|
ALBRIGHTON PARISH COUNCIL
MINUTES of the Parish Council Meeting held at the Old School, Station Road, on Thursday, 15th July, 2004
PRESENT: Cllrs D G Hopkins (Chair), Mrs G M Beechey, I R Copcutt, Mrs G M Hopkins, P Illes,
R J Kidson, D T Leeson, P J Lusk, D R V Murray and M G Pate
APOLOGIES: Cllrs Mrs E L Byrne, J Nelson, Mrs S Nelson, Mrs S J Pate and M Underwood
DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
a) Personal – Cllr Kidson 04/78© - Member of the Church
b) Prejudicial – Cllr M G Pate – 04/ 79(a) & 04/ 82(b) – Trustee of Village Hall and 04/ 80(b), permission 04/ 0428 – father resides on the premises.
04/ 77 MINUTES
The minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on Thursday, 17th June 2004, were approved by the Council and signed by the Chairman
The minutes of the Parish Council Planning Meeting held on Thursday, 1st June, 2004 were approved by the Council and signed by the Chairman
04/ 78 MATTERS ARISING
a) Playleadership Scheme
Members considered a report of a meeting of the Playleadership committee that had been distributed with the agenda and noted that a high level of interest had been expressed in the forthcoming scheme.
b) Double Taxation
Members considered a report from Cllr Leeson that had been distributed with the agenda. It was generally agreed that while the District Council did provide some leisure facilities in Albrighton, including the Local Nature Reserve, investment in active recreation facilities was inadequate for a settlement of this size. Cllr Pate explained that this was mainly because the bulk of investment had been committed to joint use facilities, which had been inherited under local government re-organization in 1974. While it was generally agreed that further pursuit of the issue of double taxation was unlikely to be successful it was resolved that the Leisure Committee should consider the issue of inequitable provision of active recreation facilities and make recommendations to the Council at its meeting in September.
c) Public use of car park at St. Joseph’s Church
The Clerk explained that the solicitors to the Diocese had advised BDC that the Trustees were not prepared to agree to sanction the use of the car park by the general public. Representatives of St. Joseph’s Church were pursuing the matter further with the Church authorities and Mr. Lindsell had offered to meet the Trustees in Birkenhead to discuss the matter in more detail. It was agreed that Cllr Kidson should be authorized to write to the Diocese on behalf of both the Council and the local Church.
d) Swimming Pool
The Clerk explained that the immediate problem regarding the pool had been the provision of a pool technician and that this had now been resolved with the result that the pool would now remain open during the holiday period. A further meeting of all interested parties would be held in September to consider longer term issues, including security of the premises and improvement to changing facilities.
e) Parking on pavements
It was agreed that, since the recent letter asking the Taxi firm not to park vehicles on the pavement had been ineffective, the police should be asked to take enforcement action and that the Highway Authority should be asked to provide suitable obstacles to such parking as raised kerbs or bollards.
04/ 79 NEW BUSINESS
a) Old School Floor
(Cllr M G Pate, having declared a prejudicial interest, left the room during consideration of this item).
It was generally agreed that, in order to attract users back to the building, early action should be taken to repair the floor. Cllr Leeson, seconded by Cllr Lusk, proposed that the Clerk be authorized to arrange for replacement of rotten floorboards at each end of the main room with suitably treated timber together with improvements to under floor ventilation up to a total cost of £1000 and that the Chairman be authorized to approve limited additional expenditure - carried.
b) Local Government Area Working
Cllr Pate explained the SCC proposals for the establishment of 17 area forums that would include representatives of local district and parish councils. He expressed the view that the size of such forums,which, in this locality, would include Albrighton and Shifnal, would be too large and that forums based on County Council electoral divisions, not necessarily serviced by officers would be more effective.
c) To amend and/or approve Parish Plan
Members considered the draft Parish Plan, which had been distributed with the agenda and the following changes were agreed:-
Page 11 ‘Speed Calming’ – amend column 1 to read ‘Speed Control’ , delete all wording in column
after ‘Speed Gun’ and delete final sentence in column 6
Page 13 ‘Speed Calming’ – Amend column 1 to read ‘Traffic Calming’
Page 15 ‘Outdoor Play Areas – Column 2 – Add ‘ Upgrade and enhance facilities at Albert Road |