously accepted and the Electoral Office would be informed. Councillor Shaw duly signed the Declaration of Office document.

It was reported that:

the overgrown grass obstructing vision at the Denford Road junction with A53 had been cut.

overgrown grass over the footpath in Sutherland Road was again reported – the lengthsman to be told.

35/17. Correspondence.

A consultation on Staffordshire Subsidised Bus Review had been received. After studying the document it was agreed to support Option 1 which maintained priority routes etc but with Dial-a-Ride services not maintained.

A consultation on a Business Plan for the Future Joint Governance of the Police and the Fire and Rescue Services in Staffordshire had been received. It was agreed to support the option of No Change to the Current Governance.

Other information received was:

details of Staffordshire Road Safety Grant Fund.

request for details of the annual budget of the Council from Leek United Building Society – sent in.

details for submissions of invoices etc. to Staffs. County Council.

36/17. Planning Matters.

The implications regarding the current site options etc on the Local Plan, which was now subject to consultation, were discussed. It was agreed that, as there were no major concerns with the proposals, as the infill boundaries had been removed and there was no figure for housing requirement, no comments be submitted.

The following two planning applications had been forwarded to Councillors due to the time scale and all agreed to forward no objections, subject to normal planning guidelines, to:

SMD/2017/0394 Siting of One Polytunnel at Proctor’s Nursery, Leek Road, Endon.

SMD/2017/0405 Lawful Development for Use as a Single Dwelling at Lyme House, Devils Lane, Longsdon

37/17. Finance Matters.

A quarterly update statement of account was distributed to Councillors.

The Annual Governance Statement and the Annual Accounting Statement had been returned by the Council’s external Auditor with no adverse comments.

38/17. Orders for Payment.

It was unanimously agreed that the following items be paid:-

39/17. Public Comment.

There was no business under this item.

40/17. Any Other Business.

Items for report included:

Collapsed stone wall at Bridge No 6 Sutherland Road – Canal & River Trust.

Overgrowth over footpath on North West side of the A53 from Stonelow Hall to new cutting – Staffs. C. C.

Councillor Lovell, the Council’s representative, gave a brief report on the Memorial Hall Management Committee which, he reported, did not have a Chairman in office at present.

41/17. Date of Next Meeting.

The next meeting of the Council will be held at 7 - 00p.m. on Thursday 5th. October 2017. The venue to be determined by the Chairman and the Clerk after the further information is received from Staffs. Moorlands District Council regarding Dunwood Hall.