MINUTES Parish Council meeting Monday 3rd April 2023

Minutes of the Stewkley Parish Council Meeting held on Monday 3rd April 2023 at 7.30pm at the Stewkley Village Hall

Cllr Keith Higgins (Chair), Cllr Gill Morgan, Cllr Andrew Arthur, Cllr Brian Bottomley,
Cllr Margaret Burgess, Cllr Henry Hunt (arrived for item 6), Cllr Gill Morgan, Cllr Andrew Pryke,

Cllr Virgilio Simeone, and Joanna Simonds, Clerk & RFO
Unitary Cllr Phil Gomm was also in attendance with 1 member of the public.

1.Apologies for absence
Apologies were received from Cllr Phil Delafield and the Clerk advised that Cllr Hunt was running
a little late and that Cllr Morgan would excuse herself at some point for approx. 15 minutes.

2. Open Forum
Nothing was raised during this agenda item.

3. To receive any declarations of interest
No declarations were received.

4. Update from Buckinghamshire Unitary Councillor, Phil Gomm
• The new Highways team, Balfour Beatty Living Places Limited, are now in place, taking a
month to transition. There is also a new Streetworks manager in place, Anna Coles, who is
extremely good.
• Potholes have been a massive issue but at this month’s meeting with the LAT, Cllr Gomm
was informed there were no outstanding highways issues in Stewkley. The Clerk confirmed
this was not the case and that a particular priority (amongst others) is the pavement outside
the bungalows on High Street South. The Clerk will loop Cllr Gomm in on this. Action Clerk
• Some speeding complaints have arisen from residents of Dunton Road which has resulted
in Cllr Gomm requesting the BC MVAS to be put there for a period of time.
• Sycamore Close is still on the capital programme for this year but the A416 from the Spinney
has been put on a reserve list. Cllr Gomm is questioning why that is.
• Following request at last month’s meeting, Cllr Gomm confirmed he’d chased Highways on
the St Michael’s Park drop kerbs.
• Following Cllr Simeone’s request last month, the Clerk shared out the no cold caller stickers
she’d obtained from Trading Standards but confirmed they no longer provide entrance signs.
Cllr Gomm said he was able to access some plastic entrance signs so would get some for
us. Action Cllr Gomm

5. To approve the minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held on Monday 6th March 2023
The draft minutes were approved and signed as a true record by the Chairman.
Proposed: Cllr Bottomley Seconded: Cllr Arthur / Agreed unanimously

6. Planning
23/00666/APP – Land adjacent to 18 Dean Road, Stewkley
Following lengthy discussion, the PC put this application to a vote where 6 Cllrs were in support
and 2 Cllrs abstained, resulting in a SUPPORT of this application.

23/00702/APP – St Michael’s Church of England School, Chapel Square, Stewkley
Cllrs resolved unanimously to SUPPORT this application.

23/00809/APP – The Bungalow, 14 Fishweir, Stewkley LU7 0HB
Cllrs resolved unanimously to SUPPORT this application.

23/00891/ALB – 44 High Street South, Stewkley LU7 0HR
Cllrs resolved unanimously to SUPPORT this application.

7. Enforcement Issues
Cllr Gomm raised 3 issues:
(i) The owner of 74 HSS has been given an extension to 1st July to clear the site.
(ii) Enforcement is keeping an eye on Red Brick Farm.
(iii) The waste site at Cublington may be coming back up for discussion.

The Chair referenced the Dean Road enforcement where the applicant hadn’t discharged the
lighting conditions. Discussions are ongoing regarding the up lights on all the trees on the
entrance to the stables which disturb the local wildlife and the otherwise dark skies. Cllr Gomm
said he would like to be kept in the loop on this one.

8. Finance
• To agree the April payment run as circulated.
Proposed: Cllr Arthur / Seconded: Cllr Simeone / Agreed unanimously

To approve the Accounts to 31st March 2023
Proposed: Cllr Pryke / Seconded: Cllr Bottomley / Agreed unanimously

9. Recreation Ground
• The Clerk confirmed she had placed the order for the new Bike rack shelter on 7th March with
a lead time of approximately 16 weeks.
• The Rec Committee has formed a sub-committee to look at all the different projects that could
be used to improve the sustainability and amenities at the Rec using potentially the S106
money that is coming from the Soulbury Road and Wing developments.
• The ball stop fencing is now complete and thoughts now turn to the path between the two car
parks.

10. Highways, Footpaths, and Lighting
• Cllr Arthur confirmed that Sparkx now have in stock the Stockwell Crescent lighting and the
bollards for the Runway. We are just waiting on an installation date.
• Cllr Bottomley updated that our mower ran over a whole collection of dogs pooh in dog pooh
bags which someone had dumped at the side opposite the St Michael’s Close sign. Cllr
Gomm said he was able to access signs saying along the lines of “you will be fined up to
£1,000 if caught”. Action Cllr Gomm

11. King’s Coronation village celebrations
A fantastic programme has been put together for the King’s Coronation and full details were
shared with Cllrs on Drop Box. There is, however, a real need for volunteers to come forward.

12. Community Fund Application
With an overall score of 17, Cllrs resolved to SUPPORT the funding application from St Michael’s
Church to restore the railings beside the footpath past their burial ground ending up at the Rec.

13. Wildlife Reserve
Nothing to report.

14. To report on meetings attended
• Cllr Bottomley updated that he and Cllr Delafield had a constructive meeting in Granborough
with Hugh Ellerton regarding the new Wetland. Next steps are to pull together a project plan
covering specifically three areas – (i) the pond, (ii) planting elm trees (specifically disease
resistant), and (iii) the provision of a copse.
• The Clerk said that she had attending a meeting with Bucks Highways and Steve Broadbent,
and highlighted three points of interest: (i) they are devising a programme into lighting which
will be a separate dedicated team who have much expertise; (ii) when the new Highways
team are going out to a pothole repair, if there is one next to it and they have the materials
onboard, they will fix it; (iii) the capital repair programmes have been shared and works will
commence on 11th April. The Clerk asked Cllr Gomm if he could share a copy of this. Cllr
Gomm confirmed that once dates have been added to the document, he would share it with
the Clerk.

15. Date of next meeting
The next meeting will be the Annual Parish Council Meeting at 7.30pm on Tuesday 9th May 2023 at The Village Hall with the Annual Parish Meeting taking place beforehand at 7pm.

The Chairman confirmed the meeting closed at 20:54