January 2021

SUTTON MADDOCK PARISH COUNCIL
It is fully understood that this may not be a suitable or acceptable method of holding
a meeting for all Councillors or members of the public but during the implementation
of the COVID – 19 restrictions the Government has looked at alternative options of
holding a meeting rather than face to face. We are currently not able to meet face to
face.
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Minutes of a Meeting of Sutton Maddock Parish Council held on Thursday 14th
January 2021 at 7.30 pm via virtual means as outlined above.
Present: Cllr. Mrs A. Hill – Chairman of the Parish Council
Cllr. Mrs E. Attwood
Cllr. Mrs A. Evason
Cllr. Mrs D. Ford
Cllr. R. Hotchkiss
Cllr. M. Speke
Cllr. C. Walker
In attendance: Anne Wilson Parish Clerk
43/2020 Apologies for absence
There are no apologies for absence for this meeting.
44/2020 Declarations of Interest.
RESOLVED to note that there are no declarations of interest under consideration on
this agenda in accordance with the Localism Act 2011 s32 and The Relevant
Authorities (Disclosable Pecuniary Interests) Regulations 2012.
45/2020 Public Question Time and Participation
There were no Member of the public present.
46/2020 Chairman’s Announcements
The Chairman gave the following announcements in relation to parish matters or the
agenda:
• Before the meeting she and Cllr. Speke had met with the Parish Clerk to carry
out her appraisal. There are no issues and the Clerk had indicated that she
would like to investigate setting up a Facebook page and continue to keep the
website up to date
47/2020 Minutes
RESOLVED to approve the draft minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on
Thursday 12th November 2020.
48/2020 Renew
Members were pleased to receive a positive update on Renew leaving the site at
Grindle House Farm and any other matter pertaining to Renew. No lorries had been
seen for several weeks and notices had now been put up at the site.
49/2020 Updates on items from the meeting on Thursday 12th November 2020
RESOLVED that Members noted the following responses received by the Parish
Clerk on the following matters:
• Signage outside Apley Farm on the road verge
From Julian Beeston, Planning Enforcement Specialist at Shropshire Council
20/07129/ENF – Apley shop advertisements
Some advertisements adjacent to the entrance of the shop do not benefit from
advertisement consent. The advertisements which do not benefit from advertisement
consent will be identified to the estate and there is an opportunity to apply for
advertisement consent. Officers view is that there is some merit for a combined
signage board including all concessions within the shop complex which does not
unduly affect local amenity of unacceptably impact on highway safety. There is no
evidence of significant harm to local amenity or highway safety arising from the
combined concession signs to warrant formal enforcement and officers’
recommendation will be for the case to be closed with no further action. Some
unauthorised advertisement signs such as ‘moongate plant centre’ and ‘Scotty’s
donkeys banner’ are no longer displayed so the breach has been remedied in this
respect.
Members agreed that they must keep an eye on the signage outside and associated
with Apley and not allow it to get out of hand again.
• Signage at Sutton Maddock Roundabout
From Julian Beeston, Planning Enforcement Specialist at Shropshire Council
20/07128/ENF – Sutton Maddock Garage
Some advertisements displayed at the property do not benefit from advertisement
consent and officers have drawn this to the attention of the operator. The operator is
seeking advice from Shell UK and subject to this some signage will no longer be
displayed.
Signs displayed for Apley Farm shop on the roundabout are no longer displayed and
the breach has been voluntarily remedied.
However, we have gone back to Julian and stated that the advertisements we are
speaking about are at the Sutton Maddock traffic island and located in the field
between the B4176 and the B4379 (grid reference 721025) not, as Shropshire
Council seem to think, alongside the forecourt at Sutton Maddock Filling Station.
RESOLVED that Cllr. Hotchkiss agreed to take photos of the relevant signage and
send it to the Clerk to forward to Julian Beeston asking him to look at this signage
• Private Road notice – update on the removal – there was no update
• Flooding along the A442 and by Sutton Maddock Village Hall – the Clerk was
asked to follow this up
• Poor visibility due to the height of the grass verge, as you turn out of Vicarage
Lane onto the main road and at Brockton Crossroads – the Clerk confirmed
that she had contacted Steve Brown at Shropshire Council about this and also
asking for details of the frequency of cutting the verges within the highways
contract – to date no response had been received and she would chase a
response
• Glamping pods in Sutton Woods
From Julian Beeston at Shropshire Council:
19/06536/ENF – glamping pods Four Oaks Farm Sutton Common
A recent site inspection has identified the tents have been removed from the
land and the land is no longer in use for camping purposes. The breach has
been voluntarily remedied and the officer recommendation for the case to be
closed has been agreed.
• Emptying bin in the bus shelter – the Clerk had received an e mail confirming
that Shropshire Council was purchasing a bin but there was no indication as
to whether the Parish Council would have to pay for its emptying
50/2020 Finance
i) Accounts for Payment
RESOLVED that Members agreed to make the following payments:
• Wilson Salary £143.57
• HMRC £95.20
ii) Accounts
• RESOLVED that Members considered and noted the schedule of accounts to
date circulated to Members before the meeting.
• Members noted that Sage were written to in 2019 and again in very early
2020 saying that we no longer use their system, wish a refund for 2019 and
ask that they acknowledge our letters. The letters were sent special delivery
and to date we have had no response. Attempts to contact them by phone
have failed.
RESOLVED that the Council cancel the direct debit at the bank. The Clerk
was asked to write a letter for two cheque signatories to sign.
The Clerk was considering what other action to take.
• RESOLVED that Members noted that as of 7
th December 2020 that the Parish
Council Bank account had £6482.26 in it.
iii) Budget 2020/2021
Members considered the draft budget for 2020/2021 presented for consideration at
the meeting. Members noted that the Tax Base was 108.36.
RESOLVED that:
• the budget for 2021/2022 for Sutton Maddock Parish Council be £2684
• the precept for 2021/2022 for Sutton Maddock Parish Council be £2684
• the Band D equivalent for Sutton Maddock Parish Council be £24.77
51/2020 Planning
51.1 Planning Applications
RESOLVED to note that there were no planning applications for consideration at the
meeting.
51.2 Applications considered in between meetings
RESOLVED that Members noted that the following planning application had been
considered in between meetings.
• 20/05095/FUL Brockton Hall Farm Extension
Comments made:
The proposal affects part of the Brockton Hall Farm, a farmstead which is identified
as part of the Historic Farmsteads Characterisation Project on the Historic
Environment Record (HER). Therefore, the barns are considered to be a nondesignated heritage asset as defined under Annex 2 of the NPPF, where they date
from the nineteenth century, constructed in red facing brick with plain clay tiles. The
barns were converted and subsequently subdivided into residential units during the
late-1990s.
The proposed extension is considered to be inappropriate and insensitive to the
existing simple and plain SW elevation of the host building. As submitted the
proposed extension upsets the linear form of the building and the full height glazed
element appears as a domestic addition, which would be harmful to the existing
character and appearance of the non-designated heritage asset. If an extension is
deemed acceptable, in order to retain its former agricultural aesthetic, it should be in
the form of single storey ‘lean-to’, in matching brick and tiles. The Council feel that
line with the history and heritage of the site that the proposal would not be harmful to
the existing non-designated heritage asset in accordance with paragraph 189 of the
NPPF, Historic England’s guidance (HEAN12) and policy MD13 of SAMDev. As a
minimum the relevant historic environment record should be looked at by the
applicant and they should describe the significance of any heritage assets affected,
including any contributions made by their setting. The application should be
considered in terms of the value of a heritage asset to this and future generations
because of its heritage interest.
It is also noted that the original doors and windows have been replaced with grey
aluminium ones (under two building regs applications CP/17/12249/FENSA &
CP/18/15492/FENSA), however no corresponding planning applications are noted
on SC Public Access. Given that the dwelling is a barn conversion, it is assumed that
permitted development rights, to prevents development which affects alterations to
the external appearance of the property, have been removed and as such planning
permission would have been required.
The Clerk had sent the comments twice but there was concern as to whether the
comments had been sent to the correct address. Cllr. Attwood would investigate it
and come back to the Clerk and Chairman.
51.3 Decisions
RESOLVED that Members noted the following:
i) Granted:
There were no applications granted as at the time of writing the agenda.
ii) Refused:
There were no applications refused as at the time of writing the agenda.
51.4 Any other Planning Matter
• Lighting poles Havenhills Farm – 20/01234/DIS
Julian Beeston, Planning Enforcement Specialist at Shropshire Council has stated
that the details submitted for lighting poles under the above reference have been
approved by the Council dated 01st April 2020.
The Clerk had replied to Julian pointing out that the Parish Council meant the New
Bungalow at Brockton and feel that an Enforcement Notice should be issued.
52/2020 Sutton Maddock Village Hall
No meetings of the Sutton Maddock Village Hall Committee had been held and
therefore there was nothing to report. It was suggested that some of the funding
could be used to purchase a defibrillator in the vicinity of the hall – several possible
locations were mentioned, and estimates could be discussed at the next meeting.
53/2020Shropshire Council
There were no matters to consider or note from Shropshire Council at this meeting.
54/2020 AGM
The Parish Clerk had attended the SALC AGM held on Friday 20th November 2020.
She reported that Johnathan Owen, Chief Executive of the National Association of
Local Councils had been the guest speaker and that AGM type business had been
transacted but the annual awards had been deferred.
55/2020 Any new matters relating to the parish not included elsewhere on the
agenda
RESOLVED that Members noted that the following matters:
i) Sutton Maddock Parish Council Website – this is now updated on a
regular basis but there is concern about how it is accessed through
Google. The Clerk is sorting the issue with the Domain name
ii) Road safety – this will become a standard item at each meeting. Rod Lake
would be putting a cord across road measuring the speed of traffic and it
was noted that a speed camera had been in Norton that week. The Clerk
was asked to contact Shropshire Council to ask them to paint the white
lines in Norton and also commented on the poor road surface
iii) Tree clearing on the riverbank at the Sutton Wharf Caravan Park –
Shropshire Council are looking as to whether this is a planning issue or
should be forwarded to another department
iv) Appraisal of the Parish Clerk – this has been spoken about
v) Cllr. Evason had been booked onto the course Fundamental for
Councillors run by SALC in March at a cost of £30
56/2020 Date of next meeting
RESOLVED to note that the next meeting of Sutton Maddock Parish Council is
scheduled to be held on Thursday 11th March 2021
This will need to be via virtual means unless the COVID-19 restrictions on how
Parish Councils hold meetings is lifted. It is currently in statute until May 2021
Signed ……………………………………………… Date ……………………………
Chairman