Minutes of a meeting of MEETING OF STOURPORT-ON-SEVERN TOWN COUNCIL

Held on TUESDAY 3RD OCTOBER 2023 6.30PM at THE MAYOR’S PARLOUR, CIVIC CENTRE, NEW STREET, STOURPORT-ON-SEVERN

Present

In the chair The Town Mayor Councillor M C Freeman

Councillors T Berry, E Burnip, B Dawes, J Griffiths, P Harrison, K Henderson, D Little, R Lloyd, D Morris, C Rogers, T I Schmeising-Barnes, A Sutton, J Thomas and H Williams

Minutes

68. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors B Jones, N Martin and I Schmeising-Barnes.

69. MINUTES

It was RESOLVED that the Minutes of the Meeting of the Council held on 5th September 2023 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Mayor.

70. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

There were no declarations of interest.

71. MAYORS COMMUNICATIONS

The Mayor engagements were circulated and noted.

72. PUBLIC QUESTION TIME

There was no public question time.

73. MOTIONS SUBMITTED UNDER STANDING ORDERS

No motions had been received in accordance with the Council’s Standing Orders.

71. VERBAL PRESENTATION FROM HANNAH ESCOTT ON THE NEW BURLISH BIKE PARK, STOURPORT-ON-SEVERN

Council received a presentation from Hannah Escott from Burlish Bike Park & Outdoor Community Centre and the handout is attached at Appendix 1 to these minutes. She informed Members that in the 13 weeks the park had been open, it had been very well supported and good feedback had been received. She welcomed Members to visit the site.

In response to Member questions, the following was clarified:

Competitions were not allowed on the site as there was not sufficient car parking and together with Planning conditions this would not be possible. All surrounding neighbours have been very supportive.
Hannah was 21 when she got into cycling, worked at a cycling sustainability company and then decided to set up her own business – Open Trail. The Police & Crime Commissioner had donated £5,000 to encourage less advantage children to the park.
Only small maintenance jobs on bikes were carried out on site. Schools were encouraged to “Adopt a Bike” and get them fixed and Spokes of Kidderminster also donated bikes. Hannah Escott left the meeting at this point, (18.54pm).

72. PARKS COMMITTEE MINUTES OF 25TH SEPTEMBER 2023

The minutes of the Parks Committee meeting held on 25th September were approved.

73. PLANNING COMMITTEE MINUTES OF 26TH SEPTEMBER 2023

The minutes of the Planning Committee meeting held on 26th September were approved.

74. UPDATES FROM REPRESENTATIVES ON OUTSIDE BODIES

Councillor Lloyd informed Council that Stourport Carnival had raised in the region of £5,645 at this year’s carnival which included the bucket collection of £1,700. A meeting was due to be held on 16th October 2023 to decide where monies would be donated. In response to a question, it was confirmed that approximately the bucket collected has raised £1,800 last year. Councillor Lloyd advised that volunteers had been sought through social media channels and some had already come forward for 2024.

75. UPDATE FROM COUNCILLOR MRS B DAWES ON SAFER NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH

Councillor Dawes updated Council as follows:

Police had been in attendance with the speed safety gun at the following sites - Bewdley Road, Lickhill Road, Areley Common and Kingsway.
A new Police Community Support Officer (Sue White) had joined Stourport Safer Neighbourhood Team.
The next three months would focus on tyres, seat belts and drink driving.
There had been a drugs arrest in Mitton Ward – no details had been given.
Two warrants had seized illegal vapes/cigarettes.
County Buildings in Worcester Street had been broken into but had since been boarded up.
Currently, there was a campaign for Halloween.
There was a lot of focus on retail crime. The data reported was not very clear as to if it was weekly or monthly. Councillor Dawes would find out this information.

76. UPDATE FROM COUNCILLORS P HARRISON AND C ROGERS (STOURPORT WORCESTERSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL COUNCILLORS)

Councillor Rogers informed Council that no RAAC had been found in Worcestershire schools, however, the Worcestershire County Council building in Worcester was waiting for surveyors to visit. He also advised that Worcestershire County Council were chasing a deficit of £18m.

77. VERBAL UPDATE FROM THE TOWN CLERK TO CONSIDER A REVIEW OF POLLING DISTRICTS AND POLLING PLACES IN WYRE FOREST

The Town Clerk updated Council with information on the latest review of polling districts and polling places in Wyre Forest. There were no significant changes to Stourport apart from a proposal for a small number of electors who were in the Mitton ward to use an alternative polling station.

78. ACCOUNTS

The Town Clerk reported that Accounts for September was £27,182.22 had been paid since the last meeting and it was RESOLVED that the report be noted and approved. A Schedule of the Accounts paid was appended at the end of these Minutes, in the Council’s Minute Book, and was available for general inspection.

79. ANY OTHER BUSINESS

There was no other business.

80. EXCLUSION OF THE PRESS AND PUBLIC

Decision: "Under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 the press and public be excluded from the meeting during the consideration of the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of "exempt information" as defined in paragraphs of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act.

81. VERBAL UPDATE FROM TOWN CLERK AND CHAIRMAN OF THE FINANCE COMMITTEE ON 8A BRIDGE STREET, STOURPORT

Councillor Berry informed Council he had visited 8A Bridge Street, Stourport and explained how the ground floor could work for the Town Council. A discussion ensued and the following decision was resolved:

Decision in Principle: Stourport-on-Severn Town Council to take on a lease for the refurbished ground floor of 8A Bridge Street, Stourport-on-Severn with the design to be finalised and for Stourport-on-Severn Town Council to be involved in developing the project and subject to a suitable lease being agreed.

82. ANY OTHER BUSINESS

There was no other business.

The meeting closed at 7.15pm