Berkswich Parish Council 3 June 2025

PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of the Berkswich Parish Council Annual Meeting held on

Tuesday 3 June 2025 at 7.30 pm at Walton Village Hall

Present:       Cllr Alan Taylor (Chair), Cllr, Caroline Pearson (Vice Chair), Cllr Tim Luker, Cllr Beverley Hughes, Cllr Michael Norris, Cllr Bob Gilson and Cllr Vicky Campbell

In attendance:   One member of the public, Michelle Shaker and a colleague from Community Speed Watch at Staffordshire Police, Staffordshire County and Stafford Borough Councillor Ann Edgeller, Stafford Borough Councillor Peter Edgeller and Mrs Sue Fullwood, Clerk/RFO were in attendance.

Cllr Taylor welcomed everyone to the meeting.

25/66        Public Session

1. Michelle Shaker informed the meeting that she had been contacted by residents who had concerns about speeding near Milford Common, along Brocton Road. Two volunteers from Milford had been trained to use the Speed Watch equipment that Brocton Speed Watch had and Michelle wanted to ask if the Council would support a Berkswich scheme and potentially fund a handheld radar device for £281 and £41 for calibration.  Training for volunteers would be provided by the police. If drivers were caught speeding by the volunteers the police sent out a warning letter.  If they were caught again they would get another warning letter.  If there were further offenses police would do home visits.  The essence of the project was to slow drivers down, volunteers wore high vis clothing to alert drivers to their presence.

Cllr Taylor suggested that there had only really been complaints from one household on Brocton Road so the problem could be a matter of perception.  The Parish Council had agreed to purchase and install a Speed Indication Device on Brocton Road but were waiting for more details of a county-wide purchase scheme to see if any savings could be made before proceeding.

Michelle said that the police had received a few complaints and asked if Council would help with getting the information out to Berkswich community and asking for volunteers.

Cllr Taylor said he was aware of schemes around the county and asked if enthusiasm waned.  Michelle responded that some were more successful that others and sometimes the volunteers were disappointed that they were not catching people.  There needed to be a core group, Michelle recommended a minimum of 4 or 5 volunteers, the bigger the pool of volunteers, the more successful the scheme was likely to be.  6 to 8 volunteers would be a good starting point.

The member of the public asked if a Speed Watch scheme would affect how frequently the camera van was in the parish.  Michelle responded that all the information gathered was shared with the van team but it may not increase the van’s attendance.  Where the risk was deemed ‘high’ the van would visit once per month; where the risk was deemed ‘medium’ the van would visit every 3 months; and where the risk was deemed ‘low’ the van would visit every 6 months.

Cllr A Edgeller added that Baswich had a scheme and three new members were about to be trained and she felt that it was effective.

Resolved: Clerk to circulate information on the scheme asking for volunteers on the Council’s newsletter, website and Facebook page and put leaflets on noticeboards.  Action: Clerk

Michelle Shaker and her colleague left the meeting at 7.45 pm.

1. The member of the public thanked Council for the things he had raised that had been done including clearing the brambles from the flower beds on Milford Road, but he felt that the flower beds had been left as very ugly patches of soil and asked what the plan was for them. Cllr Taylor responded that the lack of rainfall in April and May had meant that if plants had been planted in the flower beds they would have died from lack of water.  The Clerk added that it was hoped that if the rain returned to normal levels that the planting could be completed during June, but it was weather dependant.  The member of the public asked why the Council could not have a contract to water the plants.  Cllr Taylor responded that with public landscaping it was hoped that rainfall would be enough – if a company was contracted to do it, it would need doing 2 or 3 times a week for the first few months which was untenable.  Cllr Campbell added that that was the reason planting was normally done in spring when there was more rainfall, but it would not be done in periods of drought.  It was possible that the opportunity had been missed for this year, but it was not anyone’s fault, it was just nature.

1. The member of the public said that he had had to walk around nettles and brambles to get to the meeting and asked if they could be sprayed or cut back. Resolved: Clerk to ask TGM to pay particular attention to cutting back any nettles on Main Road when they were next in the parish. Action: Clerk

1. The member of the public asked if there was any further news about the milestones in the parish. Cllr Taylor responded that he had had a large number of responses when SPCA had shared his offer of collaborating with other parish councils and quite a big project had landed on his shoulders.  The good news was that the mileposts were quite solid pieces of cast iron and generally very durable.  The one on Main Road has very slight superficial corrosion.

1. The member of the public asked what the Council were doing about the consultation regarding the potential to build homes on the land off Milford Road. Cllr Taylor replied that Council had taken the view that if they responded it could be seen as pre-empting any planning application so they had not responded themselves, but they had collated and sent a list of concerns raised by residents.  Cllr A Edgeller thought it was likely that the developers would be putting in a planning application in late summer so it was in obeyance at the moment.  Cllr A Edgeller had contacted Sir Gavin Williamson MP and he was prepared to support the community on it.  The biggest issue was that the government had changed housing targets which meant that the Stafford Local Plan no longer had a 5-year housing supply.

Cllr Taylor brought the public session to an end after 30 minutes at 8.00 pm as per Standing Order 3f.  The member of the public left the meeting.

25/67        Apologies – received from Cllr Malcolm Millichap, Cllr Ann Millichap and Cllr Sue Francis as they were all unwell.

25/68        Minutes of the meeting held on 6 May 2025 – Resolved: It was agreed that the minutes were accurate and should be signed by the Chair.

25/69         Declarations of Interest regarding items on the agenda.  None.

25/70        Clerk’s Report for May 2025

Resolved: the report was accepted unanimously.

25/71        Milepost Maintenance

                 See also item 66 d).  Cllr Taylor asked for the item to be removed from the agenda and he would report back when there had been progress with the project.

25/72        Attendance at the Parish Fete on 22 June 2025

                 Cllr Pearson reported that Cllrs Malcolm and Ann Millichap were unwell and so were unlikely to be able to attend the fete.  Cllr Campbell confirmed that she would be able to attend.  Cllr Pearson said that if it was raining she was not taking the gazebo as it was too difficult to dry it out.

25/73        Graffiti Around the Parish

There seemed to be an increase in graffiti on communications green boxes at the end of The Rise and on Old Croft Road, on the gas substation on Milford Road and the canal bridge was particularly bad.  Resolved: Clerk to report the graffiti to the relevant organisations.  Action: Clerk

25/74        Cannock Chase Fire Risk

Cllrs A and M Millichap had raised concerns about the fire risk at Cannock Chase over the dry period during spring and had written a report suggesting that the parish council might purchase a surveillance drone for the Fire and Rescue Service for around £4000 to undertake fire watch.  Cllr Taylor felt that Cannock Chase covered many parishes and all could be asked to contribute.  Cllr Campbell suggested a heat source camera drone may be the most useful and asked what the Forestry Commission’s role was for fires on the Chase.  It was agreed that there would need to be a multi-agency approach.  Resolved: Cllr M Millichap to invite the Fire Officer to the July meeting.  Action: Cllr M Millichap

25/75        County-Wide Speed Indication Devices scheme

The neighbouring Clerk who was co-ordinating the county-wide scheme had been told that Staffs CC were reviewing SID device policies and would get back in touch with her once they had more information.  Cllr A Edgeller said she would raise it at her Highways Liaison meeting.  Resolved: Cllr Norris proposed that Council should go ahead with the SID purchase and installation at Milford straight away rather than wait for the scheme to be put in place, seconded by Cllr Pearson and agreed unanimously.  Action: Clerk

25/76        Annual Governance and Accountability Return (AGAR) 2024/25

1. Annual Audit Report

Resolved: The report was accepted unanimously.

1. Annual Governance Statement

Resolved: The statement was agreed as correct and to be signed by the Chair and Clerk/RFO.  Action: Chair and Clerk/RFO

• Accounting Statements

Resolved: The statements were agreed as correct and to be signed by the Chair and Clerk/RFO.  Action: Chair and Clerk/RFO

25/77        Financial Matters

1. Bank reconciliation and expenditure for May 2025 – Resolved: Approved unanimously.

1. Budget report for May 2025 – Resolved: Approved unanimously.

• Reduction in Interest Rates for Stafford BS and Teachers BS

Council noted the reduction in rates.  Cllr Norris said that he had looked at Charity and Commission Accounts and it was not difficult to find better interest rates.  Resolved: Finance Group to look at available accounts and see if there were better deals available.  Action: Clerk/Finance Group

25/78        Planning Matters

• Response to planning application 25/40479/FUL at The Paddock, 182 Main Road

Cllr Taylor proposed that the council respond objecting to the application as there was no evidence that the stables/store were redundant; residential use would be backland development outside the Residential Development Boundary; the proposed full glazing of the frontage would be highly reflective and visually intrusive in the landscape;  and there was a risk of a later proposal for a replacement stable adversely impacting on the National Landscape.  Resolved: agreed unanimously.  Action: Chair/Clerk

Cllrs Ann Edgeller and Peter Edgeller left the meeting at 8.30 pm.

25/79  Reports from other Meetings

• Environment Group – Cllr Taylor was still to contact Claire Geoghan about a potential further FiPL grant. Cllr Luker updated that the Walton Coppice fencing repairs had been completed and the contractor had done a good job.  Cllr Luker and Cllr Taylor would be attending the Cannock Chase Conference.

• Village Hall Council of Management – the Village Hall was no longer being used on Sundays by an evangelical church. The hall management had decided to clamp down on parking in the car park for people not using the Hall.  Local residents had offered to pay to be able to park there, but the hall management felt that it was more important to have the spaces available when there were a lot of people at the Hall.  The finances were very good.

25/80        Items for the Agenda for the Annual Parish Council Meeting scheduled for Tuesday 8 July 2025

Items agreed were: Cannock Chase Fire Risk; Speed Watch update; and SID on Brocton Road.

Meeting closed at 8.45 pm.