Minutes 22 May 2023 – Annual Parish Meeting – Longdon Queenhill and Holdfast Parish Council

Annual Parish Meetings held at 7:30PM on Monday 22nd May 2023 at Longdon Village Hall, GL20 6AZ

Longdon Minutes

Present: Trish Mullins (Parish Council Chair)
Parishioners: Twelve
In attendance: David Hunter-Miller (Parish Council Clerk), Tom Wells (County Councillor), four other members of the public

1. Chairman’s welcome
Trish Mullins opened the meeting and welcomed residents.

2. Apologies for absence
Apologies were noted from Jennie Watkins (District Councillor).

3. To approve the minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting held on the 29th April 2022
It was RESOLVED to adopt the minutes as a true record and they were duly signed by the Chair.

4. Matters arising from those minutes (if any)
There were no matters arising.

5. To receive the Annual Report of the Parish Council by the Chairman
Chair’s Report
As a Council, we are required by law to hold an Annual Meeting of Parishioners. Last year, we made it a much more social event and had a very successful meeting with a lot of very helpful suggestions.
All Councillors are volunteers. The only person who is paid is the Clerk and he does not work full time. Parishioners are encouraged to be understanding and patient.

There are a maximum of 9 Councillors. 7 in Longdon, 1 in Queenhill and 1 in Holdfast. We currently have 7 Councillors – there are 2 vacancies. Please let us know if you would like to join us. We would very much welcome that.

All meetings of the Parish Council are open to the public -there is a specific section on the agenda where any member of the public can ask questions or comment on matters to be considered by the Parish Council. Meeting dates are published on the website.

What have we been doing in the last year?
This has been an exciting and busy year. It didn’t start very auspiciously as our Clerk, who had been unwell for some time, resigned because of her health. We were firefighting some of the time, but we have managed to achieve quite a lot. And now we have a new Clerk.

Community Website
This has been on back burner for some time due to lack of available effort. Originally, had worked with a potentially interested web designer. This was not pursued, and the PC agreed to go ahead with a commercial package. Website is now up and running and very successful. Many thanks to Neil – who (along with David) continues to keep it up to date.

Traffic – speed and flooding
Our County Councillor, Cllr Wells, confirmed that speeding traffic is one of the biggest concerns for village communities in Worcestershire.

In Longdon, various solutions have been tried in the past and it has been impossible to implement them mainly because of the road layout in Longdon village together with the fact that a police survey showed that most vehicles were under the speed limit. This result has been confirmed by the surveys conducted by the PC and via the Vehicle Activated Signs.

The VAS have definitely been instrumental in reducing speed. The PC has purchased solar panels to power these (efficient and green).

Cllr Wells suggested we invite the Worcestershire Highways Liaison Officer to visit Longdon to discuss what measures might be possible to reduce speed and improved safety for pedestrians. Cllr Davey and Cllr Cook have been leading on this (thanks due to Cllr Wells, too, as he provided support for the visit). It was a very productive visit covering footways through Longdon, the potential introduction of white gates at the entrance to the village and improved road markings. White gates are an intervention that has proved successful in reducing traffic speed and the PC is currently looking at the practicalities of installing these gates. Once again, the road layout is not helpful as there is insufficient room at either end of the village for the ideal installation.

In Queenhill and Holdfast, a major issue is flooding, and Cllr Radford has been liaising with MHDC Highways to ask them to investigate. This includes looking at the balance of responsibilities between the CC and local landowners. Cllr Radford is now liaising with the WCC Highways Liaison Officer. WCC recently agreed that blocked gullies on B4211 will be cleaned and the gutter will be swept.

20s Plenty Motion
The PC wrote to MHDC to propose a vote of support for normalising 20 mph where people live, shop, work, learn and play. This would mean that 30 mph would be the exception on roads, where the full consideration of the needs of vulnerable road users allows a higher limit. This was to give a clear message to MHDC that the speed of traffic in the three parishes matters. 30 mph is still too fast through Longdon village, particularly for larger vehicles.

Police
There have recently been some comments on the Longdon WhatsApp about the police. We had invited the Upton Safer Neighbourhood Team to attend a PC meeting – no reply. Neil and I then met the West Mercia Assistant Police and Crime Commissioner. We had a very positive meeting with him raising topics raised by parishioners including speeding traffic and the theft of machinery. He opened many doors for us, not least with the Upton Safer Neighbourhood Team. We have been offered the opportunity to train to use the Community Speedwatch initiative and are grateful that members of the community have come forward to be part of this. The Upton Safer Neighbourhood Team did attend a PC meeting. Sadly, we did not know they were coming and could not advertise this to the wider community.

Planning
We comment on all planning applications in the three parishes (and some just outside e.g. for gravel extraction). There are very strict rules about the issues that can be the basis of an objection but we do make comments where we feel the development or changes are inappropriate. This has included contact from the Land Registry that the boundary of the Village Green should be amended and to a proposal to build houses on Bear Lane (the PC provided a very robust response (objection) to both).

Boundary Commission review of MHDC wards
The review of MHDC wards proposed to separate the parishes of Queenhill and Holdfast from Longdon. We provided a robust input to the discussion. The final proposal did not include this amendment.

South Worcestershire Development Plan
A long time in the making but the SWDP was finally released for consultation last autumn and we submitted a very full response, particularly relating to the inclusion of a potential site for a solar photovoltaic farm in Queenhill.

Safety
We have regular inspections of the Play Area and act on any findings of these reports to keep all users safe.

Defibrillator
We supported training in CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) and the use of AEDs (Automated External Defibrillators) for several parishioners. We would support a further course if there was demand.

Village Hall Refurbishment
The Parish Council (Neil) project managed the refurbishment of the Village Hall so that some much needed external and internal work – mainly to ensure the building did not deteriorate further, enhance its slightly dilapidated appearance and to provide enhanced weather resistance for many years to come. Since the PC made a start on this, a number of parishioners have come forward to help with the refurbishment (inside and outside) so that the VH now looks amazing.

Precept
We held our precept from 2021/22 with no increase. That was a deliberate decision as we had some reserves (due to not paying a Clerk) and were conscious of the cost of living pressures that parishioners faced. It is unlikely we can continue to do this, but we will always ensure our council tax payers get good value for money. Our precept is currently £13k for the year so not a huge amount of money given our standing costs (maintenance, insurance, salary, electricity).

Sole Trustee
The PC acts as Sole Trustee of the Village Hall Charity. This is still very early days and we will be working on how best to work with the Village Hall Committee.

Future
White gates and traffic. Purchase of play equipment particularly for younger children. If you are interested in developing this idea, Cllr Cook would love to hear from you (don’t need to be part of Council). We are in the process of replacing the noticeboard in Queenhill (very shabby) to help communication.

Finally a big thank you to all of our Councillors who work so hard and those who are not councillors but who contribute so much to the work of the Council (Bill Austin, Andy Young, Deb Gray (Pathway Warden)). Important to note that parishioners do not have to sit in meetings or be a Councillor to make a huge difference to the work of the Council.

Trish Mullins
Chair of Longdon, Queenhill & Holdfast Parish Council

6. To receive a report from the District Councillor
No report was available.

7. To receive a report from the County Councillor
Tom Wells provided a report, summarised as follows:
• Extended thanks to previous and current members of the Village Hall Committee for their hard work and commitment over many years.
• An update was provided on the activities and scope of Worcestershire County Council.
• Worcestershire County Council’s Highways Department receives approximately 80% of the total correspondence for the authority but have 8% of the budget.
• The majority of funding goes to Adult Services and Children Services, including funding for schools.
• Grass verge cutting operations would be undertaken across the county shortly, this covers junction visibility splays and a 1m swathe along the roadsides.
• There was a trial for a demand response minibus scheme. It was understood that the new scheme would be based around Upton-upon-Severn and it was hoped that it would cover Longdon. It was suggested that support from parish may be beneficial to publicise the roll-out of this scheme.

8. To invite the public to raise any matters of interest
Parishioners raised the following matters:
• Thanks were extended to the outgoing members of the Village Hall Committee for their hard work and commitment over many years.
• Concerns were raised regarding the lack of safe footways and pedestrian crossing points throughout Longdon village.
• It was noted that there used to be an ‘uncontrolled crossing’ at the Longdon school but this was removed as it led to confusion over whether traffic or pedestrians had right of way.
• A request was made for a controlled pedestrian crossing (such as a zebra crossing) to be installed; Tom Wells suggested that this could potentially be investigated.
• A request was made for ‘pedestrian in road’ warning signs for both approaches to Longdon village.
• A request was made for rumble strips to be installed on the approaches to the village but it was suggested that the noise and vibrations generated might not be popular with adjacent residents.
• An update was requested on the ‘20s plenty’ speed limit campaign; Tom Wells responded saying that the county council is reviewing this campaign but it is likely that each location would need to be assessed on its merits.
• A request was made to reinstate a dormant footway along the B4211; it was noted that the land was under private ownership which would make improvement work difficult. Further research and funding were required.
• A request was made to review the location of the existing speed limit terminal signs.

It was noted that all of the traffic and highways suggestions could be considered at a future Parish Council meeting and with a view to discussing with Worcestershire County as appropriate.

Queenhill Minutes

Present: Trish Mullins (Parish Council Chair)
Parishioners: One
In attendance: David Hunter-Miller (Parish Council Clerk), Tom Wells (County Councillor), fifteen other members of the public