Minutes of a meeting of Shobnall Parish Council

held at Brook House, Shobnall Road

on Monday 21 November 2022 commencing at 7pm

Present

Councillors Dennis, Dittmer, Donlon and Shilton

Also present

ESBC Councillor McKiernan

C Pennicott

Public Forum

No questions or comments were put for consideration.

72. Apologies

Councillor Asghar and the Clerk.

73. Declarations of Interest and receive written applications for dispensations under the Localism Act 2011

None declared.

74. Co-option

Councillors were advised that Christopher Pennicott had applied for Co-option onto the Parish Council.

Resolved         That Christopher Pennicott be Co-opted onto the Parish Council.

Mr Pennicott signed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office and formally joined the meeting.

75. Minutes

Resolved         That the Minutes of the meeting held on 17 October 2022 be approved as an accurate record.

76. Matters arising from the previous meeting

Minute 54 (first bullet point ) – Unity Park

Councillor Shilton reported that the meeting had taken place via Zoom, the meeting was not well attended and the Borough Councillors met with the Police on a different day.

Minute 60 – Traffic Calming: Forest Road area

Councillor Pennicott asked if a response had been received – the County Council’s response was yet to be received.

77. County Councillor’s report

A report had not been received from Councillor Afsar.

78. Borough Councillor’s report

Councillor McKiernan reported that:

• The Brewery Museum had now closed. The plan was to move it into the large Bass houses in the future but there was no plan as yet on how this move is to take place. Agreed That the Clerk write to ESBC asking what the plan is for the museum artefacts.
• The future of levelling up funding is also in doubt in the current financial climate. There are no answers being provided and people are finding this very unsettling.
• Unity Park: Clair Langley (East Staffs NPT Commander), the new PCSO, Cllr Walker and herself had met – the Park was now under the remit of Neighbourhood Policing who will be doing more visible patrols. They had not had any issues on Bonfire night.
• She is planning a health event. The event is scheduled for Thursday 23 February at the BACT Hub. Social Prescribers have been moved into part of the BACT Hub and she hoping to attract all sections of society and the idea is to promote all the other organisations you can go to for support without needing to go through your GP, e.g. MIND.
• Councillors had had a briefing by ESBC’s CEO regarding strengthening the electoral voting system, which would see you needing photo ID e.g. passport. This will also impact postal votes. This had been questioned as not everyone has a photo ID. It will be the Officer at the voting station who will have to make the decision on whether the ID is a true representation of the person standing in front of them. There is to be a TV campaign in January 2023.

79. Financial matters

79.1     Schedule of payments 

            Resolved         That the above payments be approved.

79.2     Bank reconciliation at 31 October 2022 

             Resolved         That the above was a true record.

79.3     Earmarked Reserves (EMRs) 

Resolved         That the EMRs be agreed.

80. Receipts/payments to 31 October 2022 and draft 2023/24 budget

Resolved         That the report be noted.

            Discussion took place on:

• Licence of public benches
• Everyone Active runs the Meadowside skatepark. Councillor McKiernan will contact Dan Poyner regarding the skatepark at Shobnall Leisure Centre for an update.
• Whether the Precept should be increased. There is additional housing in the Parish but the Precept does not increase. To be considered for the next meeting as the draft budget shows a deficit to be met from the General Reserves – a 5% increase to be considered at the next meeting. Councillor McKiernan noted that the Precept goes before the Council prior to being approved so anything that stands out could be looked into further.
• The future of St Aidan’s Church – Clerk to be asked to write to the Diocese saying that the Parish Council would like to contribute to any discussions on the building being used to benefit the local area.

81. Planning matters

81.1     Planning applications 

 81.2     Planning Decisions

            Resolved         That the report be noted.

82. Dallow lock bridge mural protective polycarbonate panels (Minute No. 61 refers)

The Clerk had contacted the original artist regarding replacing the polycarbonate panels. He had been asked if he is able/willing to quote to undertake the project to replace the panels – his response was awaited.

Councillors said that the work needed to be guided by the artist and noted that any repair to the artwork should be considered in the cost of the works and included in the 2023/24 budget.

83. Emergency bleed control cabinet and kit package (Minute No. 69.1 refers)

Councillors received costings for the above package. The cabinets work on the same principle as the defibrillators:  they can be registered with the emergency services; the cabinets are locked with a key code which is accessed by dialling 999.

Councillors discussed where these might be installed as being placed near to the defibrillators may not be the correct locations.

Agreed that the Clerk be asked to contact the PCSOs to ask if they would attend a meeting to discuss where the cabinets would be best located.

Agreed to install emergency bleed control cabinets in principle, numbers and locations to be agreed.

84. Street and pavements blocked by inconsiderate parking

Anglesey Parish Council had contacted other East Staffordshire parish councils as they have one particular street plagued by parking issues. They asked if there were similar situations in the Parish and how had the issues been addressed? Their Clerk had been asked to arrange a meeting with the MP, Borough and County Councillors, Police ,Crime & Fire Commissioner and Burton Police Inspector Clair Langley – other parish council representatives would be welcome to attend.

Councillors noted that there are problems in the Parish but residents are not reporting these, the Parish also has streets that create tight driving conditions – they would be interested to hear how Anglesey Parish Council resolves the issue.

85. Website

It was noted that there had been 52 visits to the website in the 30 days to 14 November 2022.

86. Councillors’ questions

• Defibrillators: Have these been advertised? (Post Meeting note: A Press Release was sent to the Burton Mail when the defibrillators had been installed and information can be found on the website listing on their locations.)

• Level of noise due to lorries braking, particularly during the night, along Forest Road. Agreed that the Clerk contact Staffordshire Highways to request that something be put into place to record the noise levels.

• Flooding outside Brook House, 18 Shobnall Road was causing issues for pedestrians.

• Flooding near to 202 Shobnall Street caused by a blocked drain is causing an issue for pedestrians from water sprayed ono them by car and lorry drivers.

• There is an issue for pedestrians at the entrance to Shobnall Leisure Centre, Shobnall Road.

• Roundabout by B&Q

87. Correspondence and circulars

87.1     SPCA

The SPCA’s weekly Bulletins had been circulated to all Councillors.

88. Exclusion of the press and public

Chair to move:

That under the Public Bodies (Admissions to Meetings) Act 1960 (Section 2) (and as expended by Section 100 of the Local Government Act 1972), the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information.

89. Staffing matters

Resolved             That:

• Following confirmation from NALC/SLCC that the pay increase for 2022 had been agreed, backdated to 01 April 2022, the increase be applied to the Clerk’s salary (scp 17) with immediate effect.
• The Parish Council also agreed to increase the Clerk’s annual leave entitlement by one day (pro rata) with effect from 01 April 2023 (as notified by NALC/SLCC).

90. Items for the next meeting

None raised.

Date of next meeting

Monday 19 December commencing at 7pm at Brook House, 18 Shobnall Road, Burton upon Trent DE14 2BA.

The Meeting closed at 8.55pm