49th Annual Assembly Page 1 of 4

Church Stretton Town Council

49th ANNUAL PARISH ASSEMBLY

Minutes of the meeting held in the Main Hall,

Silvester Horne Institute, Church Stretton on

Tuesday, 21st April 2015 at 7.00 p.m.

Total Present : 25 including:

Chairman: Cllr M Braid (Town Mayor)

Town Councillors: Cllr W Buckingham, Cllr M Bugiel, Cllr H Claytonsmith,

Cllr R Hickman, Cllr R Hubbard, Cllr M Morris, Cllr H Luff,

Cllr E Roberts, Cllr M Walker,

Unitary Councillors: Cllr L Chapman,

TC Officers: Ms M Giles(Town Clerk); Mr CM Harvey (RFO)

Miss T Morris (PA); Mrs RM James (Clerical Assistant)

Press: 0

Members of the Public: 5

AA/14.10 TO RECEIVE APOLOGIES

The Mayor welcomed everyone present and apologies were received from Cllr Bob Welch, Cllr David Evans, and Janet Martin from the Coppice Leasowes Working Group

AA/14.11 MINUTES OF THE 48TH ANNUAL ASSEMBLY

The Minutes of the 48th Annual Parish Assembly, held on 29th April 2014, having already been received by the Town Council at their meeting on 20th May 2014 (min. no: 14:20), had been circulated and are attached herewith in the minute book.

AA/14.12 Chairman's Report

The Chairman’s report had been circulated and is attached herewith in the minute book. Cllr Braid introduced his report by saying that it was his last year as Mayor, and that he would not be standing for a further year. He elaborated on his report, highlighting the progress on SAMDev and the recent application in respect of New House Farm. Cllr Braid stated that he was convinced that the application would be refused and that the desecration of the slopes of Caer Caradoc would be avoided.

More recently, planning submissions had been made in respect of the school site and the public had been given the opportunity to view this at a public event held by the developers on 30th March. Cllr Braid reminded participants at the meeting of the pressure on the Town Council to deliver additional housing in line with the National Planning Policy Framework. The Town Council was working hard to ensure that the housing provided by developers was in line with the needs of the town, but this was often a difficult battle to win.

Cllr Braid introduced the new Town Clerk, Marian Giles and thanked her for her work in ensuring that the transfer of Rectory Wood and Field to the Town had been agreed in principle on a freehold basis in line with the status of the site as an asset of community value.

Cllr Braid also highlighted the issue of the proposals for a replacement service for the Visitor Information Centre currently housed within the town library. He felt strongly that as a town largely reliant on income from tourism, that the current proposals were unacceptable.

Cllr Braid paid tribute to his colleague Bob Welch who was currently undergoing a programme of rehabilitative therapy in the Orthopaedic Hospital at Gobowen. The Council were looking forward to him returning to his role in due course.

Cllr Braid wound up his report by assuring participants of the continuing dedication and commitment of all councillors to their town.

AA/14.13 Unitary CouncilLORS’ Report

The Unitary Councillors’ report had been circulated and is attached herewith in the minute book.

Cllr Chapman expanded on this report including the difficult decisions faced by Shropshire Council in attempting to meet the savings targets contained within their Business Plan and Financial Strategy. Cllr Chapman reiterated his and Cllr Evans commitment to working for the best interest of the town. Cllrs Chapman was thanked for their joint report and their continued work and support.

AA/14.14 Tree Wardens’ Report

A report by the volunteer Tree Wardens had been circulated and is attached herewith in the minute book. NOTED

AA/14.15 Representatives' Reports

Reports from representatives on behalf of the following groups had been circulated and are attached herewith in the minute book:

a) Strettondale Are LJC

b) Shropshire Hills & Ludlow Destination Development Partnership

c) Shropshire Hills AONB Partnership

d) Consolidated Charities

e) All Stretton Village Society

f) All Stretton Village Hall Committee

g) Rail Users’ Association

h) Scrappies

i) Parish Paths Partnership Committee (P3)

j) Allotments

k) Leisure Centre Advisory Group

l) Rectory Wood & Field Interest Group

m) PACT (Police & Communities Together)

n) Church Stretton School – PTA Report & Headteacher’s Report

o) Health & Social Care Partnership

p) Wellbeing Centre

q) Church Stretton – A ‘Fairtrade’ Town

r) Pavilion Committee

s) Church Stretton Area Website

t) Emergency Planning

ALL NOTED

AA/14.16 Committee Reports

The following Committee reports had been circulated and are attached herewith in the minute book.

a)  Amenities, Finance & General Purposes Committee

Cllr Walker, as Chairman of this Committee, expanded on the report and spoke of progress on the transfer of Rectory Wood and Field into town ownership. He also highlighted the current needs assessment of amenity space being undertaken on behalf of the Town Council by David Kilby of the Playing Fields Association. This exercise would be important in planning the sustainable management of the Council’s amenity space for the future.

b) Economic Development Committee

In Cllr Welch’s absence, the Town Clerk covered the activities of the EDC and expanded on the contents of the written report. This included co-hosting of the new Business Forum with a series of invited speakers, the successful launch of the EVC point, and the highly successful (and profitable) Medieval Fayre held in June 2014. A major task for the EDC had been in delivering the Community survey to all households which in turn informed the new Town Plan with 38 priority work streams up to 2020.

b)  Planning Committee

Cllr Claytonsmith, as Chairman of this new Committee, outlined its role and the work it had undertaken over the year. There had been a series of ‘big’ applications made which included the St Laurence’s Church application, the New House Farm application, the Wetland application and the school site application, all of which had required detailed and well considered responses from the Town Council. The Committee had also welcomed a number of speakers who had made presentations on matters of planning policy, conservation etc. Cllr Claytonsmith also welcomed the latest member of the Planning Committee, Cllr Hilary Luff.

AA/14.17 WORKING GROUPS REPORTS

The following Working Group reports had been circulated and are attached herewith in the minute book.

a)  Coppice Leasowes Working Group

b) Rectory Wood and Field Working Group

NOTED

AA/14.18 QUESTIONS FROM MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC

Mr Alan Hyatt of the Chamber of Trade asked three questions, but preceded these with an acknowledgement of how well he believed the Town Council does in looking after the interest of the Town. He made the point that all councillors are ‘volunteers’ and receive no remuneration, and that the Mayor donated his allowance to a variety of causes rather than receiving this personally.

Mr Hyatt’s first question related to the means by which the Town Plan and the priorities within it would be implemented.

The Town Clerk outlined the implementation strategy which was to divide the 38 work streams between the relevant sub committees, broadening their terms of reference where this was required. Each committee would then monitor and develop these work streams, reporting back to Town Council utilising a Red, Amber, Green system.

Mr Hyatt’s second question related to the need for succession planning within the Council in order to ensure broader representation from the electorate and not just from the active retired.

Cllr Braid assured Mr Hyatt that this was something the Council was acutely aware of and would be addressing.

Mr Hyatt’s final question related to the need to get more Council documents and reports on-line, more easily searchable, and more quickly available.

The Town Clerk assured Mr Hyatt that this was a priority, particularly as the Council wished to move from the foundation stage award it had for quality status to the next level of award. In order to do this, the Council would have to improve on these issues of transparency.

Felicity Thomas asked three questions:-

The first of these related to the withdrawal of Council Tax Support Grant and whether this could be legally challenged by the Town Council.

The Town Clerk outlined the measures that had been taken by the Town Council to join local lobbying through Shropshire Association of Local Council’s and to raise the matter in person with Philip Dunne MP. Cllr Lee Chapman added that the CTSG had been withdrawn with great reluctance by Shropshire Council and that he personally felt that there was probably a case for reviewing this and perhaps rewarding those Council’s (like Church Stretton) that were clearly assisting Shropshire Council where they were having to reduce or withdraw services. He also confirmed that the withdrawal of the payment was entirely legal.

Ms Thomas’s second question related to the statement made in his report by Cllr Braid that a ‘decision’ had been made on the Visitor Information Centre.

Cllr Braid clarified that no decision had as yet been taken. The recent procurement exercise had come to and end with only 2 candidates coming forward, and he did not feel that either proposal was adequate.

Ms Thomas’s final question related to Cllr Braid’s statement that he was ‘convinced’ that the Newhouse Farm application would be refused and what his justification was for this statement.

Cllr Braid outlined why he thought the application had no merit in planning terms.

Cllr Chapman added that he believed there were reasonable grounds for expecting a refusal of the application. The access proposals for the site were currently being revisited at the request of the Highways Agency, and Shropshire Council would be objecting on the basis of the current submission. He expected a decision in early May after the elections.

Cllr Braid thanked everyone for attending this meeting, which was closed at 7.50 p.m.

…………………. Chairman 7.50 p.m.

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