Minutes of Meeting held on Thursday 23rd. June 2022 in the Upstairs Room of the Wheel Public House, Leek Road, Longsdon at 7.00pm.

Present: Councillor J. Sargeant (Chair).

Councillors S. Dickinson, R. Lovell & K. Shaw.

In Attendance: One Member of the Public.

Cheddleton Parish Councillor Jennings.

John Bourne, Clerk to the Council.

14/22 Apologies for Absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor T. Beastall & District Councillor N. Hawkins.

15/22 Declarations of Interest.

There were no declarations of interest at this point.

16/22 Chairman’s Address.

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting. He reported that this meeting had a fuller financial section than usual with a review of the Annual Governance and Accountability Return and the need to submit the Certificate of Exemption from an External Audit.

He also reported that he had reported the large pothole near the bottom of Micklea Lane.

17/22 Public Comments.

There was no business under this item.

18/22 Approval of Minutes of Last Meeting.

The minutes of the meeting held on 5th. May 2022 had been circulated and it was agreed that the minutes be signed as a true copy.

19/22 Matters Arising.

(a) Applications for Co-opted Councillors.

Permission to co-opt replacement Councillors had been received from the Electoral Office of Staffs. Moorlands District Council and the vacancies advertised but no applications had been received. It was agreed to advertise the vacancies again.

(b) Longsdon Memorial Hall.

A reply had been sent to the Management Committee thanking them for the information received.

(c) Memorial Seat.

This matter was still on hold due to an overarching family problem. A further suggested site for the bench was mentioned.

20/22 Other Business.

(a) It was reported that the defibrillator pads in the machine had passed their expiry date. It was agreed to purchase replacements.

(b) It was agreed to ask the lengthsman to summer plant the village flower tubs.

(c) Various locations where overgrown vegetation was obstructing pavements in various locations were reported. It was agreed to ask the lengthsman to attend to this.

(d) The Council’s Risk Assessment Policy was perused and sanctioned.

21/22 Correspondence.

Already distributed to Councillors :-

A consultation document on a Proposed Diversion of Public Footpath No 9 at Dunwood Farm.

No objections had been received or raised at the meeting.

Correspondence had been received from Cheddleton Parish Council outlining its efforts with the County Council to get the current Length Restriction signs for Park Lane replaced with signs prohibiting Heavy Goods Vehicles from the lane, except for access. It mentioned that the cost of this operation would be in the region of £6,000.00 with a proposed Feasibility Study costing £1,500.00.

Visiting Councillor Jennings re-iterated these facts and further outlined his Council’s reasons for wanting the signs changed.

He was presented with extracts from the Council’s minutes of 2011/12 when this Council tried unsuccessfully to have the signs changed at that time. He was also informed that as Longsdon Parish Council had only a small precept it could not contribute to the cost of the Feasibility Study as, in any case, it was felt that this should be the responsibility of the County Council.

22/22 Planning Matters.

The following planning application had been distributed to Councillors, due to the time scale, and no objections, subject to normal planning guidelines, had been received to:

SMD/2022/0195 Proposed Ground Extension to Form Snug Lounge, Dining Area & Kitchen, New Rear Porch, Garden Orangery Space etc etc at Highfield, Leek Road, Longsdon.

23/22 Finance Matters.

(a) A report was received from Chris Neufeld, the internal auditor, with no adverse comments.

(b) Approval was given for the submission of the External Audit Exemption Certificate.

(c) Approval was given to the AGAR Section 1 Annual Governance Statement.

(d) Approval was given to the AGAR Section 2 Accounting Statement for 2021/22.

(e) Approval was given to the Bank Recs Statement and the Variations Statement.

(f) Orders for Payment.

It was agreed that the following items be paid:

24/22 Public Comments.

There was no business under this item.

25/22 Items for Inclusion in the Agenda for the Next Meeting.

The Web Site Contract.

26/22 Date of Next Meeting.

The date of the next meeting was arranged for Thursday 11th. August 2022 at 7.00pm in the upstairs room of the Wheel Public House, Leek Road, Longsdon.