Hilderstone Parish Council

Minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday 22nd May 2019 at 7:30pm

Present: Cllr. Shelley (Chairman), Cllr. Stringer (Vice Chairman), Cllr. J Davies, Cllr. Woodward, Cllr. Crump and Mrs Amanda Kingston (Clerk). There were no members of the public or press present.

1. Election of Chairman The election of Cllr. Michael Shelley as Chairman was proposed by Cllr. Woodward and seconded by Cllr. Crump. Resolved by unanimous agreement that Cllr. Michael Shelley be elected as Chairman for the coming year. The Declaration of Acceptance of Office was signed by Cllr. Shelley and witnessed and signed by the Parish Clerk

2. Election of Vice Chairman The election of Cllr. Audrey Stringer as Vice Chairman was proposed by Cllr. Shelley and seconded by Cllr. J Davies. Resolved by unanimous agreement that Cllr. Audrey Stringer be elected as Vice Chairman for the coming year. The Declaration of Acceptance of Office was signed by Cllr. Stringer and witnessed and signed by the Parish Clerk

3. Chairman’s Welcome. Cllr. Shelley welcomed everyone to the meeting.

4. Apologies. Cllr. P Davies, Cllr. Clark, Stafford Borough Cllr. Harp

5. Councillors Acceptance of Office. The Declarations of acceptance of office of all Councillors duly elected at the Parish Council election on the 2nd May 2019 and signed and witnessed by the Parish Clerk prior to the meeting were formally noted.

6. Minutes of the last meeting. These were read, amended, approved and signed.

7. Matters arising. None

8. Adoption of Documents.
• Resolved that the Parish Council Constitution and Standing Orders have been reviewed and remain fit for purpose.
• Resolved that the Financial Procedures have been reviewed and remain fit for purpose.
• Resolved that the risk assessment has been reviewed and is fit for purpose.
• Resolved that the Register of Land and Assets has been reviewed. It was noted that several PC assets were not included. Clerk to update as agreed and bring back for adoption.
• Resolved that the Parish Council’s GDPR Policy has been reviewed and remains fit for purpose.

The Parish Clerk suggested the Council consider adopting a policy for handling requests made under the Freedom of Information Act, a Complaints procedure, a media policy and a system of internal controls. Draft documents to be brought to future meetings for consideration.

9. Public Participation. None

10. Borough Councillor’s Report. Cllr. Harp was not in attendance to provide a report.

11. County Councillor’s Report. Cllr. Parry was not in attendance to provide a report.

12. Planning. No new planning applications.

Status of Earlier Applications:
19/30438/HOU BankTop Barn Cresswell Road Hilderstone Stone Staffordshire ST15 8RF. Single storey rear extension to existing dwelling. Awaiting decision

18/29577/HOU Netherfield 7 Barnes Croft Hilderstone. Conversion of loft space in existing garage to habitable room with toilet facilities plus four roof lights. Re siting existing garden wall to edge of homeowner boundary, retaining existing grassed service strip. Appeal to Secretary of State following refusal of planning permission by SBC

13. Traffic and Highways. Some white line marking has been undertaken throughout the village. This will be monitored to ensure the faded road markings at the junction of the B5066 are included. Clerk to follow up.

14. Footpaths/Village Maintenance/Best Kept Village. Daffodil Bank will be cut before the end of the month. Weston Ground Maintenance will come out to do the verges again at the beginning of June.

The Best Kept Village Judges were seen in Hilderstone at the beginning of May. The Parish Council reviewed the posters submitted by Green Lea School for the poster competition and selected their favourite entries to send on to Best Kept Village. The Parish Council would like to thank the pupils from Green Lea school for their efforts. The posters were of an extremely high standard and made selecting the winning entries very difficult. Cllr. Shelley and Cllr. Crump will present all children who took part with a certificate and the winners with prizes before the end of the summer term.

Resolved Cllr. Crump to purchase prizes for the competition up to the same value as in 2018, a total combined value of £20.

15. Village Events. The Valuation day raised £170 to add to funds for Access for All for the church.

Forthcoming Events:

Children’s Party, Saturday 22nd June 6pm to 8pm in Hilderstone Village Hall.

Hilderstone Village Fair, Saturday 20th July 2pm to 4pm.

Hilderstone Open Gardens, Saturday 10th August. More details to follow.

Hilderstone Village Christmas Party, Tuesday 17th December. More details to follow.

16. Correspondence.
• Stone Lions Club – Community Diabetes Group. Request to advertise the details of the group. The Village Hall will display the details on their noticeboard.
• Members digest 255

Members Digest 253 (Cllr. Crump) Page 3.8 The Taxbase for Hilderstone is 277.82. The cost of council tax per band D property is set at £190.31 (per month)

Page 6.12
Stafford Borough Council has netted a share of a multi million pound government grant to help taxis in the area go greener. They joined forces with Newcastle under Lyne and Stoke to bag £780,00 to provide charging points for ultra low emission cabs in the three areas. This means 10 rapid electric charges for each area. Locations for the new charging points will be revealed later in the year.

Page 6.13
Wildlife danger signs. Several signs warning of the danger litter can pose to ducks have been erected along the River Sow
The Borough Council has run a competition with school children to produce new bin stickers.
Over the last 12 months around 100 people have been fined or prosecuted for a range of environmental offences including littering and dog fouling.

Members’ Digest 254 Some information was provided relating to the Stafford Brooks Enhancement Project aimed at improving the local environment, green spaces and watercourses. This includes the provision of grants via the Staffordshire Foundation Community Grants Scheme

17. Finance. The monthly accounts were presented and signed by the Chairman. The current account is £14,105.49 in credit and the deposit account £3126.17 in credit. Although most of these funds are allocated as indicated by the monthly accounts which are circulated to all Councillors prior to each meeting. The following payments were approved:

1. Clerk additional hours and expenses – £61.95
2. Weston Ground Maintenance – £132.65
3. Internal Audit – £50
4. W H Holmes Village Maintenance – £100.00

The internal audit of annual accounts was completed at the end of April by the internal auditor Christine Heelis. Feedback relating to the Chairman’s Allowance was noted. There were no other issues to bring to the attention of the Parish Council.

The Annual Internal Audit Report contained in the Annual Governance and Accountability Return (AGAR) was received and noted.

The Annual Governance Statement for the AGAR year ending March 2019 was considered. Resolved by unanimous agreement that the Parish Council approve the Annual Governance Statement. This was signed by the Chair Cllr. Shelley and the Clerk.

The Annual Accounting Statement for the AGAR year ending March 2019 was considered. Resolved by unanimous agreement that the Parish Council approve the Annual Return Accounting Statement. The completed forms were signed by the Chair Cllr. Shelley and the Clerk.

The bank reconciliation and explanation of significant variances were noted.

Resolved to set the period for the exercise of public rights to commence on the 3rd June 2019.

The Certificate of Exemption was considered. Resolved by unanimous agreement that the certificate of exemption be approved. The form was signed by the Chair Cllr. Shelley and the Clerk.

Several quotes for the purchase of a Parish Council laptop was considered. Resolved the Clerk to purchase a laptop that meet the requirements of the role up to a maximum value of £299 + VAT.

Natwest bank forms to enable the Clerk access to online banking were signed. No change has been made to the Standing Orders and the Clerk will not be a signatory for payments.

Natwest bank forms will be brought to the next meeting to add Councillor J Davies as a signatory to the account.

18. Any Other Business. The Stone Area Parish Liaison Group have yet to receive a response to their letter to Stafford Borough Council regarding planning concerns. Cllr. Jim Davies received approval from the Parish Council to add Hilderstone PC support to the letter as the Parish Council representative on the Stone Area Parish Liaison Group.

19. Date of next meeting.  The next meeting will be held on Wednesday 26th June 2019 at 7:30pm. The meeting closed at 9.30pm

………………………………………………… Cllr. M. Shelley, Chairman. 26.06.19