Minutes of Meeting held on Thursday 29th. August 2024 in the Upstairs Room of the Wheel Public House, Leek Road, Longsdon at 7.00pm.

Present: Councillor J. Sargeant (Chair).

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

In Attendance: John Bourne, Clerk to the Council.

53/24 Apologies for Absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors J. Cox & D. Hughes.

54/24 Declarations of Interest.

There were no declarations of interest at this point.

55/24 Chairman’s Address.

The council received an email from Easy Websites Ltd touting their ability to produce sites for parish councils which conform to the government’s Accessibility Regulations.

These regulations came into force in 2018 and require all government bodies including parish councils to have a website which passes the success criteria of Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 Level AA.

Each website by law has to include an Accessibility Statement which indicates to what degree the site is compliant with the guidelines and where it is not fully compliant what steps are being taken to make it so.

There is a disproportionate burden clause in the regulations where councils can say that for them, the cost to attain the standard in certain areas is too great but that must be stated in their Accessibility Statement.

Longsdon Parish Council’s website has an Accessibility Statement and very largely complies with WCAG 2.1 Level AA but as a result of the email message, a review of the regulations seemed appropriate and it revealed that as of October 2024 websites must pass the success criteria of the newer guidelines WCAG 2.2 Level AA.

Our Accessibility Statement has been updated to reflect a recent review and acknowledge the change to WCAG 2.2.

Most of the differences between WCAG 2.1 and 2.2 revolve around making input of data easier and clearer. Fortunately our website is simply concerned with information dissemination and therefore has no need of user input other than to navigate the site.

Given that the government’s own website’s Accessibility Statement says that it is not fully compliant indicates the complexity of the review, fixing and testing task.

The WAVE Web Accessibility Evaluation tool has been used to test our website and it reports no errors which is good in itself but it does generate alerts for potential problems like links to pdf’s and missing HTML headers where we jump from H1 to H3 without including H2.

If the spotlight should fall upon our site it’s unlikely that we will be hauled over the coals for those transgressions.

56/24 Public Comments.

There was no business under this item.

57/24 Approval of Minutes of Last Meeting.

The minutes of the meeting held on 11th. July 2024 had been circulated and it was agreed that the minutes be signed as a true copy.

58/24 Matters Arising.

(a) Christmas Tree.

Contact had been made with a local garden centre which had quoted £140.00 for the supply of a 12ft. high tree with a £20.00 charge for removal after the occasion.

The Memorial Hall would be contacted officially for permission to site the tree over the Festive Season and the Council’s insurers would be contacted to see if we had sufficient insurance cover.

(b) Pedestrian Crossing Lights.

Email had been sent to County Councillor Heath informing her of the Council’s determination to improve the visibility of the pedestrian crossing, explaining the details to date regarding LED lighting attachments, asking for any information on available grant aid and requesting where permission to install a safety mirror at the junction of the A53 and Sutherland Road could be obtained from.

(c) Steps from Sutherland Road down to the Canal Towpath had been repaired.

59/24 Other Business.

Lengthsman’s Instructions.

The Council’s lengthsman would be instructed to cut back overgrown vegetation over the pavements in School Lane and Leek Road, and also to paint the public seat at the junction of School Lane & Devil’s Lane.

60/24 Correspondence.

The following had already been distributed to Councillors:-

Anniversary Picnic Notice from Moorlands Climate Action.

Updated Safety Bill from Chair of Staffs Moorlands Parish Assembly.

Footpath No. 9 Diversion Notice.

Community Customer Survey from Staffs. Police.

Road Closure Notice for Dunwood Lane.

61/24 Planning Matters.

The following Planning Notice had been received:

SMD/2024/0362 Existing Side Attached Garage to be Replaced with Single Storey Side Extension at Dunwood Mount, Dunwood Lane, Longsdon.

It was agreed to forward no objections to this application.

62/24 Finance Matters.

(a) A request for additional information of signatories on the Council’s bank account had been received from T.S.B. This would be returned in due course.

(b) An update on the bank account was distributed to Councillors.

(c) Orders for Payment.

It was agreed that the following items be paid:

63/24 Public Comments.

There was no business under this item.

64/24 Items for Inclusion in the Agenda for the Next Meeting.

There was no business under this item.

65/24 Date of Next Meeting.

The date of the next meeting was arranged for Thursday 24^th October 2024 at 7.00pm in the upstairs room of the Wheel Public House, Leek Road, Longsdon.