Meeting January 8th 2024

MINUTES OF PARISH COUNCIL MEETING

Meeting of the Parish Council
held on Monday 8th January 2024
7.30 pm, at Edingale Village Hall

Members present:
Cllrs Startin, Baughen, Cliffe, Maskery, Mason, Meikle and Sivieri.
Present: Clerk, Mrs Jones, approx. 20 members of the public, Lichfield District Cllr Bennion.
1/24 To receive and approve Apologies
None received.
2/24 To receive any Declarations of Interests No Declarations of Pecuniary Interests received.
3/24 To approve the draft Minutes of the Meeting of 4th December 2023 The draft Minutes were approved and signed.
4/24 To adjourn, to hold the public session, to reconvene the meeting. As requested by the Parish Council residents had attended to give their views on the decision by Lichfield District Council not to renew the Black Horse Inn’s Asset of Community Value. Cllr Sivieri said that since being granted 10 years ago the ACV had meant that the community would have 6 months to raise funds to purchase the property if it was marketed for sale. Cllr Bennion said the decision not to accept the recent nomination to renew the ACV had been made by the District Council as they had received insufficient evidence to show that the community had a plan to purchase or run the property. No group had come forward with a proposal to purchase the pub during the last ten years. The owner could therefore now sell the property without this limitation to any buyers who came forward. Villagers could still bid to buy the property, which was currently on the market for £450,000, as a pub or for development. It was not available for lease, due to refurbishment costs. Those at the meeting agreed that ideally they would like a pub in the village, but acknowledged that it was unlikely to be well enough supported. The Village Hall organised pub nights occasionally but there were only about 20 attendees. It was a difficult time for pub businesses, with several closing nationally each week, and those that survived often had to offer other services such as cafes and farm shops. The Parish Council had received 3 emails saying that the pub was unsustainable and only one in support of renewing the ACV. It was agreed that there was no benefit in pursuing an ACV but those present could hold a meeting outside of a Parish Council meeting to discuss whether there was enough backing or financial support from local business people or residents or to propose any further options.
The issue of flooding was also raised due to the inconvenience caused to many villagers by the recent flooding of 2 of the 3 roads to the village. This was becoming more frequent and a long term plan was needed. It was noted that the new MP was aware of this.
There were also comments about potholes; reports should be sent to Staffordshire County Council or Cllr Alan White contacted about the inaction on these.
5/24 To receive the Clerk’s Report
Domain name – Edingale-pc.gov.uk approved and email accounts set up for Cllrs.
Raddle Lane – damaged verge reported to Highways by nearby resident and Clerk.
Additional grass cut – The County Council confirmed payment for a cut in March.
Village pump – work to repair the walls and repoint the brickwork had begun.
Planning consultation received; National Aboretum, Alrewas, 23/01349/COUM; change of use for future memorials, retention of compound/parking area, garden
area, CCTV, windsock, a helicopter landing zone and arrival space with engineering works associated with drainage and access links within and to the wider National Memorial Arboretum site. There were no concerns to raise.

6/24 To consider any further actions on the Asset of Community Value. No further action to be taken by the Parish Council.
7/24 To consider transfer of County Council land next to Village Hall field. Cllr Mason reported on correspondence from Cllr Alan White and would update future meetings on the situation as the change to the Academy status progressed.
8/24 To consider response to correspondence on Social Progress Index. Cllr Mason had looked closely at the statistics in the Lichfield District Council report which revealed low rankings for the Mease Valley ward in areas such as health, crime and communications. He and Cllr Meikle would formulate a response to the officer involved.
9/24 To consider Clerk’s salary point on the LGS scale. RESOLVED to increase this by one point and approved by all.
10/24 To consider the draft Budget 2024-25. Proposed by Cllr Mason and RESOLVED to increase the precept by £1000 to £16500 to allow for increased costs. The Clerk would inform the District Council of this.
11/24 To consider revised Asset Register. RESOLVED to approve the revised register which included recent purchases.
12/24 To receive Councillors’ Reports. Cllr Baughen had received comments by users of mobility scooters about the lack of a dropped kerb along Croxall Road. The Clerk would report this to Highways. Cllr Sivieri reported on flooding at the junction of Pessall Lane and Croxall Road near to Mary Howard School on 2nd January when residents had used sandbags as a precaution. He asked whether gullies could be cleaned and Cllrs agreed that the Clerk should contact Severn Trent about pumping capacity. Cllr Meikle reported that he had obtained and displayed Best Kept Village plaques. He also expressed concerns about children playing on bikes on the island near the Black Horse, ideally their parents should be informed of the danger near the road. Cllr Mason reported that the damaged River Mease information board near his land had been replaced by the Trent Rivers Trust. He also reported on a visit by the new MP Sarah Edwards to Edingale, when she had been informed of local problems including flood risk and the bridges. He had contacted the landowner about replacing the ash trees on Harlaston Road which were in fact subject to a TPO due to proximity to Harlaston, he had contacted CPRE for advice on this and would report back to a future meeting.
13/24 To receive Correspondence Staffordshire Parish Councils Association; weekly bulletins and training details; Road closure notices including Catton Road 15/16 January; CPRE newsletter; Police, Fire and Rescue Commissioner survey; Community Foundation newsletter; Invitation to Mease Valley News gathering; Cllr Bennion Lichfield District update.
14/24 To receive a Financial Report
The bank reconciliation stood at £13,114.82.
RESOLVED to approve the report. See appendix 1.

15/234 To approve payments on the Payment Schedule.
Staff costs; salary, expenses, pension and PAYE, £435.07
Edingale Village Hall, donation for playground repairs £1453.50
Prontaprint, leaflet printing £36.00
Village Gardeners, Rowley path weed clearance £250.00
CPRE membership, £3
Information Commissioners Office, data protection fee £35
Payments since last meeting; Cloud Next Ltd hosting fee £59.98 and domain name £132; KTM Electrical Services Ltd, Christmas lights installation £288.

It was RESOLVED to approve the payments. Cllr Startin would authorise these.

Date of next meeting
Monday 5th February 2024.
Meeting closed at 21.10 pm.

Appendix 1 Financial Report, January 2024
(a) Bank reconciliation
Bank Reconciliation Actual excl.transfers Current
Balance bf 9,995.92 Cooperative
less payments 26,479.71 20707.20 Community Acc.
Plus receipts 29,598.61 18072.10
Total 13,114.82 13,114.82

(b) Budget comparison

(c) Capital fund
Cambridge Building Society – account closed. Received £5772.51 which includes £128.60 interest (interest transferred into Co-op 14 day account).
Buckinghamshire Building Society – £5643.91 from Cambridge a/c transferred into fixed rate bond along with existing funds and interest of £1285.58. Total invested £50,921.50.