MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF BOBBINGTON PARISH COUNCIL

held on Wednesday 26^th November 2025 at 7.30pm at Halfpenny Wine Green Estate

Present: Cllr L. Jones (Chair), Cllr M. Snelson (Vice-Chair), Cllr A. Perry. Cllr A. Burton, Cllr M. Slater, Cllr S. Hadgett, Cllr J. Stanton.

Guests in Attendance: 1

Public in Attendance: 8

Minute Taker & Clerk: Kate Pritchard, clerk@bobbington.staffslc.gov.uk

25/073. Chair’s Welcome: The Chair’s welcome was DELIVERED.

25/074. Apologies: Cllr R. Reade sent his apologies to the Chair.

25/075. Civic Award 2024-25: The Civic Award was PRESENTED.

25/076. Declarations of Interest and Dispensations: Cllr M. Snelson raised an interest in agenda item 25/084 airport matters.

25/077. Minutes: It was RESOLVED that the Minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on Wednesday 17th September 2025, having been circulated, be confirmed, and signed as a correct record.

25/078. Reports from County and District Councillors (for information only) if present: Cllr V. Wilson provided an update on Local Government Reorganisation. Cllr Wilson attended the Parish assembly meeting and is due to attend a confidential meeting with the airport regarding a pre-application for planning.

25/079. Reports from Chairman and Councillors: (for information only): None.

25/080. Clerk Report: The Clerk report was NOTED.

Correspondence

• SPCA – NALC Elections, Data Protection training, Building resilient communities, statement of assurance, local council conference, Martyns Law webinar, October bulletin, legal bulletin, briefing – agendas/minutes, SPCA AGM
• NALC – Chief Exec Bulletin September, October and November
• SSDC – Litter Picking event, Council News, Remembrance Service, Library events, South Staffs local plan examination, PC News issue 405/406/407/408/409/410, rough sleeper survey, stage 3 community governance review, new premises license, PCSP stakeholder letter, community safety partnership survey 2025, local government reorganisation.

Training

The clerk has attended the following courses/meetings since the last Parish Council meeting:

• Continued study on Certificate in Local Council Administration
• Planning for non- Planners
• Scribefest 2025 – Scribe
• Introduction to Artificial Intelligence
• Data Protection Part 1 – Breakthrough Communications
• Data Protection Part 2 – Breakthrough Communications

Administration

• A resident sent an email to the Clerk regarding the waste and car debris on Tom Lane. This was reported to SSDC. Reference number: 101000182823. Resolved 02.10.25
• BT networks confirmed they are unable to allow the Council to adopt the phone kiosk on Halfpenny Green.
• A resident contacted the Council about the missing reflective bollards on the Six Ashes Road and the need for a mirror on the crossroads. The Clerk contacted SCC and they advised the resident logged this on the report it tool and advised the mirrors are not placed by highways, however private landowners can site them as long as they don’t obstruct drivers.
• The Clerk gov.uk email is now live.

Interim Internal Audit

The internal audit took place in October. The auditor raised the following requests

• Add to risk assessment the GDPR risk for personal email used by Cllrs (non-compliance with GDPR)
• Website – upload updated publication scheme
• New Assertion 10 of AGAR in 2026 – IT policy will be required
• Insurance – fidelity (fraud & dishonesty) quite high £100k larger than other Parish Councils
• Insurance – Chain of office to be listed as an item in the insurance document
• Update asset register to include location and purchase cost
• Grant application form to be completed annually by the air scouts, village hall and churchyard grounds maintenance for the donation request
• Payment schedule to be created for each meeting in a payment folder to accompany invoices

25/081. Reports from Committee Representatives:

• Corbett School – Reported by Cllr M. Snelson.
• Bobbington Village Hall – Reported by Cllr L. Jones.

Overview

BVH remains in a critical state; urgent maintenance (floor and external walls) to restore the building to required safety standards needs to take place and initial quotes suggest works will be in excess of £40k.  Additional quotes are being sought to support grant applications, in the meantime ongoing maintenance to stabilise the heating have taken place.  The school heavily rely upon the hall for a number of activities and are seeking advice from the local authority.

Our Priorities

The committee (boosted by an additional two members) will be launching a ‘Save our Village Hall’ campaign.  A letter will be sent to all residents outlining the plight of the hall and the consequences should it not be safe to use. To help raise funds, a series of events are being planned during 2026 starting with a Valentines Quiz Night at which we aim to raise £500-£800.  This will help towards the cost of heating, lighting and general operational costs.  In addition, a GoFundMe page has been created with an initial target of £5k: https://gofund.me/bf008487b.

The church kindly proposed the idea of a coffee morning to help build awareness and we also contacted the local scout group, following the last meeting but to date we haven’t received a response.

Finance

The current financial status allows us to manage day to day operational costs, but there are insufficient funds to conduct major work.

When comparing 2024-2025 to the previous 12 months:

• Income has increased by 96% to £7.8k
• Expenditure has increased by 57% to £9.2k (mainly due to major works on the drainage system)

Notes

• External hire bookings remain static on previous years (average 20), but income has increased from £3.9k to £6.4k
• Drainage works of £1.9k
• Utilities £3.4k, compared to £2.1k
• Income boosted with Parish Council donation of £800
• Due to extensive work being completed on the heating system in September 2025 our present balance of funds (November 2025) is £2.7k.

As an integral part of Bobbington village, much needed support is welcome, from sharing our social media posts, attending planned events, raffle and quiz night prize donations, to local business involvement and assistance with grant applications.

Any further help from the Parish Council would be gratefully received.

• Holy Cross Church – Reported by Cllr L. Jones.

Continues to have better congregation numbers.

New treasurer is a true “God send” doing brilliant work.

Special services, the pet service and Remembrance Sunday, very well supported.

Christmas services:

14th December 10.00 Christingle service.

15th December 7.30pm village carol service followed by refreshments at Red Lion.

24th December 3pm our interactive and friendly crib service, a wonderful start to Christmas.

Initial start made on formal application, to Lichfield Diocese, to remove some pews and open part of church to make a much more adaptable and usable space that would benefit both church and community.

• Community speed watch – Reported by Cllr A. Burton.

I am pleased to advise that I have installed the parcel delivery box to secure the equipment required for our CSW activities.

We also discussed setting up a WhatsApp group to keep in touch with each other. If you could please pass me your contact numbers by return email, I will establish the group.

Myself, Stephen and Helen have all fallen off the insurance coverage. We will therefore have to be re-trained. This should take an hour, so we need a convenient time to perform this. If we can provide Michelle with a couple of suitable dates, late morning or afternoon would suit Michelle the best.

The temporary signs will be supplied by Michelle. I am awaiting notification that they are available – these are for CSW activity in Gospel Ash Road.

• Health and wellbeing – Nothing to report.

• Crime report – Reported by Cllr L. Jones. ACTION: Clerk to chase the anti-social behaviour on Watery Lane and to request a response on the raised issues.

• Parish Assembly Meetings – Reported by Cllr J. Stanton.

• South Staffordshire Virtual Locality Forum – Nothing to report.

• Parish Summit – Reported by Cllr S. Hadgett.

25/082. Highway Matters:

1. Flooding outside Corbett Primary School during storm Claudia.

1. Sink hole on Six Ashes Road – work raised.

• Sign at White Cross has fallen off. ACTION: Cllr M. Snelson to investigate and repair.

25/083. Public Participation:

A resident received a visit off police requesting any CCTV footage from residents on Gospel Ash Road. The Chair asked the resident to send the date of this visit to the Parish Council, and this can be followed up with Staffordshire Police.

A resident raised the issue of the drain on Six Ashes Road. This drain was jetted, and future work is required. ACTION: Clerk to raise a report for the blocked drain.

25/084. Airport Matters:

A confidential Pre application meeting is planned. No further information currently. No complaints received since the last meeting. Issues raised about Watery Lane and the daily occurrence of fly tipping and anti-social behaviour. Next meeting to be possibly held in January.

25/085. Planning:

1. To consider new application/s:

1. To report decisions on previous applications:

25/086: Tom Butler Cup: The Council RESOLVED to hold a Tom Butler cup competition in Spring 2026. The next competition is a hand-made/crafted item. Age categories to be confirmed. Plans to be confirmed at the January meeting.

25/087. Finance Matters:

1. The Council RESOLVED to approve the payment schedule for October, November, December. Cllr M. Snelson proposed, Cllr L. Jones seconded. The motion was CARRIED.

2025. The Council RESOLVED to approve the November Financial Report 2025. Signed by Cllr M. Snelson.
2026. The Council RESOLVED to approve the bank statements to 31st October 2025. Signed by Cllr M Snelson.

25/088. GOV.UK email and domain: The Council RESOLVED to approve a registrar. Cllr A. Perry proposed, Cllr J. Stanton seconded.

25/089. Budget 2026-2027: The Council RESOLVED to approve the budget for the next financial year. Cllr J. Stanton proposed, Cllr A. Perry seconded. The motion was CARRIED.

25/090: Policies:

The Council RESOLVED to approve The Scheme of Delegation. Proposed by Cllr J. Stranton, seconded by Cllr A. Burton.

The Council RESOLVED to adopt the Action Plan 2026-27. Proposed by Cllr L. Jones, seconded by Cllr S. Hadgett.

25/091. Items for future meetings: to ratify the election earmarked reserve and transfer some general fund to the reserve.

25/092. Date of future Parish Council meeting:

Wednesday 21st January 2026, 7:30pm, Bobbington Village Hall

The meeting closed at 20:44pm.

                        …………………………………..…………… Signed             ……………………………………… Date