WESTON RHYN PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of a meeting of Weston Rhyn Parish Council held on Monday, 13th February, 2017 at 7.00 p.m. in the Village Institute, Weston Rhyn.
PRESENT:The Chairman (Councillors E.R.Cooper), Councillors C.C. Bowers, Mrs. R. Ellis, Mrs. S.Haskell, J.A.Hughes, M.J.Keay, Mrs.R.Law, P.McGuinness, B.R.Oakley, Mrs. M. Rowlands, C.Rowley.
Also in attendance: The Police, Shropshire Councillors D.Lloyd, R.Macey and 3 members of the public.
407.PUBLIC OPEN SESSION
Members of the public were invited to question Councillors or raise any issues of concern for a period of 15 minutes.
RESOLVED to note no issues were raised.
408.APOLOGIES
Apologies for absence were received from Councillors D.Knowles, Mrs. A.Bright.
409.IFTON COLLIERY COMMEMORATIVE PROJECT
Sue Schofield, Chairman of the above group attended the meeting to present their scheme to erect a statue on the Memorial Garden in St. Martins to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the closure of the colliery in 1968. Terry Ellis, an ex miner also attended.
The support of the Council was sought.
The cost of the statue was £40,000-£50,000 with match funding being needed, hence the need for community support. Mrs. Schofield requested a letter of support signed by all members of the Council, also financial support was requested. So far Stans Superstore had donated £1000 and St. Martins Parish Council £5,000. The statue was hoped to be erected in November, 2018.
RESOLVED a letter of support signed all Parish Councillors to be forwarded and a request for financial assistance be placed before the Parish Council at its June meeting.
409.DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
To receive declarations of disclosable pecuniary interests on any item included in the agenda in accordance with Section 30(3) of the Localism Act 2011.
RESOLVED to note no declarations of interest were declared.
410.MINUTES
Minutes of a meeting held on Monday 9th January, 2017 were confirmed and signed.
411.REPORTS
RESOLVED to note reports as presented by Police, Shropshire Councillors D.Lloyd, R.Macey, the Parish Hall Management Committee, Local Joint Committee and the Chairman.
Arising from the reports it was further RESOLVED the following;
To note P.C. Le’Clere had emailed;
“We have received direction from our Inspector that we shouldn’t be producing monthly crime figures for your meetings as these are already available on the internet for anyone who wishes to view them. We will therefore no longer do this. Apparently it’s not something that is done in other areas so we will fall in line with how things are done everywhere else.
What I will do however, is before each meeting, just email with any concerns we have or anything that needs to be brought to your attention. You can of course do the same, if there are any questions regarding the figures on the internet, please let me know before the meeting so I can review it. If we are unable to attend and anything is raised, please email and I will respond to any queries raised at the meeting”.
Regarding the omission from the December statistics of the incident in Brookfields, P.C.Le’Clere advised:
“This was logged by call takers as a road traffic collision, as this is obviously what it was. A crime for ‘assault’ was later recorded once the matter was investigated.”
P.C. Le’Clere further reported “There has been some damage to the pavilion in Weston Rhyn by youths, we are monitoring, I am putting an article in the Wren regarding this.
Regarding the serious RTC in Weston Rhyn involving the motorcyclist, investigation is still ongoing.
There have been no further issues in St.John’s Churchyard since we’ve been monitoring it, as far as we are aware.”
-To note an email from Shropshire Council and the response instructed by the Chairman concerning parking problems in Brookfield Close;
“I have received a query from a resident at Brookfield Close, Weston Rhyn regarding the 8 properties that have been recently constructed and added in addition to the existing numbering scheme as 14a,b,c,d and 15a,b,c,d Brookfield Close, Weston Rhyn.
The existing residents of numbers 14 & 15 Brookfield Close are experiencing lots of issues that have possibly been caused by the development of these new properties. I am going to contact Royal Mail to try and help with the identification of the new addresses and problems with mis delivery, however, I also felt that I should contact you to see if anyone at the Parish Council could help residents with issues they have with parking in Brookfield Close. The new development of 8 houses has been built on what was the parking area for the existing houses and the residents are elderly and disabled people that are finding it increasingly difficult to park near their home. Mr. Ecclestone the occupier of number 15 has said that he did try and get some help from the Council to possibly install a layby for the residents but he has not heard anything since then. It may be something that the developer of these properties could also assist with”.
The response from the Chairman read:
“I was amused to read that Shropshire Council are asking for our assistance with the parking problem in Brookfields. When the plans first came to the Council for these properties we pointed out that only 1 ¼ parking spaces had been allocated per 3 bedroom property and informed them that the Cross Keys development by Jones Bros. they had to have 2 parking spaces each. We asked why the change in regulations but did not get a proper reply. Mr. Ecclestone contacted me about the problem stating he had already had talks with a representative from Shropshire Council and further talks would take place and asked that I attend the next meeting, I agreed and nothing to date has been heard. I am against doing Shropshire Councils dirty work trying to resolve this matter when it has been brought on entirely by their incompetence.
As for the Royal Mail these properties should have been named say Brookfield Terraces as to distinguish them from the other properties”
-Shropshire Councillor Macey had requested a meeting with Officers to discuss a way forward.
-To note Shropshire Councillor R.Macey was chasing up when the Environmental Maintenance Department will go out to assess the problems with the Plough hedge and would update the Chairman as soon as known.
-Also he would update the Chairman when Ringway would install bad bends signs (they now being in stock), more significant rumble strips also being requested.
-The Police would look at availability of a “dummy” cctv camera for installation at the pavilion.
-To note Councillor Mrs. M. Rowlands had reported the dangerous diversion from the Gledrid roundabout via Oaklands Road and this route had been removed from the plan.
-To note the Police would speak to the Highways Agency regarding 50 mph speed limit signs from Chirk to Gledrid, the speed limit in the area being 40 mph.
-To note Shropshire Councillors would liaise with Park Right to see if their personnel could patrol the village say once a month to monitor vehicles parking on pavements, the Police stating it was a civil not a criminal offence.
-To note the Chairman/Vice Chairman attended a 3 parishes joint meeting at which it was explained Shropshire Council were looking to hand over in excess of £6,000 grass cutting/grounds maintenance to this Parish to cut areas of land in their ownership. The Chairman strongly opposed any such transfer.
-To note Shropshire Council planners had approved the Aspen Grange outline planning subject to stringent conditions on surface water flooding, height of dwellings above ground and must now be connected to the main sewer subject to them proving how this could be done and carrying out specific tests.
-Councillor B.R.Oakley asked Shropshire Councillors to investigate why the trees off the Gledrid roundabout obscuring street lights had not been cut back, it being reported six months ago. Also the pothole by the School which had reappeared again despite being filled in twice. Furthermore the school flashing warning lights, part of the request being part of the road safety submission. Another site visit to be requested by Shropshire Councillor Macey to clarify the issue, plus an opportunity to resolve other long standing issues such as bad bends work etc.
-To note Shropshire Councillor R.Macey would pursue when the debate on the road safety submission will take place.
413.PLANNING
Consideration of schedule of planning applications (PA 16/05741, 17/00161).
RESOLVEDno comment be made upon the applications received.
414.HIGHWAY MAINTENANCE
RESOLVED Shropshire Councillors to report a large pothole in the Gobowen Parish by the A5/Old Chirk Road junction.
415.SHROPSHIRE REGIMENTAL MUSEUM
Letter from KOSHA seeking financial assistance.
RESOLVED to refer the letter to the June meeting at which time all requests for financial assistance are annually considered.
416.PAYMENTS
R.A.Dyke (Clerks Salary: February, 2017)£324.00
Inland Revenue (PAYE: February 2017)£216.00
Highline Electrical Ltd (Street Lighting: Repairs)£129.90
Scottish Power (Street Lighting: Energy)£472.42
417. ITEMS FOR NEXT AGENDA
418.DATE OF NEXT MEETING
Monday, 13th February, 2017.
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