Minutes of the Meeting of Bradwall Parish Council Wednesday 25 January 2023 8:00pm Bulls Head Meeting Room, Smallwood

PRESENT: Cllr. G. Gnyp – Chairman BPC

Cllr. M. Acton – BPC

Cllr. E. Gnyp – BPC

Cllr. M. Ollier – BPC

Cllr. S. Beck - BPC

Mrs V. Collier – Clerk

IN ATTENDANCE: Cllr. J. Wray

1. Apologies for absence

No apologies were received.

2. To receive any Declaration of Interests regarding Agenda items No declarations were noted.

3. To approve Minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday 16 November 2022 Approved by Cllr. M. Acton and seconded by Cllr. G. Gnyp.

4. To discuss Matters arising from the last meeting.

a) Bradwall Village Hall

Contact has been attempted with Bradwall Bakery with no response. Cllr. G. Gnyp provided contact details to the clerk for the owner of the bakery. b) Meeting location arrangements

Due to meeting clashes and no response from Sandbach Rugby Club, The Old Hall have confirmed they would be available going forward. c) Update on Bradwall Permissive Path Project

PLANNING

Received positive decision notice 18/12/2023, with conditions:

Hedgerows must not be removed between 1/3 and 31/8 Request for environmental method statement

Asking for features to enhance the biodiversity value of the proposed development.

The last 2 conditions need to be cleared before work can commence, this involves submitting details, a new application and a fee.

Redfox kindly supplied the method statement and George Barlow’s land, which Jeremy farms, “is in an organic elementary stewardship scheme (OELS) and part of the agreement was to plant 60 fruit trees which took place last winter/spring. There are a number of other options in the agreement which also assist in the biodiversity of the surrounding farmland.

The application and information has been submitted and the painful process of dealing with CE Planning begins. The fee for the application is probably £58 and timescale could be anything.

In order to continue the momentum of the project, the hedgerow needs to be removed before the end of February and therefore the project needs to be awarded a contractor.

ENVIRONMENTAL AGENCY

The Small Brook is considered to be a main river and a flood risk activity exemption is required in order to construct the bridge. This exemption has been obtained, a few notable conditions:

The bridge cannot be for vehicles and must be less than 8m bank to bank Foundations cannot be closer than 1m to the edge of the bank

The lowest point of the underside of the bridge is at least 600mm higher than the top of the banks.

QUOTES

Four companies have been contacted for quotes;

WAP Lawton, gave a competitive quote, they quoted without visiting site and there is little detail on the quote - they did not give confidence.

Redfox have quoted £28,440 including VAT (£23,700 ex VAT) - the most expensive, they will not reduce cost - we may be able to reduce cost by contracting out the fence work separately. They have been emailed (5/1/2023), asked for a start date (April), whether the hedgerow can be removed before end Feb (yes) and for environmental method statement and risk assessment to clear planning condition. All responses were received by return.

Willis’s have quoted £28,187.81 including VAT (£23,489.84 ex VAT). They have been emailed (15/1/2023) to re-quote for gritstone top wearing coat not limestone, a start date, whether the hedgerow can be removed before the end Feb and for an environmental method/construction statement to clear planning conditions. No response to date.

Maple Leaf Designs – declined to quote

There was a great deal of support for awarding the contract to Willis’s, with them being a local contractor and a CEC approved contractor. It has been difficult to work with them so far but it was felt that they would go the extra mile to ensure the project was completed successfully and to budget.

Awarding the contract

All present Bradwall Parish Councillors agreed to award the project to Willis’s on the condition that confirmation that the work would be completed by the end of May 2023 and the hedgerow would be removed prior to the 1 March 2023. If this could not be obtained by 27 January 2023, the project would be awarded to Redfox.

FUNDING

Taking the worst-case scenario funding required including VAT is £28,440, BPC community fund is currently unable to fund the project. The solar farm fund payment should be made in March to an approximate value of £5,863. This will give adequate funds. Reclaiming VAT ASAP will return approx. £4,700 back into the funds.

5.	Finance (Clerk)
6.	To receive the Balance Sheet
	The balance sheet was noted.
	Cash BookBalances Brought Forward
		Current Account	1157.02
		Business Reserve Account	153.54
		Community Benefit Fund Account	23689.97
			26806.94

7. To approve payments.

Cheque no 411 was approved and signed.

The bank mandate is still outstanding, Cllr. S. Beck to check emails for the signatory requirements.

8. Planning Matters

Date

Date for

Target

Ref

Desc ription

Address

decision

Decision

registered

comments

date

Outstanding Decisions

21/5202C

Change of use of field to allow

Fields Farm, 150B Congleton

08/10/2021

10/11/2021

02/06/2022

No decision

touring caravan pitches

Road, Sandbach, CW11 4TE

22/2144C

Conversion and extension of

Bradwall Manor, Pillar Box Lane,

17/06/2022

29/07/2022

12/08/2022

No decision

existing barn to a single dwelling

Bradwall, CW11 1RB

Change of use of land for

Fairacre, East Booth Lane,

22/3244

Showmans Yard with

14/08/2022

14/09/2022

10/10/2022

No decision

Moston, CW11 3PU

development retrospective

22/2944C

Creation of permissive path

Smithy Bends. Bradwall Road,

02/09/2022

05/10/2022

28/10/2022

18/12/2022

Bradwall

Construction of a detached

Bridge Cottage, Bradwall Road,

22/3860C

outbuilding and extension of

29/09/2022

25/10/2022

24/11/2022

No decision

Bradwall, CW11 1RG

boundary wall

The current planning permission applications progress was noted.

9. Correspondence Received and Updated Actions (Clerk)

10. The next meeting is Wednesday 15 March 2023 at the Old Hall.

Cllr. E. Gnyp apologies noted for this meeting.

Signed by RFO/Clerk Chairman