Draft minutes of meeting of Full Council Tuesday February 10th, 2026, at 7.15pm at Little Aston Village Hall.

128. Register of members in attendance

Cllrs David Salter (Chair), Simon Fisher, Chris Callow, Mick Cox, Lesley Edgley, Louise Hawes, Chris Jones, Martin McQueen, Gail Nicholls, Alan Pugh, David Smith, David Thompson, Phil Whitehouse, Stuart Harrison.
Clerk:   Odette Ghent
Public: Resident of Pinfold Hill          

129. Acceptance of apologies.

The apologies of Cllr D’Ambrosio were approved and accepted.

130.  Public Participation.

Agenda Item 141 was brought forward to allow a resident from Pinfold Hill to speak regarding the Severn Trent Water (STW) pumping station next to her property.

She explained she has lived in the property for around 8 years and during the last 3 years the situation has deteriorated and has experienced flooding of water and sewerage into her garden and garage.

During the Christmas period 2025 due to blockages at the pumping station STW attended the site pumping water constantly for 72 hours which is very intrusive with large vehicles and machinery, and cause obstruction on Pinfold Hill and noise and flashing lights around her property.

She has requested they restrict work during the hours of 11pm and 6am but if the alarm goes off it’s an emergency situation and work has to be carried out to avoid a pollution event.

With the consistent rain since the new year the requirement for STW to attend the site has increased. She mentioned when Staffs County Council clear the drains this does help.

Whilst STW have been very responsive to this resident and have suggested maybe putting an acoustic fence up along her boundary to mitigate the noise and light pollution, pending land ownership, they have intimated that possibly the Parish Council can put more pressure on them to try to sort this ongoing flooding problem.

The resident also reported vegetation encroaches her property, in particular Ivy that grows up the side of her house and asked if the ownership of the land can be established in order to ascertain who is responsible for cutting the vegetation back.

She asked if the Parish Council could help with clarity of the following questions.

1. How often do Staffs County Council clear the drains.
2. Who owns the land by the Pumping Station.
3. Can the Parish Council help with the above.

There was a discussion about this, Cllr D Thompson reported the Lammas Land Committee are also worried about the overflow of an untreated water situation.

It was agreed that, Cllr M McQueen will find out who owns the land, the Clerk will contact Staffs CC regarding clearing the drains.

The Council will contact STW to attend a Parish Council meeting to discuss this matter further and identify their planned remedies. The MP may also be advised of the position.

Regarding the fence STW would need to confirm is this a temporary solution or permanent as it would have planning implications.

131 Declarations of interest.

Cllrs M Cox, D Smith and P Whitehouse declared a non-pecuniary interest in agenda item 138.

132. To accept and confirm minutes of the last Full Council meeting on Tuesday January 13^th 2026

 Proposal: To adopt the minutes

Resolved: The minutes approved unanimously and signed

133. To receive reports from County and District Councillors.

Cllr P Whitehouse reported LDC are currently in their budget process with the deadline to agree the 2026/27 Council Tax by 24 February 2026.

Cllr D Slater reported the Food Waste meetings have been delayed, and the LGR consultation is ongoing and responses to it can be done individually.

Cllr D Thompson raised the renewal of flags around the Bowling Green roundabout during the late evening in the last week using a cherry picker which causes a traffic hazard. He requested Cllrs D Salter and P Whitehouse ascertain if the cherry picker was authorised in light of the traffic safety implications and the operatives trained and insured.

Cllr D Thompson raised the Clean and Green funding initiative and asked for clarity on process and timescales as several Shenstone organisations are working hard on bids and need to know how many estimates are required and when is the deadline extended to.

134. Finance.

Cllr L Edgley circulated a report to all Councillors prior to the meeting explaining what the four bank accounts were used for and the current position of the Council in respect to general and earmarked reserved budgets, summarised as below. This was noted without comments.

Parish councils are advised by SAPPP (The Smaller Authorities Proper Practice Panel) this was formally known as JPAG to hold a portion of their expenditure in general reserves which should be a minimum of 25% of net revenue expenditure.

This is to ensure financial stability, sustainability, and legal compliance and as a contingency for unexpected expenditure and in the case of a delay receiving the precept from the principal authority in order that the Council can still function financially.

The Unity Bank Account is the current account and used for regular transactions.

There are three accounts with Nat West Bank, a current account required in order to hold interest bearing accounts. The Nat West Liquidity account holds Ringfenced Reserves and CIL money, this cannot be used for day-to-day expenditure. The Nat West reserve account should be where the 25% general reserves are held. (approx. £67k)

The current position at year end is predicted to be much lower than 25% in general reserves probably around £20k, this is very low. This was confirmed as resulting from overspending in the operational budgets.

a) Current financial position of Bank balances at 4 February 2026

Nat West Current: £904.30

Nat West Reserve £38,885.18

Unity bank: £3,276.38

Nat West Liquidity manager (ring-fenced) £85,812.43

It was noted that £20k needs transferring from the Nat West Liquidity Manager account to the Unity Bank Account once access is set up due to the change in bank mandates adding the new Clerk. The £20k which was for Little Aston Village Hall was being held there to attract interest, until required in the current account.

Earmarked Reserves, once the £20k has been moved to the Unity Account stand at.

CIL Shenstone                         £16,500

CIL Stonnall                             £  6,500

CIL Little Aston                        £  0,000   (in deficit £7k V Hall and £2k re run of NP)

Stonnall                                   £11,040   (left over from original NP govt grant)

Traffic Calming BID                 £15,000   (From precept fund for cemetery)

Balance of Cemetery pot        £16,772   (From precept fund for cemetery)

Total                                       £65,812

Proposal: to accept the balances in the accounts Resolved: approved unanimously

b) Financial Transactions January 2026.

These were noted and approved.

1. Consideration of current financial position against budget and forecast

The Clerk provided a comparison against budget to the end of January 2026 and a forecast to the end of March 2026, this shows and predicted overspend against budget of £33k excluding the £20k for Little Aston Village Hall which came from CIL.

Cllr Thompson proposed that the 25% allocation to general reserves must be restored as soon as possible.

The Clerk was tasked to look at contracts to see where the Council can save money.  Several areas of potential savings were identified.        

1. Grants
   Due to lack of funds the Council cannot consider any annual community grant applications until after April 2026 when the 2026/27 precept has been received and the allocation to general reserves rebalanced. Following that rebalance the upper limit of any 2026/27 community grants to be reviewed.

Next meeting of the Finance, Legal, Health & Safety Committee Tuesday 24 February 2026 5:30pm at the Parish Council Office.

135. Clerk’s update on outstanding issues from last meeting: 

a) Bleed Kits, Cllr D Salter obtained 3 bleed kits from LDC today one for outside the Parish Office, one for Little Aston Rec ground and the other for Shenstone Village Hall.

b) St Johns Tree Survey, this was circulated prior to the meeting, Tree 11 requires urgent attention, some trees can be maintained by the Lengthsmen as indicated in the report and this has potential for considerable savings, for the remainder the Clerk to obtain 3 quotes for the work required. 

c) Quote for Tree 11. Two quotes were considered, the quote from Tonks Trees for £195 was approved.

d) Lengthsman: It was reported a second sub contract Lengthsman has been appointed as a three-month temporary measure to cover holidays whilst the long-term solution is assessed.

e) Parish Office: The front office door lock has been replaced, a door bell fitted and a security PIR light purchased awaiting fitting.

136. Planning.

Lists of the planning applications received, and decided is updated by the Clerk on a revised master planning spreadsheet document and circulated weekly to members of the planning committee along with the original notices from LDC to all Councillors.

For information:

Planning App 25/01398 Brooklands Nurseries 144 Aldridge Road this has been withdrawn

Planning App 25/01600/COU  118 Aldridge Rd, after further consideration an objection was submitted.

Planning App 26/00020/FUL 50 Pinfold Hill – objection submitted

Planning App 25/01378 39 The Grove there has been lots of residents support for this as a purpose built bungalow for disability needs.

It was noted there is a public meeting at Little Aston Village Hall hosted by Lonestar on Saturday 28 February 2026.

Next meeting of the Neighbourhood, Planning & Property Committee Meeting:  Tuesday 24 March 2026, at 5.30pm Shenstone Parish Office

137. Neighbourhood Plan reviews:

 Shenstone NP – this is complete next is the upcoming test of public opinion about priorities.

Stonnall NP – this has been made; next steps are to arrange a meeting with residents to share the plan and look at some projects and move forward.

Little Aston NP – The LA NP Review Steering Group have completed revisions to the first consultation document. Cllr Thompson explained the changes. That document was circulated to all Parish Council members before the meeting and no objections or changes have been identified. As a result the document will now move to a six week NP Regulation 14 consultation period.

138. Stonnall Community Centre Project – to replace the wooden building and request to use CIL funds.

Cllr M Cox circulated a report to all Councillors prior to the meeting, this was discussed.

The Trustees have engaged the services of an Architect who has prepared a number of concept options being the first step in the process to replace the current infrastructure and as such the Trustees feel that the Architect’s fees fall within the scope of CIL funding.

The Trustees have also been advised to seek pre planning advice from LDC. The cost of this is £1,800 + VAT

Resolution: To approve this, unanimously agreed.

Cllr G Nicholls read out a statement asking why she wasn’t included in this discussion as a serving Stonnall Ward Councillor and wished it to be noted in the minutes. Cllr M Cox apologised for this omission.

139. Review of all ground’s maintenance contracts with LDC and Tonks Tree Services.

Cllr Thompson requested the Schedule of Works for all open spaces are reviewed to ensure best value for money. The Clerk reported she recently had a meeting with LDC and some jobs were identified as being suitable for the Lengthsmen to do. The review to be progressed for a future Finance Committee meeting. 

140. Westgate GP Practice

It was confirmed a meeting will take place at Westgate GP Surgery Lichfield to meet their Practice Manager, Operations Manager and one of the Partners on Thursday 11 February 2026, Cllr D Slater, D Thompson, D Smith, L Hawes to attend. The meeting objective is to challenge the justification for reduced hours and request a public meeting.

141. Severn Trent Pinfold Hill Pumping Station 

This item was discussed in the public session.

142. Trinity Close, Waste land issues.

Cllr Thompson reported the waste ground adjacent to Trinity Close is generating rodent nests as reported by residents. The Clerk to contact LDC Environmental Health dept to request they attend the site and locate the land ownership in order to deal with this problem.

143. Damaged PROW post Main St Stonnall to Church Rd (by Hikens field) 

One of the fence posts by the bungalows on Shenstone 13 PROW is rotting and needs replacing, the Clerk to get a price for the Lengthsmen to replace this and report back at March meeting.

Cllr Thompon raised a second PROW application by the Parish Council in Little Aston. Cllr Salter and Cllr Harrison to consider an appeal against the SCC decision.

144. Employment matters: To reassign the duties of the Registrar to the Parish Clerk and for the Parish Council to take out membership of the ICCM at a cost of £105 per year.

Resolved:  The Clerk to take over the Cemetery duties and membership of the ICCM approved.  

145. Next meeting of Full Council:10 March 2026, Shenstone Community Library 7.15pm

 The Chair concluded the meeting at 9:10pm