March 2020

SUTTON MADDOCK PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of a Meeting of Sutton Maddock Parish Council held on Thursday 12th
March 2020 in Norton Village Hall.
Present: Cllr. Mrs Ann Hill
Cllr. H Attwood
Cllr. Mrs Adelle Evason
Cllr. Mrs Deb Ford
Cllr. Max Speke
Cllr. Chris Walker
Also present: Anne Wilson – Parish Clerk
Cllr. Wood – Shropshire Councillor

64/2019 Fire safety Announcement
The Chairman gave a fire safety announcement.
65/2019 Apologies for absence
RESOLVED to receive apologies of absence for this meeting from:
 Cllr. Ron Hotchkiss – personal commitment
66/2019 Declarations of Interest.
RESOLVED to note that there were 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.
67/2019 Public Question Time and Participation
There were no members of the public present.
68/2019 Vacancy for a Councillor
RESOLVED to co-op Mrs Adelle Evason to be a Councillor to Sutton Maddock
Parish Council.
Mrs Evason signed her Acceptance of Office form at the meeting. She would return
her Declaration of Interest form to the Parish Clerk within 28 days.
69/2019 Chairman’s Announcements
The Chairman had attended the Bridgnorth and Shifnal Area Committee just after
our last Council meeting. Both Cllr. Robert Macey Portfolio Holder for Housing and
Strategic Planning and Cllr. Gwilym Butler Portfolio Holder for Place Plan and
Strategic Planning were present. Cllr Butler drew attention to the Shropshire Place
Plan which is now a live document. Common issues across parishes within the
county were – isolation, lack of public transport, youth provision and lack of
affordable housing. Cllr Butler also mentioned that there is going to be a review of
council boundaries within Shropshire. One option may be to amalgamate small
parishes into a larger area with “parish” wards within it. Cllr Wood stated that
Bridgnorth Town wanted to expand its fiscal base and take in the neighbouring
parish areas but no action would be taken until 2021.
Cllr. Wood spoke about the new way to report potholes through “My Shropshire”.
The consensus was that Kier, the Highway Contractor, was not fit for purpose even
now that their 24 teams had been increased to 40. He stated that the £1000 “pot
hole” contractor was doing a good job and the quality of service offered by
Shropshire Council Highways was improving. Kier were not paying for heated plates
on the back of trucks to finish off the filling of potholes which hampered the quality
and quantity of repairs. They had a mission to fill 4500 by the 20th April. Cllr. Wood
confirmed that there was a dispute for millions of pounds worth of work with Kier. In
addition, £10m had been taken out of the Highways over 2 years to balance the adult
social care budget by Shropshire Council.
Cllr Wood reported that Graham Manton, from Apley Estates, had stated that any
mud on the roads caused by their vehicles should be reported to them where they
would take immediate action.
Members raised the matter of the potholes by the Brockton Crossroads, the old
Sutton Maddock Village Hall to Cllr. Wood who said that there were also problems at
Cross Houses and Pulverbatch.
70/2019 Minutes
RESOLVED to approve the draft minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on
Thursday 9
th January 2020.
Cllr. Speke stated that the paragraph about the emptying of the bin at the bus stop
should read that he had emptied it on several occasions and that the Clerk was
asked to make enquiries regarding adding the bin to the routine refuse collection
round. The bin was currently not on the Veolia round.
71/2019 Updates on items from the meeting on Thursday 9th January 2020
The following updates were given:
 Any updates on Renew – Cllr. Wood stated that only small vehicles were now
accessing the site. Councillors disagreed with statement and were asked to, if
possible, confirm that they were Renew vehicles using the road. Cllr Wood
thought that following local road closures lorries had got accustomed to using
the alternative route. If Renew lorries are still using the Ryton Road, the
Councillors were asked to take photos and send them to Cllr. Wood. Social
media still says that Grindle is Renew’s main address and doesn’t mention
their new site. It was acknowledged that the Grindle site was a showroom site.
It was acknowledged that they should have moved out by May 2018 for the
distribution of goods.
 Signage outside Apley Farm on the road verge and Sutton Maddock
Roundabout – the Clerk would contact Shropshire Council again as the
Council did not agree with their stance that the amount and size of the
signage was acceptable.
 Smartwater – the distribution of Smartwater in the parish was now complete
 Safer Neighbourhood Teams – apologies for non-attendance at the Parish
Council meeting
 Glamping pods in Sutton Wood – there were none visible at the moment, but
it was commented that it is out of season and they may appear again as the
weather improves.
 Private Road notice. Cllr Speke had been unable to remove this notice as
previously agreed. He shared a photograph of the road over Sutton Wood
which showed recent resurfacing and the erection of a gate. The culverts
have all been dug out, meaning that the ‘Private Road’ could not be removed
without the use of a ladder. There was discussion about the new resurfacing
and gate. The road is currently a registered bridleway. The Clerk was asked
to urgently raise the issue with Shropshire Council to ascertain why the work
had been undertaken. There were concerns that it could be in order to expand
Sutton Wharf caravan site.
 Flooding along the A442 and by Sutton Maddock Village Hall. Concern was
also expressed about the potholes on the A442 opposite Longwood and the
detrimental effect it had on driving that stretch of the road. (see above)
 Any update on Brockton Crossroads – Cllr. Wood stated that the option to not
allow cars to go straight across or turn right when travelling down the hill from
Coalport may be the way forward. Members felt that this was a good idea. Cllr
Wood would contact Shropshire Council Highways to explore this possibility.
There was no funding for a roundabout
 Parish Council website – although it was acknowledged that some work had
been done to update the website the Clerk was going to look at it further and
make it more logical to follow.
 Haven Hills Menage – Cllr. Wood had seen the lights on at the Ménage the
night before the meeting. The Clerk would report this further.
72/2019 Finance
i) Accounts for Payment
RESOLVED to approve the following payments:
• Clerks salary £139.57
• HMRC £ 92.80
• Clerks expenses £496.75 less £46.40 (over salary
repayment from January 2020) = £450.35
Anne Wilson Parish Clerk
Expenses 1st October 2018 – 31st March 2019
1st April 2019 – 31st March 2020
Working from home allowance £10 per month
180.00
O2 for phone £11.62 per month
209.10
Mileage 13 miles return @ 0.45p per mile
105.30
Photocopying 47 @ 5 p = 2.35

Total: £ 496.75
• HMRC £ 46.40 (HMRC underpayment see
above)
ii) Bank Reconciliation
RESOLVED to note that the bank account had £6033.77 in it.
73/2019 Planning
RESOLVED to note:
73.1 Planning Applications
There are no planning applications for consideration at the meeting.
73.2 Applications considered in between meetings:
There were no applications considered in between meetings.
73.3 Decisions
Members are asked to note the following:
Granted: There were none as at the time of writing the agenda
Refused: There were none as at the time of writing the agenda
74/2019 Shropshire Council
Members noted the following:
 Brief on Severn Trent Water Funding 31st March 2020 5.30 p.m.
– 7 p.m.
75/2019 Any new matters relating to the parish not included elsewhere on the
agenda
RESOLVED the following be noted and any action taken as necessary.
 Parish Council Facebook and Twitter pages – The Clerk was asked to set up
a Facebook page for the Parish Council. Twitter was not so popular
 Annual Parish Meeting 2020 – This would take place on Thursday 14th May
2020 at 7.30 p.m. before the Parish Council meeting
 Before the Annual Parish meeting it was suggested that a meeting be held of
the Sutton Maddock Village Hall committee at 7 p.m. specifically to discuss
the funds from the sale of Sutton Maddock Village Hall. The Chairman would
liaise with Angela Chatham and the Clerk.
76/2019 Date of next meeting
RESOLVED to note that:
 the next meeting of Sutton Maddock Parish Council is the Annual Meeting
scheduled to be held on Thursday 14
th May 2020 upon the rise of the Annual
Parish Meeting
 the Annual Parish Meeting will be held on Thursday 14th May 2020 at
7.30 p.m.
 a meeting with the group holding the funds from the sale of the Sutton
Maddock Village Hall will be held at 7 p.m. on Thursday 14th May 2020
(provisional)
Signed ……………………………………… Date ……………………………….
Chairman