Tuesday 1st October 2024 6.30pm

Present

In the chair: The Town Mayor Councillor J Thomas

Councillors: E Burnip; B Dawes; M Freeman; J Griffiths; K Henderson;  D Little; R Lloyd; N Martin; D Morris; C Rogers;  I Schmeising-Barnes; T I Schmeising-Barnes; H Williams

Minutes

68. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors T Berry; P Harrison; B Jones and A Sutton;.

69. MINUTES

It was RESOLVED that the Minutes of the Meeting of the Council held on 3rd September 2024 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Mayor.

70. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Councillor T Schmeising-Barnes declared an Other Disclosable Interest in Agenda Item No.13 as he was a Trustee of The Civic Group.

Councillor I Schmeising-Barnes declared an Other Disclosable Interest in Agenda Item No. 13 as her spouse was a Trustee of The Civic Group

71. PUBLIC QUESTION TIME

There was no public question time.

72. MAYORS COMMUNICATIONS

The Mayor engagements were circulated and noted. The Mayor thanked his deputy for attending the event on 12th October 2024. The Deputy Mayor informed Council that the event he had attended was the BBC Hereford &Worcester Make a Difference Awards. There had been 8 categories and 4 groups in each category. The Wyre Forest Food Share Group had been nominated for the Green Award. He informed Council that they collected food from local supermarkets near to the end date and reissued for those that were in need of it. They also had free wifi on site for people to utilise.

The Mayor advised that he had attended the Birmingham Symphony Hall on 5th September but it was poorly attended. He also thanked members for a great turnout at Stourport Carnival, unfortunately the weather had deteriorated in the afternoon. He also stated that he had been invited to Slicker Recycling on 24th September and asked Council to pass a resolution, which was agreed as follows:

Agreed:

Stourport-on-Severn Town Council acknowledges and congratulates Slicker Recycling upon receiving the Kings Award for Enterprise; International Trade 2024.

From its headquarters in Anchor Drive, Stourport-on-Severn, it co-ordinates collection of nearly 70 million litres of used engine oil from throughout the United Kingdom which is then shipped to its facility in Denmark where it is re-refined back in to usable base oil.

It has created a truly circular economic model for use of a product which would normally end up getting burnt. The re-refined base oil which is imported or sold on the world markets is then blended into a variety of products cutting down the need for the reliance on crude oil.

They have created a model for good environmental practice and as rightly been recognised in the Kings Award for Enterprise.

73. MOTIONS SUBMITTED UNDER STANDING ORDERS

No motions had been received in accordance with Section 9 and 10 of the Council’s Standing Orders.

74. PLANNING COMMITTEE MINUTES – 24TH SEPTEMBER 2024

In the absence of the Chairman of the Planning Committee, Councillor Lloyd informed Council of the planning application recommendations to be made to Wyre Forest District Council.  The minutes of the meeting held on 24th September 2024 were approved. 

Members noted that five applications had been deferred as additional information was required and one had been refused.

75. FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES – 16TH SEPTEMBER 2024

The Mayor took Members through the minutes and these were approved.  It was confirmed that the Treasurer would find out if an insurance claim could be made for the damage to the two disabled doors at the Riverside toilets..

76. COMMUNITY GOVERNANCE REVIEW

Members considered a request and agreed that a review be undertaken by Wyre Forest District Council following the new ward arrangements in the Boundary Commission’s final recommendations arising from its review of Worcestershire County Council.  The Town Clerk would contact the Chief Executive at Wyre Forest District Council asking for a review to be undertaken.

77. UPDATES FROM REPRESENTATIVES ON OUTSIDE BODIES
 
The following updates were received:

Councillor Lloyd – Stourport Carnival
The bucket collection had raised approximately £1,700.  The committee were happy and grant information had been published.  It was noted that programme sales had been low.

Councillor Williams – Worcestershire CALC
The Annual General Meeting had been held on 26th September 2024 where the Chairman presented his report.  This would be circulated to all Members.  A person had been employed on a 15-month contract to look at wellbeing in Worcestershire.

Councillor T Schmeising-Barnes – Stourport Heritage Port
An open day had been held on 14th September 2024 to celebrate the one-year anniversary of heritage port status.  It had been well attended and there had been positive feedback.  He thanked those that had attended.  The Canal & River Trust and Heritage Port were in talks to maximise Stourport.  It was expected to run another event in 2025.

Councillor C Rogers – Stourport Forward
It had been made official that Stourport Forward had been successful in their funding bid and had been awarded £250,000 lottery funding.  This would be publicised on 5th November 2024.

78. VERBAL UPDATE FROM CHAIRMAN OF STOURPORT FUTURE WORKING PARTY

Councillor Griffiths informed Council that the Stourport Future survey had now closed and there had been over 900 responses.  She would be visiting the Web Team at Wyre Forest District Council to go through the responses and decide the way forward.  A report had also been received from the High Street Task Force Expert.  The next meeting was to be held on 16th October 2024.  Councillor T Schmeising-Barnes stated that progress was being made on the Worcester Road island, Stourport-on-Severn.

79. UPDATE ON RIVERSIDE PADDLING POOL

The Town Clerk informed Members that a meeting had been held with Go-Aqua to discuss the flooring of the paddling pool which had started to lift.  This was being taken forward by Go-Aqua.  She would report back once a report had been received.

80. UPDATE FROM THE CHAIRMAN OF THE CIVIC HALL WORKING PARTY

The Chairman of the Civic Hall Working Party informed Members that the new lease, which was three years, had been signed and the Council had received 2 payments for the new rent amount.  Members were advised that The Civic website had crashed as too many visitors had tried to access the site to look at events.  It had had to be reconfigured.  Two requests had been received and these were agreed as follows:

• An external electric socket be installed on the outside of the Civic Hall building.
• An electrical charging pointed be installed on the Civic Hall car park subject to grant funding being made available.

81. UPDATE FROM COUNCILLOR C ROGERS ON SAFER NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH

Councillor Rogers stated Councillors should be receiving regular updates from the Town Clerk from the Stourport Neighbourhood Team.

In response to a Member question, Wyre Forest District Council (WFDC) were doing their best to get drivers to adhere to the No Waiting Signs outside primary schools but there was limited resources.  It was also pointed that WFDC were conducting an Education Scheme over the next 12 months with local schools whereby students were informed about the problems with illegal parking.

82. UPDATES FROM COUNCILLOR C ROGERS (CABINET MEMBER OF WYRE FOREST DISTRICT COUNCIL) AND P HARRISON AND C ROGERS (STOURPORT COUNTY COUNCIL OUNCILLORS

Councillor Rogers was congratulated on his new Cabinet role at Wyre Forest District Council.  He stated he would hopefully have more to report at the next meeting.  Council were informed that the Bridge Street Car Park, Stourport may be disposed of.

In response to a query regarding the brief for new homes off Kingsway, it was stated that a planning application would have to be submitted.  The brief was purely an advisory document.

Councillor Martin left the meeting at this point, (7.38pm).

He also responded, that the brief was in circulated in case someone came up with something that had not been considered previously.

Councillor Rogers informed Council that he had hoped Councillor Mark Bayliss (Worcestershire County Council) would have attended the meeting this evening, but he was otherwise engaged.  He would, however, be attending the Stourport Future Working Party meeting on 16th October 2024 to answer questions.

Members stated that they had all received a letter from a resident who lived in Moorhall Lane, Stourport regarding the condition of the road.  It was confirmed that work was planned to be carried out on 17th October 2024.

Members were also advised that dropped kerbs had been installed on Windmill Close, Stourport and that a planning application had been submitted for the new lampposts on Stourport Bridge.

83. ACCOUNTS

The Town Clerk reported that Accounts for September totalling £46,296.69 and 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.  

84. ANY OTHER BUSINESS

Thanks were given to the Parks Team for the wonderful floral displays.

Town Mayor
The meeting closed at 7.47pm.