Minutes September 2023

PRESENT: Parish Councillors: M ASTON(CHAIR), N. DUNN, J MURPHY, D GATEHOUSE , J NEWBERY, M THORNTON-TRINDER and R WEBB

IN ATTENDANCE: CLLR T HARVEY (Stratford District Council (SDC)) ,CLLR I SECCOMBE (Warwickshire County Council (WCC), IAN WILSON (CLERK) and one member of the public. 

1. Apologies

Apologies were received from CLLR P MACPHERSON and these were accepted.

2. Declarations of Interest and Request for Dispensations

There were no declarations of interest.

3. Acceptance of Minutes from Previous Meeting

          The minutes from the OGM in July 2023 were agreed and accepted.

4. Matters Arising from Previous Minutes

Openreach – Noted recent correspondence and communication, confirmed that Alderminster exchange (Newbold) had reached the target for the installation, while Ilmington exchange (Armscote, Blackwell & Darlingscott) was at 90% of target and required another 16 pledges.

Traffic Calming – CLLR THORNTON-TRINDER confirmed that Newbold now have a speed gun, with two volunteers trained and two more wanting to be trained. This is in addition to the trained volunteers and speed gun in Armscote. At present there is no public interest in volunteers for Community Speed Watch (CSW) in Tredington.

Newbold Open Space – The clerk reported that since his last communication with Lioncourt, stating the Parish Council’s position on accepting transfer, no further legal documents had been forthcoming. The clerk would continue to press Lioncourt for a resolution. In the meantime CLLR MURPHY offered to lobby the CEO at Lioncourt to get this moving forward. Noted that the grass had now been cut.

Tredington Playground – CLLR DUNN reported that two members of the public had volunteered to be part of a working group to manage the refurbishment project. In the meantime the weeding had been carried out and a replacement swing purchased, the clerk would seek quotes from a contractor to fit this, replace the bark and fix the fence. Noted that the slide was split and the quote from the supplier was that a new tube was required which would cost £10,000. The clerk would seek to obtain further funding from the County Councillor’s grant fund to support the on-going repairs. This would be separate from the refurbishment project for which a CIL funding application had been submitted to SDC in July.

5. Public Participation

Tredington Neighbourhood Plan Group had held their final meeting, a thankyou lunch. CLLR MURPHY would forward details to the clerk so that he could reimburse for this, as previously agreed.

A Newbold resident reported that fencing was being put up at the village school. Noted that this had been discussed with the head teacher via email and that this fence was a legal requirement.

Noted that the hedgerow at the Newbold open space also required cutting back.

6. Chairman's report and other reports

• Chairman:  CLLR ASTON had nothing further to report

• Clerk: The clerk’s items were covered elsewhere on the agenda

• Armscote: CLLR THORNTON-TRINDER reported that the new drains in the hamlet were again blocked. County Highways would be contacted once again to arrange gully emptying and further inspection. The retention ponds were to be dredged by as arranged last year. Noted that a carpenter would be needed to fit the new notice board in Armscote.

• Blackwell: CLLR MURPHY reported on the large pothole requiring Highways attention. The meeting discussed the overhanging Willow Tree which was causing a hazard for road users. It was agreed that the parish council should attend to this with the permission of the owner. The meeting discussed the poles erected by the fibre broadband contractor as part of the infrastructure. Voneus are the main contractor, though there hasn’t been any consultation prior to installation and this is something that CLLR SECCOMBE is raising with Voneus.

• Darlingscott: CLLR NEWBERY reported a number of potholes, which had been identified for County Highways

• Newbold: CLLR ASTON reported that of the six available allotments three had now been let and three remained vacant. The vacant allotments would need to be maintained. CLLR ASTON would seek to fill the vacant allotments. The meeting discussed whether the rent remained appropriate as it was below others in the area, it was agreed to review this for next year. Noted recent flooding by the church yard in Newbold, which needed reporting to County Highways for further investigation

• Tredington: The meeting discussed the vandalism of the Oak Tree in the village and noted that the Chair had ensured that a tree surgeon had looked at the damage and a proposal had been received to carve the stump. It was agreed that the council would seek contractors who could work on this.

7. Reports from Ward Representatives of Warwickshire County Council and Stratford District Council.

CLLR SECCOMBE (WCC) reported on the recent site visit to review give way and priority markings at Blackwell cross roads and it was noted that marking on the bends needed replacing. Highways also planned tree works and maintenance to clear the pathway between Newbold and Ettington Chase. Further highways maintenance was planned for Middle Street in Armscote.

The meeting discussed RAAC concrete issues in Warwickshire. Noted that most schools in the County were now academies, while only two schools were thought to be affected it was conceivable that the academies may seek financial support from the County Council for any issues pre dating academy status.

CLLR HARVEY (SDC) reported that 2/3s of the district waste collection was now being recycled and headlines from the September council cabinet meeting. There would be an opportunity to purchase a concessionary permit for £50 from 1^st October 2023, parish councils would be invited to support public access defibrillators and community proposals to grant public houses as community and heritage assets which could be incorporated into the next local plan.

Locally the meeting discussed the refusal of the self-build planning application at Mill Lane in Newbold. This was likely to go to appeal. The meeting heard Newbold residents were looking to fund further legal action regarding the environmental offset at Heron Way in Newbold, CLLR HARVEY is discussing this development with SDC monitoring officer. The meeting also discussed a recent test case regarding permitted development from a Neighbourhood Plan, advise now suggested that the figures for development were a maximum.

8. Planning

The following were received: Bottom of Form

Decisions received since our last meeting:

Responses had been or would be submitted to SDC planning for all these applications (full details          https://apps.stratford.gov.uk/EPlanning/Default.aspx Bottom of Form

9. Financial Administration

1. AGREED to approve updated bank reconciliation for August 2023
2. AGREED to approve the passing of accounts for payment, as per Appendix A,
3. NOTED the balances in the PC accounts and annual returns, as per Appendix A

10. Correspondence

The following were noted:

Communities and Partnerships Weekly Newsletters – WCC

Willow Trees Tredington – Tredington Resident

Telegraph Poles – Blackwell Residents

Tredington Playground Repair & Maintenance – Various

23/01480/FUL Land rear of the Burrows – Newbold Residents/SDC Planners

Gable Farmhouse Blackwell – Various

Statutory 5 Year Polling Place and Polling District Review – SDC

Mill Lane Newbold-on-Stour, Plan for Works – WCC

Grass Cutting, Tredington – Various

Openreach – Final Push for Ultrafast Full Fibre Broadband

Orbit Trees Removal – CLLR Harvey

Oak Tree, Blackwell Road and Fosseway Crescent, Tredington – Various

Warwickshire Matters, July- WCC

Drains on Armscote Road – Various

WALC Members Survey – WALC

Village Troughs, Armscote – Armscote Resident

South Warwickshire Local Plan – SDC/Warwick District Council

Lexis Nexis – Land Ownership Enquiry

CIL Application Acknowledgement of Receipt – SDC

Newbold Flooding – CLLR Harvey/CLLR Seccombe

Darlingscott Crossroads – CLLR Harvey/CLLR Seccombe

Tredington Playground – Various

11. Date of next meeting

The next meeting would be in November

MEETING CLOSED 21:10

Appendix A

Financial Administration

a.                     Tredington PC cash book balances at August 30th 2023                                        

                        Current Account (see attached bank reconciliation)                                      £56817.36                   Reserves (see attached bank reconciliation)                                                 £17562.78

                        Total                                                                                                                £74380.14

b.                     Passing of accounts for payment this meeting:

                        I Wilson (Salary and Expenses, July & August)                                             £1830.93

                        Lawns2Mow (July)                                                                                          £1548.00                    

                        Total C/F                                                                                                         £71001.21                                                                                                                                                                                          

*Includes earmarked reserves of £30k to projects including; St David’s Church Community Project, SFAG, TNPG and Traffic Calming. Also earmarked for capital projects to be agreed from s106 and CIL receipts of £25k.

**This is our contingency reserves in line with recommended practice

The meeting noted the notice of public rights, internal audit report, governance statement and annual returns for external audit (circulated separately) for submission by 1^st July 2023.

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