ALVELEY AND ROMSLEY PARISH COUNCIL
COUNCIL MEETING 3rd December 2024
MINUTES OF MEETING
Present: Councillor Isley Jakeman (Chair) and Councillors Christine Brown, Ian Braithwaite, James Taylor, Russ Dowson, Colin Taylor, Sam Potter, Richard Narburgh
Attending: Steve Kerry Parish Clerk, Richard Woods Chair of Chelmarsh PC, Theresa Cole Chelmarsh Parish Councillor, James Comisky, Anne Morris and Simon Beaumont local residents, Mike Haddon Cycling UK and Bill Smith P3.
2024.25.91	APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
	Apologies were noted from Councillor Kieran Chambers.
2024/25.92	DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
	Councillor Potter declared a pecuniary interest in the Financial Report relating to an 	invoice from her partner's business.
	Recognising that several of the visitors to the meeting were attending for one item 	in particular, the Chair proposed to suspend Standing Orders and move to the item 	on National Cycle Route 45. This was agreed without a vote.
2024/25.93	SUSTRANS AND CYCLE ROUTE 45
	The Chair noted that anything we agree to do would be in concert with other 	parishes and would therefore to an extent be conditional on their decisions. 	Councillor Colin Taylor briefly reminded members of the background and noted that 	he had asked a representative from Shropshire Council who is leading on Active 	Travel to attend. The Clerk had confirmed the invitation and he had thought she was 	coming, but she was not present. This made it hard to give a full update and the 	Active Travel programme had funds which could be deployed to supporting the cycle 	route, it covers both cycling and walking. SUSTRANS have ceased funding any off 	road cycle routes in Shropshire, perhaps beyond the county. This pulls the plug on 	the part of Route 45 which runs alongside the river past the railway. This is on a 	narrow path which does not allow maintenance work by tractors etc and bushes and 	hedges need to be cut back by hand.	Highley PC have led on the attempt to find 	funds to support the ongoing maintenance, they are meeting the day after this 	meeting. The Chair of Chelmarsh PC confirmed they are meeting tonight and it is 	proposed that they offer some financial support. 
	Anne Morris added that she had written to Active Travel, which is managed by 	Shropshire Council and they had confirmed that they would offser some support. 	Mike Haddon said it would be helpful to set up a local group, it didn't need the full 	process of becoming a registered charity, to maintain the path, so there was a 	vehicle for funding from Active Travel and/or parish councils to channel resources to 	the necessary work. Cycling UK might well support this, especially if there was 	confirmation of Active Travel and local council support. In answer to a question, Bill 	Smith stated that P3 would be able to offer some voluntary labour to assist although 	there would be a need to extend their insurance cover as it was outside their 	designated area. This could be arranged if the premium was covered. Some contract 	work, especially the annual inspection of the elevated secion and any repairs there 	would be outside the scope of the P3 team. 
	The Clerk was asked if it was lawful for the parish to spend outside its boundaries. 	The answer is that as the parish holds the General Power of Competence (Localism 	Act 2011 and Parish Councils (General Power of Competence) (Prescribed 	Conditions) Order 2012 it is lawful, provided members feel there is a commensurate 	benefit for residents of the parish with the expenditure incurred. As many residents 	of Alveley and Romsley use and value the path this would be lawful.
	MIke Haddon added that if local residents are willing to give their time to a 	voluntary effort to keep the path open this greatly increases the pressure on Cycling 	UK to support their efforts.
	Colin Taylor stated that although they are warning that they cannot continue to 	insure the path if it is not being maintained, and that therefore it may be under 	imminent threat of closure, Severn Valley Railway actually benefit from having the 	path as an access route to their facility. The publicity if it closed at their insistence 	would be bad for their own fund raising and general reputation. What was needed 	was some time to put a longer term solution in place. The curent pressure had arisen 	because of abrupt decisions. Anne Morris asked for it to be noted that unlike many 	routes this path could be acessed by disabled people using powered scooters, and it 	was, for that reason, an immenesly valuable local facility. 
	After some discussion of options Councillor Brown proposed, Councillor Potter 	seconded, and it was unanimously
	RESOLVED That we ask the Clerk of HIghley PC to write on behalf of oursleves, 	Chelmarsh PC (if they agree) and Highley to Severn Valley Railway urging them to 	extend the insurance cover on the path to give reasonable time for a local solution 	to be developed, and that the Alveley and Romsley Parish Council commits in 	principle to  supporting the cost of a survey subject to a quote obtained by MIke 	Haddon.
	At the conclusion of this item most visitors left, Mr Comsikey remained.
2024/25.94	OPEN FORUM
	Councillor Brown raised the issue of recent social media posts by Councillor 	Chambers, who she was sorry was not here to respond. She was concerned that his 	messages had given an impression that he was speaking for the parish council, or 	was acting alone in lieu of council response, as he had been identified as a parish 	councillor, that her comments had been deleted from his social media and that she 	was now blocked from commenting. She felt that this was not appropriate for a 	local representative. His coments about the state of Chapel Land did not mention 	the strenuous efforts the council had made, including the threat of legal action 	under the Highways Act to get some works done and she felt to that extent they 	were misleading.
	There was a general disucssion about the role of individual councillors and those 	who were candidates for election under a party banner to the county council. It was, 	of course, legitimate for a candidate to suggest they could do better than the 	incumbent at county level, but less so to be seen as acting as a solo member without 	referring to the combined efforts of the parish council, which is not a party political 	body. 
	Councillor Jakeman reported that she had raised recent posts with Councillor 	Chambers who had apologised and said he had not fully thought through the 	impression they might give. The local press report had referred to him as a parish 	councillor, he had not said that and was surprised they had mentioned it, he had 	mentioned he was the local candidate for his party at county level. 
	It was noted that there did not appear to have been a breach of the code of conduct 	although the concern about misleading semi-information was noted. Councillor 	Jakeman would disucss privately with Councillor Chambers how he can campaign for 	his party at county level without preventing collaborative working at parish level. 
2024/25.95	MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING
	It was proposed by Councillor Colin Taylor, seconded by Councillor Potter and 	unanimously
	RESOLVED That the minutes of the meeting of 5th November be accepted as a true 	record and signed accordingly by the Chair.
2024/25.96	FINANCIAL MATTERS
	Coucniilor Potter reminded members of her declared interst and withdrew from this 	part of the meeting.
	The schedule of payments made up to 30th November was noted.
	Councillor Potter rejoined the meeting.
	Councillor Brown reported that she had met with the Chair and the Clerk to agree 	the completion of the Clerk's probationary period. In accordance with his terms of 	employment it is now appropriate to increase his salary to the next incremental 	point on the scale which is Point 23 at £17.29 per hour. This would be built into the 	budget for next year and was payable with effct from 1st December 2024. 
	It was proposed by Councillor Brown, seconded by Councillor James Taylor and 	unanimously
	RESOLVED That the Clerk's remuneration be set at SCP 23 with effect from 1st 	December 2024.
2024/25.97	PLANNING MATTERS
	No new applications had been recieved for comment.
2024/25.98	GOVERNMENT CONSULTATION ON ON-LINE MEETINGS ETC
	The Clerk explained that via NALC the government is consulting on allowing some of 	the temporary changes introduced during the pandemic to be made permanent, 	namely the ability of members to attend on line rather than in person. They were 	also asking about the use of proxies where councillors were unable to attend and 	vote in person. After discussion it was noted that these proposals had merit in 	expanding the number of people who could take part in parish council activities, 	making the council more representative of the community.
	It was proposed by Councillor Brown, seconded by Councillor James Taylor and 	unanimously
	RESOLVED That the Council supports hybrid meetings where  a member who 	would otherwise not be able to attend can, in exceptional circumstances, attend 	on line, and that the use of proxies to enable an absent member to vote on an 	important matter should be given further consideration. 
2024/25.99	UPDATES AND DATES FOR COMMITTEE MEETINGS
	Subject to the availablity of the Pavilion, it was agreed that the Play Area Committee 	and Lighting Committee would both meet on Wednesday 15th January, Play Area at 	7 pm, Lighting Committee at 8 pm. 
	It was noted that due to resignations the only members of the Lighting Committee 	were Councillor Narburgh (Chair) and Councillor James Taylor. It was proposed by 	Councillor Brown, seconded by Coucnilor Colin Taylor and unanimously
	RESOLVED That Councillors Dowson and Chambers be elected to the Lighting 	Committee.
2024/25.100	CHRISTMAS EVENTS
	Councillors James Taylor and Potter, and their families, were thanked for a great 	effort decorating the Parish Council tree in the Christmas Tree Festival at St Mary's 	Church. Councillor Brown was thanked for organising everything and the Clerk for 	lending his tree. It had looked very good. 
	The lights on the natural conifer had gone on and looked very fine, there had been 	much positive comment locally. There would be no switch-on event this year as it 	had been far too late to organise anything but this would be an item for the July 	meeting next year with a view to fixing a date for some carols, the local brass band 	etc. 
	On the bins it was agreed that Glasdon's could be asked to deliver to the Three 	Horseshoes pending installation on site. The Clerk would move this on.
	Hampton Loade bus shelter, members agreed to send the Clerk details of 	local contractors they thought might be willing to accept the order to recoat this 	with presevative.
2024/25.101	SHROPSHIRE COUNCILLOR'S REPORT
	Councillor Colin Taylor reported that the fiasco of partial repair to Cooks Cross car 	park and the urgent need for the job to be finished had been reported. He added 	that two of the majority party members at the County had left the Conservative 	Group and had formed Shropshire First, which means that technically the 	Conservatives no longer have a majority, but are the largest single party. There was 	a meeting on Thursday at the Guildhall and one major item, the North West Relief 	Road, had been taken off the agenda. This suggested there was no longer a secure 	majority for continuing with it. The Audit Commission have heavily criticised the 	Council for continuing with this scheme with uncertain funding and exposing 	themselves to risk.
	Rural Relief Grants worth £100m have been pulled by the government and will be 	redirected, probably to urban areas. This affects England as a whole, but the details 	of how it will hit Shropshire are not yet known.
	The Local Plan  has been paused by the Inspector; it is not known what he is unhappy 	about.
	With £80m spent on shopping centres which are now losing money, the soaring 	costs of the North West Relief Road, and the lack of commitment from the 	Department of Transport to fund this, and the decision to pay large fees to Price 	Waterhosue to advise on how to save mony; the prospects are bleak. There will be 	severe cuts to services and/or a Section 114 notice from the Chief Financial Officer 	very soon.
2024/25.102	ROMSLEY MATTERS
	There is an ongoing problem with flooding on Morfe Lane near the junction with the 	A442, this appears to be due to ongoing work by Severn Trent Water in the area. 	There is also a persistent road flooding problem near the Alpaca Centre which may 	be due to interference with local drainage by development. Councillor Colin Taylor 	agreed to take these matters up with the County Council.
	P3 have continued thier programme of replacing stiles with kissing gates on local 	paths. Unfortunately one local landowner has emailed to object to cutting back what 	he claims is a commemorative tree, although there was no plaque to indicate this. 	Councillor Potter has replied supporting P3's actionas as the gates open up the 	paths to many more people than can manage the stiles. 
2024/25.103	DATES OF FUTURE MEETINGS 
	Council Meeting 7th January 2025 at 7.30 pm 
	Play Area Committee 15th January 2025 at 7 pm
	Lighting Comimttee 15th January 2025 at 8 pm
	All meetings in the Pavilion, Daddlebrook Road

Signed .................................................

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