BRINDLEY HEATH PARISH COUNCIL
MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE COUNCIL
HELD ON TUESDAY 17 MAY 2011
AT THE BAPTIST BIBLE COLLEGE, BRINDLEY HEATH. 7.00PM

PRESENT: Parish Councillors: P. Adams (Chairman)
K. Baker
D. Cotton
R. Turville
Mrs. A. Turville

CLERK: Mrs. T. Williams (Acting)

1. APOLOGIES:
Apologies were received from Councillor Pearson (AGM at Hednesford Town Council) and Councillor Wilkes (co-opted earlier this evening).

2. MINUTES OF LAST MEETING
The minutes of the previous meeting held on 19 April 2011 were approved as a true record.

3. PROGRESS REPORTS
a) Notice Board
Parish Council notices can be put on the Slitting Mill Village Hall notice board and the board on the bus shelter in Stafford Brook Road.

A letter has been sent to Mr. Heminsley, Planning Services Manager to seek permission for the newest notice board to be installed on the wall of the Tackeroo Club. The Chairman, Councillor Adams has obtained permission from the owner.

b) Bower Lane
Cars marked ‘For Sale’ will continue to be reported.

c) D.V. Ward – Environmental Issues
A letter dated 11 May 2011 from Mr. Pritchard, Pollution Control Officer was read out to the meeting. The outcome of the court action taken by Cannock Chase Council for the illegal disposal and treatment of waste was noted.

d) Kingsley Wood Road
Jaclyn Lake of Natural England has confirmed that she doesn’t deal with Open Access. This is the responsibility of Natural England’s Open Access Team. The team has advised that Natural England has recently announced the plan to defer the decadal review of Open Country mapping revisions, preventing any mapping amendments to Open Access land at the present time. It was suggested that the council view the website for further information on Open Access mapping and the detail on ‘excepted land’.

Jaclyn has also advised that Adam Dempsey is responsible for dealing with the matter of changing the designations from AONB to SSSI. She has heard nothing recently herself on the issue and will try to find out some information and let the Council know. (SAC should also be followed up).

The meeting was alerted to the fact that poaching is going on in the area.

e) British Telecom – Telephone Box at the corner of Kingsley Wood Road
The contract states that BT will decommission the box which involves: disconnection from the telecommunications network, removal of payphone, ancillary equipment and wiring from within the kiosk. Following this a completion certificate will be forwarded to the Council.

It was reported that the internal light has now gone off.

f) Rugeley Quarry
A meeting with the Quarry Manager and members will be arranged before Christmas, when information will be sought on the situation with the birdwatchers.

It was reported that large loads are being accompanied, and that some road sweeping in Stafford Brook Road had been done.

4. CORRESPONDENCE
a) Incoming and Outgoing Correspondence
All incoming and outgoing correspondence is recorded in the Clerks Report (with the exception of general SPCA emails). The letters are made available for viewing, and are otherwise accepted as read.

b) Correspondence (Requiring a Decision or of Specific Interest)
• Invitation to submit Expressions of Interest for capital funding applications to the Coalfields Regeneration Trust. The deadline is 31 May 2011.
• Staffordshire County Council, Lynne Coates, ICT and Communications Support Officer – email dated 10 May 2011 asking for individual Parish Councillor contact details to be forwarded for inclusion on Staffordshire County Council website. It was agreed that members names, addresses and telephone numbers could be forwarded to her.
• SPCA, email from Richard Ellison dated 9 May 2011 – Various training courses are being offered for Councillors.
No interest was expressed in making any bookings, but it was agreed that 7 copies of the publication ‘The Good Councillor Guide’ be purchased.
• Staffordshire County Council, Mark Keeling, Community Highways Liaison Officer. Email dated 3 May 2011 containing the Neighbourhood Highways Team work program in Brindley Heath for the 12 day period beginning on 27 May 2011.
• Cannock Chase Council, Mr Richardson, Scientific Officer, Environmental Health Department. Letter dated 13 May 2011 confirming receipt of the Parish Council’s Thank you letter (dated 5 May 2011) and offering to deal with any further queries on the Motorbike Scrambling events at Lower Cliff Farm, should any arise.

5. THANK YOU TO MEMBERS
It was agreed that letters of appreciation should be sent to Councillor Mrs. Grice and Mrs. Higgs for their long service to the Council. It was also agreed that a get well gift would be purchased for Mrs. Higgs who has retired from local council life because of her deteriorating mobility.

6. PLANNING
Planning Comments Referred to the District Council (under delegated powers)
CH/11/0101 Stafford Brook Stables, Stafford Brook Road, Rugeley
Residential development. Erection of a single storey 2 bedroom temporary dwelling
A Letter of objection referred to the District Council on 26 April 2011, was noted

Planning Applications Received
None received

Planning Decisions made by District Council
None received

Other Planning Issues
a) Birches Valley Car Park – Concerns about the extension to the car park and removal of trees and bushes was reported in an email to Development Control on 26 April 2011. The information was restated in a letter dated 12 May 2011. The case has been allocated to Mr. Aqbal, Planning Officer, for investigation. No response has been received yet.

b) Cannock Chase Visitors Centre – Application CH/11/0090 was listed on Cannock Chase Council’s website but the Parish Council had not been consulted on retention of a double mobile classroom.

The Case Officer, Mr. Aqbal said that it was a Staffordshire County Council planning application on which Cannock Chase Council had been consulted. Staffordshire County Council is responsible for all publicity/consultations and its determination. He has informed the County that the Parish Council have queried the failure to consult.

c) Static Caravan, Penkridge Bank – Enquiries have been made about whether planning permission has been granted for the use of a 32 ft static caravan as a temporary dwelling. An email was sent to Development control on 26 April 2011 and the request for information was restated in a letter dated 12 May 2011. Mr. Aqbal is investigating.

d) Silver Trees Caravan Site – An enquiry was made to the owner of the Holiday Park about the number of caravans the site has the capacity to hold (as a maximum) and how many caravans are sited there currently. The reply from Mr. Barber (the owner) dated 27 April 2011 was noted.

A second email raised the possibility that clients may have caused damage locally. Responses to these points were also noted (email dated 5 May 2011).

The Clerk was asked to write to Mr. Barber saying that the Council are pleased that incidents of people causing harm/damage to the area are taken very seriously, and that members will take up his offer of a tour around the site in the near future.

It was reported that an Alsatian dog which is allowed to run off the lead by its owner, is a cause for concern.

e) Site of former Play Group, Bow Street, Rugeley – Enquiries have been made with Development
Control about whether any information is available on the future intended use of the land. Planning Officer, Mr. Aqbal is dealing with this enquiry.

Invitation to a Future Meeting
It was decided that the Chairman of the District Council’s Planning Committee would be invited to the Parish Council’s meeting in September, to answer members’ questions about various planning issues.

A separate agenda will be formulated with planning issues and questions. Members were asked to consider what the questions should be.

The agenda will be forwarded to the Chairman in advance of the meeting to give him/her an opportunity to prepare specific responses.

It was agreed that this meeting would start earlier than the usual time, to ensure that a full one hour time slot is allocated to the item (7pm was proposed).

7. INVITATIONS TO MEETINGS
Cannock Chase AONB Parish Councils’ Meeting on 18 May 2011 at Tixall. The Clerk volunteered to attend (in place of the Chairman).

Hednesford Community Forum – Tuesday 14 June 2011 at the Museum of Cannock Chase, starting at 7pm.

8. REPORTS ON MEETINGS ATTENDED
There was nothing to report on this item.

9. STANDING ORDERS
Resolved: To adopt the mandatory Standing Orders (in bold print) from the latest Model Standing Orders produced by NALC.

Other discretionary orders will be used for guidance and will be adopted where they are found to be relevant to the Councils needs.

10. CHARITY DONATIONS
It was resolved to consider only applications for grant aid where the cause directly benefits the Brindley Heath community. Applicants will be asked to fill in an application form (based on the previous one). Financial detail is required for decision making and this is requested on the form.

It was also agreed, to consider applications as they are received, in preference to the alternative system of holding them for a decision at a pre-determined time of the year.

Resolved: That all charity donations are only awarded to causes which will directly benefit (or have the potential to directly benefit) the Brindley Heath Community. Applicants will be asked to complete an application form which will be considered at the meeting which follows its receipt.

Resolved: It was resolved to decline a request for a financial donation from the ‘Campaign to Protect Rural England’.

11. FINANCE
a) Annual Return and Internal Auditors Report
The Clerk reported that the Internal Audit was complete and the Annual Return, Bank Reconciliation, Explanation of Variances and covering letter had been posted to the Audit Commission on 12 May 2011. (The final date for receipt was 16 May 2011).

Julie Hill will be forwarding her report and invoice in due course.

b) Update on Financial Position of the Council
Payments from April 2011 to the present date are set against the budget which is documented in the Clerks Report. It was noted that the income entries are not up to date because the latest bank statement hasn’t been received.

c) Letters of response from Co-operative Bank
The bank will not process the change of contact address (to the home address of the temporary Clerk) without the resigning of a letter which is in accordance with the current account mandate. The letters received from the Co-op have not given any explanation as to the details of the current account mandate, but they have suggested (through handwritten markings) that 3 signatories are required and that one of the three signatures submitted previously was rejected.

Two letters were again signed by three members of the Council (substituting the signature which wasn’t accepted). These letters will be forwarded to the bank in the hope that the account mandate conditions will be met this time and that the contact address will be changed. (The first letter deals with the change of address and the second deals with procedure for updating the signatories list and requests a change of signatories form).

Details of a free banking community account have been obtained from HSBC. The issue of changing the bank account will be put on a future agenda.

d) Appointment of Members to Sign Cheques
The form from the Co-operative Bank had not been received.

It was decided that all members will be signatories, but the matter will be dealt with after the decision has been finalised on future banking arrangements.

e) Cheques for Payment
200009 T. Williams £174.96 Salary £162.71 (April 2011) Stationery £9.41, Postage £2.84
200010 Baptist Bible College £25.00 Room Hire for meeting on 17/5/11
200011 P. Adams £250.00 Chairman’s Allowance 2011/12
200012 SPCA £12.71 ‘The Good Councillor Guide’ x 7 copies

Resolved: To authorise payment of the cheques listed.

12. ANY OTHER ITEMS FOR INFORMATION AND ITEMS FOR NEXT AGENDA
Items for Information

It was reported that there has been blocked drains in Kingsley Wood Road. South Staffs Water and Severn
Trent Water have been contacted for assistance and an investigation camera is needed to identify defective pipe work.

No information has been received from Mr O’Meara following Councillor Adams meeting at the beginning of the year about the Forest Concerts. The Clerk will make enquiries on this matter.

Items for next agenda
Freedom of Information Act 2000 Policy Statement
Planning Questions for meeting with Chairman of Planning Committee

13. DATE, TIME AND VENUE OF NEXT MEETING
The next meeting of the Council will be held on Tuesday 5 July 2011 at the Baptist Bible College, Brindley Heath. The start time is 7.30pm.

The meeting was closed by the Chairman at 9.45pm