Minutes of the Meeting of the S & T Parish Council Environment Committee
held on Tuesday, 6th June, 2017 at 7.15 p.m. in the Memorial Hall, Stainton
1. Welcome: Councillor David Coupe (Chair) welcomed those present at the meeting: Cllr. Alan Liddle, Pat Burton, Elizabeth Revett, Lynne Brear, Maureen Holmes and M. Newbould (Secretary).
2. Apologies for Absence: B. Chapman, Cllr. A. Cooper, P. McInnes and R. Dennison.
3. Minutes of the Meeting held on 4th April, 2017 were agreed by those present and signed by the Chair as a true record.
4. Matters Arising from the Minutes:
(i) Beds – (a) Thornton T-junction A. Liddle and all had dug out the bluebells and planted them in Maelor’s Wood. E. Revett had eradicated the weeds with Round-up. The seat, donated by a resident in Memory of Margaret Davidson, had now been cleaned and treated by Cllr. A. Conroy. Nicky Morgan, Casper & the One Planet volunteers were unable to assist at present. A. Liddle had done a rough plan of the area (11 x 6 yards) to be turfed to site the bench with concrete or slabs. The Parish Council had agreed to pay for materials. E. Revett would edge and tidy the bed. Further work was in progress.
(b) Strait Lane Memorial Garden:M. Holmes reported weed-killer damage to the grass at the corner of the new bed. The Chair had contacted Env. Services and a site visit had been made by the Service Manager. MBC should be kept informed. M. Holmes would take a photo of the messto circulate. A cheque for £22.00 was authorised and passed to M. Holmes for further expenses re the Strait Lane bed, for which mulch was needed. Suppliers were discussed, such as Arcadia (3 bags for £10) and D. Coupe would ask Chris & John Hobson re bulk-buying;Cllr. A. Liddle mentioned Tees Valley Nature for composted bark. The plaque in memory of the War Veterans: M. Holmes would take and circulate a photo of the plaque. It was agreed to purchase a new plaque engraved with different wording. R. Dennison had approached John McQuade (MBC) because the bin (on a concrete base) was blocking the view and needed moving away from the seat.
(c) Hemlington Rd. Tear-drop: Cllr. A. Liddle reported his work on the Tear-drop bed, which was currently in a messy condition. The plants R. Dennison had given him were the wrong ones for this particular bed. A. Liddle was considering Buddlias and advised a later re-vamp. He did not propose spending a lot of money on plants for the Tear-drop bed.
(d) Proposed Local Gardens’ Competition joint with Nunthorpe- Cllr. D. Coupe had requested the Secretary to write to Councillor Lesley McGloin and her Environment group at Nunthorpe, who were still keen to go ahead with a joint Gardens Competition organised locally, to find out more about the proposal and to invite them to a walk around S & T and refreshments in the Memorial Hall. The visit would take place on Sunday, 2nd July at 1.30 p.m., meeting in the Hall and ending at 3.30 p.m. A list of gardens to view was needed.
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5. Northumbria in Bloom 2017 – Cllr. D. Coupe reported a successful Spring Judging on 20th Aprilwith Judge David Patterson and the new teamand discussed preparations for Summer Judging on 12th July, for which theEntries were: Large Village (Stainton & Thornton); Best Garden (Mrs. E. Coleman); Conservation Project (Maelor’s Wood). For IYN, the Entry would just be ‘The Last of the Summer Wine’ group, NOT ‘Thornton Bloomers’. All agreed. E. Revett commented that the whole ethos of the competition had changed this year. A route and timetable for Summer Judging Day would be drawn up by Cllr. A. Liddle,assisted by L. Brear, and circulated to members. E. Revett would provide refreshments for the judges, meeting in the Parish Room at 1.00 p.m. The judges would be escorted around S & T by Cllr. D. Coupe, Cllr. A. Liddle,M. Holmes and L. Brear. A Litter Pick prior to the event would be organised by the Parish Counciland publicised by Cllr. Jim Holmes. The TMG would litter pick The Spinney and Stainton Way. A. Liddle would contact John McQuade to organise his team to do a sweep on 10th or 11th July. Cllr. D. Coupe announced that the next bi-yearly Middlesbrough Council Walk About for S & T would be in August 2017.
6. The Portfolio was being progressed by the Chair with help and photographs from other members. E. Revett had given Cllr. D. Coupe the pen-stick. Photos could be added of the areas the judges would not see on 12th July. DC would pass the pen-stick to AL for photos. Posters: E. Revett would attend to NiB posters at the beginning of July.
7. Purchase of new planters, tubs and barrels Mrs. E. Revett reported that the 2 brown replacement Amberol self-watering barrels, purchased to replace the ones atSeamer Road entrance, were in her garage at present. An inventory/review of the condition of other tubs and barrels was required to assess replacements needed in the current year. E. Revett & L. Brear would have a look around. Cllr. A. Liddle and M. Holmes offered assistance with siting and planting-up. Cllr. A. Liddle would visit various nurseries such as Arcadia with a letter from the Gala Day Committee.
8. S & TPC Env. Cttee. Financial Report at 6th June, 2017
Income: Year End Balance at 31/03/2017 brought forward £826.13
Parish Council Budget Allowance year 01/04/2017 to 31/03/2018 £500.00 £1326.13
Expenditure since 01/04/2017
04/04/2017 E. Revett re NiB posters 4.76
04/04/2017 A. Liddle re posts, concrete & plants for Teardrop bed 57.96
04/04/2017 Bob Small re plants for High Rifts bed 60.00
04/04/2017 M. Holmes re Strait Lane bed100.00
15/04/2017 Nigel McManus re plants 13.95
01/06/2017 Barbara Geldard re plants 10.57 £247.24
Income less Expenditure £1078.89
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9. Gala Day on Sunday, 16th July, 2017 – Plant StallPlans – The stall was being organised for Gala Day by Mrs. Maureen Holmes. The Plant Stall would be advertised in the Village Newsletter and on Cllr. Jim Holmes’ “What’s On” email circular with a plea for plants and more volunteers. Cllr. A. Liddle reported that Gala Day expenses for mole control and rolling would be shared between various groups this time. The next meeting of the Gala Day Committee would take place in the Parish Room on 26th June, 2017 at 7.15 p.m.
10. Any Other Business:
(a) Planting Day Event -Cllr. J. Holmes wasin the process of ordering a batch of 5,000 purple crocuses through the Rotary. A cheque for the sum of £95.00 had been agreed and was passed to M. Holmes. E. Revetthad proposed a children’s planting day event to plant the crocuses.
(b) Troughs on Hemlington Road next to Church near bus stop – Ron Dennison had attended to the two troughs.
(c) Paula at the Pub – Cllr. A. Liddle had recently spoken with Paula, the new Landlord of the village pub. She did not wish to enter The Stainton pub in the Public House section of the NiB 2017 competition.
(d) Maintenance of Seats & Notice Boards – Linda Thirling, who looks after the corner of High Rifts & Strait Lane, had emailed to report that she had re-vamped the notice bd. there.
11. Date and Time of Next Meeting: 29th September, 2017 at 7.15 p.m. in the Memorial Hall, Stainton. Volunteers would be invited to attend and this Open Meeting would be advertised at the Parish Council and Community Council meetings and also in Cllr. Jim Holmes’ weekly “What’s On” and the Village Newsletter. New residents would be invited too by Cllr. D. Coupe.
The Chair formally closed the meeting at approximately 8.55 p.m.
DC/MN/08/06/2017
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