BRINDLEY HEATH PARISH COUNCIL
MINUTES OF MEETING
HELD ON TUESDAY 31 MAY 2022
AT THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, MOUNT ROAD, RUGELEY

PRESENT: Parish Councillors: P. Adams (Chairman)
R. Turville
D. Cotton
Mrs M. A. Turville
M. Sutherland
A. Pearson

IN ATTENDANCE: Mrs T. Williams (Clerk)

Before the meeting began the Chairman, Councillor Adams, thanked fellow Councillors for their ‘good wishes’ messages during his period of absence and hospital treatment.

Councillors expressed their delight at seeing Councillor Adams return to meetings.

1. ELECTION OF CHAIR
The Chairman invited nominations for Chairman 2022-23.

It was proposed by Councillor R. Turville and seconded by Councillor Mrs M. A. Turville that Cllor P. Adams be appointed as Chairman for the ensuing year. There were no further nominations, and all Councillors agreed.

Resolved: To appoint Councillor P. Adams as Chairman to Brindley Heath Parish Council for the municipal year 2022-23.

2. SIGNING OF DECLARATION OF ACCEPTANCE OF OFFICE
Councillor Adams SIGNED the Declaration of Acceptance of Office and received the Badge of Office.

3. ELECTION OF VICE CHAIR
It was proposed by Councillor Mrs Turville and seconded by Councillor Pearson that Councillor R. Turville be appointed to the position of Vice Chairman.

Resolved: To appoint Councillor R. Turville as Vice Chairman to Brindley Heath Parish Council for the municipal year 2022-23.

Councillor Turville received his Badge of Office.

4. THANK AND RECORD THE PARISH COUNCIL’S APPRECIATION OF THE SERVICES OF THE CHAIRMAN AND VICE CHAIRMAN

The Vice Chairman, Councillor R. Turville, was thanked for standing in as Chairman during Councillor Adams’ period of absence.

5. APOLOGIES
Apologies were received from Councillor Mrs S. Pearson.

Apologies were also received from County Councillors Dr J. McMahon and Councillor P. Hewitt.

6. DECLARATION OF INTERESTS
Member

No interests were declared Interest

Type

7. APPOINTMENT OF PLANNING COMMITTEE
The Council considered the membership of the Planning Committee and the Chairman and Vice Chairman for the year 2022-23.

Resolved: That all Members be appointed to the Planning Committee.

It was proposed by Councillor R. Turville, seconded by Councillor Adams and agreed that Councillor D. Cotton be appointed as Chairman of the Planning Committee.

Resolved: That Councillor D. Cotton be re-appointed as Chairman of the Planning Committee for the year 2022-23.

It was proposed, seconded and agreed that Councillor M. Sutherland be appointed as Vice Chairman of the Planning Committee for the year 2022-23 (subject to the advice of Cannock Chase Council in relation to interests).

Resolved: That Councillor M. Sutherland be appointed as Vice Chairman of the Planning Committee for the year 2022-23.

8. PLANNING COMMITTEE TERMS OF REFERENCE
The Council considered the terms of reference for the Council’s Planning Committee which had been circulated with the agenda for the meeting.

Resolved: The terms of reference for the Council’s Planning Committee were approved.

9. APPOINTMENT OF REPRESENTATIVES TO OUTSIDE BODIES
The Parish Council considered the appointment of representatives to outside bodies:

Resolved: To make the following appointments of Council representatives on outside bodies:

Slitting Mill Village Hall M. Sutherland

Etching Hill Village Hall D. Cotton

Chetwynd’s Charity P. Adams

Charity for the Recreation Ground for the Benefit of the Inhabitants of the Ancient Parish of Rugeley and Neighbourhood in the County of Stafford
P. Adams & D. Cotton
Charity for an Allotment for the Labouring Poor in the Ancient Parish of Rugeley in the County of Stafford
P. Adams & D. Cotton

Longdon Cotton Alms-houses (four-year term to 2024)
P. Adams (to 2024)
Cannock Chase Council’s Standards Committee
R. Turville
Cannock Chase AONB Conference
A. A. Pearson & Mrs. M. A. Turville

10. MINUTES OF LAST MEETINGS

Resolved: That the minutes of the Meeting held on 29 March 2022 be approved as a correct record.

The draft minutes of the Planning Committee meeting held on 29 March 2022 were noted.

11. UPDATES FROM PREVIOUS MINUTES

Councillor Turville asked whether anyone had any details on Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Beacon Lighting events to be held in Cannock Chase on Thursday 2 June 2022.

Councillor Sutherland advised the Council that he didn’t have the details for an event in Cannock town but arrangements had been made by some parish and town councils in the district.

Councillor Adams advised the Council that he had been approached about a beacon being lit on Etching Hill but there were risks involved and a requirement for the area to be cleared afterwards.

12. CHAIRMAN’S REPORT/ANNOUNCEMENTS

The Chairman and the Vice Chairman had no reports.

13. CORRESPONDENCE

a. Items of Post
Cannock Chase Council’s Youth Endeavour Award 2022
A letter (dated 21 April 2022) from the Chief Executive of Cannock Chase Council, invited organisations, schools and community groups to nominate young people between the ages of 11 and 18 who live in the district and have stood out from the rest for their outstanding contribution to their community, school, an organisation, or for their bravery after facing illness or disability.

The request for nominations had been noted by Councillors upon receipt, as the closing date was 9 May 2022.

b. Consultations
Cannock Chase District Council Electoral Review
The Council noted (in an email from Cannock Chase Council on 26 April 2022) that the independent Local Government Boundary Commission for England was undertaking an electoral review of Cannock Chase District. During the review the Commission would be asking for residents’ and parishes help in drawing up a new pattern of electoral wards in Cannock Chase.

In drawing up the new wards the Commission aims to ensure that each councillor represents roughly the same number of electors and that the wards, as far as possible, will reflect the interests and identities of communities across Cannock Chase.

The Commission is seeking views on the number of wards, the name of the wards, the boundaries of the wards and the number of councillors serving the wards between 24 May and 1 August 2022.

Councillor Sutherland advised the Council on the online briefing he had attended on 10 May 2022.

The Boundary Commission is looking to reduce the number of councillors from 41 to 36. The last boundary review was some 20 years ago, and the changes occurring since have included a rise in the number of homes and the number of people. Alongside this, the Government is committed over time to devolution and the cascading of responsibilities to lower tiers of local government.

The Council suggested that it would be helpful if the Commission created a draft of their proposals, drawing up wards 1 to 36 and documenting the number of electors and how the councillors could be allocated. The Council also acknowledged that the proposals were likely to be formulated after the consultation feedback had been considered.

The Council concluded that a larger scale map would be helpful, and the Clerk said she would check the documentation to see what information was available.

Resolved: That the Electoral Review of Cannock Chase was carried forward to the next meeting when further consideration could be given to the impacts of the review on the parish and the district.

14. PARISH ISSUES
a. Chase Side
The Council discussed the speed, volume and classification data captured in a recent County Council survey of Stafford Brook Road and Brindley Heath Road using electronic counting equipment installed at the sites.

Councillors believed the statistics may not be representative of the situation on the ground as they did not seem to reflect the normal use of Stafford Brook Road when traffic was known to regularly travel at higher speeds than the limit.

Councillors felt the average speed in Stafford Brook Road logged as being between 35 and 38 miles an hour may have come from untypical and slower traffic over that time frame, bringing the average speed down for the survey.

The Council also concluded the positioning of the equipment would have a big bearing on the results. Towards the dip in Stafford Brook Road the speeds were frightening when walking (as a pedestrian) along the verge.

The Council commented on how effective the new deer deterrents had been in alerting the deer at their crossing points.

The illuminated roadside speed alert equipment that is sometimes purchased by parish councils was also thought to be a good option for slowing traffic down.

The Council identified that double yellow lines were needed to be painted on Stafford Brook Road on the bend at the entrance to the quarry and Councillor Sutherland offered to look into this along with any other road marking concerns. The Chairman asked the Council to forward the locations to the Clerk as these needed to be registered through the online report system.

No new information had been received on whether road markings (in various locations around Birches Valley) would be repainted in preparation for the Commonwealth Games.

Councillors made reference to the fact that the number of forest concerts had now increased from two to four. Traffic management (details of which had been included in a leaflet issued to residents) would involve closing Shooting Butts Road up to the access point to the Four Oaks field entrance. No timings had been stated.

The Commonwealth games will involve the management of traffic on to the temporary car park, but this is a one-off event. The issues from the concerts taking place annually will have to be learned from and noted.

b. Brindley Village
The Chairman reported on his contact from residents who were concerned about speeding traffic on Brindley Heath Road.

Councillor Sutherland expressed his thoughts about highways officers being empowered to deal with a greater range of issues when currently their hands were tied.

c. AONB & Cannock Chase Forest
Temporary Traffic Regulation Order – The details of a Temporary Traffic Regulation Order for Shooting Butts Road, Birches Valley and Penkridge Bank Road to accommodate the Forest Concerts from 9 to 12 June 2022, was noted.

Ironman Staffordshire – The course maps and road access information for the competition taking place on 12 June 2022 was available to view online.

Commonwealth Games’ Queen’s Baton Relay coming to Cannock Chase – The Relay will visit Rugeley, Hednesford and Cannock (in that order) during the afternoon of Saturday 23 July 2022.

The Chairman advised the Council that he had been consulting with Natural England on the remarking of the SSSI and an officer had recently visited the area to undertake a survey. Councillor Adams has asked her to put land back in the SSSI that had previously been taken out.

He also pointed out that the land around Bevan’s Birches was getting damaged by off road motorbikes.

15. INVITATION TO MEETINGS/EVENTS

The Council noted that there were no upcoming (external) meeting invitations.

16. REPORTS ON MEETINGS ATTENDED

No reports were available under this item.

17. COUNCILLOR REPORTS

No Councillor reports were given.

18. FINANCIAL MATTERS
a) Financial Position of the Council
The Council considered the end of year accounts for the financial year 2021-22 which had been circulated with the agenda for the meeting. The accounts comprised the cash book, bank reconciliation, budget and spend statement, variance report and analysis of budget heads.

The Council noted the financial position of the Council on 31 May 2022 and expressed the view that it should now focus on formulating ideas for local projects so that the healthy bank balance can be put to good use for the benefit of the community.

b) Annual Governance and Accountability Return 2021-22

i) To receive and note the Annual Internal Audit Report for 2021-22

The Council noted the Internal Audit Report for 2021-22 which had been circulated with the agenda for the meeting. No issues of concern had been raised as internal control objectives had been achieved to meet the standards required for a smaller authority.

Resolved: That the report of the Internal Auditor for the year 2021-22 be noted.

ii) Annual Governance Statement 2021-22 (Section 1)

The Council considered the Annual Governance Statement for 2021-22.

Resolved: That the Annual Governance Statement for the financial year 2021-22 be approved.

iii) Accounting Statements 2021-22 (Section 2)

The Council considered the Accounting Statements for the year 2021-22

Resolved: That the Accounting Statements 2021-22 be approved.

iv) Certificate of Exemption

The Council noted that there was no requirement to have a limited assurance review or to submit an Annual Governance and Accountability Return to the external auditor provided it has certified itself as exempt at a meeting of the Council after 31 March 2022 and a Certificate of Exemption submitted to the external auditor.

The Certificate of Exemption is completed by smaller authorities (where the higher of gross income or gross expenditure does not exceed £25,000 in the year of account ended 31 March 2022) who wish to certify themselves as exempt from a limited assurance review under Section 9 of the Local Audit (Smaller Authorities) Regulations 2015.

Resolved: That the Chairman signs the Certificate of Exemption to confirm that the Council wishes to be exempt from a limited assurance review.

c) Appointment of a Responsible Finance Officer for the year 2022-23

Resolved: The Parish Clerk was confirmed as the Responsible Finance Officer for the year 2022-23.

d) Appointment of Independent Internal Auditor for the year 2022-23

Resolved: Mrs Linda Florence, Parish Clerk, was confirmed as Independent Internal Auditor for the year 2022-23.

e) Financial Regulations and Standing Orders for 2022-23
The Parish Council undertook to review the Council’s Standing Orders and Financial Regulations which had been circulated with the agenda for the meeting.

Resolved:

• To adopt the National Association of Local Councils model Financial Regulations (dated July 2019).

• To adopt the mandatory statutory requirements of the National Association of Local Councils model Standing Orders version 2018.

f) To authorise cheques for payment

100201 Church of the Holy Spirit £20.00 Use of community room on 31 May 2022
100202 SPCA £236.34 Annual Subscription 2022-23
100203 Linda Florence £30.00 Internal Audit for 2021-22

Renewal of the Council’s insurance Cover
The Clerk was authorised to consider in consultation with the Chairman the Council’s insurance renewal from Came and Company for the period 6 July 2022 to 5 July 2023 with existing levels of cover and to obtain additional quotations if necessary.

The policy currently excludes cover for: firework displays, bonfires, skate parks, BMX tracks, Zip Wires, ponds (water related activities) and playground equipment from the Public Liability section.

Resolved: To authorise payment of the cheques listed.

g) Parish Notice Board

Councillor Pearson reported on the estimates he had obtained after contacting two local companies for hardwood noticeboards. One of the estimates was £5,600 plus VAT and another estimate was £4,600.

Councillor Pearson advised the Council that the price of wood was increasing at an astronomical pace with prices varying week on week.

Resolved: That the elements of all quotations are compared and considered in detail with a view to placing an order as soon as possible.

19. ANY OTHER ITEMS FOR INFORMATION AND ITEMS FOR NEXT AGENDA
None

20. DATE OF NEXT MEETING
The next meeting of the Council will be held on Tuesday 26 July 2022 (venue to be confirmed).

Further meetings were set to take place on 27 September and 29 November 2022.

The Chairman thanked everyone present for their attendance.