Approved SPC minutes – 13.05.25

Approved minutes of meeting of Full Council Tuesday May 13^th, 2025, at Little Aston Community Centre at 8.00pm.

1 Register of members in attendance.

Cllrs Lesley Edgley (Acting Chair), Cllr David Thompson, Cllr Alan Pugh, Cllr Mick Cox, Cllr Chris Jones, Cllr Simon Fisher, Cllr Chris Callow, Cllr Gail Nicholls, Cllr Louise Hawes, Cllr Stuart Harrison. Shirley O’Mara (Clerk)

Cllr Phil Whitehouse, Cllr David Salter & County Cllr Alex Farrell arrived late due to a previous meeting at Lichfield District Council.

Members of the public: a resident of Shenstone & a resident of Little Aston.

2 Acceptance of apologies.

Cllr Dino D’Ambrosio.

3 Public Participation.

Members of the public are invited to address Council for a maximum of 15 minutes.

A resident of Burnett Road, Little Aston addressed Council on issues of:

• road safety: increased volume of traffic in Burnett Road, problem parking & poor signage. Concerns that this will only worsen with increased numbers at the local nursery. Cllr Thompson informed the resident that Council have been involved for some time with traffic surveys in association with County, but that Burnett Rd was not included, so needs to be looked at. The Issue to be raised with new County Cllr Farrell.

Cllr Jones advised that the planning application related to the nursey extension had not been approved but that we should be mindful that an appeal or revised application could be forthcoming.

• Street cleaning: Following re-surfacing the road still has tar & grit present which needs sweeping. Also there needs to be general sweeping early in the morning when the road is free of cars. The Clerk will raise these issues with Cllr Phil Whitehouse in his capacity as District Councillor Member for Operational Services.

4 Election of Chair and Vice Chair.

To receive nominations for the roles of Chair and Vice Chair and to elect to these positions.

Cllr David Salter was duly re-elected as Chair of Council following a proposal by Cllr Thompson which was seconded by Cllr Nicholls. There were no other candidates.

Cllr Simon Fisher was duly elected as Vice Chair of Council following a proposal by Cllr Edgley which was seconded by Cllr Nicholls. There were no other candidates.

Cllr Whitehouse, though fully supportive of the election of Chair, cautioned that Council needs to be mindful of the need for other Members to come forward for these roles. Cllr Thompson agreed, pointing out that the Vice Chair position is an excellent route through to Chair & supports Cllr Jones comments on the importance of succession planning.

5 Declarations of interest. Members should consider whether they should partake in any discussion or vote on matters on the agenda unless they have a dispensation:

None

6 To accept and confirm minutes of the last Full Council meeting on Tuesday 8^th April 2025.

Duly approved and signed.

7 Clerk’s update on outstanding issues from last meeting:

• In April, the Clerk referred the issue of trees in the right of way from Pinfold Hill to Millbrook Drive to the Tree Officer at Lichfield District Council for advice but has not had a response as yet. Cllr Thompson has a meeting on Wednesday where he will chase.

• Defibrillator article in the Parish Newsletter. Cllr Pugh volunteered at the April meeting to write an article on this subject & their locations for the next newsletter. This has been done in detail, pending one or two amendments. Once compete it will be shared with members for approval.

• Cllr Pugh was thanked for his efforts & complimented on the precise & concise detail of the article.

• Cllr Thompson reported that the weekend of 26^th/27^th April opening of the Bluebell Wood at Footherley Rough were a complete success. There were just under 200 visitors: 67 on Saturday and 127 on Sunday. A thank you letter will be set to Mr Williams & his team.

There is clay pigeon shooting 17^th May 2pm to 5pm at Footherley Working Men’s Club.

8 To elect members to the following committees:

Neighbourhood Planning & Property -7

Finance Legal Health & Safety -8

Employment Committee-3

Lammas Land -2

Spreadsheet attached.

9 To elect members as representatives on Outside Bodies:

Shenstone Village Hall-1

Shenstone Playing Fields-2

Richard Cooper Room-1

Stonnall Village Hall-1

Stonnall Playing Fields-2

Little Aston Recreation Ground-2

Little Aston Village Hall-2

Staffs Parish Council Association-1

Quarry Committee-2

Link to representatives  Spreadsheet 

10 Chairs Honorarium

Councillors agree on an allowance of £1500 for the Chair of the Parish Council in order to undertake official business.

RESOLUTION: Unanimously approved.

11 Casual vacancies: update on applications, recruitment process and timescales.

The Clerk reported that there have been no applications received for the vacant posts in Shenstone and Stonnall. Earlier that day the Clerk had shared several articles from this month’s “Clerk” magazine highlighting the issues with recruitment and retention of Councillors which is a nationwide problem.

The subject of training was discussed and the Clerk will forward details of all available relevant training courses to members.

12 To receive reports from District and County Councillors.

County Cllr Alex Farrell introduced himself to members and gave a brief outline of the new County structure. He is very keen to hear from Council exactly what our issues are. Potholes were raised with Cllr Farrel willing to chase any that are reported on the app but not actioned in a timely fashion.

A missing 30mph sign on Lynn Lane & the Little Hay identity sign replacements were mentioned & will be followed up.

Cllr Thompson congratulated Cllr Farrell on his appointment & briefed him on the 4 yearly traffic data surveys that were completed under his predecessor. There remain issues with the data in a digestible form, but the surveys should be perhaps completed again taking in more roads. Engagement with the new member for Highways would be welcome.

Cllr Whitehouse encouraged Members to look on the Lichfield District Council website where there is lots of information. Cllr Salter had previously shared the latest news update.

Cllr Thompson asked Cllr Salter to confirm his invitation from Sarah Edwards MP to a 30^th May inaugural meeting of all Parish Council Chairs inside Tamworth constituency boundary.

13 Finance.

Current financial position & transactions for approval as of 13^th May 2025.
Link to April 2025’s financial transactions spreadsheet
Link to financial transactions spreadsheet from 1st to 13th May 2025

All transactions were shared with no questions raised.

Unity Account £140,872.66. Nat West Current Account £904.30. Nat West Business Reserve £8701.60. Nat West Liquidity Account ring fenced funds for ear marked projects £114,338.93.

The internal audit is 90% complete with Alan Topliss meeting the Clerk to finalise on May 20^th.

Next meeting of Finance, Legal, Health & Safety Committee May 27^th, 2025, at 5.30pm Parish Office.

14 Planning.

Approve planning applications received in last month and update on any objections/ developments. Link to planning applications spreadsheet.

Cllr Thompson expressed his thanks to Cllr Jones for his work on planning applications since recently joining Council and praised his willingness to be collaborative across Parish boundaries. Successful objections include 25/00190 Little Ripley Nursery & 25/00093 Shenstone Business Park.

Cllr Jones referred to a successful objection 25/00286 in Wallheath Lane which has been resubmitted taking into account all the concerns raised & so is now likely to be approved.

Currently looking at applications 25/00573 Church Lane, Stonnall & two properties in Little Aston for extensive garage works.

Cllr Salter briefed members on a speculative planning meeting with developers held on Monday 12^th May focusing on land around Blake Street, Little Aston & Shenstone Wood End.

It is extremely early stages, and though well presented with some boxes ticked, there are many more to be addressed with issues around accessibility, infrastructure and loss of green belt. Cllr Whitehouse stressed the importance of Council remaining entirely neutral and the need to be guided through this and any other speculative developments. Cllr Salter agreed the importance of closely scrutinising everything and the importance of reflecting what the community wants.

County Cllr Farrell said that the proposal is not on the Lichfield Local Plan but that with some flexibility it could be compliant with the emerging policy.

Cllrs Thompson, Whitehouse & Jones ae meeting LDC Officer Kerry Challoner on Wednesday re development control.

Next meeting of the Neighbourhood, Planning & Property Committee Meeting: Tuesday June 24^th at 5.30pm Parish Office

15 Neighbourhood plan reviews: update & next steps.

Cllr Thompson confirmed that in accordance with due process examiners have been selected and appointed for the examination of the Shenstone & Little Aston neighbourhood plans.

Residents will in a few months’ time be asked to identify what their priorities are.

Cllr Whitehouse said that good progress has been made with the Stonnall plan with the Reg 14 consultation complete & the statement of engagement phase imminent.

16 Next meeting of Full Council June 10^th, 2025, 7.15pm at Shenstone Community Library.