BRIZLINCOTE PARISH COUNCIL MEETING AND AGM
Minutes of Brizlincote Parish Council Meeting and AGM held at Violet Way Academy and Nursery on Thursday 16th May 2019
Present
Chairman, Councillor Robin Ludford-Brooks, Vice Chairman, Councillor Brian Judd, Councillors, Adrian Cowan, Sarah Moss, Barry Marsden, Peter Marston, Karen Hyde, Lynne Campion, Rita Page and Walid Qneibi
Public
County Councillor Conor Wileman (part), Borough Councillor Bernard Peters (part) and Clerk Barbara Roe
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
1. Election of Chairman – Councillor Ludford-Brooks put himself forward for this position, which was proposed by Councillor Cowan, seconded by Councillor Hyde and agreed by all.
2. Election of Vice Chairman – Councillor Judd put himself forward for this position, which was proposed by Councillor Hyde, seconded by Councillor Ludford-Brooks and agreed by all. Councillor Judd said this would be for one year only.
3. Election of other posts – working parties – after discussion, the new working parties were agreed, and the list would be sent out separately with the Minutes.
4. Agree meeting dates for the next twelve months – it was agreed that meetings would be held on the third Thursday of every month, apart from December when it would be held the second Thursday (12th December) and the Annual Parish Meeting which would be held on the 9th April.
MAY PARISH COUNCIL MEETING
Public Session
No members of the public were in attendance.
1/19 Apologies
Apologies had been received from Councillor Bidgood.
2/19 Declarations of Interest
There were no declarations of interest.
3/19 Minutes of previous Council Meeting (21st March 2019)
Approval of the Minutes (21st March 2019) was proposed by Councillor Cowan, seconded by Councillor Marston and approved by all.
4/19 Chairman’s Address
The new Chairman, Councillor Ludford-Brooks said he would endeavour to carry on leading the Parish Council as our previous Chairman, Councillor Wileman had done. He said there was a lot on the Agenda this evening and he hoped everything would go smoothly. He wished everyone the best of luck and thanked them all for attending.
5/19 Report by the County Councillor
Councillor Wileman said work was ongoing looking into the Stapenhill Road Crossing – speed checks were taking place and there was to be a meeting next Thursday.
As part of the work on the A444 under the 106 provision, it was suggested that a yellow box near the post office was placed on the Woods Lane Junction to make it easier for the traffic to exit
Woods Lane. One of the concerns raised with this was that it may cause confusion for traffic turning into Woods Lane. Most Councillors were opposed to this idea. Councillor Campion suggested the implementation of a one-way system in Woods Lane. Councillor Qneibi suggested traffic lights which Councillor Wileman said would cost a lot more. The Chairman suggested it should be left alone. Councillor Wileman said he would report back with our views.
Surface dressing was to be carried out in Woods Lane, Malvern Street, Spring Terrace Road, Clay Street East, Clay Street, the Maltings and Marlborough Crescent between the beginning of June and the end of July. He agreed this would cause some disruption, but large yellow signs
would be erected in the relevant area the week before so that residents would know when not to park their cars.
Councillor Cowan reported that during the recent rain, the corner of Woods Lane/Stanton Road and Stapenhill Road near the Hollows were
flooded despite the drains being cleaned. He also said part of Scalpcliffe Road near houses appeared to be sinking.
6/19 Report by the Borough Councillors
As Councillor Wileman was not present, Councillor Peters gave a report for both.
He said that a gentleman in Grafton Road had asked about a commemorative bench in memory of a young man who had died there as a result of a road traffic accident. This will be put on the June Agenda. Action: Clerk
He said several residents had concerns about trees hanging over the pavements, these had been cut back so that there were no safety issues.
He had also received complaints about the metal work being twisted on street signs – ESBC have been out and sorted this.
There had been a temporary fix on the steps between Redwood Drive and Violet Way. The work to do a permanent fix had been put out to tender so no completion date yet.
There had been more mud on Grafton Road again from the developers who were not using the wheel washing equipment. This had been reported by Councillor Marston. Working with Councillor Marson, Councillor Peters had briefed the enforcement officers to ensure the developer complied with the regulations covering the wheel washing.
Councillor Peters had received passing comments about people wanting Marlborough Crescent one-way. Councillor Conor Wileman didn’t think this would get a majority support, but any views could be passed on to him.
Councillor Peters reported that the Friends of Scalpcliffe Woods had held another meeting which Councillor Colin Wileman and ESBC officers had attended and progress was being made.
7/19 Traffic Calming Measures
Councillor Cowan said, based on the views of the residents in Brizlincote as per our recent survey, and comments made when conducting a Speedwatch and direct contact, it is apparent that there is a major concern that traffic passing through Brizlincote, in particular ‘The Valley’ and along Woods Lane, is doing so at speeds in excess of the permitted limit.
In the circumstances he proposed that the Parish Council should consider all avenues and actions necessary to help reduce speeding, working with our County and Borough and Neighbouring Parish Council partners with a view to funding as subsequently recommend. His proposed motion is that it was for him to investigate these issues. This was seconded by Councillor Marston and approved by all.
8/19 Nature Walk
The motion was put forward by the Chairman that we pay the outstanding invoice of £162 for the repair of posts and authorise further repairs as specified in the quote we had received for £540.
He also said we needed to purchase three tons of stone for hard core and move the information board in Wetherell Road to the opposite side of the path – all in preparation for the official opening of the Walk.
He reported that he and Councillor Wileman had held a meeting with Reflex regarding why we were holding the invoice back for payment. Reflex have stated that until they are paid no further work will be carried out on our behalf. He said the problem was that we didn’t specify what we wanted. Councillor Cowan said it was not a satisfactory piece of work, the timber had not been seasoned very well. After much discussion, it was agreed the Council were not happy with the
work and would write to Reflex and dispute the payment. This was proposed by the Chairman, seconded by Councillor Hyde and agreed by all. It was agreed that Councillor Hyde would produce a draft letter. Action: Councillor Hyde
The Chairman then said that residents had complained that the information board in Wetherell Road was the wrong way around, he had received a quote from Hardy Signs for £234 to move it.
This was proposed by the Chairman and seconded by Councillor Marston and approved by all apart from Councillor Cowan who abstained.
The Chairman agreed that he would obtain a quotation for the hard core to put forward at the next meeting. Action: Chairman
9/19 Newsletter
The final draft of the Newsletter was approved by all.
The Clerk produced three quotes for the printing of the Newsletter and it was proposed by Councillor Marston, seconded by Councillor Judd and agreed by all that we should accept Pete’s Printers.
10/19 Neighbourhood Plan
Councillor Hyde had circulated the proposal prior to the meeting. The Working Party proposed that we put forward a Parish Plan alongside Development Orders working with Naomi Perry.
Proposed by Councillor Hyde, seconded by Councillor Campion and approved by all.
11/19 Update on Action List
The Clerk went through the Action List and it was updated. This will be forwarded alongside the Minutes.
12/19 Planning
All the latest Planning Applications/Approvals had been circulated prior to the meeting and no objections/comments were received.
13/19 Correspondence
The Clerk had received an email from Matthew Winson, Community & Civil Enforcement Officer of ESBC concerning a manmade shelter in Tower Woods. He had reported it to the police.
14/19 Finance
The Clerk said that another signatory was required on the bank account now that Councillor Wileman had resigned. It was agreed that Councillor Cowan would take on this role – proposed by the Chairman and seconded by Councillor Judd and approved by all.
It was proposed by Councillor Cowan and seconded by Councillor Hyde and approved by all that all invoices and payments should be made apart from the invoice to Reflex Printing which was still in dispute.
The Clerk then presented the audit papers for the Chairman to sign, this was proposed by Councillor Moss, seconded by Councillor Page and approved by all.
15/19 Clerks and Members Report
Councillor Page said posters would be going up and a leaflet drop regarding the WI Litter pick.
Councillor Campion said she had seen some children with a hammer which could perhaps have been used in erecting the den in Tower Woods and the damage to the street signs.
It was also noted the distribution list for the Newsletter had to be amended now that Councillor Wileman had left. Councillor Qneibi agreed to take over Elms Road from the Chairman.
Councillor Marsden said he could do Malvern Street, Malvern Avenue, Spring Farm Avenue and Clay Street – as these were already allocated the Clerk said she would go over them.
The meeting closed at 21.04
Distribution
All members of Brizlincote Parish Council, Borough and County Councillors as appropriate and the Burton Mail.