Agenda and minutes

Councillor Sheldon was appointed as Chair and Councillor Hart as Vice Chair.  

RESOLVED:That the Minutes of the Meeting held on the 13^th March 2019 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

·         Disclosable Pecuniary Interests:

·         Other Interests

The Board received a report introduced by Stephen Robinson, Principal Finance Officer, which provided a financial summary of funding available to the Partnership to allocate during the financial year and included financial tables which provided a summary of grant funding. 

Councillor Gledhill asked if monies were ever written off or re-allocated. It was confirmed that any unspent money had to go back into the Council’s Capital Programme Fund but there was flexibility within the current years budget to re-allocate  funds to other suitable projects. Under normal circumstances, recipients of MPB funding had 2 years to carry out works and draw down the grant.

RESOLVED - That the report be noted.

The Board received a report and presentation on the current status of projects at:-

·         Gazebo, Whitehough, Ipstones - Stone repairs complete. Windows are in place and door to be installed later.

·         67 Tape Street, Cheadle - works delayed will not start until October 2019.

·         The Trough,  Biddulph – Awaiting commencement.

·         Cheddleton Station – Tenders returned, bat survey completed so works should be imminent.

·         Funerary Monuments - Work commenced and contractor appointed to undertake repair of 4 priorities. Works are now complete on the repair and consolidation of the funerary monuments at Dilhorne (9 listed structures).

·         Biddulph Town Council Projects: -

o   Railings A57 – Railings should be installed over the summer.

o   Gillow Heath Station - A small working group had been formed, and this has turned into a four phase project.

o   Well at Tower Hill Road - Being kept tidy by the lengsthman and the stone sample had been agreed.

o   Biddulph Grange - Works complete.

·         Foxlowe, Leek – Works due to commence, however, returned tenders for the work were far in excess of the original estimates and the Heritage Lottery Funding would not cover the costs of the planned work. Due to this a further grant application had been received.

·         Big Mill, Leek – Works complete and grant paid.

·         Leekbrook Rail Link – Works onsite.

·         1 High Street, Cheadle – Works on site.

·         Leekbrook Interpretation Panels - Historic photographs and text being sourced.

o   Victoria Buildings, Leek – 4A Broad Street ground floor - Grant offer £1356 2018/2019 – No progress.

o   4A Broad Street upper floor – Update from owner who was keen to take up grant but has lease arrangements to resolve.

o   4B Broad Street - Update from owners who no longer intend to apply for the grant but do intend to undertake the works. In principle grant allocation was £6,000.

o   2 Broad Street and 74 Edward Street – No update from owner.

The Board discussed the large increase in the cost of the planned works at the Foxlowe,  the viability of Big Mill being converted into domestic dwellings and the security of the building. A request was made for the Regeneration Team to assist with the long term aspirations of the mill and the safety aspects would be looked into.

In relation to Victoria Buildings, members were disappointed that some of the owners hadn’t applied for the grant funding and were concerned about the lack of progress in general, particularly with the property being such a prominent building in Leek. A member of the Board raised a possible health and safety issue with the rain water which cascaded into the road from the corner of the property. Details were to emailed to Joanne Brooks after the meeting. Due to the property being occupied it wasn’t possible for the Council to serve a notice for urgent works. As a large sum of money had been held for this project, the Board was asked to consider projects these monies could be re-allocated to.

DECIDED:  ...  view the full minutes text for item 42.

The purpose of the report was to seek member’s approval to allocate grant funding from the Moorlands Partnership Board (MPB). The budget for this year was £50,000. Whilst we were in a new financial year, it was agreed, at the last Board meeting, to allocate £20,000 from this year’s budget to Victoria Buildings. This is reflected in the table below.
 

Members had differing views on whether to award additional grant funding to the Foxlowe and discussion also took place around a financial contribution from the Church of England towards the funerary monuments. It was confirmed that a donation had been received from Endon Parish Council but a response hadn’t been received from the Diocese of Lichfield.

RESOLVED:-

1)    That members APPROVED a grant of £4,000 towards the repair of Tudor House, Cheadle towards the cost of eligible works totalling £13,154.30 The work would be subject to the standard grant scheme conditions and the following technical conditions:

•Agree specification for any render and timber repairs

•  Agree decoration scheme.

2)    That Members APPROVED an additional grant of £8,000 for the repair and restoration of Foxlowe Arts Centre, Leek, towards the cost of eligible works totalling £46,289 (inc VAT). The work would be subject to the standard grant scheme conditions and the following technical conditions;

•Agree specification for render repairs and colour

•Agree specification for window repairs and colour scheme

3)    That Members APPROVED additional direct funding of £5,000 to continue the funerary monuments repair scheme at a cost of £10,000. This would allow for the repair of a further 4 listed monuments, with a further £5,000 being allocated for the remaining works at the end of the financial year if funds permit. 

4)    The Board DECLINED the match fund  request of £5,000 from the Staffordshire Historic Churches Trust towards the Staffordshire Moorlands and Peak District Historic Churchyard Grant Scheme.

(Councillors Hart and Sheldon declared ‘other’ interests and took no part in the vote for the grant funding towards the Mill House Pool, Biddulph project).

At this point in the meeting, presentation slides were shown to members on the following anticipated grant applications:-

·         Café Appolina, Leek

·         Market Cross, Cheadle

·         St Peter’s Church, Alton

·         Conservative Club, Leek

·         Community Notice Board, Biddulph

Since the reports and agenda for this meeting had been published, an application had been received for the repair and restoration of Mill House Pool in Biddulph, which members gave their consideration to.

DECIDED: That members APPROVED a without prejudiced offer of £2364 (inc VAT) towards the repair and restoration of Mill House Pool, Biddulph.