Approved SPC Meeting Minutes – 11.03.25

Approved minutes of the Full Council meeting held on Tuesday March 11th 7.15pm at Shenstone Community Library.

Prior to commencement the Chair reminded everyone that the meeting would be audio recorded.

175 Register of members in attendance: 

Cllr David Salter (Chair-Shenstone Woodend) David Thompson, Christopher Callow, Louise Hawes, Simon Fisher, Kevin Ward (Shenstone) Cllrs Gail Nicholls, Mick Cox, Peter Sherratt, Phil Whitehouse(Stonnall), Cllrs Stuart Harrison, Alan Pugh (Little Aston)

County Cllr David Smith. PCSO Andrea Horsnall. Pam Salter (Acting Clerk), Chris Jones (candidate) and 3 members of the public

176 Acceptance of apologies.

Cllrs Lesley Edgley, Dino D’Ambrosio

177 Public participation:

A Stonnall resident asked for feedback from the meeting about flooding on the playing field. Cllr Salter, who was present at the meeting, reported that a split phase had been recommended. The traps were not cluttered. Modifications should be made to sluice off the PDSA land to make contact at the other adjoining field.

Action: The PC to contact the PDSA.

A letter has been sent from the management committee to the neighbouring landowners to request a meeting before the end of March. If there is a negative, or no response, the County Council will be in a position to follow this up.

Suggestions of small changes had been made by Andrew Brett(Principal Flood Risk Management Officer).

The resident enquired about the manhole cover. Cllr Salter replied that he had enquired whether a perforated version might be considered but there were concerns of silting. The resident noted concerns regarding debris blocking the flow off the PDSA field and could the chute be lowered? Cllr Salter replied that the chute cannot be moved but the outlet size can be enlarged. The resident thanked Council for the good work so far but acknowledged there was still more to do but believed this would not be a ‘quick fix.’

The resident then addressed Cllr Smith to ask why fellow residents had been denied a meeting on the 25^th and expressed the concerns that seriously affected resident were being let down. Both sides put their respective views forward quite strongly. No mutual agreement was reached.

Further points raised regarding the flooding: the flooding is originating from the farming practice of using black plastic and straw over the crop. Andrew Brett had advised that this issue would have to be raised with the NFU as the landowners have a legal responsibility to properly manage the water on their land.

Public Participation concluded.

PCSO report: Shenstone: 94 contacts including incidents of shop lifting, vehicle crime, criminal damage, public order offences and reckless moped driving. The UAV protests have caused noise distress-police are using a new initiative to combat this.

Community Speedwatch- a member of the community is currently being trained as a leader and there are now up to 10 volunteers in Shenstone and 8 in Stonnall.

Stonnall: 9 contacts received including burglary, RTC’s & a sudden death cited in the official report as ‘ongoing’

Little Aston: 23 contacts including burglary. Residents may have noted a large police presence at some point, but this was due to filming of an episode of Silent Witness.

Comments:

Cllr Thompson thanked PCSO Horsnall for advising on an incident at the playing field. She reassured Members that relevant authorities were aware of the situation and due care is being taken of the individual.

Council applauds the enthusiasm of the Shenstone resident who is eager to develop a traffic group.

Cllr Fisher referred to possible fly tipping occurrences resulting from the bin strikes in Birmingham. PCSO Horsnall will double check on advice. She then left the meeting.

178 Declarations of interest by Cllr David Thompson and Cllr Simon Fisher on item 187.

179 To accept and confirm minutes of the last Full Council meeting Tuesday February 11^th

Minutes were duly approved and signed.

180 Clerks update:

A new quote of £950 +VAT has been received for tree work on Pinfold Hill. This still exceeds the £1,000 limit and was rejected as a single quote option. Action: to seek two further quotes.

Grant applications: There have been messages of thanks from successful applicants. Some additional information has been received for pending applications. As it has been confirmed that payment can be carried across to the next financial year there is no immediate emergency to resolve all the applications.

St Peter’s have been asked to make a different request.

Applications from the Richard Cooper rooms and the Scouts are ongoing

The Chair of Little Aston Village Hall is attending the next Finance meeting.

Friends of Shenstone Tower request for £750. Vote Approved unanimously.

Shenstone Village Hall £750. Vote: Approved unanimously.

SPFMC -Cllr Fisher outlined the £1,000 request. Vote Approved unanimously.

181 New Councillor:

Chris Jones had been interviewed by a panel of 3 . They determined that his skills and experience would be of great value to both the Council and community and recommended his appointment as a Councillor. Vote: approved unanimously

182 Reports from County and District Councillors:

– Cllr Smith updated Members on the success of the Lichfield South development.

-the sign on Lynne Lane is still in production. Cllr Smith left the meeting

Cllr Whitehouse noted that the Devolution White Paper will have a knock-on effect on Parish Councils. Next week’s LDC meeting on the subject may provide more information. A 27page document has been circulated to members which needs time to assimilate.

183 Recommendations from NP&P meeting on Feb 26^th

Lammas Land- a proposal letter has been submitted to the Lammas Land Committee. Cllr Fisher confirmed that they will be replying to Council.

-Lamp posts-research is ongoing and will require full investigation at Staff’s archives.

-Parking on St John’s Hill- the problem has eased. PCSO can be informed if it reoccurs.

-sign on Lynne Lane -referred to earlier by Cllr Smith. It is still in production

-Richard Cooper room roof-no progress as there is still no means of access

Next meeting of NP&P committee: TBC

184 Planning

Cllr Thompson briefed as follows: Since the last PC meeting on February 6 applications had been decided. 7 new planning applications had been received since the last meeting. Of these only one was considered of concern to Council: 25/00190/FUL Little Ripley Day Nursery Burnett Rd Streetly application for a first-floor extension. Cllr Thompson will brief Cllr Jones on the history of the site. Link to planning applications spreadsheet

185 Finance:

Cllr Nicholls presented the current financial position & transactions for approval as of Tues March 13^th, 2025.
Link to February 2025’s financial transactions spreadsheet.
Link to financial transactions spreadsheet up to March 11th 2025 

Nat West current account: £904.30 Natwest Reserve: £18,679.56

Unity bank: £13,188.80 Liquidity manager 95: £113,825.61

Next meeting of Finance, Legal, Health & Safety Committee 25/03/25 Parish Office

186 Earmarked funds:

A document had been circulated prior to the meeting. Cllr Thompson gave a background explanation for new members and reviewed the situation. The Parish Council has over £102,000 (excluding the £11,000 Stonnall Neighbourhood Plan allocation) in ring-fenced capital fund originally allocated for a replacement for St John’s Cemetery. This is now believed to be no longer required.

Recommendation: it would be appropriate to transparently and fairly divide the money based on Neighbourhood Plan identified projects. However, prior affirmation of sufficient cemetery capacity for at least 10 years is required.

Proposal to allocate CIL:

Recommendation: that CIL is distributed according to the Neighbourhood Plan area from which the income is derived, currently Shenstone-£16,500, Little Aston- £7,000 and Stonnall- £6,500.

Proposal to allocate Precept Income

Recommend: that the remaining £72,000 of ‘set-aside’ Precept income is allocated in accordance with LDC tax-based method of allocation

Recommend: sub-dividing the LDC tax base Ward boundaries so that benefitting projects are aligned to Neighbourhood Plan boundaries

Recommend: that £20,000 of the £72,000 is held back until the end of the 2025/26 financial year as a contingency sum and redistributed in 2026/27

Resolution: all recommendations approved unanimously.

187 SPFMC expenditure:

Cllr Salter outlined the situation for new members. As a direct result of the resignation of the Playing Fields Management Committee (SPFMC) the Parish Council(PC) had to take legal advice from a specialist charity lawyer. Costs amounted to £6,500. It was originally presumed that repayment would be requested from SPFMC by the PC. However, it was felt that the PC wholly benefitted from the legal advice and without it there would still not be a management committee and the PC would be acting ultra-vires.

Recommendation: to not pursue the repayment of the initial £6,500 legal fees.

In the discussion that followed the following points were raised.

Repayment by SPFMC would leave very little money in the SPFMC account going forward.

Waiver of the payment might set a precedent – this was considered to be a very low risk.

Suggestions were made for alternative payment by a grant, interest free loan or CIL money. However, the figure is not a payment to the SPFMC, it is an expenditure of the PC.

Cllr Hawes queried whether the money was actually owed as the legal advice had been for the benefit of the Council. Cllr Pugh said that this had given Council a way forward.

Vote: 8 votes for with one abstention. Approved by majority.

188 Office hours:

Proposals: Mondays and Fridays, the office is closed, and the Clerk should work from home on Mondays.

On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, it is proposed that the office is closed to the public from 1:00pm with the flexibility of allowing hybrid working in the afternoons.

Councillors suggested amendments namely: a sign stating ‘Office closed;’ considering offering afternoons by appointment; replacing the current blind with a Venetian blind; ensure lines of contact are clear and remain open.

Vote: approved unanimously subject to amendments

189 Newsletter:

The Clerk had gathered a considerable amount of content prior to her absence and, having now returned, the Magazine will be completed in time for distribution before end of March with final articles to be submitted by 17^th.

190 VE Day 80:

There has been one request for grant funding for a street party. Following discussion, it was considered that time was too limited to follow correct procedure for applications and granting this individual application could be seen as discriminatory.

Proposal: Request for grant funding for VE Day 80 events. Vote: Unanimously refused. Action: Cllr Salter to inform the applicant

Proposal: to purchase a VE Day 80 flag at a cost of £10 Vote: Approved unanimously. Action: Clerk to purchase

191 Membership of outside organisations:

Following a letter from the Shenstone Playing Field Management Committee requesting information ref nominations from the PC to the SPFMC committee, the appointment of Cllrs Thompson and Fisher were re-affirmed unanimously.

Also, as a result of circumstances, there is currently under representation on the Stonnall Playing Fields committee. This comes at a time when support for this committee from the Parish Council is urgently needed. Resolved: Cllrs, Salter, Whitehouse and Jones were appointed in the interim. To be reviewed at the May meeting.

192 Standing Order review:

In order to complete the resolution of Council that Chairs of the Standing Committees, currently Finance, Legal Health & Safety (FLH&S) and Neighbourhood Planning & Property (NP&P) should receive an honorarium, a change to the Standing Orders needed to be approved by Council as an agenda item at a properly convened meeting of the Council. Standing orders were suspended to allow the proposal to be presented to Council. Proposal: the wording to 2.4 would now read:

2.4 The Parish Council may pay the Council Chair, and the Chairs of the Standing Committees, an honorarium for the purpose of enabling them to meet the expenses of their office such allowance as the Council thinks reasonable.

Vote: approved unanimously

193 In accordance with the provision of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, Section 5 of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information (England) Regulations and Paragraphs 2,3 and 7 of the Council’s Access to Information Rules, the public and press be excluded during consideration of the following item:

SPFMC update

Meeting concluded at 21:39 hrs

194 Next meeting of Full Council:

8^th April at 7.15pm Stonnall Community Centre