BREWOOD AND COVEN PARISH COUNCIL

WITH BISHOPS WOOD AND COVEN HEATH

 

 

MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL PARISH MEETING

HELD 20 APRIL, 2006

 

 

The Chairman, Mrs K. A. Holmes, declared the meeting open and welcomed six parish councillors and the clerk to the meeting.  The meeting had been called and advertised in accordance with the requirements of the 1982 Local Government Act Schedule 12..

 

Apologies had been received from Mrs L. E.Jones, Mrs Y Millward and Mr M. Webb.

 

The minutes of the meeting held on 21st April, 2005 were approved and duly signed by the Chairman.

 

Chairman’s Report – Mrs K. A. Holmes

 

The Chairman reported that the year had been an exceedingly busy one with several exciting projects being progressed.

 

Best Kept Village Competition     The Council had been  delighted when Coven won the Best Kept Village Competition and Brewood  gained second place.  It was probably the only time in the history of the competition that a parish had won first and second places in the competition and it was a tremendous achievement and a tribute to the communities of Coven and Brewood for their commitment to the environment.

 

Inter Parish Games    The Council was also delighted when the parish won the Inter-Parish Games and the Presentation Ceremony was held in the Coven Memorial Hall.

 

Toilets for Sandy Lane    After so many delays the re-building of the toilets was finally going ahead but at a much increased cost.

 

Re-development of the Council Offices   Proposals were under discussion for the re-development of the site of the Council offices and the British Legion.  Tentatively the proposal was to provide a two-storey building to better serve the community.  An informal meeting with interested parties had recently been  held and the proposals were  supported in principle.   The Council was now looking to move the proposal forward and members  had met with an architect with a view to him producing some outline plans.

 

Parish Newsletter and Guide  The Council continued to publish a quarterly Newsletter and had also produced a Parish Guide which was funded by advertising.

 

The Voluntary Car Scheme went from strength to strength and during the year Caroline Cumming had been appointed as Co-ordinator to replace Sue Groom who was now Trainee Clerk.

 

Public Rights of Way. The Council had won a grant from the County Council’s Footpaths Initiative fund  towards the cost of installing five new kissing gates – four for  footpath No. 1 in Brewood (Dean Street to the Shropshire Union Canal) and one for the  footpath from Brewood Road to School Lane at Coven.  A further bid had been made for a grant towards the resurfacing of the footpath leading to the playing field at Bishops Wood but the outcome had not been advised.

 

Jacobs Ladder    Enquiries as to the ownership of the steps had drawn a blank and given the current state of the handrail and the walls, the Council had sought an estimate for the work entailed.  The cost was considerably more than was anticipated and outside of the Council’s budget. Written requests had, therefore, been made to  South Staffordshire Council and the County Council for help with meeting the cost.

 

An Anti-Social Behaviour  Sub-Committee had been formed and several meetings had been held  with PC Graham Draper, the ASBO Co-ordinator 

 

Coven Heath Village Green   The application for the “Common” to be made into a village green was due to be heard in July.

 

A449 Safety Measures     After years of campaigning for safety measures to reduce the number of accidents on the A449/Four Ashes junction and the junction at the Harrow, the Council had been pleased to learn that a scheme was to be implemented but had some reservations about the proposal to install  traffic signals at both junctions rather than the traffic islands that had been promised.

 

Millennium Stones      The Brewood and District Rotary Club were to be commended and thanked for supplying the millennium village name stones at the entrance to Bishops Wood, Brewood and Coven.

 

The Chairman thanked the members, the Clerk and staff for their support

 

Clerk’s report – Mrs D. E. Drury

 

Brewood Dole Charity Account       The balance carried forward as at 31st December 2004  was £4,480.44.  The income for the year was £3.281. 02 made up of interest on Government Securities of £114. 43,   rent for land in Cat & Kittens Lane, Brinsford at  £500, the half rent from  Bushbury United Charities of  £2,600 and building Society interest of £66.59

 

The Christmas distribution amounted to £ 1,845 leaving a surplus of £1,436.02                       The total Balances as at 31st December were £5,916.

 

The Clerk paid tribute to John Cook, the Secretary and to the Trustees for their commitment.

 

Meetings and Attendance of Members     Meetings continued to be held twice monthly, with a total of 23 meetings having been held

 

Mr A. Ball

14

Mrs A. Y. Millward

14

Mr F. Barrett

15 out of 17

Mr A.F. Prendergast

 9

Cllr I. Clay

17

Mr  P.G.  Sanders

22

Cllr Mrs D. M. Holmes

19

Dr R.C.H. Taylor

18

Mrs K. A. Holmes

20

Mr P.G.  Wakeham

20

Mrs J. C. Jeffries

18

Mr M. J. Webb

20 out of 21

Mrs L. E. Jones

17

Mr I. F. Westwood

14

Mr R. M. Jones

15

 

 

 

The Clerk concluded her report and thanked the members and staff for their support and the Chairman for her kindness throughout the year.

 

Finance Report – Mr P. G. Sanders

 

The Council’s budget for the financial year to 31st March 2006 had been estimated at £172,154.  After making due allowance for income and funds carried forward  this had required a precept of  £114,526, an increase of £3.558 over the previous years precept of £110,968.  On a band D property the parish rate had been £38.61 per annum which was an increase of 91p per annum.

 

The major item of expenditure was the salaries and NI insurance payments for the Council’s nine employees which amounted to £50,414.  Administration and incidental expenses were £15,773.  This included insurance, rates and service charges for the Council offices, stationery, etc.  Councillor and employees expenses amounted to £2,993 which included the Chairman’s allowance and members; telephone allowances of £20 each.  Audit and legal expenses amounted to £1,988 and subscriptions to various organisations were £918.

 

Other major items of expenditure were the grants to the three Village halls of £7,595, the Christmas lights at £7,766, miscellaneous grants of £1,880 and the cost of the children’s Summer Sussed programme at £622.

 

 Expenditure on the Council’s three playing fields, the tennis courts and The Bront amounted to £9,593 but this had included new five-a-side goalposts for Coven and Brewood and a spring mobile for Bishop’s Wood.  Maintenance on the Council’s other property and the storage rental amounted to another £5,206 but included in this figure was the cost of laying the hedge at Coven Heath allotments.

 

The receipts for the year had totalled £161,635 which included the precept, allotment rentals, a grant of £3,020 from the V2005 Festival and a £20,000 interest free loan from South Staffordshire Council towards the cost of the new changing rooms to be built at Coven playing field.

 

The V.2005 grant had been used to refurbish St John’s Church clock, a thousand pounds had been given to St John’s School for speaking and listening centres, six hundred pounds had been given to the First Responder Scheme, and the Bishops Wood members were to put forward their proposals as to how the balance should be distributed.   Mrs J. Jeffries gave an account of the happenings in connection with the grant prior to it being handed over to the Parish Council for distribution.

 

Mr Sanders concluded his report and thanked the clerk, her assistant, and the trainee clerk for their help throughout the year and the chairman and fellow members for their support.

 

Planning Report – Cllr Mrs D. M. Holmes

 

During the year the Council had considered 126 planning applications of which 71 had been for alterations and extensions to private dwellings.  There had been 15 applications for new dwellings representing a total of 54 new properties, 38 of which were the Engleton Lane development . Several of the applications had been refused.    The Four Ashes industrial estate lay within the parish and there had been 19 applications for business use including 4 for the variation of conditions. Change of use, Certificates of lawfulness and miscellaneous applications made up the remainder of the applications considered

 

The most contentious and ongoing issue had been the planning application for the Brinsford Park and Ride and the proposed housing development at Featherstone. The Council had held a meeting with officials from Taylor Woodrow and  had expressed various concerns, particularly with regard to the access onto the A449 and the lack of consultation with the residents of Coven Heath.  Another ongoing  issue was the i54 Wobaston Road development and its effect  on the traffic using the A449 which again would  impact on the residents of Coven Heath.

 

The Council had considered an application for the development of thirty-eight houses at Engleton Lane and, on balance,  had supported this because the proposal included a mix of development and included homes for the first time buyer.

 

Playing Fields Report

 

In the absence of the heads of playing fields, the Chairman gave the report.

 

The equipment on all three playing fields had been  regularly inspected by specialist engineers and apart from some minor repairs there had been no matters of major concern.

 

Incidents of vandalism and anti-social behaviour had continued, mostly at the Brewood and Coven fields.

 

Bishops Wood playing field.   Unfortunately, there was an ongoing drainage problem, particularly in the enclosed play area, but given the history and nature of the land, this could not be easily rectified  without incurring major expense.  The goal mouths needed to be reinstated but this was undertaken by South Staffordshire Council under the grounds maintenance scheme.  The Council had made a bid for a grant towards the cost of resurfacing the footpath leading up to the playing field but as yet the outcome was unknown.

 

Brewood Playing field.     Noise nuisance from the skateboard park had lessened but it remained to be seen whether this would increase with onset of  the warmer weather and lighter nights..  The Council was currently looking at the viability of selling a single building plot at the bottom end of the field to fund the re-development of the Council offices and British Legion premises.

 

Coven Playing field

The Council was currently negotiating with the Rhoades family for the renewal of the lease for the ground to the rear of the playing field that housed the football pitch.  A twenty-five year lease had been offered and subject to agreement over the terms, it should be completed  in the near future.

 

New Changing Room block – Coven

Plans for the new changing room block had been approved, the tender had been accepted, and work should commence in the near future.  The Council was extremely grateful to South Staffordshire Council for providing a grant of £8,259 and an interest free loan of £20,000 towards the project.  An application had been made to the Football Foundation for a grant of £42,000 but if this failed the Council would have to apply to the ODPM for a  Borrowing Approval to meet any shortfall.  However, the provision of a modern changing room facility would enable the Council to hire out the pitch and this would generate an income to help meet any loan repayments and would also  promote and develop football to affiliation standard in the parish.

 

Existing Changing Room Block - Coven

Plans were afoot to refurbish and alter the existing building into a store-room/workshop for the Council’s handyman.  It was proposed that the building would be securely fenced thus preventing the youths from gaining access and causing a nuisance to the residents of the adjacent Sunset Close.

 

Sports Ground

The sports ground in Engleton Lane continued to be leased to the BPSA and to be used  mainly for football, although it did house an all weather cricket wicket.  It was proposed to extend the facilities on offer to include a bowling green and to this aim the BPSA had successfully  negotiated  a 21 year lease for the five and a half acre field adjacent to the ground.  The feasibility of housing the Scouts and the Youth Club was being investigated as this could provide  valuable funding from Staffordshire County Council towards the projects.

 

Any Other Business

 

Boscobel Quarry

Mrs J. Jeffries reported that there was to be no more tipping at Boscobel and that this was welcome news to the residents of Bishops Wood.

 

Shropshire Union Canal – access from the Bridge Inn, Brewood

Mr A. Ball raised this matter and asked that the progress of the feasibility study be chased up.

 

Voluntary Car Scheme

The Chairman thanked Mr P. Sanders for his work in connection with the scheme.

 

The Chairman concluded by thanking those present for attending and called the meeting to a close at 8.10 pm.