Brown Edge Carnival Committee has applied for Lottery funding of £10,000 to purchase a marquee for village events, the last meeting of Brown Edge Parish Council was told.
The committee was told that on Monday, 8th May as part of the coronation weekend there will be a Big Help Out session in the village, a volunteering event from 10am to noon.
The parish council was told that seven bags of waste had been collected on the most recent litter pick. Fly-tipping was reported.
The Big Help Out will need 30 sets of equipment and Coun Joe Porter asked the council and the public to get involved.
Coun Porter suggested that Brown Edge joined the Keep Britain Tidy’s Great British Spring Clean campaign. The council resolved to join in with the scheme.
Coun Philip Woodward mentioned bunting, and the regulations for mounting it from the streetlamps. Coun Porter mentioned that the coronation working group would like to purchase a commemorative mug for all the children of the village, so they could keep a souvenir of the event and learn about British history.
Coun Porter said he had spoken to the manager of the local supermarket at a councillor drop-in surgery, and had highlighted the concern of the parish council regarding road safety issues for children.
A debate then ensued about St Annes Vale not having pavements. Coun Porter suggested further meetings were needed with the school to decide what would be the best solution.
Planning protection for the War Moors (land off Sytch Road) was discussed as it was an area said to be “excellent” for wildlife. A previous planning application is still listed on the Staffordshire Moorlands District Council planning portal for this area.
The council was told that Community Speedwatch was “growing momentum” in the parish. The team was said to be very proactive. New volunteers were encouraged to join.
Coun Porter thanked Coun Anthony Bedson for helping to plant 10 new trees in the community orchard.
A complaint had been received by the clerk about some ornamental vases being removed from a grave in the village cemetery. The clerk had spoken to the maintenance team and some items were recovered from the yard, following the annual removal of the Christmas wreaths, as specified in the cemetery rules. The council was told that the contractor had removed them, they were not stolen, and the items were recovered at a later date by the family.
Other complaints were noted on social media. Responses on social media were discussed and the chairman reminded the council that they should not respond in their councillor capacity to social media posts.
The council was told that items from the lawn cemetery were removed as the rules stated, by the beginning of February. The date was displayed in the notice board. The rules also stated that floral and personal items should be situated on the concrete area and not in the grassed area.
Solutions to improve communication were discussed included:
• Make the rules on the notice board more visible;
• Make sure all visitors had a copy of the cemetery rules; and
• Place a notice in the parish news to inform people of the date of the removal of wreaths.
It was also proposed that the social media policy for Brown Edge Parish Council should be on the April agenda.
