Present: Councillors Mr John Jordan (Chairman), Mrs Pauline Hill, Mr Derek Killingworth, Richard Wignall, Graham Higgs, Mrs Diane Bird.
In attendance: Mr S Clee Clerk, Bill Waldron Lengthsman, PC Ross Williams, WPC Kate Easthope, District Cllr Marcus Hart, Mr Doug Hine & Mrs Sue Laffey.
Apologies: Mrs Hilary Baxter.
PARISH MEETING:
The Chairman welcomed all members of the Public and Councillors to the Parish Meeting. He invited any elector within the parish to address the council on any matter they wished. There was no member of the public who wished to speak so the Chairman closed the Parish Meeting at 7.31pm and opened the Council Meeting.
234 Confirmation of the Minutes:
The minutes of the last meeting held on 14th January 2020 as previously circulated were approved and signed by the Chairman.
235 Declaration of Interest for a) The Meeting and b) Any Changes to be notified to the Registers of Interests and Gifts & Hospitality.
a) None declared. b) There were none.
236 Public Speaker:
WPC Kate Easthope introduced PC Ross Williams to the Council as our new PC. He had jointed the newly merged East and Northern Policing Team. There had been no reported incidents within the parish since we had last met.
The Chairman then invited Mrs Sue Laffey to address Council. Sue had recently researched all 14 Men and Women who appear on the First World War Roll of Honour in St Mary’s Church.
She was now researching 106 listed Men who appear on the Church Roll of Honour Board at St Mary’s. The PC were very impressed with her work and the tremendous research she had carried out to date and agreed to pay a bursary of £100.00 for the annual internet research fees.
237 Worcestershire County Council Pollinator Strategy Consultation :
Council RESOLVED to support the Worcestershire County Council Pollinator Consultation Document.
238 Amended Code of Conduct for Members:
Council RESOLVED to adopt the amended Code of Conduct for Elected Members. Members were presented with a lever arch file containing copies of the most up to date NALC Standing Orders, Financial Regulations, and various internal council policies previously adopted. The File will be regularly updated as and when legislation or circumstances change.
239 Planning Matters:
The Council noted the current list of Planning Applications approved and pending by WFDC.
Council considered Planning Application 20/0157/HOU an Extension at 6 Worcester Road, Mustow Green and RESOLVED to support this application.
Planning Application 20/0167/FUL at Bissell Wood was considered and it was REOLVED to support this application.
Planning Application 20/0070/FUL at Land on Stone Meadow, Butts Lane was considered, Council noted the site comes with a chequered history. It was noted that when planning permission was originally granted it was for the conversion and extensions to existing buildings that littered the site.
This application is outside that agreed framework and is clearly a speculative development within the green belt. It is not on previously developed land and the applicant has given no exceptional circumstances for why the application should proceed.
The Council RESOLVED to recommend REFUSAL to this application as it is outside the WFDC Planning policy for development in green belt.
240 Correspondence & Progress Reports:
There was no additional correspondence.
241 Finances:
- It was noted the Bank Balance currently stands at £12, 980.73 which includes earmarked reserves and grants for specific works.
- Accounts amounting to £2,375.25 made retrospectively were approved.
- The Council noted the Income & Expenditure Spreadsheets circulated with the agenda for Municipal Year 2019-2020.
- The Council noted the Amended Asset Register.
242 Date of the next Meeting:
There being no other business the meeting ended at 20.01pm. The next meeting will take place on Tuesday 12th May 2020 this being the Annual General Meeting commencing at 7.30pm.
243 Co-Option of Councillor:
The Council considered the applications for consideration to the vacant seat. After discussions it was agreed to invite Mrs Jane Lacey to join the Council. The clerk would write to all applicants and inform them of the Councils decision and thank them for their interest on this occasion.
Chairman……………………12th May 2020