MEETING OF STOURPORT-ON-SEVERN TOWN COUNCIL

Tuesday 8th April 2025 6.30pm

Venue: Coroners Court, Civic Centre, Stourport-on-Severn

Present

In the chair: The Town Mayor Councillor J Thomas

Councillors T Berry, B Dawes, M Freeman, J Griffiths, P B Harrison, K Henderson, B Jones, R Lloyd, N Martin, D Morris, C Rogers, A Sutton. and H Williams.

Minutes

  1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

    Apologies for absence were received from Councillors E Burnip, D Little, N Martin, I Schmeising-Barnes, T I Schmeising-Barnes,

  2. MINUTES

    It was RESOLVED that the Minutes of the Meeting of the Council held on 4th February 2025 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Mayor.

  3. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

    Councillor Lloyd declared an Ordinary Disclosable Interest (ODI) in Agenda Item No. 7, in connection with the Grant Application for Greener Stourport as he was an occasional volunteer for Greener Stourport.

  4. PUBLIC QUESTION TIME

    There was no public question time.

  5. MAYORS COMMUNICATIONS

    The Mayoral engagements were circulated and noted. The Mayor noted some amendments to the List of Mayoral Engagements to include Item 168 which had been cancelled and re-arranged for 9th April 2025.

    Furthermore it should be noted that the Mayor was unable to attend Item 169, and Item 172 has been cancelled.

    The Mayor reminded members that he would be holding a Blue Coffee Morning, which would take place at The Civic on Friday 11th April 2025. The Blue Coffee Morning would also mark the start of the Mayors ‘100 Miles for May’ campaign, which the Mayor encouraged Councillors to support.

    The Mayor discussed the VE Day 80 Celebrations, organised by Stourport-on-Severn Town Council, which would take place in War Memorial Park on 8th May 2025. The Mayor welcomed all Town Councillors to attend the event and reminded Councillors that menu choices for the fish and chip supper, which had been organised as part of the celebrations, were required.

    The Mayor also asked Councillors to consider supporting the event through volunteering. All volunteer marshals were required to attend Fire Awareness Training on 16th April 2025, and attendance should be confirmed to Kevin Terry (Parks and Cemetery Superintendent, Stourport-on-Severn Town Council).

  6. MOTIONS SUBMITTED UNDER STANDING ORDERS

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

  7. UPDATE FROM LUCY BIRD, HEALTH AND WELLBEING OFFICER FOR WORCESTERSHIRE COUNTY ASSOCIATION OF LOCAL COUNCILS (CALC)

    The Health and Wellbeing Officer from Worcestershire CALC provided an overview of their role, and the support they could provide to local Councillors with regard to health and wellbeing initiatives. Whilst their role covered all of Stourport-on-Severn, the Health and Wellbeing Officer advised that they had been asked by Public Health England to particularly focus on the area around the Walshes Estate, Stourport-on-Severn, as it had been highlighted as a priority area. The Health and Wellbeing Officer advised that she could work with Town Councillors to identify need, in addition to promoting existing health and wellbeing services.

    A member asked whether data would be available to Councillors. The Health and Wellbeing Officer confirmed that they were working on making the information ‘user friendly’ to support strategy and decision making.

    The Health and Wellbeing Officer left the meeting at 6:48pm.

  8. PLANNING COMMITTEE MINUTES – 25TH FEBRUARY 2025 AND 1ST APRIL 2025

    The Chairman of the Planning Committee informed Council of the planning application recommendations to be made to Wyre Forest District Council.

    A member asked a question regarding the Section 106 information provided to the Town Council Planning Committee and requested that it be circulated to all Stourport-on-Severn Town Councillors. The Assistant Clerk agreed to review this request.

    The minutes of the meeting held on 25th February 2025 and 1st April 2025 were approved.

  9. FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES – 18TH MARCH 2025

    The Chair of the Finance Committee provided a detailed overview of the works required to re-open the Riverside Paddling Pool, Stourport-on-Severn and the associated costs.

    Councillors N Martin and C Rogers joined the meeting at 6:54pm.

    An in-depth discussion was held regarding the future of the paddling pool. Members resolved to vote on the recommendations of the Finance Committee of the 18th March 2025 once the recommendations of the Finance Committee meeting held on 1st April 2025 had been heard under Agenda Item 18.

  10. GRANTS COMMITTEE MINUTES – 18TH MARCH 2025 AND 31ST MARCH 2025

    The Chair of the Grants Committee provided an explanation as to why two meetings had taken place. The Chair of the Grants Committee provided an overview of the grant applications received and advised that 4 grant applications had been approved, and a further grant had been refused.

  11. Verbal update from THE Chairman of Stourport Future Working Party

    The following updates were received from Councillor Griffiths:

    • Councillor Griffiths thanked all Councillors who attended and provided support during the stakeholder and public engagement sessions, which had been held during March 2025.
    • Councillors Griffiths and Sutton had met with Ostap Paparega (Deputy Chief Executive: Regeneration and Commercial at Wyre Forest District Council) and had discussed how best to move forward with the Stourport Vision document.
    • The next steps would be finalising the Stourport Vision document. Stourport Future would work with external partners with a view to delivering achievable outcomes.
    • The Working Party would be reviewing its communication plan and looking at a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis at the next meeting, which would be held on Tuesday 15th April 2025 at 2.00pm.
  12. UPDATES FROM COUNCILLOR REPRESENTATIVES ON OUTSIDE BODIES

    Councillor Lloyd informed Council that a meeting of the Carnival Committee took place on 17th March 2025. Councillor Lloyd advised that a Civic Ball had been organised for 15th May 2025 at the Civic Centre, Stourport-on-Severn, and that the Committee had requested raffle prizes for the event. All road closures required for the Carnival had been requested, and Stallholder applications had been shared.

    Councillor Williams advised Council that a meeting of Worcestershire CALC had taken place on 25th March 2025, and that the focus had been on unitary authorities and the upcoming devolution process.

    Councillor Morris provided an update on the Civic Hall Working Party Meeting which took place during January 2025. Councillor Morris advised that the Civic Hall had experienced difficulties in securing vendors ahead of a wedding fayre. Furthermore, it was noted that they had needed additional volunteers to keep events running. Councillor Morris was pleased to note that the Civic Hall had been selected to go through to the second stage of the Kings Award.

  13. UPDATE FROM COUNCILLOR C ROGERS ON SAFER NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH

    Councillor Rogers advised that all incidents had been sent through via email as they were received, and that he had nothing further to update the meeting with. Councillor Rogers suggested that this item be permanently removed from the agenda.

  14. UPDATE FROM COUNCILLORS P HARRISON AND C ROGERS (STOURPORT Worcestershire COUNTY COUNCIL COUNCILLORS)

    Councillor Rogers advised that there was nothing of particular note to update Members on with regard to Worcestershire County Council. This was mainly due to the current electoral cycle, with Worcestershire County Council elections taking place on 1st May 2025.

    Councillor Rogers advised that he was experiencing difficulties placing new VAS (Vehicle Activated Sign) machines in Stourport-on-Severn, due to various issues which related to the proposed locations of the VAS machines.

  15. ACCOUNTS

    The Town Mayor reported that Accounts for February 2025 totalling £49,412.87 and Accounts for March 2025 totalling £49,524.46, had been paid since the last meeting and it was RESOLVED that the reports 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.

  16. ANY OTHER BUSINESS

    There was no other business.

  17. 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.

  18. FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES – 1ST APRIL 2025

    The Chair of the Finance Committee informed Council of matters arising at the last meeting.

    An overview of a proposal to implement a new software package for the management of Stourport-on-Severn Town Councils allotments and community centres was discussed, alongside the associated costs. The Finance Committee had recommended that the systems be purchased.

    A further update was given regarding staffing at Stourport-on-Severn Town Council. The current Treasurer had submitted his resignation. Members wished to express their thanks to the current Treasurer for his commitment and hard work during his tenure at Stourport-on-Severn Town Council. The Chair of the Finance Committee provided an overview of the recommendations made by the Finance Committee: that following a review of similar roles, the role should be re-named to Registered Finance Officer and that the hours associated with the role increase to 20 hours per week.

    It was resolved that the recommendations of the Finance Committee held on 1st April 2025 be approved.

    Discussions regarding the Riverside Paddling Pool were resumed following an earlier discussion. A further update had been provided to the Finance Committee at the meeting on the 1st April 2025. Due to contractor availability, the flooring at the Riverside Paddling Pool, Stourport-on-Severn, would not be re-laid until at least Autumn 2025. Consequently, the Riverside Paddling Pool would not open during 2025.

    A lengthy discussion took place. Members were keen for the pool to be repaired and re-opened. The Riverside Paddling Pool was identified as an important asset within the Riverside area of Stourport-on-Severn.

    It was resolved that the recommendations of the Finance Committee held on 18th March 2025 be approved. All Members agreed that this information needed to be communicated to Members of the Public immediately.

    The meeting closed at 7:50pm.

Town Mayor