STONE RURAL PARISH COUNCIL
DRAFT Minutes of Parish Council Meeting held on 6 October 2022
held at Moddershall Village Hall
Present: Councillors Cllr A McCulloch
Cllr T D Scrivens
Cllr W Woolliscroft
Cllr B Fletcher
Cllr T Mardling
Cllr G Jones
Cllr S Haine
Borough Councillors: Cllr R James
County Councillor: none
Parish Clerk: L Davies
- PUBLIC PARTICPIATION
No questions from member of the public were received.
- APOLOGIES RECEIVED – ACCEPTANCE AND RECORDING OF APOLOGIES
Apologies were received and accepted from Cllr M Tyler, Brian Price, Cllr P Dimberline and Cllr A Harp.
- RECORD DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST FROM MEMBERS IN ANY ITEM TO BE DISCUSSED
Declarations of interest were declared for agenda item 13 from Cllr S Haine.
- APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF THE MEETINGS HELD ON 7 JULY 2022
The minutes of the Parish Meetings held on 7 JULY 2022 were considered, approved and duly signed as a correct record of the meeting.
- DISCUSS MATTERS ARISING FROM MINUTES NOT ON AGENDA
None
- REPORTS FROM BOROUGH AND COUNTY COUNCILLORS
- County Councillors: no matters reported
- Borough Councillors: Cllr James provided an update on the Local Plan. Consultation period will be 18th October until 22nd
- The Local Plan will be further discussed at the parish forum on the 8 November.
- REVIEW OF THE PLANNING COMMITTEE OBSERVATIONS
- The details of the planning applications discussed in July, August, September and the start of October were duly considered and noted.
- It was noted that the planning application for the Darlaston roundabout has been refused.
- RECEIVE THE CHAIRMANS ANNOUNCEMENTS
No further announcements were made.
- DISCUSS THE MEECEBROOK GARDEN COMMUNITY
Cllr R James and the Chairman provided an update on the publicly available information regarding Meecebrook and how it fits into the Local Plan. This information can be found on the Stafford Borough website, or there is a link on the Parish Council’s website.
- DISCUSS THE HS2 ROAD SAFETY FUND
The HS2 Road safety fund was discussed. No suitable projects were identified within the parish.
- RECEIVE AND CONSIDER THE QUOTE FOR THE OULTON VILLAGE SIGN
The quote from Amey of £1,000 for a new village sign on Church Lane was APPROVED.
- CONSIDER AND APPROVE THE NEW DRAFT BUDGET FOR THE ASTON-BY-STONE COMMUNITY GARDEN
The Chairman provided an update on the Aston-By-Stone Memorial Garden. Quotes for the revised plan are being sought. It is expected that some variations to the details of the original budget will be required but that the total amount of funding required (£13,370, of which £9,800 is budgeted to be grant funding) will remain broadly the same. Chairman to action
- DISCUSS THE GRANT APPLICATION FROM OULTON VILLAGE HALL COMMITTEE
- A grant application has been received from the Oulton Village Hall Committee for a proposed amount of £6,417 to purchase 120 chairs and replace the curtains at the village hall.
- The grant application and accompanying information was considered and it was proposed, seconded and APPROVED that the Parish Council should provide a grant of £2,000 towards the cost of the project. Clerk to action
- DISCUSS ROAD SAFETY MATTERS AT OULTON PLAY PARK
- Outlon residents have raised concerns over the safety of the exit of the play park in Oulton.
- The Borough Council is responsible for the play park. They have been made aware of issues with the gates of the park and have rectified/scheduled to rectify these.
- The signage around the park was also discussed. This would be a matter for the County Council and concerns should be reported to the County Council. Clerk to action
- RECEIVE THE CLERK’S REPORT – CORRESPONDENCE RECEIVED AND PROGRESS REPORT ON MATTERS NOT ON THE AGENDA
- The Clerk’s report was received and matters duly noted.
- The audit for the Parish Council for the year ending 31 March 2022, has been signed off by Mazars LLP with no further actions required.
- The Community Traffic Officer has contacted the Parish Council to understand whether the Parish Council wish to consider SIDs in Oulton as some funding may be available to fund the posts that the SIDs sit upon. It was agreed that the Clerk should request further information and report to the council with the likely costs involved. Clerk to action
- The refurbishment of the bus stops in the Parish is continuing. It will be necessary to remove the vegetation around the bus stop at the top of Aston Lane in order to understand the extent of refurbishments required. Clerk to action
- RECEIVE AND APPROVE THE PAYMENTS AUTHORISATIONS REPORT
The Payments Authorisations Report, together with the income received in the last period (July, August and September 2022) was reviewed, approved and signed by the Chairman.
- RECEIVE AND APPROVE FINANCIAL STATEMENT AND BANK RECONCILIATION FOR THE LAST PERIOD
- The financial statements for the period were received, reviewed and approved.
- The bank reconciliations for the year to date (30 October 2022) was received, approved and signed.
- REVIEW OF THE PARISH COUNCIL’S 5 YEAR FINANCE PLAN MONITORING
- The Five Year Plan for the period 2018/19 to 2022/23 was reviewed.
- It was agreed that moving forward the 5 year plan should be a rolling plan. Clerk to action
- AGREE THE DATE AND TIME OF NEXT MEETING
The next meeting of the Parish Council will be held on 10th November 2022 at 7.30pm at Moddershall Village Hall.
Signed …………………………………………… Dated………………………..
Chairman
Lucy Davies
Parish Clerk
October 2022