Minutes of the Meeting held at The Flyford’s Hall on Tuesday 13th May 2025
Present
David Waide (Chairman)
Andrew Short
Richard Croxton
Sadie Densham
Alison Crickmore
Linda Robinson - District and County Councillor
Mark Broughton - Taylor attended as clerk
1. Apologies
None
2. Declaration of Interest
Andrew Short declared an interest in item 11 - Planning application W/25/00736/HP
3. Public Participation
It was noted that there was a misnumbering of the Standing Orders. Para 11.3 should be 12.1. The clerk is to rectify.
Malcolm Jones requested a copy of the parish council risk assessments in order to prepare the risk assessment for the Flyfords Green.
4. Minutes
The minutes of the meeting of 25th March 2025 were approved.
Proposed: Sadie Densham
Seconded: Alison Crickmore
All in favour
5. Matters Arising
Litter Picks had been completed in the villages on the weekend after Easter.
6. Highway Safety
The chairman reported on the joint chairman’s meeting held with Marc Bayliss on 15th April. Notes had been circulated from the PPC but the chairman and clerk will be publishing their own notes in due course.
It was noted that Marc Bayliss has now stepped down from the Highways portfolio at the County Council and another meeting will be convened when a new incumbent is in place.
7. Flyford Green and Pond
The chairman of the Green committee reported on progress concerning the risk assessment for the green following the dog attack in the village. It had been agreed that no fencing was wanted around the play equipment and that the notices on the site were adequate to cover the responsibility of the council. It was agreed to provide further notices which were supplied by the County Councillor. It was also stated that the possibility of the provision of a ‘Public Space Order’ is being pursued with Wychavon D C.
It was noted that fencing of the play equipment had not been raised by ROSPA in its annual safety reports.
It was reported that the new swing will be installed on 3rd July.
It was also reported that the possibility of building a petanque/boules court was being considered and further information will be provided in due course.
The application for adverse possession of the pond had now been resubmitted to the Land Registry.
The clerk reported that the registration of the green was progressing but a video was now required to provide a visual record of the area.
It was noted that drone footage of the Coronation Event was available.
8. Bio-diversity and Climate Mitigation
David Waide presented a paper on alternative energy generation projects run by parish councils. He drew particular attention to an initiative in Crowle but noted that such schemes could be divisive. It was agreed to form a sub-group of Richard Croxton (lead), Alison Crickmore and David Waide. Further research and discussion to follow at future meetings.
9. District and County Councillor Reports
Recent County Council Election Results
I am delighted to have been re-elected as your County Cllr. and look forward to representing you at what may be a very different political arrangement. Whilst nothing has been finalised yet currently no political party has overall control. Reform whist having the highest number of Councillors do currently not have enough for the required majority so we shall have to see how this pans out over the coming weeks.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank our retiring Chairman and parish council members who are standing down for all their hard work. You are not alone in struggling to find new volunteers as this is fairly common amongst my other parishes. I do not have any solutions but will try to help spread the word and reach out across our communities for new co-optees.
VE celebrations
Despite having felt like the vicar Geraldine in the infamous Vicar of Dibley Christmas special as I logged 10 village celebrations it was certainly well worth the effort. Your Parish accounted for two of them, one on the green and then afternoon tea in the hall at Grafton. Both were very well attended and I would like to thank all the volunteers that put in so much hard work involved behind the scenes. It was great to see the village green really coming into it’s own after all the work we put in to create this valuable community space.The legacy is now there into the future which is great news as I see many other villages struggle to keep green spaces.
Local Authority Reorganisation Update
Scrapping Worcestershire's seven councils and replacing them with a single authority could save more than £20m a year, according to a report commissioned by WCC.
The external study by consultants PwC, also suggested an alternative option of splitting the county into two new unitary councils – north and south - could save £4.3m a year.
Politicians are currently divided over the two options, after the government asked council leaders to produce proposals to merge the county's two-tier system.
Councils are required to produce a business case for changes by the end of November.
Any new local authorities could be up and running as early as April 2028, following elections in May 2027.
At present, Worcestershire has one county council, responsible for services including roads and social care, sitting above six district councils that run services such as bin collections and housing.
"One Worcestershire council would be more effective and efficient," said Simon Geraghty, the Conservative leader of the county council, at a scrutiny meeting on Tuesday, external.
Following the publication of Labour's devolution white paper, his administration commissioned consultants PwC to provide an independent review of the options.
The Future Worcestershire Proposal which suggested moving to a single "unitary" authority could cost £11.9m in one-off costs, but save £20.6m a year.
PwC estimated another option, of splitting the historic county in two, would cost £16.9m, and save only £4.3m a year.
Its consultants also said the proposed north and south councils would both face further financial challenges.
A northern council, formed from Bromsgrove, Redditch and Wyre Forest would take a smaller share of council tax, but a higher proportion of deprived communities, for instance.
In addition, demand for expensive services such as home-to-school transport and special educational needs provision would "disproportionately impact" a southern council formed of Worcester, Wychavon and Malvern Hills, consultants found.
Worcester's new school and hospital multi-storey latest
PLANS for a new secondary school and a multi-storey car park next to Worcestershire Royal Hospital have been approved by Worcestershire County Council.
The new school and car park were approved by the county council's planning and regulatory committee.
The secondary school is expected to welcome its first cohort in 2028.
This marks a significant step forward in meeting the demand for school places in a growing city.
The multi-storey car park would be built to address long-running issues with the availability of parking at the nearby hospital, by offering 850 more spaces for staff, patients and visitors.
Guy Kippen, associate development director at Prime, commented: "Securing planning approval is a major milestone in delivering a sustainable solution for parking and access to Worcestershire Royal Hospital.
"By working collaboratively with Worcestershire County Council and local stakeholders, we will ensure that parking and access improvements reduce congestion for all users.
"Now we have achieved outline planning consent, we will progress with the detailed design required for a reserved matters application. As part of this, we will keep the local community informed."
A new exit road onto the A4440 Nunnery Way has been approved for visitors to reach the car park, as well as giving emergency vehicles a new specialised route to reach Worcestershire Royal Hospital.
On Newtown Road, a new access road dedicated to serving the school will be built to help manage school-related traffic and minimise its impact on the area.
A spokesperson for Worcestershire County Council added: "The approval of this hybrid application ensures a strategic and comprehensive approach to traffic management, benefitting the hospital, school, and local community while delivering a biodiversity net gain on the site."
Secondary School Places
Worcestershire County Council received 6,592 applications this year and everyone who made an application for a secondary school place has received an offer of a place.
9 in 10 of Worcestershire’s children will be starting secondary school in their first-choice preference in September.
Parents are also being reminded to apply for school transport for their child/children as early as possible for the September 2025 school term.
For more information, please visit the apply for school and college travel assistance pages of the county council website: worcestershire.gov.uk/schooltransport.
10. Local Police and Neighbourhood Watch
Smartwater
The Smartwater rollout for Grafton Flyford was now in progress. The kits had been obtained but were being sent out by Wychavon D C and there had been some delay. It was understood that some households had received their kits but others were still waiting. It was noted that although there was not enough support from North Piddle for a full role out, those who had registered would receive their kits.
There was no report from the Local Police Officer.
11. Planning Matters
To report comment
W/25/00496/HP
Mr. Hickling
Osbourne Cottage
Grafton Flyford
Extension and alteration to detached garage.
No objection.
W/25/00736/HP
Mr S Griffiths
Church Farm Cottage
Church Lane
Flyford Flavell
Two storey side and rear extension and replacement front porch.
The following comment was agreed:
It is considered that the development significantly affects the street scene and closes the gap with the neighbouring, listed building. The design is disjointed and has not addressed the issues raised in the appeal for the previous application. A rear extension would be more appropriate. The Parish Council does not support this application.
12. Highways and Footpaths
It was reported that Sarah Doughty was interested in taking up the role of footpaths officer but had been unable to access the appropriate training. The clerk will chase this matter up.
13. 80th V E Day Celebrations
Celebrations for V E Day had taken place on the Flyfords Green on 4th May and The Flyfords Hall on 8th May. Both had been a great success and had attracted good attendance. Alison Crickmore provided a photographic report of the green event – attached. The clerk reported that the hall had been open during the day for tea and cake and about 50 people had dropped in. A fish and chip supper in the evening was fully attended and the film ‘Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society” was shown in the evening followed by the lighting of a beacon and rendition of ‘I vow to thee my Country”.
14. Any Other Business
A question was raised about planning at Meadowcroft. It was reported that the parish council had heard no more since the previous application had been withdrawn.
Allison Crickmore suggested that an action log should be kept of tasks required. This will be devised before the next meeting.
A request was made to investigate an electrical supply for the Green.
15. Date of Next Meeting
8th July 2025