Berkswich Parish Council 3 February 2026

BERKSWICH PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of the Berkswich Parish Council Meeting held on

Tuesday 3 February 2026 at 7.30 pm at Walton Village Hall

Present:       Cllr Alan Taylor (Chair), Cllr Bob Gilson, Cllr Sue Francis, Cllr Tim Luker, Cllr Ann Millichap, Cllr Malcolm Millichap, Cllr Michael Norris and Cllr Beverley Hughes

In attendance:   Cllr Peter Edgeller, Stafford Borough Council, Cllr Andrew Mynors, Staffordshire County Council and Sue Fullwood, Clerk/RFO.

Cllr Taylor welcomed everyone to the meeting.

26/1          Public Session – No members of the public were in attendance.

26/2          Apologies – apologies were received from Cllr Caroline Pearson due to family illness and Cllr Vicky Campbell due to travelling for work.

26/3          Appointment of a Vice-Chair – Cllr Pearson had stood down from the role of Vice-Chair and requested that approval be given to her non-attendance at Council for a period longer than 6 months.  Resolved: agreed unanimously.  Action: Clerk Discussions took place around who else could be Vice-Chair.  Resolved: Cllr Norris to act as Vice-Chair with immediate effect until such time as Cllr Pearson felt able to undertake the role again.

26/4          Minutes of the meetings held on 2 December 2025 and 6 January 2026 – Resolved: agreed unanimously.

26/5           Declarations of Interest regarding items on the agenda.  None.

26/6          Clerk’s Report for December 2025 and January 2026

Resolved: accepted unanimously.

26/7          Review of Parish Boundaries

Cllr M Millichap and Cllr Norris had prepared a report which had been shared in advance of the meeting and Cllr M Millichap read the report to Council.  Cllr M Millichap felt that the Parish Council should petition Stafford Borough Council (SBC) for a Community Governance Review as it seemed to fit well with the Local Government Review.  Discussions took place around where the boundary could be and if SBC could impose a new boundary on the Parish Council following a review.  It was felt that a review could be expensive but the £10k earmarked reserves could be used for this purpose and then replenished.  Cllr Norris felt that there was the potential for another parish or town council to request a review that included Berkswich.  Cllr Taylor was cautious about requesting a review as residents from different areas did not necessarily feel a sense of community. He added that from a planning perspective it could be dangerous for the Parish Council to cover a less rural area as developers could say Walton on the Hill was part of Stafford Town urban area.  Further research would be necessary and consideration could also be given to joining with another local parish council.

Staffordshire County Council and Stafford Borough Councillor Ann Edgeller joined the meeting at 8.00 pm and gave apologies for missing the start of the Parish Council meeting as she had been at another meeting.

Cllr Norris added that historically Berkswich Parish had been a much larger location and included Baswich and Tixall.  SCC & SBC Cllr A Edgeller commented that she had attended SBC’s meeting on setting up a Town Council and her understanding was that they were only looking at areas which were not currently parished.

26/8          Potential Purchase of Village Gateway Signs

The Clerk had obtained a quote and mock up of signs from Signs of the Times but had also spoken to a local company who had supplied signs for local schools and St Thomas’ Church.  Cllr Hughes questioned whether signs were necessary. Resolved: Clerk to ask for prices for the same spec signs from the local company to compare prices.  Action: Clerk

26/9          Grounds Maintenance Company for 2026

The Clerk had asked for quotes from four companies for the work in the grounds maintenance schedule but only TGM had responded.  Resolved: TGM to be awarded the contract due to lack of response from other companies and good working relationship from previous contracts.  Action: Clerk

26/10        Planting Bulbs in Grass Verges

This item to be deferred until Cllr Campbell was in attendance.  SCC Cllr Mynors suggested that students from Walton High School doing their D of E Awards could be asked to help with planting if required.

26/11        Brocton Road SID

1. Review of Effect on Speeding

A resident had emailed to say they felt that traffic was going faster again along Brocton Road.  The Clerk had downloaded the statistics from the SID and they had shown peak speeds of up to 72mph and average speeds of 20 to 60 mph with many drivers routinely exceeding the 30 mph limit.  Resolved: The Clerk to share findings with Staffordshire Safer Roads Partnership (SSRP) and Highways; to seek a review of signage by Highways; and to ask SSRP if a Speed Camera Van can be used to further deter speeding along Brocton Lane.  Action: Clerk

1. Quote for turning Brocton Road SID

TGM had provided a quote for turning the SID which was much more reasonable than the first quote received.  Resolved: Clerk to ask TGM to turn the SID once initially and then Council could review the statistics from Brocton towards the Barley Mow and decide how often the SID should be turned. Action: Clerk

26/12        Financial Matters

1. Bank reconciliation and expenditure for December 2025 and January 2026 The January report had been delayed due to IT issues at Unity Trust Bank – Resolved: December 2025 report approved unanimously.
2. Budget report for December 2025 and January 2026 – The January report had been delayed due to IT issues at Unity Trust Bank. Resolved: December 2025 report approved unanimously.

26/13        Planning Matters

1. Update from the Chair on Planning Applications for Housing Developments on Unallocated Sites

The Chair had attended a meeting at SBC to ask how they were addressing the issue of the Government’s increased housing targets and the effects on relatively rural communities such as Walton on the Hill, Eccleshall and Hixon.  SBC’s view was that refused applications were likely to be tested in a public enquiry.  Any Inspector would be under pressure from above to overturn a refusal.  SBC considered that even though the numbers in the local plan were out of date, that the linked policies still stood, for example the protection of Cannock Chase National Landscape.  If applications did not meet the policies in the Local Plan SBC still had good reason to refuse them.  SCC and SBC Cllr A Edgeller said that the South Staffs Local Plan which included a proposed housing development off the Cannock Road was still under consideration and there was a new application for 60 houses off Radford Bank.  SBC were working on a new Local Plan for Stafford.

Cllr Norris added that a lot of planning applications were going in so hopefully a lot would be pushed back and would then go to appeal and end up further back in the queue.

1. Planning application 25/41529/HOU – 3 School Lane, Walton on the Hill – Resolved: the Council had no objection to this application. Action: Clerk

A response to the following applications had been agreed by email and sent by the Clerk under delegated authority due to SBC deadlines.

• Planning application 25/41464/HOU – Congreve House, Walton on the Hill – Resolved: Ratified unanimously.

1. Planning application 25/41298/FUL – The Ferns, 6 Broc Hill Way – Resolved: Ratified unanimously.
2. Planning application 25/41518/PIP – 70 Old Croft Road, Walton on the Hill – Resolved: Ratified unanimously.

26/14        Reports from other meetings

1. Environment Group

Cllr Luker updated that the sub-group were working on a FiPL application for bird, bat and owl boxes.  Keyzor’s had been working at Walton Coppice removing 5 trees to improve the health of the surrounding trees, and at Hollybush Coppice removing a dead cherry tree.

ii       Village Hall Management Committee

No update was available.

• TVCG 14 April 2026

The Chair asked if anyone would like to attend in Cllr Pearson’s absence.  Cllr Francis said that she would attend if the Chair couldn’t.

26/15        Items for the Agenda for the Parish Council Meeting scheduled for Tuesday 3 March 2026

Items agreed were: Parish Boundaries; Village Gateway signs; planting bulbs in verges.

The Chair closed the meeting at 8.40 pm.