Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED:That the Minutes of the Meeting held on the 31^st July 2019 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

·         Disclosable Pecuniary Interests:

·         Other Interests

The Board received a report which provided a financial summary of funding available to the Partnership to allocate during the financial year. Tables 1 and 2 contained within the report provided a summary of the allocation of grant funding. 

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 were in place and door to be installed later.

·         67 Tape Street, Cheadle - Property had changed hands and works had been completed by the new owners. Grant not claimed so withdrawn. 

·         The Trough, Biddulph - Awaiting commencement.

·         Cheddleton Station - Tenders had now been returned for the completion of the works to repair Cheddleton Station. The bat survey had indicated presence of bats so further investigative surveys required which cannot be carried out until April 2020 at the earliest.  Costs exceeded the original figures so this project may not go ahead, as originally planned.

·         Funerary Monuments - Works completed on the repair and consolidation of the funerary monuments at Dilhorne. The Yates Memorial at St Luke Endon and the Prince Memorial at St Leonard, Ipstones were also completed. A further allocation of £5,000 from the Staffordshire Historic Churches Trust had also been received would allow monuments to be repaired at Kingsley, Horton, Draycott and Alton.

·         Biddulph Town Council Projects

o   Railings A57 –Due to be completed this month;

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 – Completed.

·         Foxlowe, Leek - Works ongoing. The second phase of works for the render and window repairs would be started shortly, subject to funding. Grant of £3000 had been paid.

·         Leekbrook Rail Link – Grant £19,000 works complete and grant paid. A small amount of track could still be constructed, a further application for grant funding could be considered at the meeting in March.

·         1 High Street, Cheadle - Works on site but have halted due to submission of planning permission.

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

·         Victoria Buildings, Leek – Grant in principal of £20,000 and no further update.

·         Tudor House Cheadle – Works complete and grant paid

·         Big Mill – The Environmental Health Section had confirmed the building was safe. A priority action within the draft Corporate Plan was to develop an overarching masterplan to bring redundant mills back into use.

DECIDED: That the report and presentation be noted.

The purpose of the report was to seek members’ approval to allocate grant funding from the Moorlands Partnership Board. The budget for this year was £50,000. The table below showed the allocations to date.
 

RESOLVED:

(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).

1)    That Members APPROVED a grant of £2,364 towards the repair of Mill House Pond towards the cost of eligible works totalling £4,728 (inc VAT). The work would be subject to the standard grant scheme conditions and the following technical conditions:

·         Agree specification or sample of any new stonework.

2)    Following confirmation that the church yard wasn’t the responsibility of SMDC, Members APPROVED a grant of £925 for the repair of the church wall at St Peters, Alton towards the cost of eligible works totalling £1,850 (inc VAT). The work would be subject to the standard grant scheme conditions and the following technical conditions;

·         Agree specification or sample of any stonework, mortar mix and appearance of pointing.

3)    That Members APPROVED a grant of £1,320 for the repair of the Market Cross, Cheadle towards the cost of eligible works totalling £2,640. The work would be subject to the standard grant scheme conditions and the following technical conditions;

·         Agree specification for mortar mix;

·         Agree any new stone samples.

4)    That Members APPROVED a grant of £600 (inc of VAT) for the installation of notice boards at Halls Road playing fields, Biddulph. The eligible works total £1200 (inc of VAT). The work would be subject to the standard grant scheme conditions.

The Board was then advised of future anticipated grants at St John’s Church, Hollington, Café Appolina and the Conservative Club in Leek.

A member of the Board asked if there was a limit to the number of times an organisation/individual could apply for grant funding and if the constitution for the Board could be emailed to all members. It was confirmed that this query would be answered after the meeting and the constitution would be sent to all members.