Minutes of Annual Parish Meeting 17th April 2024 at Shenstone Community Library at 6.00pm.
1 Register of members in attendance & apologies for absence.
Attendees: Cllrs David Salter, Lesley Edgley, Mick Cox, Stuart Jones & Simon Fisher.
Members of community groups: Mr Keith Goldsworthy, Mr Jeremy Cotton, Mr Malcolm Bielby, Mrs Sheila Bielby, Mrs Val Rowe, Mrs Brenda Grey, Mrs Mary Jones, Mr Adrian Berg, Mr Brian Devonshire.
Acceptance of apologies.
Cllr Phil Whitehouse. Mrs Marie Jenkins. Mr Richard Paxton.
2 Welcome and introduction by Cllr David Salter
Welcome everyone to the 2024 Annual Parish Meeting.
3 To approve & adopt the minutes of the 2023/24 Annual Parish Meeting.
Approved & adopted.
4 Shenstone Parish Council Annual Report 2023/24
Reviews of the Neighbourhood Plans for Little Aston Shenstone and Stonnall.
The three Neighbourhood Plans have served each village well both in safeguarding against undesirable village developments and in promoting projects that improve village living. As the three village Neighbourhood Plans are now over eight years old they are being reviewed and updated by three village working groups. The review process will be subject to three stages of consultation throughout 2024/5 and will result in additional land use planning safeguards and initiatives being established to underpin the quality of life in each community.
Planning: All planning applications continue to be closely monitored with several successful objections being upheld where applicants are in breach of the Neighbourhood Plan particularly on issues of cramming or development within the conservation area. Cllr Salter wished to extend his personal thanks to Cllr David Thompson, who, through his extensive knowledge & expertise, ensures all planning matters are dealt with to the highest standard.
Traffic & Parking: An ongoing problem across all Wards, Council is working closely with Staffs County Highways to look at speed reduction measures with the 30mph entry to the Village on Birmingham Road being successfully extended to closer to Court Drive entering from Sutton Coldfield. Council has also formed a Traffic Working Group to focus solely on the issue.
There has also been some excellent work done by the SCAR group in Stonnall, most especially addressing the serious safety concerns on and around the Chester Road/Lazy Hill Road junction. The Council is very appreciative of all their help & support.
Renewable Energy form the aquifer below Shenstone and Stonnall
Lichfield District Council, South Staffs Water and Shenstone Parish Council have been allocated £150,000 of government funding to explore in detail the potential of extracting heat from the aquifer below Shenstone and Stonnall. This award follows the successful completion of a feasibility study in 2023, also supported by government, which showed that the idea was feasible; the new project will take twelve months to complete. The detailed project will look at extracting water from the mothballed Shenstone pumping station, then extracting heat from the water and distributing the heated water to new homes, existing homes and community buildings. The project will identify the heating supply phases, cost of installation for village homeowners and annual service charges for village homeowners. Householders can then compare costs to what they pay for their heating now.
4 Community Grants.
The following Community Groups have been in receipt of grant funding this year: Friends of Shenstone Station, Little Aston Community Association, Stonnall Community Centre, Shenstone Playing Fields, 1st Stonnall Scouts, Little Aston Tennis Club, Friends of Shenstone Tower, St Johns Church Hall, Trinity Methodist Hall, Little Aston Bowls Club, Shenstone Seniors Brunch Club, Friday Friends, Shenstone Tennis Club, Little Aston Village Hall, Stonnall Village Hall, Shenstone Community Library, Stonnallbury, 1st Shenstone Scouts, Stonnall Playing Fields, 1st Shenstone Guides, 2nd Shenstone Brownies, Stonnall Singers and Shenstone Baby & Toddler Group.
In addition, £3,250 was given in support of events to mark the Coronation & £1225.00 for specific Councillor led grant requests as well as a very recent £666.00 grant towards the purchase of a replacement projector for Stonnall Community Centre.
CIL Grant funding: Following the receipt of community infrastructure levy grant funding from Lichfield District Council, Council have just over £14,518 with notice of a further £5663.52 due later this month. This funding is spent proportionally across all three wards with Council to identify projects shortly.
Playing Fields & recreation grounds: A report from Little Aston Recreation Ground Association, Stonnall Playing Fields, Shenstone Playing Fields & the Lammas Land Committee will follow but the Council wish to reiterate their commitment to supporting the provision and upkeep of our outdoor spaces across the Parish.
Lengthsmen Scheme: This scheme continues to be a great success with the Lengthsmen completing many specific projects as well as maintaining the general upkeep of the Parish. These include extensive restoration works on Stonnall Playing Field, improvements to the Cenotaph in Shenstone using a £500 grant kindly donated by Shenstone and Lichfield Artisans Golf Society and picking up many tasks which are actually the responsibility of District or County Councils.
The Parish Council are very proud of the team and regular positive feedback and compliments indicate that residents are equally appreciative of their work.
Communications: The Parish Website continues to be the main focal point of Communication alongside our newsletters which are produced three to four times a year. We also have a Facebook account where we share updates on local events, main Parish headlines & relevant news from both LDC & County.
Defibrillators: A telephone box on Smarts Avenue, Shenstone Wood End has just been converted to a defibrillator with a second planned for Little Hay in the coming weeks. Both were purchased through grants from London Hearts Charity with Parish match funding £750.00 each.
Changes to Council Members: Over the last three months Council have been joined by six new Councillors: Cllrs Simon Fisher, Emma Scothern, Christopher Callow, Din’ D’Ambrosio, Stuart Harrison & Ruth Graham. Sadly, Cllr Leona Leung has resigned, as has one of Council’s longest serving Councillors Val Neale, after over 30 years of exemplary service.
5 Shenstone Parish Council Financial Report 2023/24
Current Financial Position: Nat west current account £905.00
Nat West Business Reserve £53,646.57. Nat West Liquidity Account ring fenced funds £93,427.17. Unity Bank £208,750.60.
Ring fenced funds are for ear marked projects including traffic calming, professional fees associated with litigation and neighbourhood plan refreshes.
6 District and County Council reports 2023/24
There were no County Councillors present.
Cllr Salter briefly explained that the current Neighbourhood Plan refreshes need to mesh with the Lichfield District Local Plan which is in process. There is plenty of time to complete this.
7 Matters raised by residents- Open Forum:
None
8 To receive reports from Community Organisations.
The following reports were read (attached)
Stonnall Community Centre Trust
The Lammas Land & Little Holms Management Committee
Diamond Jubilee Allotments Committee
Shenstone Playing Fields Management Committee
Shenstone Village Hall Management Committee
Little Aston Recreation Ground
Stonnall & Lynn Playing Fields Association
Trinity Methodist Church
Stonnall Village Hall
Shenstone Environmental Group
Friends of Shenstone Station 1884
Mr Brian Devonshire, representing the children’s uniformed groups, also extended his thanks to the Parish Council for the valuable grant funding which this year has allowed the purchase of five tents which will be used on the forthcoming excursion to Switzerland with the largest contingent ever of participants. He also reported that Shenstone has one of the largest number of young leaders.
9 Vote of thanks to all participants.
Cllr Salter thanked everyone for taking part and hoped they had found the evening informative & enjoyable. .
10 Closure of meeting.
Meeting closed at 7.00pm.
