SHENSTONE PARISH COUNCIL
Draft Minutes of Annual Parish Meeting 17th June 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 May 2021
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 from 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.
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, Clir 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
Shenstone Seniors Lunch Club
Friends of Shenstone Tower
The Lammas Land & Little Holms Management Committee
Shenstone Brunch Club
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
S.C.A.R
Shenstone Tennis Club
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.
Subject: Shenstone Seniors Lunch Club
report read by Brenda Gray
Good evening everyone.
Myself and Val Rowe run the Shenstone Seniors lunch club at the Wesley Methodist Hall once a month. Originally we were part of the committee for Shenstone Cares. However during and after COVID the numbers of participants dropped substantially due to various factors. Also the general age of the members was a factor. After COVID there was a distinct lack of enthusiasm for social activities, such as theatre trips, afternoon trips ate. Totally understandable. We had funds from SC which we decided had to be providing something helpful for the elderly community. Lunch club was our solution.
We were concerned that there were a Lot of older people in the village who weren’t accessing the company they needed and the lunch club was hopefully the way forward. We were involved with Mary Jones when she started the brunch club and with her help and advice we formed the Lunch club with the same ideals. Both clubs work together for these projects.
We decided on a light lunch with a dessert and biscuits, tea and coffee. This runs from 12-2 on the 3rd Saturday of the month.
We try very hard to have a varied menu every month and we are really pleased to see how much meal is enjoyed. Clean plates always !!
After a slow start 7 months ago it has really taken off. Our numbers have increased and continue to grow. We have continued to make improvements to our menu, our decor and the facilities.
Both the Brunch and the Lunch clubs have the same team, who are fantastic. We all work together and enjoy every session. Without the backing of this team it just wouldnt work.
Both clubs have become a meeting point. Not only for the food, but as was the intention, to be a place of comfort and friendship.
It seems to be working!!!
Thank you for your attention.
Annual report of the Lammas Land and Little Holms
Management Committee 2024
During the last twelve months we have continued with our maintenance plan for the area, which includes keeping nature in check by clearing certain areas of Briars and Himalayan
Balsam. Both species if not kept in check will dominate. Briars especially in areas that we have planted with tree saplings will have a detrimental effect if not removed. Himalayan Balsam is an attractive plant and very beneficial to the Birds and Bees but is very intrusive. We have areas where we attempt to keep this plant in check and areas where we leave it untouched as we have realised over the years that any attempt to eradicate it would be
futile, due to its ability of its seeds to lie dormant for years and the fact that it is prevalent on land that adjoins ours.
We have continued to keep the water course free of obstruction, leaving areas of debris in the stream where necessary to protect the banks of the stream on our side and to slow the stream down in times of flooding as recommended by the Environment Agency.
We have planted several trees donated to us by local residents, some in memory of loved ones and some of which have become unwanted, for various reasons.
We have carried out maintenance and repairs as and when required.
A wild flower patch has been created on the Lammas Land, the seeds sown by members of the local Girl Guides and Scout associations. This in its first year was a success and we will
evaluate it again this year to see if it is sustainable. Also, several wild primroses have been planted in the Little Holms.
We have written a new constitution for our committee and this has now been adopted. We are also in the final stages of agreeing a new five-year management plan and we are hopeful of being able to implement this in the next few weeks.
Richard Partridge
Chairman
Shenstone Seniors Brunch Club
In May last year I recognised a need, for a place where our senior residents could meet and socialise over a quiet cup of tea and some form of snack. Especially at the weekend which can be very quite and isolating for those living on their own.
I thought I would test the water during the Parish Council Funded Coronation Tea & Cake session which myself and my merry band of volunteers staged for this momentous occasion.
After quite a lot of conversations it became very clear that a warm drink and a Bacon Bap was very high on the list of suggestions made by our senior residents. The idea was also supported by our volunteers who all put their name down to be Mary’s Team of Helpers.
So the next question was where can we hold the event? – we needed a venue with a kitchen fit for purpose. Luckily The Wesley Hall was available and had two cookers
Then, what would we put on the menu? (apart from the highly popular BaconBap)
What equipment would we need?
How will we fund this new enterprise?
We’d need to get the venue and my kitchen rated by the Food Standards Agency and I wanted to get the same 5 star rating we’d achieved at the library.
Fortunately I already had my level 2 food hygiene certification
There were Procedures and volunteer rotas to create
Then there was a bank account to set up and Public liability insurance
Local food suppliers to select etc. etc
But it was clear from the conversation I’d had with our Seniors they really wanted a Quick fix, so I decided (having missed the Parish Council Grant funding deadline) that if I wanted to start the process I would need to put £500 of my own money in to get the ball rolling.
Then Shirley the clerk suggested that I ask Shenstone Relief fund for the start up costs. We were very Lucky and our application was successful and in addition David Salter gave us a discretionary councillors grant for a warming tray which transformed our Pancakes and Cherry compote service
It was agreed that we would offer the service on the first Saturday of the month and The Brunch Club opened from 10.0 am until 12.0 pm on July 2nd. We had 31 customers on that day and this month (our 10th) we attracted 51customers which confirms our original thinking was correct – the oldies love it.
Most of the attendees stay for the full two hours eating and chatting so we have clearly hit the nail on the head with our menu of: Bacon & Tomato Baps, Pancakes with home made Cherry Compote. Breakfast Pastries baked on the day plus Tea & Coffee & Orange juice, all at affordable prices.
I also have a home made cakes and puddings stall where customers can purchase individual-sized treats to take home. This has also been a great success as the stall is usually empty within 40 mins of our opening time.
All of these things would not have been possible without the support and dedication of the team. After service we all sit down with a Bacon Bap and a drink, and share suggestions and highlights of the day.
The service is exhausting at times but well worth the effort to make the Brunch morning a special treat for everyone.
We would like to formally thank the Parish Council for the grant we
received in March which enabled us to improve our offering by purchasing Kitchen equipment as well as additional crockery and sharper knives to help the seniors cut through the bacon baps.
A special Thank you to David Salter and Shirley for their support, and who pop in to the Brunch club when the can, this means a lot to all of us.
Diamond Jubilee Allotment Society Shenstone – Stonnall Allotments 2023
Parish Council Report April 2024
The Allotments have continued to flourish and be fully subscribed. We do have a healthy waiting list, which is important as nearly 20% of all plots are turned over each year.
The big achievement in 2023 was re-securing the fencing. After 11 years the fence posts were rotten and badly required replacing. Thanks to a £400 grant which we had received from the Parish right before COVID, we were able to do the replacement posts at a cost of £1100. It was a good thing, as only days after the installing of the new posts, a farmer’s trailer rolled straight into the fence, bringing down a portion of the fence. If the new posts hadn’t been installed, the trailer would have continued onward destroying several plots. The farmer promptly repaired the fence and gate.
The barn land in front of the gates has been sold and planning permission granted for 3 dwelling units. The new owner/developer is aware of his obligations to continually grant access to the allotments and the farmer. We will be keeping communication open with the developer.
We plan on a strawberry and scones social events in the new year once the strawberry season kicks off.
Report of Shenstone Playing Fields Committee Work
Date: 12.4.24
The PFC had a big change in committee members at the AGM in June 2023 of people who were motivated and wanted to make improvements to the Playing Fields for the benefit of the community, in particular to improve the children’s play area.
Over the last 9 months, our new members have been getting to grips with issues that the we inherited from the previous committee. We are working through these very complex issues and they are taking up a lot of time and money. This has meant that less time has been able to be spent on other areas, however, we have still made some very significant improvements to the playing fields which I would like to share with you below:
1. We have been granted 6 years of funding from the FA in order to improve the football pitch/maintain the pitch to a higher standard
2. We were successful in obtaining funding to install new LED floodlights on the training pitch, meaning that the training pitch could be used all year round by the youth groups that train
there and we could secure further income for the Playing Fields.
3. We are currently in the process of getting a new 4m high net fence erected along the edge of the Birmingham Road for safety. The hedges have huge gaps in them and not only is it a risk
for children to escape onto the main road, it also means that the teams playing on the training pitch are limited in what they can do as the risk of a ball being kicked out onto the main road and causing an accident is high. We have received 50% funding for this and the rest we will fund ourselves.
4. Once the net fence has been installed, we will be installing permanent secure goal posts on the training pitch so that it can be hired for 5-a-side youth team matches. It can also be enjoyed by the village community for football games. The funding for the goal posts has already been received and they will be installed once the fence is up.
5. We have secured 6 football teams who will play next season on the main pitch (mainly kids teams) which is key to bringing a regular income into the PFC in order to make other improvements and for maintenance work across the site.
6. We have introduced a Kids Football Holiday Camp and 1-1 kids Football training 2 days a week which has been very well received by the children in the village and parents who need childcare in the school holidays.
7. We are working on a plan for a brand-new children’s park for the community, we are still trying to get costs down and plans are likely to be going back into Playdale for re-working. It is a slow process but as we progress, we will keep you updated.
8. We held a successful fundraising comedy night last year and this year we are hosting the Shenstone 10k Fun Run which will be a great event for the village and local community and will help to raise funds for the new play area.
9. All procedures, finance, reporting and management of the charity has been overhauled to that of a high standard, our income has increased a huge amount and we are in a position where the charity can now operate efficiently going forward.
We would like to thank the Parish Council for their support with funding which has enabled some of these projects to go ahead. Also, a big thank you to Shirley who is always super helpful with any queries we have and the lengthsman who has assisted with maintenance issues very efficiently for us.
Shenstone Village Hall 2023
Parish council report April 2024
The Hall is currently used for after school care each day during the week and is well booked for a number of regular weekly activities such as yoga, short mat bowling and badminton.
Dog shows, family parties and other social events also feature a throughout each month.
We have continued our drive in towards a low carbon footprint with a substantial installation in 2023 of solar panels with battery storage. This project was enabled with grant funding of
over £49,000. Insurance requirements of 60-minute fire protection for the storage batteries and equipment added to the cost with substantial alterations needed with fireproof the walls
and doors to the existing electrical cabinet and surrounds.
The Management committee took the opportunity to also repaint the Hall doors. The management committee continually look for ways to improve the Hall and are currently engaged with a local theatre group to explore the replacement of the stage curtains and
tracking. The group has used the hall for performances.
Chairman’s report of LARGA to the 2024 Annual Meeting.
The past year has been fairly normal as years go in the running of the Little Aston Recreation Ground.
The volunteer gardeners have planted several hundred more crocus and snowdrop bulbs and work very hard every Monday and Thursday to help to keep the whole area looking tidy and beautiful.
We are fortunate at LARGA that the site is very well respected and cared about by the community that uses and loves it, and generally our visitors all take the same pride in it that we do.
We are also fortunate that we do not suffer from vandalism, this could in part be that over the 34 years of its existence, the children attending the neighbouring school have grown up with a sense of
‘ownership’ and are in a way protective of it.
Unfortunately, as with many areas, we do suffer from a considerable amount of un-cleared dog mess, some of which I am sure is unintentional but sadly there seems to be a growing element of dog owners who seem to not care. The problem has certainly increased since COVID during which time dog ownership escalated.
Sadly however, we have been the victim of theft. Adjacent to the storage containers we have constructed a small compound using Harras fence panels and in an effort to blend them in to their
surroundings we purchased and attached fine net decorative screens depicting woodland scenes. Unfortunately all four of those screens have been stolen in two batches. We have replaced them
with the same images but with the LARGA logo etched on them. The replacements cost over £300.
Another even greater loss we have suffered is that of our paid head gardener, David Milburn. David has worked for us tirelessly, through all weathers, twice a week for over ten years but he has decided to expand his business and needs to move on. He will be greatly missed and incredibly difficult to replace. If you know of anyone that might be a suitable replacement, please let us know.
This year we re-calculated the cost of running the LARGA site and were shocked to discover that it is in the region of £22,000 per year…to stand still…without repair, replacement or improvement costs.
We are therefore incredibly grateful to the Parish Council for the financial support they give us in paying for the grass cutting, bin emptying, insurances etc., and for the add-hock support with things such as defibrillator maintenance, poster making etc.
We do obtain a small amount of funding from our donation boxes around the site and also a trickle via just giving and the Lichfield Community Lottery but our main fundraising comes from our very
successful Party in the Park event, known for the past 12 years as Littleastonbury.
This 3000 ticket music festival takes place in July and costs in the region of £50,000.00 to put on with top tribute acts such as Abba, Queen, Elton John, The Stones etc.. Thankfully, ticket sales and
sponsorship more than covers the cost and a profit of around £25,000.00 is usually achieved.
The 2023 Party in the Park was another huge success, despite it being halted at about 9:00 when all of the electrical equipment blew due to a torrential downpour and rain getting into the system.
Thankfully the technicians managed to get backup systems up and running and within half an hour, the rain had eased and the show went on. The 2023 Littleastonbury also successfully went ‘Green’
with the use of 60 large recycling bins around the site which were kindly provided to us for the event by Lichfield District Council. Tickets for this year have just gone on sale by application via the website.
This year’s acts include UK Bee Gees, Johnny2bad and with headliners The Faithettes who are Paloma Faith’s actual backing group and are flying in from America to perform.
We have not installed any new or replacement play equipment this year but instead have completed the replacement of the safety surfacing under now all of the existing units. Instead of the basic
rubber matting which was looking very tatty and starting to fail in respect of its impact absorbency, we now have bonded rubber mulch surfacing which is much safer, much longer lasting and
repairable. Approximately half of the equipment was resurfaced in the 2022/23 year and we have just spent another £22,000.00 to finish the job.
Stonnall and Lynn Playing Fields Association
We’d like to thank Shenstone Parish Council for all the help
they have given us over the last twelve months.
The £1500 maintenance grant has been really useful this year
for repairs to the play equipment, and the painting of the
swings, and the skate ramp. A lot of this work has been
carried out by our parish lenghtsman Nigel and his assistant
Gerry.
They have also cleaned all our benches, and will be
repainting some in the coming months as part of their yearly
job rota.
Our big project this year, is to repair the goal mouths in both
the full-size pitch, and the 5v5 pitch. When the work has
been completed by LDC new goal posts will be installed. The
grant funding from SPC is going towards these costs along
with a grant from the Football Foundation. The goal with be
ordered in the next couple of weeks using some of our £1000
grant fund from SPC, and the rest will be used for repairs.
The committee is really grateful for your continuing support
to this much loved and used playing field.
TRINITY METHODIST CHURCH Shenstone
Report to the 2024 ANNUAL PARISH MEETING
1. On behalf of the Church Council, I would like to express thanks for the generous support of the Parish Council during the past
year.
2. We are extremely grateful for the grant that the Parish Council made available which will enable us to replace the dilapidated and leaking roof to the storage cupboard at the rear of our community rooms. The facilities at the Methodist Church are a valuable asset to the local community. The community rooms have regular bookings for groups serving all ages and a variety of activities
and the storage facilities arc used by many of these groups
Keith Goldsworthy
Church Treasurer.
8th April 2024
Stonnall Village Hall
Shenstone Parish Council Grant Funding
In May 2021, the Management Committee for Stonnall Village Hall agreed to a major refurbishment of the hall. We compiled a wish list and distributed the various projects to the committee members.
We had money in a reserve account, but we knew this would be insufficient for all the work we had listed, so we looked for some grant funding.
Our wish list included new cupboards in the main hall, chairs, LED lighting throughout hall, Wi-Fi, and new blinds to replace the curtains, decorating throughout, professional refurbishment of the hall floor and replacement window and doors to the side room. In the autumn of 2022, the double doors into the hall were damaged and so we had to replace these as well.
By February 2024, we had managed to work through most of the list.
A £10,000 Lottery grant covered the lighting and the Committee thanks Shenstone Parish Council for funding the Wi Fi in May 2022 and the new blinds fitted in January 2024. The rest of the list excluding the floor has been covered by the reserve account.
In hindsight we should have tried to achieve much of this work during the COVID lockdown, but most of the contractors were very good at working around our schedule of regular users. It was only when the decorating was done, that we actually had to close the hall for 2 weeks and even then, the decorators made the hall available for evening users.
The last project is the hall floor, which hopefully will be done later this year.
Shenstone Environmental Group
We formed the Shenstone Environment Group – there are nine of us – in January 2023; at first, we met fortnightly, but it’s now monthly. Some of our members are library volunteers and they fulfil a variety of functions – activity leaders, baristas, waitresses, volunteer librarians, gardeners. In addition, we also have the parish clerk and members of other organisations in our village who are part of our group.
Since signing the green libraries manifesto, we have put on a range of green events and activities.
We have had grant funding for two storyteller walks – starting at our story tellers’ circle on our library garden and designed to celebrate ‘Our Green Spaces’. We also had ‘Bikes and Trikes’ in the library garden in June to offer free advice for cycle repairs and we are holding regular monthly repair cafes in conjunction with Transition Lichfield. Our partnership with Transition Lichfield has enabled many network opportunities, and we hosted a film night with them in February. Veolia has given a talk, as has our local upcycling furniture shop and our local Bee Gin producer.
Our recycling centre is a visible sign of our green commitment: most of these also involve a donation to charity, and include bras, stamps, spectacles, printer cartridges, blister packs, jewellery, and
phones. Our donated yarn basket is managed by our chatty crafters group. Our recycling is very popular and has served to increase footfall in the library and coffee shop.
We have an art gallery in out coffee shop; last August, art and poetry with the theme ‘Our World in Trouble’, were displayed there, and we hosted an evening of song and contributions from poets and artists on this theme. We raised almost £1000 for Shenstone Wildlife Trust, and this success has encouraged us to run another environment themed exhibition this June during the Great Big Green Week, plus our own Shenstone Gardeners’ Question Time!
We love being part of a bigger movement – we are passionate about our library, and our potential to reach out to our community and others who share our commitment to environment issues. We are very grateful that the parish council supporting our bid for funding to produce a website so that we can reach more people.
SCAR
Annual Parish Meeting report read by Adrian Berg
We have over 600 members and have regular meeting in Stonnall (about 6 general & 6 campaign group meetings) we communicate with our members by email, social media & posters on all the notice boards around the village.
1. Chester Road Campaign. Petition of 1700 handed to Walsall & Staffordshire councils. Walsall have committed to spending £54,000 & are planning a speed reduction from 50mph to 40mph and average speed cameras.
2. SCAR have started work on understanding how Speed Indication Devices could be used in the Parish and are looking forward to working with the Parish Council on this.
3. SCAR are working on the Stonnall Neighbourhood plan regarding transport, roads, traffic & footpaths.
4. SCAR are looking into local planning applications and how they would impact local road issues. Such items as road safety & increased traffic. Topics such as housing developments at Home Farm & Gorse Farm. Also the planning for Starbucks at the already dangerous crossing of Cartersfield Lane to Barracks Lane over the Walsall Road.
We are all volunteers and we are all residents of Stonnall & are happy to help the Parish Council on any road related topics.
Regards
Adrian
Shenstone Tennis Club report from Zoe Edwards
Club membership numbers have risen slightly on last year as has court usage. Attendance at Club sessions has remained positive and the internal box leagues and team tennis are going from strength to strength.
To encourage more members the club recently organised an open evening inviting those involved with the project as well as members, old members and potential members. The evening was organised by Jane Arnstein and great to see such a good turnout.
The next event will be around Wimbledon Week and the Flower Show, a fun open day for all ages. We will also be running free coaching sessions on the day of the fun run to encourage new players to come and have a go. With the quality of the court surface and state of the art lighting system we are looking to attract more players of all levels. By keeping membership costs low, running relevant coaching programme and offering team
tennis to all levels we hope this can increase the court usage and enhance all the activities offered.
We offer Cardio Tennis, Doubles Camps for Adults and kids, Doubles Clinics, Tennis Holidays, UK Weekend Tennis Breaks, Padel Clinics and competitions.
The Club has had great success with its team tennis. Fantastically captained by Helen Soleil & club div secretary Julie Wigley, the Ladies A team won their division and moved into Division 3. We have now entered 2 more teams into the Burton League including a men’s team. Moving forward into 2025 we would like to have 3
ladies, 1 men’s & a mixed team.
Many thanks
Zoe
Friends of Shenstone Station 1884
Following a very successful Volunteers Fayre held in the library in September we have recruited two new active members. This now brings our group up seven members!
In November WMT refused us permission to display the large poppies on the station platforms as we had done for the previous two years. We confined the display to the car park and station entrance. It has been over twelve months since we lost our Ticket
Office manager. The embargo placed on Rail Operating Companies for the recruitment of ticket office staff has now been lifted. However, sadly, I do not believe Shenstone Station will be a priority to have a replacement. We held a working party in November where we replanted the bulbs dug-up by WMT earlier in the year. They were a glorious sight to behold.
Adoption groups along the line were invited to Wolverhampton Station for the launch of the new Class 730 trains resplendent in their new purple and orange livery. These trains are now being rolled-out on our line replacing the old rolling stock.
We held our Christmas Tree Festival again this year and were thrilled to have three new groups join our display on Platform 2. Our group also launched our Birthday Board project at the Shenstone Christmas Market, where we also sold lavender bags made from the lavender grown on the platforms and Christmas cards. The Birthday Board is to celebrate the 140th
birthday of the station this year. It will be un-veiled at the Village Festival in June. Up-take from families to be part of the Birthday Board has been slow, but a slight change of direction to reflect the
businesses and founding fathers of Shenstone in the 1880’s and the 2024’s seems to be working well.
We have a new logo (designed by Dean) and with the wonderful support from the Parish Council we will be displaying it around the station. It is already in the two poster boards, and will be added to the planters on the platforms and the planters outside the ticket office door, as well as above the poster boards too. The poster boards HAVE to have display material in them, otherwise a fine is issued to the group by WMT. I’m not sure who issues the fine to
WMT for empty ticket offices!
As a group we are still trying to get a tap installed and access to the Ladies Waiting Room on Platform 2. This is so we can store our equipment and the pallet Christmas trees, currently stored at our house. We are also negotiating to get the station open at some point during the village festival.
The Cross-City Line North now has adoption groups at Lichfield City, Shenstone, Wylde Green and Chester Road, with Sutton Coldfield’s adoption being in the pipeline. As a group we have formed A Community Station Partnership and we’re called the Spaghetti Line, being the only passenger line to run under Spaghetti Junction. It is hoped our CSP will emulate the mighty Shakespeare Line in creating interest, funding, community
cohesion and nationwide recognition of the importance of station adoption.
Thank you to the Parish Council and the village community for your support in highlighting and enhancing our beautiful station.
Jane Arnstein
Stonnall Community Centre Trust
On behalf of Stonnall Community Centre Trust I would like to express my gratitude to the Parish Council for their generous grants. The Trust received a substantial grant in February that will cover the cost of insurance and Council tax. It will also greatly assist the Trust with the high cost of electricity and will help the Community groups that use the centre by keeping their costs to a minimum.
The Council also provided a grant that enabled the Trust to commemorate the Coronation of King Charles. The Trust decorated the Centre and showed the televised event live on the Cinema screen. The event was very well attended, and everyone
enjoyed the impressive buffet. Without the help of the Parish Council the Community Centre would not have been able to mark this historic event.
Emergency Grant
The Trust has several pieces of equipment that enable it to show a film each month in the village, the equipment is also available for other groups to use if they so wish. Unfortunately, the Projector suffered a catastrophic failure and needed to be replaced as a matter of urgency. Once again, the Parish Council, through an emergency grant application agreed to assist in the cost of the replacement. The projector has already been put into use at the scheduled Cinema Club and at SCAR’s AGM with a power point
presentation.
I would like to add my personal thanks to each and every member of the Parish Council for their support over the past year, through their support the village of Stonnall continues to enjoy a well-used facility.
Michael Cox
Chairman
Stonnall Community Centre CIO
FREINDS OF SHENSTONE TOWER
Repairing the Tower for the community Report for the Parish meeting on 17th April 2024 at 6pm in SCL
I am very pleased to report that Friends of Shenstone Tower completed raising funds for renovation of the Tower, and then completed the works in October 2022. The renovation cost a total of £520,000. The Tower was opened in October 2022 by Bishop Michael of Lichfield. Since then, we have welcomed over a 1,000 visitors to the Tower with regular open days on the first Saturday of the month and the third Sunday of the month during the summer. We also open the Tower for any community or family groups and have welcomed an 80th birthday on the roof, visitors from Australia, and the local Scout Group, etc.
We are currently investing a further £35,000 in fitting out the Tower for visitors with benches, information boards, a video system and a toposcope.
I would like to thank Shenstone Parish Council for two grants it has made to support this project, and to all our volunteers and the local community who have all this possible.