Parish Council Minutes January 2020
by The Clerk | posted in: Agendas & Minutes | 0
BRERETON AND RAVENHILL PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of a Parish Council meeting held at the Parish Hall, Ravenhill Park, Brereton, on Tuesday, 7th January 2020.

Present

Councillors TA Jones [Chairman], K Ansell, Mrs P Ansell [Vice-Chairman], Ms IJ Brown,

Mrs DM Easton, Alderman R Easton and GN Molineux.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors PA Fisher, Mrs W Fisher, Mrs G Harvey,

JC Harvey, DR Johnson and Mrs L Johnson.

Mr PG Davies, the Parish Clerk, was also in attendance.

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

No declarations were given at the commencement of the meeting.

MINUTES

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the meeting held on 3rd December 2020 be approved and signed as a correct record.

POLICE

No Police Officers were present at the meeting.

The Clerk reported that Deputy Commander Mark Burslem and CI Hyde would be attending

the next meeting.

The Parish Council identified the following issues for discussion with the Police representatives:-

to clarify and discuss further a comment from the Police and Crime Commissioner that the ratio of Officers allocated to Brereton and Ravenhill was proportionate to demand;

the number of officers actually allocated to Brereton and Ravenhill;

the lack of visible policing in the parish;

the severe delays experienced when using the 101 service.

POWER FOR ALL

The Chairman welcomed Kate Waterworth and Laura Dunning to the meeting.

The representatives from Power for All outlined some of their activities as follows:-

engaging with the public to regenerate and prioritise both Rugeley and the surrounding parishes. Details of the responses received to date to the consultation exercise would be sent to the Parish Clerk;

Members were invited to attend the next public meeting to be held on 27th January 2020, at 6.00 pm, at Mansfield House;

the group were setting up a website – details to follow and were exploring the possibility of securing charitable status;
the group were prioritising proposals for the Power Station site and the consequential implications for Rugeley Town and surrounding parishes.

Members explained to the representatives from Power for All that its priorities included more employment opportunities on the Power Station site. In addition to the need to attract new businesses to the parish, there were existing businesses in Brereton and Ravenhill likely to want to re-locate to the Power Station site. Reference was also made to the social deprivation data for Brereton and Ravenhill, particularly in relation to education and training.

The Chairman thanked the two representatives for attending the meeting.

BRERETON AND RAVENHILL CANAL SCHEME

Members noted that as the time for purdah had passed following the election, the press statement had been amended to show the quotation from the Parish Council being in the name of the Chairman.

CHASE LINE’S PERFORMANCE

The Parish Council were pleased to note that the Mayor of the West Midlands had called for the franchise with West Midlands Railway and London NW to be revoked if there was no improvement in the service by 31st January 2020.

DONATION – RUGELEY AND DISTRICT COMMUNITY FIRST RESPONDERS

A letter of thanks had been received from this charity for the donation of £125.00 received from the Parish Council.

CAR PARKING – RAVENHILL PARK

Alderman R Easton submitted details of a quotation received to provide additional car parking for up to 30 cars on land adjacent to the Parish Hall.

Members acknowledged that the approval of the District Council would be required to the scheme which would eventually involve an extension to the current lease.

Councillor Molineux kindly agreed to discuss the proposals with Mike Edmonds with a view to securing the District Council’s agreement, in principal, to the proposals. Options for securing funding for the project would be examined as soon as approval was given for the scheme to proceed.

WORLD BOOK NIGHT – 23rd APRIL 2020

The Chairman undertook to notify the Clerk of suggested book titles for World Book Night.

GRIT BINS

Councillor Molineux kindly undertook to liaise with Mr Mark Keeling of the County Council on the supply of grit for the parish.

BUS SHELTERS

The Clerk undertook to ascertain progress on this matter from both Brereton Millions and Shelutions and update Alderman R Easton accordingly.

DOCUMENTATION

The Clerk tabled the following document for the information of the Parish Council:-

Staffordshire Pension Fund – Employer Focus

PRECEPT 2020/2021

The Parish Council considered a detailed report from the Clerk on the precept for the 2020/2021 financial year.

RESOLVED

That the budget for the 2020/2021 financial year, as submitted by the Clerk, be approved.
That the precept for the 2020/2021 financial year be set at £62,969.00.

STAFFORDSHIRE COMMUNITY AND VOLUNTARY CONTROLLED SCHOOL ADMISSION ARRANGEMENTS 2020/2021

RESOLVED

That the Clerk liaise with Councillor Mrs L Johnson in formulating a response to this consultation document.

PLANNING COMMITTEE

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the Planning Committee held on 3rd December 2019, be approved.

DATE OF NEXT MEETING

The Parish Council had previously agreed that the next meeting would be held on

4th February 2020.

PUBLIC FORUM

No members of the public were present.