SEIGHFORD PARISH COUNCIL Minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on Monday 21st July 2014 at Great Bridgeford Village Hall.

Those present;

Parish Councillors-

Mrs G Cox[chair]; Mr W Brown; Mr R Eld; Mrs J Wetton; Mr D Price; Mr P Eveson[Deputy-Chair].

Mr D Jones, clerk to the council and 4 members of the public.

01/Councillor Cox welcomed those present; the meeting started at 19.30 hours.

02/Apologies;

Apologies had been received from Parish Councillors Mr M Eld & Mrs H Sammons; Mr F Chapman [County Councillor];

03/Councillors to advise of any agenda items in which they have an interest.

None advised

04/Network Rail;

Two representatives from Network rail, Nigel Barber & Matt Clerk gave a brief presentation about the improvement works at Norton Bridge. This is part of the Area improvements to increase capacity on the West Coast main line. The work is being delivered by the Alliance, a partnership of Atkins, Laing O’Rourke; Network Rail & Volker Rail a new collaborative contract to transform the delivery of rail infrastructure projects in the UK.

They explained why the road works on the Road have overrun. This is partly due to drainage levels and utilities not being located where they were thought to be and an accident in Stafford involving one of the contractors which meant the whole of the contract had to be stood down for safety issues to be evaluated.

They also outlined the Legacy scheme .This was designed to thank the local community for their patience during the works by supporting schemes that would be of benefit to the communities affected. The Legacy group has been formed to help in identifying suitable schemes for this project. The Group includes representatives from local parish councils including Councillors Cox & Price from Seighford. Funds are available but there is not a finite figure as the scheme is looking for intrinsic value rather than financial. The areas to benefits have been identified as Parish and Great Bridgeford ward. To date these have included a children’s play scheme [research into need and location to be debated],defibrillators in various locations and planters at various sites in Great Bridgeford[this was suggested by Mr Cashmore a local resident]The one item most required was traffic lights on Worston Bridge which was initially refused but will be revisited. The next meeting is on 2nd September to discuss any further suggestions and finalise ideas.

05/Matters raised by the general public;

Great Bridgeford seating; ; it was suggested that seats be provided at certain locations in Great Bridgeford for residents who tour the village enjoying the open garden scheme to pause and rest.

BT phone box- is in need of repair and cleaning.

State of footpaths; this has been an issue for some time as they are cracked, uneven and a potential hazard to residents. 06/The minutes of the Annual Parish meeting held on 14th April 2014

The minutes, having been previously circulated, were accepted as a true record with the following amendment- The two references to Ash Hollow at paragraph 3 and 4 should have read Ash Covert.

07/The minutes of the Annual Meeting of the Parish Council held on 19th May 2014.

The minutes, having been previously circulated, were accepted as a true record with the following amendment- The minutes should have been headed “the Annual Meeting of the Parish Council”.

08/ Matters arising from these minutes;

Great Bridgeford; The tree stumps have not yet been removed and it was also reported that the Kick about Field in Seighford had not been cut satisfactorily. Both contracts are with Mark Hodgkins; the council agreed that he should be written to and given 7 days to rectify matters or other contractors will be employed.

The state of the footpaths; Councillor Chapman had advised the clerk that he had presented the residents petition to the full council.

The damaged phone box has been reported to BT.

Network rail have been asked to clear the ground by the Railway cottages.

The weeds around the bridge will be passed to the Highways team for attention in their next visit.

Whitgreave lane most of the repair work has been completed to a high standard;

White Hart farm; further reports of more large tanks being delivered and stored on site. .

Seighford; new dog glove container has arrived and been positioned by the ford.

Clanford road; following work by BT the leaking manhole problem appears fixed.

Derrington; new notice board has been provided and installed

Affordable Rural Housing; no further progress to date.

09/Report by County Councillors; Neither in attendance

10/Report by Borough Councillor; Councillor Sutherland was not present.

11/Financial matters; A/ Payment of the following invoices was agreed unanimously by the councillors. Annual churchyard grant to St Matthews; £400.00 Annual churchyard grant to St Chad’s ; £400.00 Reimbursement to Seighford FC for drainage work; £255.00 C Raftery, work on Great Bridgeford playing field; £25.00 JRB enterprise; new dog glove container; £143.22 W Holmes, new notice board at Derrington; £260.00 Clerk’s expenses; £55.93 Great Bridgeford Village Hall; rent £17.85 Stafford Borough Council, civic amenity visits £146.00 B/ clerk also reported that he had received grant applications from Seighford and Derrington Village halls. Seighford has been referred back for more information and Derrington was not received in time for the current meeting.

12/ Correspondence received;

A list of the correspondence received since the last meeting as follows. If anyone wants more details please contact the clerk.

The Stafford Borough Green Awards 2014

Re-dedication of Borough war Memorial on 2nd August 2014

Poster advertising the Police & Crime Commissioners People Power Fund.

Information on the transition to the new Individual Electoral Registration system.

Notice of the Inspectors Report on the Plan for Stafford Borough

13/Planning matters;

Application 13/10142/FUL-Moto cross track at Ash Covert, the appeal has been refused by the Planning Inspector

Application 14/19904/FUL-for wind turbines at Ash Covert was passed to Councillors Eld and Wetton

14/Cooper Perry school;

Councillor Wetton, in her role as school governor reported that the school have submitted an Expression of Interest in becoming an academy. No decision has yet been made but we will be kept informed of progress.

15/Roads, Highways & Playing Field matters;

Derrington; the Greenway has been cut but complaints have been received about the standard of workmanship. Some branches have been left protruding and are a potential danger to the public.

Seighford; an enquiry has been received about allotment provision in the area.

Clanford road to Buns bank; is still in an appalling condition and the meeting expressed concern about the apparent indifference of Highways to local issues and the fact that the Borough and County Councillors rarely attend meetings.

Great Bridgeford; the road gulley by old shop on Lane needs attention.

The next meeting is; on Monday 15th September 2014 at Seighford VH ;

Meeting ended at 2100. Useful Telephone Numbers;

 Police non emergency- 101[for contact regarding anti social behaviour ]

 Streetscene-619401[contact for fly tipping]

 CLARENCE-0300 111 8000[this is the Staffordshire County Council number for reporting Highways problems such as potholes]. Email;[email protected]

 Stafford Borough Council-01785 61900.