Present:
Councillor Huw Williams – Chairman
Councillor Georgina Bailey – Vice Chairman
Councillor Brian Evans
Councillor Jacqui Lea
Councillor Jon Burwood
Councillor Richard Edwards
Councillor Alastair Bayley
Cheshire East Ward Councillor Lesley Smetham
Mrs Brenda Lomas – Clerk
- Welcome by the Chairman – The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting
- Apologies for absence – None received
- Public Participation – No members of the public were present
- Declarations of Interest
A declaration was made from Councillor Huw Williams regarding the creation of an entrance to the field adjacent to his property (planning enforcement 20/0012E) and also in respect of item 16 of the agenda – as a member of the Daintry Hall Management
Committee. - Minutes of the previous meetings
The minutes of the previous Parish Council Meeting held on 7 th September 2023 were agreed
as a true and accurate record and were signed by the Chairman. - Highways Updates
The Chairman and Vice Chairman have met Police Constable David O Connor who started as a new beat officer for the North Rode area in November 2023. PC O Connor has a background as a traffic officer. He had visited North Rode following a number of accidents which occurred on Bank Lane on 30 th November 2023 – due to ice. At least seven vehicle collisions had occurred over a short period of time – resulting in the police closing the road to traffic. Emergency gritting was done by Cheshire East Council (CEC) following the ice problems. The Chairman has since contacted (CEC) to request that due to the significant amount of traffic, Bank Lane / Church Lane should now be included on CEC’s approved gritting route. The Chairman had also subsequently obtained the CEC gritting matrix and had himself completed the matrix for Bank Lane / Church Lane. The outcome of the matrix calculation was that North Rode is above the required 100 points for the route to be included on the CEC gritting route. Huw advised that he would will forward the matrix result to all Councillors. Huw will pursue this fact with CEC. The Chairman had also attended a meeting for Parish Councils held by John Dwyer, PoliceCommissioner – at which time the traffic on Bank Lane / Church Lane as a result of the Congleton Link Road was again raised.
A grit box at Bullgate Lane / Station Road / Shellow Lane corner is still required and a request has been made to CEC. It was discussed that the Parish Council could possibly pay for a grit box and grit from Parish Council funds if CEC did not wish to provide one. Councillor Bailey proposed that this intention could be put to John Denwood, Highways Officer, but that consideration should perhaps be given to whether the Parish Council might be responsible for public liability should an accident occur when grit from the grit box was used.
The Police have undertaken 7.5 tonne limit checks of wagons on Bank Lane / Church Lane and have found some repeat offenders amongst those HGV’s who were found to travel the route. The Police have sent warnings to the companies involved. It was generally agreed that the recently erected ‘not suitable for HGV’ signs have been successful in deterring large wagons / HGV’s. The Chairman reminded the meeting that Councillors and residents need to report accidents and HGV’s to the Chairman, who will then collate the information and forward it to the Police for action.
The Chairman is continuing to ask Debbie Mitchell of CEC Highways Department for the status of the promised direction signs on the Link Road – i.e. to direct traffic to the A54 via Congleton Town Centre. This action had been promised some months ago.
The Chairman advised that following the erection of the direction signs – then another traffic count would have to take place along Bank Lane/Church Lane. The outcome of the traffic count would determine what further action, if any, would be taken to minimise the amount of traffic using Bank Lane / Church Lane. The Chairman is also chasing for information on deterring satnavs from directing traffic along the Bank Lane / Church Lane route from the Link Road. Huw advised he would keep pursuing the matter with the CEC Highways department.
Actions
Chairman to forward the gritting matrix to the Councillors.
Chairman to pursue the installation of a grit box by CEC
Chairman to pursue the direction signs on the Link Road
Other highways matters – faded white lines should be reported on CEC’s ‘Fix my Street’ logging system – as should any potholes.
Drainage issues
Councillors felt that Bank Lane and Bramhall Hill appear to be draining better. The deep hole in the road outside Cloud View Farm remains unaltered. A further deep cavity has appeared directly outside of Daneside Cottage on Church Lane. John Denwood,
CEC Highways Officer, advised that excavation and repair work was necessary – and that a full road closure would be required when that work is undertaken. Hedges on Bank Lane / Church Lane – it was discussed that the hedges on both sides of the narrow ‘pinch point’ were being allowed to grow outwards – thereby further reducing the width of the highway.
Action
Clerk to write to John Denwood, Highways to raise the concern as a highway safety issue. - Planning Applications
There were no new planning applications to consider - Planning Enforcement – update
a) Tinker Bells Hollow, Bramhall Hill. It had been noticed that dogs appear to be
permanently on site – and agreed that a watching brief will remain as regards whether the owner of the property returns to live in the mobile home. This matter will remain on future agendas.
b) 20/00535E Land behind Daintry Hall. In addition to the mobile home and the buildings and structures on the site – it had been noticed that the owner is advertising a trailer skip business whereby waste is brought back to the field and dumped on the land.
Action : Clerk to write to the Environment Agency to report this activity as a concern.
c) The PC had previously been advised by the Planning Enforcement department (in communication dated 17th November 2022) that a Planning Contravention Notice (PCN) was being prepared in respect of the mobile home and other issues on the land behind Daintry Hall. Councillor Smetham had subsequently asked planning enforcement or an update and had received a response which stated that, as the agricultural buildings on the land had been in place for in excess of 10 years – then enforcement action could not be taken. This information appeared to be contradictory to the previous intention to serve a PCN. It had been agreed at the last meeting that information would be obtained as regards how long the sheds and other items had been in place. This information had been obtained and the Clerk had sent a letter of concern to the planning enforcement department to advise that enforcement action would appear to be appropriate given the provided information. A response is awaited from planning enforcement. It was further raised that the site was being used to dispose of waste – via trailer skips’ being advertised as a service on facebook by the land user.
d) Action Clerk to report this issue to the Environment Agency.
e) 20/00120E Creation of a new access gateway on Church Lane owned by Mr Mark Bullock of The Oaklands. Planning enforcement have advised that, as engineering works have been involved in the creation of this access i.e. the digging out of the land / soil removal – then that they had referred the matter to the Highways Department for their involvement and that the Parish Council should also make contact with the Highways department if they were concerned that the new vehicular access could result in highway concerns. It was agreed that the Clerk should write to the Highways Dept.
Action Clerk to write to the Highways Authority.
f) 22/0080E Shellow Lane Lodges, Saw Pitt Wood – Councillor Williams had visited the site on the day of the meeting and had found vehicles were parked at each lodge – indicating that they were occupied. A quick check on booking.com during the meeting confirmed that lodges could be purchased for holiday use. As the site is subject to a planning condition that the lodges should not be used in January of each year – this represented a possible breach of condition.
Action Clerk to report the issue to Planning Enforcement.
The Chairman had also checked the drainage whereby the septic tank and pipework are in the adjacent wood and visible from the highway. It was noted that the liquid was discoloured as it left the outlet pipe. It is understood that the outlet empties into a stream over the road and travels into the lake.
Action Clerk to report the issue to the Environment Agency. - Finance
The Clerk advised that the Parish Council’s bank account currently held £8252.60 CEC have requested to be informed of the amount of parish precept which North Rode PC would like to claim. The matter was discussed and Councillors resolved that the precept should
remain as last year i.e. £2255.
Action Clerk to apply for a parish precept of £2255 from CEC
Councillors approved the following from the Parish Council funds :-
D-Day 80 village celebration – Wychcraft band to play in the Church – a deposit of £100 has been paid (total cost will be £450) Fish and Chip van – a deposit of £100 has been paid.
Clerk’s honorarium £1000 – to be paid
Printer ink and printing paper £30 – to be paid to the clerk
Future ChALC training session on neighbourhood plans – £30
Future costs of battery replacements for the two defibrillators – £500 every 5 years for each defibrillator.i.e. to budget £100 per annum - Village Defibrillators
The Chairman confirmed that the second defibrillator had been installed at the Park Gate (Shellow Lane / Station Road) side of the village. It has the same lock code as the original defibrillator by Daintry Hall and has been registered on the circuit by John Miller of the First Responders An additional first aid training session had been held for residents of the village at Eaton Village Hall – which had been successfully supported by 20 attendees – who each paid £5 which covered the cost of the hall hire, refreshments and allowed for a £40 donation to the First Responders. - Village boundary name signs
Four village name signs have been erected around the village – but for completeness, three further village boundary name signs are required. The Chairman advised that the Parish Council have not been informed how much the previous four signs had cost or from which fund they had been paid. Councillor Smetham advised that she didn’t know whether the signs had been paid for from her
allocated ward budget or from the CEC Highways budget. However, she felt that North Rode should not be requesting funding from the ward budget for this year. The Councillors’ understanding of the ward budget was that a new allocation per annum would be calculated and that if the signs hadn’t been paid for from the ward budget – then Councillor Smetham should perhaps reconsider the position. It was agreed that the query of the actual costs of the four previous signs and who paid for them should be pursued.
Action Clerk to make enquiries with John Denwood, Highways Officer. - Neighbourhood Plan (NP)
ChALC are offering an ‘on line’ training session on neighbourhood plans on 23 rd January 2024. Councillor Brian Evans offered to attend. Councillor Bailey is still to discuss Marton PC’s neighbourhood plan with their Chairman
Action Councillors Bailey to discuss NP with the Chairman of Marton PC - Training
Action Councillor Evans to attend the Neighbourhood Plan training session on behalf of the PC - PC Website and communication with residents
The new website is up and running and the Chairman wished to expand the history section. He will also advertise the D Day 80 village event on the website. - Commemoration of D-Day 80 – 6 th June 2024
Councillors continue to agree that the PC should organise a simple village celebration. The Chairman has discussed the proposal with the church warden and PCC members and agreed the use of the Church for the event. It was discussed that tickets should be sold to cover the cost of the fish and chip supper and that the cost of the band would be paid for from Parish Council funds. The cost of the food per person is £10.90 and the band will be £450. It was agreed that ticket prices should be £12 and that the Parish Council funds be used to cover any possible remaining costs. The Chairman advised that he would make numbered tickets and flyers. The event is to be advertised in the Parish newsletter and on the PC website. It was agreed that the event should be restricted to 120 residents of the village and that hopefully, we could obtain the resident’s list of names which was used for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebration held at the Manor House. If sufficient numbers of residents haven’t purchased tickets by the end of April – then the event could be offered to the wider community. Daintry Hall Management Committee had agreed that Daintry Hall would be unlocked for the event and that the toilets could be used. The National proposal is that each town / village should have the proclamation read out and for beacons to be lit. The Chairman has inspected the village beacon and found that the pole is rotten and requires to be replaced – at an estimated cost of £4-500. The Councillor agreed to all the above costs and actions.
- Daintry Hall Management Committee (DHMC) – proposed new village hall / wooden pavilion. It was noted that,– the Chairman (in his role as a trustee of the DHMC) and other trustees had held a village presentation on 15 th December 2023 in Daintry Hall which proposed the construction of a modest sized wooden village hall and external games area in order that small village social events could be held without disturbing the Daintry Hall children’s nursery in the Daintry Hall building itself. The funding for the village hall would come from the legacy left by Mrs Jean Morton, (resident and church warden for many years) and possibly from additional grants. It was generally agreed that the Parish Council, Church /PCC and DHMC should become more interlinked towards providing village events for the benefit of the residents.
- Dates of the next meetings
The proposed dates of the next two meetings are Thursday 16th May 2024 to include the AGM and the Parish Meeting and Thursday 22 nd August 2024. The meeting closed at 9.40pm