STAUNTON PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of meeting held on Tuesday 12th November 2024
Venue: Corse and Staunton Village Hall Annexe
Time: 7:30pm
Present: Councillors; J. Millar, D. Williams, B. Allen, D. Peach, G. Moseley (County Councillor) up to Item 10, P. Burford (District Councillor), and 4 Parishioners.
1.Chairman’s Welcome
Cllr Millar welcomed all present and explained that, due to the exceptional absence of Grace Millar, the Parish Clerk, Councillor Williams would record the minutes of the meeting.
2.Receive Apologies
Apologies were received from District Councillor C. Williams, Councillor J. Capper and Parish Clerk G. Millar.
3.Declarations of Interest
None declared.
4. To confirm the minutes of the previous bi-monthly meeting held on Tuesday 10th September 2024
The minutes of the previous bi-monthly meeting held on Tuesday 10th September 2024 were proposed by Councillor Allen and seconded by Councillor Peach to be accepted as a true record.
5. County Councillor Report
Councillor Moseley had met the new PROW, Will Saunder, and noted that he was settling into his new role well. Councillors agreed that Staunton Parish Council had established a good working relationship with him.
Following the resignation of Councillor Mark Hawthorne, Councillor Stephen Davies had been elected leader of Gloucestershire County Council on 11 September 2024.
Councillor Mosely explained that most of the funding within the Build Back Better Scheme had now been used up, but that she still had some of her allocation of £25,000 under the “Highways Local” scheme. She therefore encouraged the submission of any proposals for local highways works.
The Cabinet had decided to extend the current highways maintenance contract with Ringway Infrastructure Services (due to expire in 2025) without any referral to the Scrutiny Committee or Full Council. The Liberal Democrats had called in this decision. While it was recognised that Ringway were providing a better service than their predecessors, Amey, scrutiny of the contract was still required to try and improve on certain imperfect practices.
While Gloucestershire County Council’s Road Safety Policy had been in action since December 2022, the county was still in the top six of counties for road traffic fatalities and serious injuries. A further review would take place, with the first meeting to be held in November 2024, as it was felt that the County Council had passed the buck on road safety issues to local organisations.
6. District Councillor Report
District Councillor Philip Burford provided an update on the repatriating of 100 staff from Publica back into the Forest of Dean District Council. This had resulted in a new senior management structure, with Nigel Brinn as the new CEO. Four new Directors would be appointed, one of whom would be the new Deputy CEO. A further new post would be Head of Place, who in turn would report to the newly appointed Director of Communities and Place. The senior planner would therefore now have 2 officers senior to him who could vet planning applications
Councillor Burford had attended the appeal hearing for the proposed Gloucester Road development in Corse. The appellant’s appeal hinged on the assertion that the development site was situated in an area that was never designated as part of the original Chartist project and that heritage protections should not apply. The outcome was awaited.
The Police and Crime Commissioner had suspended the Chief Constable of Gloucestershire Constabulary for gross misconduct. It was only discovered belatedly on 1st November that no Deputy Chief Constable was in post as he had been suspended for gross misconduct by the Chief Constable in January 2024, a fact that the Police and Crime Commissioner had not divulged to councillors. An interim Deputy Chief Constable had been appointed with effect from 11th November. In the meantime, a serving police officer with Gloucestershire Constabulary had been arrested on 12th November on terrorism charges. The situation within the Gloucestershire Constabulary was described as ‘chaotic’.
7. District Councillor Report
No report provided.
8. Bank Signatory
The resignation of Councillor Fuller required the appointment of a new third bank signatory. It was decided to discuss the matter further in January’s meeting once all councillors were present.
9. Footpaths
Councillor Williams reported that John and Irene Carroll had continued their excellent work in clearing stiles and providing access to Staunton’s footpaths, most recently concentrating on the area between Hethelpit Cross and the Redmarley/Staunton parish boundary. Councillor Moseley expressed a wish to thank and congratulate the Carrolls for their exemplary civic mindedness. Councillor Williams agreed to provide Councillor Moseley with their e-mail address.
The collapsed footpath sign on GST 19, the path from the Ledbury Road to Brierley Farm, had been repaired, as had the sign on GST 32 pointing from Chartist Way across the grass triangle to Prince Crescent.
The PROW, Will Saunder, had resolved the fence line dispute along GST 6, the path from the Moat Lane extension to Staunton Coppice. With the owner of ‘The Hill’ now deceased and the estate up for sale, the owner of ‘Woodlands’ had agreed to take ownership of the fence, which meant that the broken stile could be replaced. However, the PROW in fact planned to replace the stile with a kissing gate, which would improve access significantly. This would be an excellent result as Staunton Parish Council had only been asked to contribute to the cheaper cost of a stile. Councillor Moseley expressed willingness to help with funding any kissing gates that might be required elsewhere on the footpath network.
The PROW had also applied to the Forest of Dean District Council’s Active Travel Grant Scheme to try and secure funds to complete the resurfacing of GST 32, the path from Cullingham Close to the Ledbury Road. Furthermore, he had applied for funds to widen the footbridge across the water course at the end of the path to make it more accessible for people with a wider range of abilities. The outcome was awaited.
10.Highways
A comprehensive report on speeding issues through Staunton, compiled by the WI, had been forwarded to Highways by Councillor Millar. An exchange of e-mails had ensued in which Councillor Millar endeavoured to arrange an on-site meeting with Highways on the A417 through the village to highlight the dangerous speeding spots and discuss remedies. However, nothing more had been forthcoming from Highways.
Similarly, the huge, flooded pothole at the Staunton Court layby remained a significant hazard. Severn Trent Water had already examined the damage and cause of the flooding and sent a report to Highways, but nothing more had been heard. County Councillor Moseley asked to be copied into the reports with a view to following up with Highways.
11.New Website
New Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) required improvements for people with disabilities. The cost of the current website was £192 per annum plus VAT. A suitably upgraded website from the GAPTC would cost £258 for the first year and £378 for the second year. Councillor Millar recommended the adoption of a website from Hugo Fox, a web provider specifically tailored to parish councils, which complied with all statutory guidelines and cost only £142 including VAT per annum. Councillor Allen proposed that the Hugo Fox website be acquired and was seconded by Councillor Williams.
12.Patient Participation Group
Practice Update November 2024
Staff Changes: A new Urgent Care Practioner, Paramedic Phil Griffith, joined during October and will be supporting the Urgent Care Team dealing with ‘on the day’ medical problems. Physician associate Haroon Shazhad leaves on the 7th November having completed a six month fixed term contract with the practice. There have also been staff changes within the dispensary that see Karen leaving to be replaced by Deborah.
Appointments: Routine appointments to see a GP now involve a five or six week waiting period. The reasons for this involve a complicated series of changes within the Practice, many of which involve transfer of work from the hospital Secondary Care Network to the GP practice based Primary Care Network. However, the issue of increased waiting times is not helped by the number of missed appointments. There are generally around fifty missed appointments each month, and whilst the Practice appreciates that there are circumstances which can lead to unavoidable missed appointments, some patients simply no longer need the appointment, and others would benefit greatly from these patients contacting the Practice to cancel them.
GP Practice Reform: A recent report into the NHS has highlighted problems facing GP practices within the UK and rural practices in particular. The Practice is working hard to provide specialist services via their highly trained nurses and health care support team so that not all appointments need to be with a GP. This dramatically reduces waiting times for certain specialist support and can also include self-referral to specialist services such as podiatry, mental health support, musculoskeletal physiotherapy, etc. Many of these services are accessed online via the Practice website.
The Dispensary forms an important role in helping to provide income for the Practice and for every patient who chooses to use offsite pharmacy services this has an impact on the Practice. Improvement in the way the Practice Dispensary will provide services is being reviewed and it is hoped that this will help retain patient support.
There are a number of other issues that patients can address directly, most of which are clearly displayed on the Practice website. Patients are being encouraged to check the website before contacting reception, as via one or two ‘clicks of the mouse’ one can often get the support or consultation required such as self-referral mentioned above. This reduces demands made on reception staff who also have a high administrative workload to attend to.
I have made copies of the PPG Autumn Newsletter available to parishioners attending this Parish Council meeting, as there is a lengthy address from the Practice Manager, Louise Tweney, outlining the challenges the Practice is currently facing.
13.Fundraising
In the absence of Councillor Capper, Councillor Millar summarised fundraising plans. The next fundraising event would be the Steak Supper Club on 16 November, profits from which would be shared between Staunton Parish Council and the Swan Community Hub. Total profits of £204.57 had been raised at the Tapas Supper Club in August.
14.Finance
Councillors examined the draft budget for 2025/26. The budget looked well structured and would form a good basis for estimating the precept. Further discussion and final decisions would take place at the parish council meeting in January 2025.
Councillors received the new NALC pay scales. Councillor Allen proposed that the Parish Clerk move onto SCP 19, backdated to 1st April 2024, which was seconded by Councillor Williams.
Lloyds Bank was slightly increasing its banking charges for Staunton Parish Council, by planning to move the Council’s business on to a community account. The cost would be £4.25 per month allowing one hundred free electronic transactions. This compared well with other banks. Councillor Peach therefore proposed that the new banking arrangements be accepted, which was seconded by Councillor Allen.
Three payments to the Parish Clerk were considered:
Reimbursement for Microsoft software - £59.99
Overtime (two hours) for a GAPTC meeting - £29.90
Reimbursement for printer cartridges - £19.07
Councillor Peach proposed that the payments be approved, which was seconded by Councillor Allen.
15.Planning
The lack of paper copies for the parish council to scrutinise planning applications continued to cause problems. Councillor Millar agreed to write formally to District Councillor Burford requesting that the use of paper be reinstated. Councillor Burford would follow up with Andy Barge at Publica Strategic Support.
The proposed development at the Swan field would now be heard at appeal by the Home Secretary. Councillors agreed that almost all that could be done to object to this development had been done. However, it was considered worthwhile for Councillor Millar to write to the Planning Inspectorate to highlight that District Councillor Clayton Williams’ overt support for the development did not represent the views of Staunton residents or Staunton Parish Council.
16.Any Other Business
Councillor Allen raised the possibility of holding Staunton Parish Council meetings on Saturday mornings during the darker, colder autumn and winter months, which would make attendance easier for him and probably for many residents. District Councillor Burford advised caution as it might be a legal requirement for parish council meetings to be held on weekdays after 6 pm. Remote meetings via Zoom or Teams had not been reinstated following the Covid pandemic, and even if the option were permitted, it might be a legal requirement for half of elected councillors to be present at meetings. It was agreed that the Parish Clerk should check these requirements before a decision could be made.
17.Public Participation
Mrs Jackie Ostocke of Staunton Court raised the issue of sewage smells emanating from the area of the Pitts Mill wastewater plant in Corse. There had been apparent sightings of raw sewage spilling into the Glynch Brook, and the pumping station at the Watersmeet Hotel was frequently overtopping due to the volume of sewage being processed in the local area. Unconfirmed reports suggested that Severn Trent Water might be carrying out land clearance adjacent to Pitts Mill in preparation for a large extension to the wastewater plant.
The meeting finished at 8:45pm
Signed: Date: