Meeting 7th July 2025

EDINGALE PARISH COUNCIL

DRAFT MINUTES
Meeting of the Parish Council
held on Monday 7th July 2025
7.30 pm, at Edingale Village Hall

Members present: Cllrs Startin (Chair), Baughen, Cliffe, Layland, Maskery, Mason, Meikle.
Present: 2 members of the public, Mrs Jones (Clerk), Mrs Pritchard (new Clerk).
97/25 To receive and approve Apologies
All Cllrs present. District Cllr Bennion had apologised as he was on holiday.
98/25 To receive any Declarations of Interests.
None received.

99/25 To approve the draft Minutes of the Meeting of 2nd June 2025. Approved and signed by the Chair.
100/25 To adjourn the meeting, to hold the public session (15 minutes), to reconvene the meeting. A member of the public reported that police action had taken place due to an instance of cannabis production in the village. Another resident enquired about vehicles travelling at speed through the village. Various initiatives had been explored previously. Possibility to revisit costs and gather speed data. She also asked whether the road markings could be improved at the chicane near Pessall Brook, this would be reported to Highways. She thanked the Parish Council for its response on the Black Horse planning application.
101/25 To consider appointment of a new Clerk and terms of employment (confidential). Members of the public left the meeting for this item. The Parish Council RESOLVED to approve the appointment of Mrs Kate Pritchard as Clerk following the retirement of Mrs Jones. The terms of employment were agreed; Mrs Jones would prepare an appointment letter and Contract of Employment. There would then be a short handover period.
102/25 To receive the Clerk’s Report. Audit – paperwork submitted and Notice of Public Rights published.
Gully cleaning – in Croxall Road; Highways confirmed further work required.
Trees – Cllr Startin was asked to remind the tree surgeon to inspect the Parish Council trees for safety, to submit his invoice for previous work, and about the report to LDC on TPO trees.
103/25 To consider any Planning matters.
(a) 25/00674/FUH The Bungalow, Woodyard Drive; construction of entrance porch and single storey rear extension. RESOLVED no objection.
(b) Update on Black Horse application; Refused by Lichfield District Council, need for evidence that attempts had been made to market the pub at an appropriate price as a business. Enforcement would be contacted to ask about the next steps on this.

104/25 To consider correspondence on Chetwynd Bridge. A response had been received from the engineer; this was noted and arrangements would be made for him to attend a future Parish Council meeting.
105/25 To consider progress on Lease of land at School Lane. The signing of the Lease and declarations by the Trustees had been arranged. Once completed the Lease would be sent to Glaisyers for registration at the Land Registry.
106/25 To consider calling on the Government to provide dedicated funding for Neighbourhood Plans. It was agreed not to take part in this initiative.
107/25 To approve change of key contact for the Co-op bank accounts. It was RESOLVED to change the Co-op Bank key contact, to add new Clerk Mrs Pritchard and remove Mrs Jones as an authorised user. The forms were signed by the Cllrs and signatories.
108/25 To approve change of key contact for Buckinghamshire Building Society. It was RESOLVED to change contact details for the account from Mrs Jones to Mrs Pritchard, also to add Cllr Baughen and to remove Cllr Cliffe as signatories.
109/25 To receive Councillors’ Reports and questions Cllr Cliffe – potholes by school and 30mph sign down, report to Highways Cllr Meikle – Best Kept Village judges made only one visit this year. Cllr Mason – several of the tree whips would need replacing due to the long dry spell.
110/25 To receive Correspondence SPCA bulletins; Lichfield District Council on Local Government reorganisation; Office of Sarah Edwards MP regarding Village Show; Bloodstock organisers, residents’ letter; Residents – water leak on Croxall Road; speed of tractors through the village.
111/25 To receive a Financial Report See appendix 1 below. RESOLVED to approve the report.
112/25 To approve payments on the Payment Schedule
Staff costs: salary, expenses, pension, PAYE £446; Village Gardeners, maintenance £699.10;
SPCA Annual subscription £212; Edingale Village Hall, room hire £265; SPCA, Cllr training £42
RESOLVED to approve the payments. Cllr Maskery to authorise.

Date of next meeting
Monday 1st September (7.30 pm) The Meeting closed at 8.30.
Mrs Jones was thanked for her 13 years diligent work as Clerk and presented with flowers and wine as a thank you gift by Cllr Startin.

Appendix 1 Financial Report July 2025

Bank Reconciliation Current
Balance bf 10,834.36 Cooperative
less payments 6,395.61 Community Acc.
Plus receipts 17,500.00
Less transfer to savings 15,000.00 6,938.75
Total 6,938.75

Please note £15,000 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.

Capital Funds
Cooperative Buckinghamshire TOTAL
instant access acc. Bond CAPITAL
1.43% 3.08%
17,918.38 53,383.14 71,301.52

Received interest
64.95

Note – Actual capital less the £15,000 from the current account is £56,301.52