Parish Council Meeting
Hixon Parish Council
To: All Councillors
Notice, Summons and Agenda for a Meeting of the full council on
21 November 2023 at 7:00pm in Hixon Memorial Hall
Agenda
AGENDA
| Item Ref | Agenda Item | Report By |
| Open Meeting | Chair | |
| 005/23 | To receive apologies. | Chair |
| 006/23 | To receive declaration of interest in any matter on the Agenda. Chair has recused himself from discussions/votes on all planning applications. |
Chair |
| 007/23 | To receive written applications for dispensations under the Localism Act 2011 | Chair |
| 008/23 | Consider minutes of meeting 26 September 2023 | Chair |
| 009/23 | To determine any items on the agenda considered to be of a private nature that should be discussed at the exclusion of the Public and Press, under the Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960 1 (2). | Chair |
| 083/22 | Consider agreement to continue with the scheme of delegation as agreed at meeting in January 2023. | Chair |
| 010/23 | To receive Borough Councillors’ reports. Written or verbal | Chair |
| 011/23 | To receive County Councillor’s report. Written or verbal | Chair |
| 012/23 | Close meeting for Public Participation. | Chair |
| 014/23 | Reopen meeting & agree date of next meeting (16th January 2024). | Chair |
| 015/23 | Chair’s announcements and Parish Councillor questions comments. Consider this item to be written questions submitted beforehand in future? | All |
| 016/23 | Planning Applications (previously considered by delegation to Clerk/Planning Committee) | None |
| Agenda Items | ||
| 026/23 | To consider updated Resolution Tracker and agree actions | Chair |
| 027/23 | Clerk’s Report – for information only. | Clerk |
| 020/22 | Update on new concrete footpath link to Back Lane (added to Tracker). | Cllr Hopcroft |
| 099/22 | Update on new concrete footpath link from car park to Hixon Memorial Hall (discussed in conjunction with 020/22, (added to Tracker). | Cllr Hopcroft |
| 059/23 | (Consider purchase of a refurbished smart phone for use by the Clerk, suitable models can be purchased for less than £100, example has been circulated. PAYG using current SIM card in the first instance) – consider in January. | – |
| 067/23 | To receive and consider report on Christmas Light Switch-On | Chair |
| 078/23 | Budget and Precept setting: consider first draft of 2024-2025 budget (plus subsequent 2 years). Q1 and H1 expenditure/receipts vs budget previously circulated to council. | Chair |
| 079/23 | Consider Wicksteed’s price of £262 + VAT for annual play/fitness/sports equipment inspection. Copy of previous report circulated by email for information. | Chair |
| 080/23 | Asset maintenance items outstanding items and items from recent asset inspection. | Chair |
| 081/23 | Consider quote for painting the back wall of the bus shelters | Clerk |
|
082/23 |
Acer – SID moving. Acer will charge double the price (£50+VAT) if required to move the SID during the non-grass cutting season. (November to February, 4 months). Consider options (suggest bi-monthly movements during winter period? . |
Chair |
| 085/23 | Consider quote of £420 for work to willow tree on Hammonds Croft | Clerk |
| 086/23 | To consider and agree amended mowing contract for 2024-2026 as circulated (see also put on tracker). | Cllrs S McKeown/Hopcroft |
| 087/23 | Calendar of regular events – circulated for Councillor information and monitoring. | Clerk/Cllr S McKeown |
| 088/23 | To receive and consider report asking Hixon Parish Council providing financial assistance towards funding hire of Memorial Hall for a community group. | Cllr Hever-Smith |
| 089/23 | To consider and agree actions to repair and fix picnic bench damage on the Church Lane Playing Fields and securing benches in place. | All |
| 090/23 | Agree date for a meeting of the Road Safety Audit Working Group to review and update 2013 Audit.
Cllrs. Hever-Smith, Hughes, B McKeown |
DH-S, JH, BM |
| 091/23 | Agree date (20/02/2024) of the meeting for Planning Training (by Chair) for Clerk and Councillors (including reps from Stowe Parish Council) and update on Stafford borough Local Plan and implications for Hixon Neighbourhood Plan. | Chair |
| 092/23 | Online Banking – added to tracker. Try to arrange appointment with Nat West for 22/11/2024. | Chair/Clerk |
| 093/23 | Report on Best Garden Awards | Chair |
| 094/23 | To receive ‘Dogs on Leads’ plaques for Hixon Parish Council public open spaces and to agree locations and installation methodology | Chair/All |
| Projects, Task Groups and External Meeting Reports | ||
| 045/22 | To receive and consider report for bike track facility at Church Lane Playing Fields added to Tracker. | Cllr Hever- Smith |
| 083/23 | Feedback from TVCG meeting on October 18th 2023. | Chair/Cllr Hopcroft |
| 084/23 | Feedback from JBM Liaison meeting on November 7th 2023. | Cllr Hopcroft |
| Finance / Administration / Legal | ||
| 033/23 | Bank Reconciliation | Cllr Hever-Smith |
| 013/23 | Schedule of Prospective Agreed Payments (Amounts to be confirmed (amended if necessary) when known. Late invoices not included on the agenda may be paid, subject to resolution by majority of Councillors). | Chair/Cllr Hopcroft |
| Employment costs – November | £674.32 | |
| Reimburse C Gill November – monthly purchase of Microsoft 365 Business | £11.28 | |
| Reimburse C Gill mileage (41 miles @ £0.45 per mile) | £18.45 | |
| Reimburse C Gill Projector screen | £134.99 | |
| Reimburse C Gill for PC mobile phone top up | £20 | |
| Reimburse C Gill for Go File VAT annual filing subscription | £41.94 | |
| Reimburse C Gill for garden awards gift cards (2x (£20, £15, £10)) | £90 | |
| WaterPlus – car park drainage 4th Oct – 4th Nov 2023 | £45.96 | |
| Acer Garden Landscapes for mowing, hedge, briars, orchard (£1341.20),SID moving (£30) | £1371.20 | |
| Acer Garden Landscapes for November mowing | £394.31 | |
| Hixon Phone Tech for laptop repair | £145 | |
| SBC for election costs May 2023 | £157.35 | |
| drs for garden awards certificates | £40.85 | |
| drs for A2 prints/scan (mowing contract) | £46.80 | |
| drs for 24 aluminium signs – dogs | £150 | |
| Estate Signs and Print Ltd. for 10 large poppies | £283.20 | |
| Rob Keyzor for tree works undertaken to date | £3732 | |
| International Components for tree lights (2 strings) | £48 | |
| HMRC – November | £282.20 | |
| 034/23 | Receipts October 2023 | |
| Precept, grant and concurrent (second half payment) | £19877.26 | |
| Bank Interest 2023 | £79.21 | |
| 035/23 | Consider significant correspondence received from residents: | |
| Post | None | |
| Email/phone calls: | See Clerk’s Report | |
| From October 2023 | ||
| 033/23 | Bank Reconciliation | Chair |
| 013/23 | Schedule of Prospective Agreed Payments | Chair/ Cllr Hopcroft |
| Employment costs – October | £930.92 | |
| Reimburse C Gill : October – monthly purchase of Microsoft 365 Business | £11.28 | |
| Reimburse C Gill mileage (8 miles @ £0.45p/mile) | £3.60 | |
| Reimburse C Gill for stamps 16 x 2nd class | £12.00 | |
| Reimburse C Gill for stamps 8 x 1st class | £10 | |
| Reimburse C Gill for TEN licence | £21 | |
| Water Plus car park drainage 4th Sept to 4th Oct | £44.47 | |
| Acer – mowing for Sept, deposit grass and SID move in Sept | £1047.20 | |
| Hixon Memorial Hall for room and portacabin hire July to September | £159.60 | |
| HMRC – October | £25.60 | |
| Atlas Scaffolding | £353.76 | |
| Stafford Borough Council, planning application for cricket area on playing field | £117.00 | |
| Receipts 6th Sept to 5th Oct 2023 | ||
| Nat West Interest (29th Sept) | £63.02 |
| 16th November 2023 Catherine Gill Clerk to Hixon Parish Council |
|
Minutes
Hixon Parish Council
Minutes of Council meeting held at 7.00pm on 21st November 2023
in Hixon Memorial Hall
| In attendance for all or part of the meeting: | ||
| Cllr. B McKeown (Chair), Cllr. J Craen, Cllr. D Hever-Smith, Cllr C Hilton, Cllr. P Hopcroft, Cllr J Hughes (part), Cllr. C Jones, Cllr. S McKeown (Vice-Chair) Apologies: Cllr A Cooper (Borough Councillor)Officer present – Mrs C Gill (Clerk) |
||
| Members of the public: 2 | ||
| Item Ref | Item | Action By |
| 005/23 | To receive apologies: See above | – |
| 006/23 | To receive declaration of interest in any matter on the Agenda – Chair recused himself from discussions/votes on all planning applications. | Chair |
| 007/23 | To receive written applications for dispensations under the Localism Act 2011. | None |
| 008/23 | Consider minutes of meeting 26th September 2023 – resolved to agree the minutes. | Chair |
| 009/23 | To determine any items on the agenda considered to be of a private nature that should be discussed at the exclusion of the Public and Press, under the Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960 1 (2). | Chair |
| 083/22 | It was agreed to continue with the scheme of delegation as agreed at meeting on January 2023. | Clerk |
| 010/23 | Borough Councillors’ reports: Cllr. B McKeown | See Chair’s report |
| 011/23 | To receive County Councillor’s report. | None |
| 012/23 | Close meeting for Public Participation. | |
| The bin by the bus shelter on Church Lane is at an angle, can this be corrected? – HPC councillors will level it up, bin belongs to SBC.
Will the Clerk be paid extra for all the additional work she is being asked to do by council? Reply: Councillors will undertake the additional work, no additional hours work for the Clerk. |
Councillors
|
|
| As HS2 is no longer proceeding in our area, could the line of the rail track be used as a road bypass?
As Ingestre Golf Course now has additional holes paid for by the taxpayers, should the course be made into a municipal course? The Flooding Assessment from the Environment Agency is out of date and not fit for purpose – can it be updated? The grid at the bottom of the hollow on Lea Road is silted up and needs cleaning. |
Chair to raise | |
| 014/23 | Reopen meeting & agree date of next meeting (16 January 2024). | |
| 015/23 | Chair’s announcements: Chair will be providing Planning Training for council. | |
| Parish Councillor questions/comments | ||
| Cllr Hopcroft: The Kissing Gate at the top of the footpath at the back of the Croft needs attention. Add to Rights of Way webpage. People are struggling to get to the Haywoods – Chair has raised with D&G and SCC, bus company needs to guarantee income of at least £50/hr. Alternative routes and timetabling proposed to take in all required stops (hospital/doctor/cafes/shops etc.) for the village residents. |
Clerk
Chair |
|
| Cllr S McKeown: Can more information be obtained re the Katharine House Christmas Tree recycling scheme? – Clerk will follow-up. | Clerk | |
| 016/23 | Planning Applications (previously considered by delegation to Clerk/Planning Committee) | None |
| Agenda Items | ||
| 026/23 | Resolution Tracker was updated at the meeting and actions agreed. | Chair |
| 027/23 | The Clerk’s Report had been previously circulated and was noted. | – |
| 020/22 | It was resolved to accept the lower quote for the new concrete footpath link to Back Lane and to Hixon Memorial Hall (see 020/22) as it had not been possible to obtain a further quote. Clerk to raise Purchase Order. | Clerk |
| 099/22 | New concrete footpath link from car park to Hixon Memorial Hall (discussed in conjunction with 020/22, see above). | –
|
| 059/23 | (Consider purchase of a refurbished smart phone for use by the Clerk, suitable models can be purchased for less than £100, example has been circulated. PAYG using current SIM card in the first instance) – consider in January. | – |
| 067/23 | Christmas Light Switch-On update – two further strings of lights have been purchased (£40 +VAT), quiet fireworks will be £75 and a few more consumable items need to be purchased. | Chair |
| 078/23 | Budget and Precept setting: Q1 and H1 expenditure/receipts vs budget had previously been circulated to council and the figures up to October 2023 were considered. The first draft of the budget (previously circulated) was also considered and the Chair asked councillors for details of any more proposed expenditure for additional projects that they would like to put forward for consideration, in advance of the meeting in January. |
Council |
| 079/23 | It was resolved to accept Wicksteed’s price of £262 + VAT for annual play/fitness/sports equipment inspection. A copy of the previous report had been circulated for information. Clerk to obtain an updated quote for replacement child swing seats. |
Clerk |
| 080/23 | It was agreed that the Clerk will ask for quotes for the new asset works from the usual contractor. | Clerk |
| 081/23 | It was resolved to accept the quote for painting the back wall of he bus shelters – Weathershield paint in a mid-grey colour. | Clerk |
| 082/23 | SID moving: It was resolved to request one move at the increased price for January 2024. | Clerk |
| 085/23 | It was resolved to accept the quote of £420 for work to the Silver Birch tree on Hammonds Croft. | Clerk |
| 086/23 | The amended mowing contract for 2024-2026 as circulated was agreed. Clerk to send out the tender documents and the tender prices will be considered by the Clerk and Cllrs. Hopcroft/S. McKeown and Hughes. | Clerk |
| 087/23 | Calendar of regular events – circulated for Councillor information and monitoring. | –
|
| 088/23 | Cllr Hever-Smith raised an issue regarding some residents not being able to afford to hire the Memorial Hall for a community social group. It was agreed that Cllr Hilton will talk to the Hixon Memorial Hall Committee regarding the problems this group have encountered. | Cllr Hilton |
| 089/23 | It was resolved to spend up to £100 for bench fixing devices that Cllr Hever-Smith will obtain and fit to the undamaged bench. Then the damaged bench will be moved. Waiting for price from supplier for replacement parts. | Cllr Hever-Smith |
| 090/23 | Date for a meeting of the Road Safety Audit Working Group to be arranged to review and update 2013 Audit.
Cllrs. Hever-Smith, Hughes, B McKeown |
DH-S, JH, BM |
| 091/23 | The date of the meeting for Planning Training (by Chair) for Clerk and Councillors (including reps from Stowe Parish Council) and update on Stafford Borough Local Plan and implications for Hixon Neighbourhood Plan will be 20th February 2024 | Chair |
| 092/23 | Online Banking – added to tracker. Chair will need to phone the Business Banking team at Nat West to discuss/arrange this, phone number provided by Clerk. | Chair |
| 093/23 | Report on Best Garden Awards: around 30 people attended and the presentation was over rather quickly due to the absence of refreshments. Food should be provided again in future Best Gardens presentations.
|
Chair |
| 094/23 | ‘Dogs on Leads’ plaques for Hixon Parish Council public open spaces are now available, Cllr Hopcroft suggested means of fixing and will arrange the same. | Cllr Hopcroft |
| Projects, Task Groups and External Meeting Reports | ||
| 045/22 | A report for bike track facility at Church Lane Playing Fields will be provided for the January meeting. | Cllr Hever- Smith |
| 083/23 | Feedback from TVCG meeting on October 18th 2023: Cllr Hopcroft gave a summary of topics covered which included Highways, Banking, Play Park funding, boy racers. Hixon and Stowe by Chartley will jointly host the next meeting. | Clerk |
| 084/23 | Feedback from JBM Liaison meeting on November 7th 2023. Cllr Hopcroft gave a summary of discussions –2 new furnaces are in place, a planning application has been put in and JBM will sort out the ongoing maintenance of the plant beds at the entrance to the site on New Road going forward. | –
|
|
|
Finance / Administration / Legal | |
| 033/23 | Bank Reconciliation | Cllr Hever-Smith |
| 013/23 | Schedule of Prospective Agreed Payments (late invoices not included on the agenda may be paid, subject to resolution by majority of Councillors). | Chair/Vice-Chair |
| Employment costs – November | £674.32 | |
| Reimburse C Gill November – monthly purchase of Microsoft 365 Business | £11.28 | |
| Reimburse C Gill mileage (41 miles @ £0.45 per mile) | £18.45 | |
| Reimburse C Gill for PC mobile phone top up | £20.00 | |
| Reimburse C Gill for Go File VAT annual filing subscription | £41.94 | |
| Reimburse C Gill for garden awards gift cards (2x (£20, £15, £10)) | £90.00 | |
| WaterPlus – car park drainage 4th Oct – 4th Nov 2023 | £45.96 | |
| Acer Garden Landscapes for mowing, hedge, briars, orchard (£1341.20),SID moving (£30) | £1371.20 | |
| Acer Garden Landscapes for November mowing | £394.31 | |
| Hixon Phone Tech for laptop repair | £145.00 | |
| SBC for election costs May 2023 | £157.35 | |
| drs for garden awards certificates | £40.85 | |
| drs for A2 prints/scan (mowing contract) | £46.80 | |
| Drs for 24 aluminium signs – dogs | £150,00 | |
| Estate Signs and Print Ltd. for 10 large poppies | £283.20 | |
| Rob Keyzor for tree works undertaken to date | £3732.00 | |
| International Components for tree lights (2 strings) | £48.00 | |
| HMRC – November | £282.20 | |
| Receipts October 2023 | ||
| 033/23 | Precept, grant and concurrent (second half payment) | £19877.26 |
| 013/23 | Bank Interest 2023 | £79.21 |
| Consider significant correspondence received from residents: | ||
| Post | None | |
| Email/phone calls: | See Clerk’s Report | |
| From October 2023 | ||
| Bank Reconciliation | Chair | |
| Schedule of Prospective Agreed Payments | Chair/ Cllr Hopcroft |
|
| Employment costs – October | £930.92 | |
| Reimburse C Gill : October – monthly purchase of Microsoft 365 Business | £11.28 | |
| Reimburse C Gill mileage (8 miles @ £0.45p/mile) | £3.60 | |
| Reimburse C Gill for stamps 16 x 2nd class | £12.00 | |
| Reimburse C Gill for stamps 8 x 1st class | £10.00 | |
| Reimburse C Gill for TEN licence | £21.00 | |
| Water Plus car park drainage 4th Sept to 4th Oct | £44.47 | |
| Acer – mowing for Sept, deposit grass and SID move in Sept | £1047.20 | |
| Hixon Memorial Hall for room and portacabin hire July to September | £159.60 | |
| HMRC – October | £25.60 | |
| Atlas Scaffolding | £353.76 | |
| Stafford Borough Council, planning application for cricket area on playing field | £117.00 | |
| Receipts 6th Sept to 5th Oct 2023 | ||
| Nat West Interest (29th Sept) | £63.02 | |
Meeting ended 9:30pm