BRETBY PARISH COUNCIL
MINUTES OF THE ORDINARY PARISH MEETING HELD
TUESDAY 9th JANUARY 2024 AT 7:30pm
AT ST WYSTANS CHURCH, BRETBY
Present: Cllr Toone (Chairman), Cllr Meyrick, Cllr Corner, Cllr Ballington, Cllr Bridges, Cllr Falder.
In Attendance: Mrs J Storer – Clerk.
24/1004 Apologies
Apologies were noted from Cllr Muller (alternative meeting), Cllr Haines (alternative meeting), Cllr Lowe (alternative meeting).
As a quorum was established, the Chair commenced the meeting.
24/1005 Variation of Order of Business
There was no alteration to the variation of the order of business.
24/1006 Declaration of Interests:
Cllrs considered their obligations relating to declaration of interests. No declarations were made.
24/1007 Public Speaking
a) Members of the Public and Council to comment on any matter
Nothing was raised.
b) County Council and District Council members to raise any relevant matter
Cllr Muller’s report had been circulated to Parish Cllrs (Appendix 1).
Cllr Lowe’s report will be circulated to Parish Cllrs (Appendix 2)
c) Parish Council Members declaring an interest other than Disclosable Pecuniary Interest wishing to make representation
No representations were made.
24/1008 To approve the Minutes of the Ordinary Meeting of the Parish Council held on 13th November 2023
These were circulated, read, approved and signed as a correct record by Cllr Toone.
24/1009 To determine which items if any, should be taken with the public excluded.
No items were deemed necessary to be taken with the public excluded other than that listed on the agenda.
24/1010 To receive the Chairman’s Announcements
None were made.
24/1011 To receive the Report of the Clerk
The Clerk’s report as previously circulated was accepted with no further comments.
Cllrs noted that an update is awaited on the inclusion of Brizlincote Farm in the Local Plan.
24/1012 Governance
a) Risk Register update
There are no recommended changes to the risk register.
b) General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR)
No changes are recommended and there are no reports of any breaches.
c) Parish Council elections, vacancies and co-options
There is one vacancy on the parish council and no expressions of interest have been received.
d) Environment Act 2021 – to create an action plan (circulated to Cllrs 27.11.23)
The Environmental and Sustainability policy was circulated to all parish Cllrs prior to Christmas.
RESOLVED to adopt the Environmental and Sustainability policy as circulated.
Parish Cllrs agreed to consider the environment in all decisions.
24/1013 Drainage and flooding issues
The recent flooding was discussed along with the resultant deep potholes which are known to have damaged at least five (5) vehicles. Water continues to lie on the road on the bend of Geary Lane, this was specifically mentioned at the Flood Liaison Committee in November 2023 as an area of concern; the parish council anticipates that action will be taken to resolve the problem as a matter of priority.
24/1014 Correspondence
- DALC – Various circulars and information
- Special Constable Council Tax Discount – Commissioner Angelique Foster (circulated to cllrs 1/12/23)
- DCC – notification of temporary closure of Greary Lane on 23rd January 2024 for safe access to pole testing (circulated to cllrs on 11.12.23)
- DALC – raising awareness of the decision of the District Council’s Finance Committee in relation to future s136 funding (circulated 27.11.23)
- Cllr Haines response to concerns raised by this parish council regarding the possible loss of S136 funding (circulated to cllrs 4.12.23)
All Cllrs have been circulated with the information prior to the meeting.
24/1015 Finance
a) RESOLVED The following accounts were passed for payment
| BACS | Staffing – Dec | £157.85 |
| BACS | HMRC – Staffing NI & PAYE (Dec) | £42.40 |
| BACS | DCC – Pension contribution (Dec) | £53.62 |
| BACS | Staffing – Jan | £157.85 |
| BACS | HMRC – Staffing NI & PAYE (Jan) | £42.40 |
| BACS | DCC – Pension contribution (Jan) | £53.62 |
b) Money Received
| Deposit account interest (Nov 23) | £3.35 |
| Deposit account interest (Dec 23) | £3.46 |
| Deposit account interest (Jan 24) | £3.14 |
| SDDC s136 refund for the repairs to the war memorial | £790.00 |
Balance at bank @ 08.01.24
| Deposit account | £3,042.55 |
| Current account | £1,352.05* |
*This balance includes earmarked reserves of £1,000 grant from Cllr Muller – this was ringfenced for the purchase of a noticeboard.
Requests for funding via S137
No requests for funding have been received.
c) To consider and set the precept and budget for the year ending 31st March 2025
The budget for 2024/25 was re-circulated. Regarding Min 23/998c (November 2023), no new information had been received and Cllrs being mindful of the consultation relating to the possible withdrawal of s136 funding to parish councils, considered it prudent to set a budget reflecting the future loss of s136 funding.
RESOLVED to set the precept at £5,614 for 2024/25 in order to set a nil budget.
RESOLVED to increase the room hire paid to the Church from £5 to £10 per meeting.
24/1026 To consider Planning Applications
DMPA/2023/1463: The variation of condition no.16 of permission ref. DMPA/2022/0683 (relating to Ecology) for the erection of a detached dwelling at 2 Ashby Road East, Bretby, Burton On Trent, DE15 0PT (19/12/23)
RESOLVED No objections
DMPA/2023/1579: Approval of reserved matters following outline planning permission DMPA/2022/1336 Outline application (matters of access and scale to be considered with matters of appearance, landscaping and layout reserved for later consideration) for the erection of one detached infill dwelling with garaging at 70 Ashby Road East, Bretby, Burton On Trent, DE15 0PT (14/01/24)
RESOLVED Objections
The proposed building is far too big for the specified plot and has an overbearing impact on the surrounding area. There is insufficient room for the parking of 5 vehicles and the Planning Dept is asked to inspect the site to see the restrictions.
Under the original application, the applicant stated that the removal of trees and hedges would be kept to a minimum and only where necessary; this application states only 2 trees have been removed however viewing the actual site shows the majority of vegetation has been removed and walls and fences constructed.
The conditions of the first application stated conditions of operation and working hours but these have not been abided by on occasions.
The parish council is concerned about the Planning Dept not fulfilling its duty to monitor planning permissions and to respond to concerns expressed by concerned residents; these concerns are to be made to the Planning Dept.
24/1017 Consultations
SDDC – Draft Plan deadline 8th December (Circulated to Cllrs 14/11/23)
SDDC – Budget proposals 2024/25 (Circulated to Cllrs 18/12/23)
This had been considered at the setting of the precept (Min 24/1025); whilst the s136 income for this parish council is nominal, Cllrs agreed to make representations about the impact of any loss of s136 income on those councils where the s136 funding forms a significant percentage of their income.
23/1018 Items for information only
(a) To receive reports from Meetings attended
SDDC – flood Liaison meeting 22nd November 2023, 10am – 12pm; Cllr Ballington gave a verbal report including that provided at Min 24/1013 when the lying water on Geary Lane was specifically raised.
(b) Notification of Forthcoming meetings
The next Area Forum Meeting will be held on 24th January 2024 at 6.30pm at the Newton Solney Village Hall.
(c) Training Sessions – See DALC circulars which have been provided to all Cllrs
No training sessions have taken place since the last meeting.
23/1019 Date of next meeting
The next Parish Council meeting will be held on MONDAY 4th MARCH 2024 at 7.30pm at St Wystan’s Church, Bretby.
There being no further business, the Chairman thanked everyone for attending and closed the meeting at 8:06 pm.
APPENDIX 1 – Report from Cllr Muller
You could say that the last few days have been challenging with the higher than average rain causing extreme flooding in and around the District. As shown in my attached report pot holes are a huge issue and we have teams out day and night trying to catch up with the thousands of complaints. Let’s hope for some dry weather over the next few days.
Please find herewith my report for the meeting
- The East Midlands Combined County Authority. On Monday the 18th December the draft East Midlands Combined County Authority Regulations were laid in Parliament. Consideration is expected in the Spring. The inaugural election for the East Midlands Mayor will take place on 2 May 2024.
As known the EMCCA is set to bring in around £4 billon of funding for the region alongside devolved powers for transport, skills and adult education, housing and environment and economic development.
If legislation is passed in the coming weeks it would come into force by March 2024 meaning the EMCCA will officially come into existence. - The £2 single fare bus scheme. This is funded by Government and will continue until 31st December 2024.
- No 20 MPH limits for two Derbyshire towns. I think its important to mention that two Derbyshire towns have rejected proposals for a 20 MPH speed limit. In Long Eaton a total of 306 responses were received with 63 in favour and 184 against.
- Pot Holes. Again I have received a considerable amount of complaints regarding pot holes, road surface conditions and of course flooding in and around the Melbourne District.
So far I have reported everything I know about but please let me know of anything that come from the meeting. - Freeport. Nothing new to report.
APPENDIX 2 – Report from Cllr Lowe
Apologies for sending this out later but have now noted the 3pm request.
Please accept my apologies for tonight’s meeting – been quite busy with work!
Here’s a few things for our District Councillors report,
A Flood liaison meeting was held in November which was quite useful in getting people together and some useful discussions took place. Requested follow up on the issues from DCC affecting both Geary Lane and Newton lane, also noted Watery lane still dreadful! Guessing there will be quite a backlog with so many issues recently and a high workload in general.
With regards to Budgets and S136 Concurrent funding for Parish Councils – please send in your comments as this feedback is really useful for all concerned this ends on Jan 12th. Feedback will be presented with final budgets next month.
A Hybrid Refuse vehicle running on a special Hydrogen fuel is in active service around the district and trials are underway – so let’s see how this progresses.
Bus shelter on A511 nr Stanhope Arms – await installation date but will keep on at them!
Have your say on the 2024/25 budget proposals – see SDDC website for a link to the survey this will close on 26th Jan – the new council budget will be presented to a meeting of the full council for its approval in February.
Let us know if you have anything that needs our attention.