Meeting 1st December 2025

DRAFT MINUTES
Meeting of the Parish Council
held on Monday 1st December 2025
7.30 pm, at Edingale Village Hall

Members present: Cllrs Startin (Chair), Cliffe, Layland, Mason, Meikle.
Present: 1 member of the public, Mrs Pritchard (Clerk).
168/25 To receive and approve Apologies . Apologies received from Cllr Maskery and Baughen.
169/25 Support Staffordshire. The presentation wasn’t delivered.
170/25 To receive any Declarations of Interests. Cllr D. Layland raised an interest for agenda item 184/25 with regards to Edingale Village Hall.
171/25 To approve the draft Minutes of the Meeting of 3rd November 2025. It was RESOLVED that the Minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on Monday 3rd November 2025, having been circulated, be confirmed, and signed as a correct record.

172/25 To adjourn the meeting, to hold the public session (15 minutes), to reconvene the meeting. None.
173/25 To receive County and District Councillor Reports. Cllr P. Bennion raised the proposed development from Lichfield District Council at Thorpe Constantine.
174/25 To receive the Clerk’s Report. The clerk report was NOTED. ACTION: Agenda item to be raised for the January meeting regarding planting a slow growing Christmas tree on the Blakeways. ACTION: Clerk to draft a thank you letter for the donation of the Christmas tree, from Mease Meadows farm.
175/25 To consider any Planning matters. None.
176/25 To consider the purchase of Finance Software. The Council RESOLVED to approve the purchase of Scribe software.
177/25 To consider the maintenance contract and schedule for 2026. The Council RESOLVED to approve the maintenance contract in 2026.
178/25 To consider the bond maturity. The Council RESOLVED to reinvest the funds. Form signed by Cllr J. Startin.
179/25 To consider follow up to improving mobile digital connectivity correspondence. The Council RESOLVED to approve an initial meeting with the County Officer. ACTION: Clerk to facilitate a meeting in December.
180/25 To consider adoption of scheme of delegation to the Parish Clerk. The Council RESOLVED to approve the policy.
181/25 To receive Councillors’ Reports and questions.
Cllr M. Cliffe discussed potential flooding.
Cllr D. Layland advised Open Reach visited Edingale recently for potential to install fibre. ACTION: Clerk to draft letter to MP Assistant regarding connectivity update.
Cllr D. Layland provided update on the health of trees on the Parish Council land. Cllr A. Mason has spoken with the tree surgeon regarding a future inspection.
Cllr D. Layland provided update to the pothole on the Croxall Road, a work order is now raised. ACTION: Clerk to post the report it tool link on the social media page and to advise residents that work on the Croxall Road pothole is due to be carried out.
Cllr J. Meikle raised the wild flower area on the Blakeways. ACTION: clerk to add to the January agenda for approval by the Council, and circulate a quote.
Cllr J. Meikle discussed the BKV competition and the possibility of finding volunteers to help. ACTION: Clerk to create a poster for the noticeboard.
Cllr A. Mason provided feedback on the meeting held by Sarah Edwards MP. HS2 implications, rural connectivity and the Mease Valley pipeline were discussed. Severn Trent Water and their agents showed signs of understanding farmers concerns re the pipeline.
182/25 To receive Correspondence. The Correspondence was noted.
183/25 To receive a Financial Report. The Council NOTED the financial report. Signed by Cllr J. Startin.
184/25 To consider the provisional budget 2026/27. The Council RESOLVED to increase the budget village hall donation to £3,000, and to increase the Precept to £20,000 for 2026/2027. Proposer Cllr A. Mason, seconder Cllr J. Startin. The motion was CARRIED.
185/25 To approve payments on the December Payment Schedule. The Council RESOLVED to approve payments. Cllr J. Startin to approve.
186/25 To confirm date of next meeting (Monday 5th January 2025). Date NOTED.

There being no further business the Chairman declared the meeting closed at 21:15

Appendix 1 Financial Report December 2025

Bank Reconciliation Current
Balance bf 10,834.36 Cooperative
less payments 16,654.00 Community Acc.
Plus receipts 17,875.67
Less transfer to savings 10,000.00 2,056.03
Total 2,056.03

Please note £10,000 has been transferred to the Cooperative instant access account to earn some interest. This should ideally be transferred back before the end of financial year to avoid any confusion when preparing for audit. Originally £15,000 was transferred to the Cooperative instant access account, however £5,000 was transferred back to the Charity & Community Bank Account on 30.09.25 to cover upcoming costs.

Capital Funds
Cooperative Buckinghamshire TOTAL
instant access acc. Bond CAPITAL
1.43% 3.08%
13,001.90 53,383.14 66,385.04

Received interest
148.47