STAUNTON PARISH COUNCIL
ANNUAL PARISH MEETING
Minutes of meeting held on Tuesday 14th May 2024
Venue: Corse and Staunton Village Hall Annexe
Time: 7:46pm
Present: Councillors; J. Millar, D. Williams, B. Allen, D. Peach, J. Capper, P. Burford (District Councillor), C. Williams (District Councillor), G. Moseley (County Councillor), B. Buck (Corse Parish Council Representative), G. Millar (Clerk), Tim Brown (Scouts Representative) and 8 Parishioners.
1. Chairman’s Welcome
Cllr Millar welcomed all present.
2. Receive Apologies
Apologies were received from Cllr Fuller.
3. To confirm the minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting, held on Wednesday 24th May 2023
The minutes of the previous Annual Parish Meeting held on Wednesday 24th May 2023 were proposed by Cllr Williams and seconded by Cllr Allen to be accepted as a true record.
4. County Councillor Report
Report provided by Gill Moseley:
Budget for 2023/24
Proposals put forward by the Conservative majority administration for a budget of £616 million were passed in February. This represented a £42m increase in the budget compared to 23/24. For a band D property, this meant a monthly increase of £6.34. The increase was above the expected rate of inflation for this year. It was made up of 2.99% increase on council tax and a 2% precept for adult social care.
Amendments by all three opposition parties were accepted. These included the following from my Liberal Democrat Group:
£25,000 – Public Rights of Way
Increasing the resource available for mapping so people know which walking routes are available to them.
£25,000 – Flood schemes
In a year with huge amounts of flooding across the County, the group felt it was important to support communities that suffered from the flooding that occurred.
£82,500 – Freezing the cost of on-street parking
With the cost of living continuing to bite, we ensured residents who have to pay to park outside their own house were protected from another cost increase.
£100,000 – Additional money for Road Safety
Liberal Democrats are committed to reducing the amount of deaths that take place on the county’s roads. Gloucestershire has one of the highest KSI rates in the country.
£20,000 – To work up the governance arrangements and criteria for a scheme to allow foster carers who are willing, to make improvements to their home to take extra children
This is a Liberal Democrat idea to provide more space for foster carers to take care of more children. The Policy, could save the county £millions in the future if it means fewer children being put into out-of-county placements.
Motions to Full Council
In recent meetings we have tabled motions, of which amended versions were passed after the Conservative administration removed criticisms of the government. Topics included:
· Shortening waiting lists for cancer care and the NHS
· Holding the Conservative Government to account to keep their promise of restoring policing to 2010 levels (we are still a long way off this in police per person terms)
· Cost of Living Crisis
· Declaring a roads emergency
Local Bus Transport
The County Council has had a bid for £6 million accepted to introduce more electric buses in the county. It is unclear if this means more bus routes for Gloucestershire.
The Council has agreed a bus improvement plan worth £4.4m meaning some services are now more regular.
The trend of recent years of cuts to bus services is finally starting to slow. This is thanks to local groups and communities supporting existing bus services. Services like the Robin (a bookable bus that links with existing bus routes) have been a success and are showing a blueprint for supporting rural services in the future. Liberal Democrats are strong believers in public transit, and a Liberal Democrat administration will make public transport a priority.
In the county we are now at 80% + of the level of pre-Covid bus journeys
Road Safety Policy
Liberal Democrats are committed to the County Councils vision for reducing the amount of road accidents taking place across the county. The Council now has a pot of over £2m to tackle road safety. The Liberal Democrats have put forward budget amendments to increase these in the past 2 years.
Going forward, the aim will be to spend this money wisely and reduce the high casualty rates we currently see on Rural A roads.
Highways
The previous reporting portal for Highways defects has been replaced with a national website – Fix-My-Street. It is expected to give more customer feedback than the previous channel.
This is part of the Highways ‘Transformation exercise’ which is apparently including repairs of pothole clusters, a state-of-the-art spray injection patcher and new materials for repairs. Unprecedented wet weather has exacerbated damage and hampered repairs but the continued lack of government funding to local councils, has meant that in truth, there is a mountain to climb before our highways and pavements are all fit for purpose.
Highways Local Fund
Each year, every county cllr has a budget of £30K to spend on small safety projects within their division. The Newent division covers ten parishes. Bids for 2024/25 funding are welcome.
Build Back Better – Councillor Scheme
This fund, which covers the four year term of office for each county councillor, and originally stood at £40K and was increased by £10K for supporting community projects, is almost spent. Two linked, but annual funding pots of £3K for youth funding have also been provided. Projects for almost all of the ten parishes in the Newent division have been funded. The first award from the fund for youth services was made to Newent Initiative Trust to support The Chill Out, after no other successful bids were received.
Environment
On-street EV chargers have been installed all over the county and Newent has four. Funding at present is only for these chargers which are 7Kw and intended largely for residential use.
Fast fibre broadband rollout for areas of very poor reception is still supported by a Household Digital Grant Scheme through Fastershire, but that scheme is coming to an end after a temporary extension.
Food wastage has been the subject of a leaflet received by all households I believe. It is shocking to learn that 25% of all residual waste is food. All districts in the county now collect food waste at the kerbside and this is taken to the AD facility in Bishops’s Cleeve where is provides energy and fertiliser rather than being taken to Javelin Park where its high-water content does not make good fuel for the EfW incinerator.
The Rural Estates Working Group of which I was a member has now reported to Cabinet. Recommendations for the future of the GCC-owned farms centred on retaining the estate and not selling valuable farms (which are intended for start-up tenancies) for development where alternative acreage could not be found. An investigation into the potential for a solar farm in a suitable GCC-owned location is also being explored.
Council Meetings
I have attended all Full Council meetings and have submitted questions on a number of topics. I have also attended all the committee meetings of which I am a member. These are Planning, Constitution and Environment Scrutiny Committees. I have also continued in my role as Environment spokesperson for my group.
5. District Councillor Report
District Councillor, Philip Burford noted that he had unfortunately not been able to attend a FoDDC meeting since February due to ill health.
The next Council meeting is due to be held on Thursday 30th May.
6. District Councillor Report
District Councillor, Clayton Williams reported that more affordable housing for young people is needed.
Pot holes on our roads are an ongoing issue, and District Councillor, Clayton Williams also noted that he is still pushing for raising the A417 at Maisemore to alleviate the flooding issues experienced.
7. Staunton Police Report
No report provided.
8. Chairman’s Report
Report provided by Cllr Millar:
Well…. another year has rushed by which has been filled with conversations regarding the long wet & stormy winter we have all endured, along with the record number of flooded roads just to add to the mix! Hopefully we can soon welcome in some more warmth & dryness to help our local farming community who have had to deal with terrible conditions for their crops & animals.
I would like to firstly acknowledge with many thanks the ‘never failing to impress’ hardworking team of litter pickers led by Irene & John Carroll, this is sadly a never ending task trying to keep our verges and laybys clear of unnecessary waste. My Vice Councillor Dave Williams has also been working hard with our local Street Warden to try to deal with this constant problem of ‘fly tipping’ in our villages.
Thanks also to him & the excellent support we received from our sadly now retired Public Rights of Way officer Suzanne Hopes in refurbishing many sections of the footpath network which connect Corse & Staunton. In addition, our thanks to the year-round grass cutting & maintenance by parishioner Stan Cotton, who has just cut the grass close to our old, worn-out noticeboard on the Ledbury Road. I hope that in next year’s report, this location will look smarter with a much needed replacement to match our other one in the village.
Thanks also to our most recent addition to the Council, Cllr Julie Capper who has achieved superb results with her fundraising Supper Clubs at our thriving Swan Community Hub, the generous money raised has been used by SPC & the Hub. Fund raising for the Hub has also been supported by Cllr Mat Fuller with his legendary quiz nights & constant supply of chocolate to boost the raffle prizes. Cllr Don Peach has also been very generous with skills in photography to produce some superb framed wildlife images, which are much sort after prizes.
The results of this hard work have now enabled us to provide the community with a Defibrillator, situated in a prominent location on the outside wall of the Hub. Our parishioners should also know that our precept is being wisely spent on its maintenance, with support from Staunton Parish Councillors.
Safety on our roads through our village is always a concern, and I hope the work we all do to maintain the Speed Indicator Devices along the critical section of the A417 is a constant job. Cllr Bas Allen works closely with our village resident expert Mr Phillip Tasker to ensure our solar powered sign close to our village school is skilfully maintained. Plus, I have help from Corse resident Phil Wright every 3 weeks to change the battery in our other much needed device. With many thanks to both Phil’s!
To conclude I would like to offer my thanks for all your support, professionalism & commitment to your roles & responsibilities as Parish Councillors during this year, alongside the expertise & hard work of our highly skilled Clerk keeping me/us in order!
9. Reports from Local Groups
Cricket Club
Report provided by Wayne Organ:
Apologies that I am unable to make it in person this evening however thanks for the opportunity to give a brief report on behalf of Corse and Staunton Cricket Club.
Although last season wasn’t maybe the best of seasons on the pitch, we were still able to look back proudly on a year of considerable success both on and off the field. It was great to see more normality return after the Covid restricted years with more games having ‘cricket teas’ once again, with us being one of only a few who provided teas for all of their home games this season at The Pavilion.
Unfortunately the First XI were relegated this year from the West of England Premier 2 Glos/Wilts (the highest league the Club had ever played in), however it’s amazing to think that almost every week they were playing against ex-International and County League players, it was therefore a fantastic achievement for our Club to actually be playing at that level.
After a slow start both the seconds and thirds also performed well, maintaining their positions in their respective divisions which were again fantastic achievements for the Club.
The Ladies team also performed well this year with one of the most pleasing things being over 20 different players being used, with a number of u13 girls stepping up along with mother and daughter combinations. The Club family Ethos is certainly continuing.
We actually had nearly 75 different players playing for all of the Men’s Senior Teams this season, again an amazing achievement for a Village Club.
Youth cricket was still well supported with the Club covering a large range of age groups from 5 year olds at the Allstars through to u15s.
The youth coaching starts again on Friday 26th April through to the 12th July with Allstars starting on 10th May also through to the 12th July.
One of the highlights last year was the Club Day that we held back in July which was open to the whole village. What a fantastic day it turned out to be with a great turnout of both playing participants and spectators throughout the day, it was brilliant to see some old faces that we hadn’t seen for a long time make the effort to attend, culminating with the inaugural Hulls v Tyrer match in memory of two great stalwarts of the club Charlie and Paul. Unfortunately, the weather had the last say stopping the game just before the conclusion, but at least it enabled the result to be a fitting ‘Draw’. This year we’re intending on repeating the day with it being pencilled in for Sunday the 7th July. All our most welcome.
Financially although each year is becoming more and more expensive to run a cricket club, this year’s turnover was just shy of £30k, it was still another positive season with the Club managing to break even.
As I am sure those attending will agree the grounds and field always look great and as you will appreciate is down to a huge amount of work and effort by our groundstaff team, who take great pride in producing a fantastic place to play cricket.
There were actually nearly 70 games played on the pitch this season including a couple of Glos County Senior games and the ground was voted as one of the top 5 pitches to play on in the Glos County League by opposition teams last season.
I’m also pleased to announce that the Club received confirmation last week from the English Cricket Board that we retained our ECB Clubmark Accreditation, no mean feat, with there being less than 50 Clubs within the whole of Gloucestershire achieving this.
So in conclusion although unfortunately the Firsts were relegated, all in all, it was still another good positive season.
Football Club
Report provided by Andrew Houldey:
Sorry about the delay in responding- due to the wet winter we are still playing, and I was delaying putting a report together until the first team promotion issue had been sorted.
Staunton & Corse Football Club enjoyed their most successful season in their 105-year history. The first team were promoted to Division 1 of the Gloucestershire Northern Senior League for the first time, while the Reserves finished their best-ever league season in Division 1 of the North Gloucestershire League and won the Geo Sandoe Cup, beating Tidenham in the final- this was a competition we last won in 1962. The academy team continues to provide opportunities for local young footballers, offering a pathway from youth into open age football. We also make provision for older players, running both over-40s and over-50s teams (the only club in the county to do this) and our ladies team completed their first season.
Financially we continue to suffer from the effects of Covid (no player subscriptions and no match day income) and the continuing investment in improving the pitch, in partnership with the Football Association, and we are extremely grateful to Staunton Parish Council for their support.
St James’ Church
Report provided by Malcolm Harley:
This year proved both busy and productive. Starting with the removal of the bells for refurbishment and the upgrading of the bell supporting framework.
We had success with both our BBQ and Auction, netting£1384 50p, and the Harvest Supper netting £530.00p. An additional fund raiser was organized by Sue and David Bell, our grateful thanks to them and all their helpers for, with several generous donations raised an astonishing sum in excess of £4000.00p.
Following the re-instatement of the bells in September, we had a wonderful Service of rededication of the bells presided over by Bishop Rachel Treweek in November. During all these functions, arrangements for the repairs to the South elevation of the Chancel roof was was also going on. The roof was eventually completed in March of this year. This gave way to another Bishops visit, this time it was Bishop Robert of Tewkesbury, who gave his blessings for the roof repairs.
Since word has been getting around, we have had many requests from various quarters for bellringers to come and ring at our Churches, some done many more in the pipeline, which is very satisfying.
This brings us to the thank yous for those who have strived to put all these things in place.
Firstly to David Williams, who fought red tape, badgered trust funds for finance, and then liased with contractor to see the works undertaken. David was aided and abetted with many of these tasks by David Butler and Jim Chapman. our sincere thanks to all. Next, we are endebted to Pauline for all she does especially the secretarial work. Thanks Pauline. We have Peter who as treasurer keeps our books and financial records in order. Also to Jill Beddoes for her accompanyment at our Services, struggling with a very dificult organ. We thank Irene for coming in and keeping the inside of ou Church and tidy. Then we have Jennifer, John and Margret who ply us with refreshment after Services. This year we extend our thanks to Richard Priday who onganized a working party of, dare I say, willing helper to cut, clean and spruce up the Churchyard many thanks to everyone for taking part in which ever way to support St. James Church Staunton.
SCATS
No report provided.
Scouts
Report provided by Tim Brown:
The 1st Staunton & Corse Scout Group are a local group supporting local youngsters from the ages of 6 through to 15 years.
Currently we have 13 adult leaders – 6 with scouts, 5 with Cubs and 2 with Beavers. We also have in the group 2 young leaders helping with Beavers and 2 young leaders helping with scouts.
In the group we currently have 21 scouts, 27 Cubs and 20 Beavers and we have 25 on the waiting list for Beavers.
Scout HQ have kept up the pressure around leader training and this is an ongoing activity. Most of this training is done online but this does mean that leaders are spending a lot of their own time getting this training completed. This demonstrates that scouting for leaders is not just a visit to the hut on a Monday, Tuesday or Thursday evening.
We had a superb summer camp in 2023 at the Brockmead Scout site in Bristol.
Cub numbers were down from previous years but a good time was had by all.
Scouts and Cubs participated in the Strategy and Evolution camps at Cirencester in June and again these camps were full on but very exciting.
This years summer camp is at Sharrett’s Wood, a scout site near Stafford.
Sadly one of our leaders, Wayne Mason, collapsed while at work in Plymouth last October and his colleague’s and the paramedics were unable to save him. He leaves a wife Lisa and two lovely children Oliver and Yasmin. Wayne was a lovely man and a super leader. The children loved him and we miss his smile, his enthusiasm and his big presence around the hut.
On behalf of the scout group I would like to thank the parish council for their ongoing support of our group.
Brownies
No report provided.
Playing Fields
Report provided by Graham Bruce:
Firstly, the trustees would like to thank you for your contribution to our funding. As you can imagine, maintaining the viability of our facility is an ongoing battle.
We have been very fortunate this year to receive Section 106 monies which has allowed us to improve disabled access to the grounds and clubhouse. Disabled parking bays have been added as well as paving providing an easier route for wheelchair users.
We are also seeking part funding from the Build Back Better scheme to increase the number of solar panels on the clubhouse in an effort to improve our environmental footprint and reduce our electricity consumption.
The plan to accrue funds to build a more secure and aesthetically pleasing storage facility remains an aim, but is proving a very long term project with no end in sight for some years.
The very wet weather has had a number of consequences. Drainage pumps on the field have been working flat out resulting in a much higher than expected electricity bill. Also, ground work as we approach the cricket season has been badly affected.
Our group of trustees and volunteers remains small, but committed to keeping this vital facility in the best possible condition for the use of our villagers.
Staunton and Corse Academy
No report provided.
Village Hall Committee
Report provided by Barbara Buck:
We thank you for supporting us over the past few years and hope that our request for further support will be considered this year.
We continue to strive to improve facilities at the hall for parishioners and people from the surrounding locality to ensure there is a building suitable for many activities and functions.
Our accounts for the past year look quite healthy but as with any organisation we have to be conscious of aging equipment and areas of high use that need to be maintained, therefore a reasonable fund is required to keep ourselves ready for any eventuality. For example we are spending £2000 on the main hall floor to bring it back to a reasonable standard, and we have just spent £1550 on PIR lights for the toilets and new Hand driers.
The maintenance, meeting of health and safety requirements and paying higher fuel bills affects us all, we strive to find the best providers but have to ensure that insurances, fire safety etc are maintained.
Thank you once again for your support.
Staunton and Corse PPG
Report provided by Malcolm Harley:
Since changing to holding our meetings quarterly, we are pleased to welcome 3 new members to our group. 2 from Tirley and 1 more from Corse, we also have interest from a potential new member from Redmarley.
With these additional volunteers we are now able to spread the load of visits to seminars from other practices, namely the Primary Care network including, Staunton & Corse, Newent, Tewkesbury and West Cheltenham. Also at Gloucestershire PPG group meetings.
These meetings help us develop and gives us an insight into other area's issues, and different ways we may be able to assist the patients and practice in our own catchment area.
There have as always been several staff changes throughout the year. These can be picked up in the newsletter.
10. Public Question Time
A S106 update was given in relation to the Playing Fields.
11. Closure of Meeting by Chairman
Cllr Millar thanked all for attending and formally closed the meeting.
The meeting finished at 8:31pm
Signed: Date: