Withington Group Parish Council
All Parish Council meetings are at Withington Village Hall
WITHINGTON – ANNUAL MEETING
Wednesday 14th May 2025 7.00pm start
Draft Minutes
Councillors Present: Kevin Hewison, Paul Andrews, Kevin Powders, Hilary Holden, Jonathan Beech, Howard Mansell.
Apologies: Tom Nellist, Barclay Rogers, Ingrid Heatley, Vikki Brown.
1. Minutes of Meeting held on Wednesday 8th May 2024 – confirmed at July Meeting.
2. Introduction of all cllrs from the three parishes.
3. Any other business- none raised.
Meeting closed at 19.02
PRESTON WYNNE – ANNUAL MEETING
Wednesday 14th May 2025 7.05pm start
Draft Minutes
Councillors Present: Bob Rudd, Simon Dent.
Apologies: Sue Rudd
1. Minutes of Meeting held on Wednesday 8th May 2024 – confirmed at July Meeting.
2. Any other business – nothing raised.
Meeting closed at 19.03
WESTHIDE – ANNUAL MEETING
Wednesday 14th May 2025 7.10pm start
Draft Minutes
Councillors Present: Steve Scotcher, Ralph Barber
Apologies: Judith Howe
1. Minutes of Meeting held on Wednesday 8th May 2024 – confirmed at July meeting.
2. Any other business- nothing raised
Meeting closed at 19.04
Signed Chairman: Dated:
Withington Group Parish Council Annual Meeting
(Minutes of last Annual Meeting were approved July 2024)
Wednesday 14th May 2025 at 7.15pm
DRAFT MINUTES
Present: Kevin Hewison (KH) who left at 7.30pm after item 2, Paul Andrews (PA), Jonathan Beech (JB), Kevin Powders (KP), Howard Mansell (HM), Hilary Holden (HH), Bob Rudd (BR), Simon Dent (SD), Ralph Barber (RB), Steve Scotcher (SS). Vikki Brown (VB),
Also: Sophie Glover (Clerk) Cllr Ivan Powell – Ward Councillor. 1 member of the public
Apologies from: Judith Howe (JH), Tom Nellist (TN), Barclay Rogers (BR). Sue Rudd (SR), Ingrid Heatley (IH).
1. Election of officers (Chairman, Vice Chairman)
Chairman: Paul Andrews Proposed: HM
Seconded: HH
All were in favour of appointing him and PA accepted the role.
Vicechair: Deferred until next meeting Proposed:
Seconded:
Action: relevant papers to be signed and put on file.
2. Chairman’s Annual Report
Chairman’s Annual Report 2024 – 25
Copy put as an Appendix at end of these minutes. KH went through his report to the meeting.
The Parish Council thanked him for his services and KH left the meeting. PA assumed the position of Chair.
3.Appointment of members to Committees, working groups etc
– Representative on Village Hall committee: It was resolved that HM (who is a village hall trustee) and KP will be Councillors linked to this committee. All in favour.
– Finance working group: It was resolved that this group would meet at least twice a year, once before the precept setting meeting and once before the audit meeting. They will also look at Financial Risks to the Parish Council in the coming months.
It was resolved that the cheque signatories would form this committee, so this is PA and IH nominated from Withington with JH and RB from Westhide. This was agreed by all cllrs present.
– Withington Field: It was resolved for the Clerk to continue in the role of WF rep, agreed unanimously. The current cllrs on the working party are: HM, KP and IH, it was resolved that they would remain on the working group.
– A4103: KH was the only remaining cllr on this working group. With him moving away, PA is now on this committee with VB. Agreed by all Councillors.
– school access and village speed control: It was resolved that PA, IH and HM with Ward Cllr in occasional attendance would be on this working group. Agreed by all Councillors.
4. Review of Footpath Officer, Internal Auditor, Tree Warden etc
Footpath officers:-
Steve Scotcher will cover Westhide, Bob Rudd will represent for Preston Wynne, Kevin Powders will continue to cover Withington.
Internal Auditor: Cole and Co to be retained as the internal auditor.
Tree Warden: Kevin Powders had been this officer, but he moved that we no longer needed this role. This was agreed by all Councillors, as the Withington Copse will be ‘looked after’ by the WF working group.
5. Review of insurance policies
Renewal was in January. It was resolved to remain with Zurich insurance
6. Review of subscriptions – Tree Warden, Hereford and Gloucester Canal Trust, HALC, SLCC, and Diane Malley to be retained to deliver the WGPC payroll.
Hereford and Gloucester Canal: £40 per annum.
HALC: Fees are set by HALC.but was £118.95 for 2024-25
SLCC: Fees were £190 on 03/01/25
Tree Warden: It was resolved not to subscribe to this scheme at this time.
Diane Malley (Pay roll): £120 per annum.
Councillors were all in agreement.
7. Councillors were reminded to update their Notice of Registrable Interests.
8. Councillors were reminded that they have all signed up to the Code of Conduct – Which have been previously circulated.
Ordinary Parish Council Business:
9. To commence with a period of up to 10 minutes to enable the public to address the Parish Council, for no more than 3 minutes per person.
No one wished to raise any issues.
10. To accept Apologies for absence: Judith Howe, Tom Nellist, Barclay Rogers, Sue Rudd, Ingrid Heatley.
11. To receive Declaration of Interests – None were given.
12. Open discussion/public forum including
12.1 Report from Ward Councillor – Cllr Ivan Powell . He had submitted a Ward Report which is put as an appendix to these minutes.
In addition to the report, he has heard that the works on Duke St are due to be completed during the school summer holidays.
HM asked for some certainty that the lights outside the school etc were going to actually be done in the summer holidays with Gregg Speller leaving his role.
SD asked if ‘Duke St’ included the whole road round to The Stallenge. IP confirmed that the whole road is to be resurfaced.
PA said that he had heard from a number of parishoners and that they had some confusion about the work due to take place on Withies Road – is it just drainage works with resurfacing? Or are they waiting to do the traffic calming measures at the same time? They were also asking for clarification that the road markings at the end of Withies Road are repainted as a matter of urgency and not delayed, waiting for other works to happen.
Action: IP to check on the time line for the various works on Withies Rd.
SD asked if IP had heard about possible planning coming for over 1000 houses coming to Whitestone.
Action: IP hasn’t heard anything yet, but will ask the question.
12.2 Report from local police – are sent out electronically on a regular basis.
Action to ask the police if they have had speed camera on the Bromyard Road.
12.3 Report from Balfour Beatty – come out electronically regularly.
13. Acceptance of minutes of the Parish Council meeting (05.03.25)
The minutes were agreed to be an accurate representation of the meeting.
Proposed: HM Seconded: PA
14. Action points from previous meetings:
-IP to contact land owner of the field next to the SID to try and secure access to read the SID data. This has been done and the contact details passed on to KP.
-Repeater speed signs on A4103/A465:
IP to find out if we can legally do this.- Done, yes we can.
Clerk to find the cost of the repeater signs – Done, to proceed with getting some printed. (14 at a cost of £363.02) They were happy for the clerk to proceed with getting the quote as below.
Clerk to ask the lengthsman what the cost would be to do this. Now to be done.
Clerk to look at getting a ‘community speedwatch set up on the A465. IP told the meeting that people who are carrying out the checks need DBS.Clerk to arrange with Ian
– HM, IH and KP: Circulate and then collate questionnaires ref school access. All done.
– Clerk to contact arborist ref checking the Copse. Done.
-PA to put out a message on social media about the dangers of dog faeces in the play area. To be done following this meeting.
-Clerk to inform lengthsman that WGPC would like to retain his services for another year. Done.
Outstanding Actions: clerk to get a quote from Lengthsman to fit the signs and rotate the SID each month. PA to put the message about the danger dog mess in the play area on social media.
15. Withington Fields: Including:- a discussion on the progress of an application for outline planning for exterior loos and on obtaining a Football Association grant for disabled friendly paths to access the loos and new play items.
:- A resolution was sought on accessing the remaining S106 monies, set aside and fixed for use towards ‘changing rooms’, regarding putting in facilities for exterior WC’s at the field. Also improving paths for access to these through a Football Association grant.
All Councillors were fully in support of going forward with both of these proposals.
Action: clerk to proceed with putting in a preplanning application to see that we can actually put toilets where we want. Also, clerk to continue talks with S106 team to make the remaining S106 monies available for this project. All councillors were in favour of proceeding whilst offering caution on how the public will use the toilet facilities and who will cover the running costs.
16. Planning including those below and any additional ones showing of the HC Planning portal:
P250788: The Grey House, Nunnington. Refurb and conversion of existing outbuilding to self-contained accommodation with new roof, Juliet balcony, windows, doors. To be ancillary to the main house.
It was resolved to make no comment , this was agreed by all present.
250835: Ivy Cottage, Sutton St Nicholas, Proposed replacement of the existing stable with a matching outbuilding for the incidental enjoyment of the main house.
It was resolved to make no comment – agreed by all present.
17. Matters Financial.
a. Balances: Parish Account as at 01.05.25: £26,955.43; Withington Field Acct as at 01.05.25: £6,025.23; CCLA as at 01.05.25: £15,542.54;
b. Payments to be agreed :
Parish acct: Paid in April
Clerks Salary: April £872.94
May £872.94
Clerks expenses April £28.90
May * £173.84 Total: £1,046.78
HMRC PAYE April £ 68.39
May £ 68.39 Total: £ 137.78
Cole & Co (internal auditors) £ 120.00
Terry Griffiths inv 3173 – Bins £107.28
Bank Charges (April) £4.25
Bank Charges (May) £ 4.25
St Peters Church (Withington) To be paid in 2 tranches Proposed: RB seconded JB all were in favour ** £1,890.00
Holy Trinity PCC (Preston Wynne) £ 300.00
Westhide PCC £ 200.00
Hereford Quarries £ 105.91
AED Donate (Defib pads) £ 81.59
Internal Transfer of
Precept to Withington Field Acct £6,000
From Parish Acct to CCLA savings acct (depreciation) £ 3,000
(election expenses) £ 600
From Savings Acct to WF Acct (from Withington Football Club’s
Monies) repayment for last year’s grass cutting fees. £ 5,000
Withington Field Acct:
Joe Smith Litter Picking April – £90
May £ 90
RJ and JR Barrell – hedge cutting £324.00
Perfect Grounds 2024 invoice £225.00
Perfect Grounds Inv WF09 £ 514.00
Bank Charges (April) £4.25
Bank Charges (May) £ 4.25
Hereford Council – Bins £ 197.60
Terry Griffiths Inv 3239 £ 112.66
Terry Griffiths Inv 3198 £ 50.40
Total expenditure this month: £4,717.44
(Excluding internal transfers)
* for the breakdown in clerks expenditure, please see the information sheet.
** St Peters Church to email the clerk when the first tranche of payment has been fully utilised and then the second payment can be made.
Proposed that the clerk pays these invoices:
Proposer: HM Seconded: PA
All were in favour
c. Receipts: £19,000 first half of the precept. £1,175
Interest on savings acct April: £59.15, May: £54.03.
For Withington Field Acct: payment from Wessington Juniors FC £41.66;
d. Requests for financial aid: None.
e. Approval of Annual Governance Statement
The Annual Governance Statement was approved by all Cllrs present.
f. Approval of annual accounts Statement
The Annual Accounting statement was approved by all Cllrs present.
18. Working Parties:-
i. A4103 – deferred until next
ii. School access/traffic calming – on going.
iii. Withington Field – The working group are looking at going for a Lottery Grant to get new ‘accessible to all’ play items. To progress this they have taken advice from Dave Tristram (DT) and have circulated questionnaires around the village and through the school. These have now been gathered in and the information collated. KP, HM and the clerk had a follow up meeting with DT and they are now ready to complete the application. KP has done the first draft of the grant application and after a little more work, the working group will send it to DT for a final check before applying. The grant should be in the region of £20,000 There are other organisations to approach for other grants, and alternatives will continue to be looked for.
19. Youth Club provision in Withington – Through the village facebook page, PA had been approached about the need for a youth club in the village. He promoted it on Facebook and will continue to ask for help to get this started.
20. Lengthsman and P3 scheme – There are still a significant number of old jobs that need to be undertaken by the lengthsman, but he is doing sterling work on the drainage grant jobs and was excellent in getting the sand shed base put in place and then in getting the shed up.
21. Footpaths officer report
Withington- KP has been on training for footpath officers on PROW’s. He wasa given a ‘kit’ to help keep the footpaths clear and was told that all Foot Path Officers will be getting name badges.
WT12 has been on Terry’s lists for 18 months and really needs to be done.
Westhide: new footpath officer, will report next meeting.
Preston Wynne: all ok for now and BR clears paths as necessary
Action: Clerk to chase the Hereford Council PROW officer for kits and name badges for Preston Wynne and Westhide officers.
22. Tree warden update – to be taken off the agenda.
23. Discussion and resolution as to whether or not to maintain the General Power of Competency.
It was resolved unanimously to maintain the General Power of Competency whilst the WGPC is in the position to do so.
Proposed: PA Seconded: JB
24. Receive items for the next agenda (no discussion)
Improve the bus situation.
Meeting ended:
Signed by: Chair: Dated:
Dates for future meetings in 2025:
9th July 7.30 pm start
10th September 7.30 pm start
12th November 7.30 pm start
Appendix 1
Annual Report of the Chair of WGPC 2024/25
This year has been a more normal year for the Parish Council, if one could ever say such a thing as ‘normal’. We have continued to meet every two months and some of the issues/highlights include the following;
Withington Fields – following the annual inspection of the swings, zip wire and other devices, the WF Team decided that many items needed to be serviced and some replaced/renovated. Some funding for this work was as a result of S106 monies not being used. We are fortunate that the team of councillors with Sophie have put a great deal of time and effort into maintaining this excellent facility. However, the electricity supply to the ‘shelter’ has had to be removed due to continued vandalism – some things just cannot be achieved.
Football – the possible use of the football pitches and containers by the Bartestree Football Club came to nothing mainly because of their funding and other problems. However, on the bright side another club Wessington Juniors have started to use the facilities which is to be encouraged.
SID – Speed Indicator Device on the A4103 has been installed in September and seems to have some effect of traffic speeds. However, due to its position it is impossible to download data from the device without going into the field behind the hedge.
In addition, there has been no progress on improving the repeater sign – double sided and in pairs i.e. on both side of the road, together with the ‘40’ speed being marked on the road by these signs.
WE DESPARATELY NEED A COUNCILLOR TO TAKE THIS ON OTHERWISE THE WORK OF THE SUB-COMMITTEE WILL BE TO NO AVAIL!
Flooding – following some periods of excessive rain resulting in flooding, there is a sand bin adjacent to the VH car park for residents to get sand bags as/when flooding is expected.
Standing Orders – please can I remind councillors to be more familiar with the standing orders. In particular the rules about speaking – all comments are made to the chair and councillors should indicate to the chair their wish to speak on a topic. Too often councillors end up having almost private discussions which disrupts the business on the agenda and the flow of the meeting.
Unfortunately after 5 years as Chair (and 20+ years as a Parish Councillor) I am having to stand down at the May 2025 AGM as I recently moved to Ledbury, which is more than the permitted 3 miles from the parish boundary. It is likely that Paul Andrews will be voted in as ‘Chair’ and whoever, whatever, I wish the Council my best wishes for the future.
Kevin Hewison
Chair WGPC
May 2025
Appendix 2.
Hagley Ward report May 2025
WGPC specific matters
Highways
The Council are investing a further £10 million this forthcoming year in highways improvement, resurfacing work completed on the A4103 at its junction with the A 465 and junctions at Whitestone.
Traffic monitoring was conducted at Radway Road and lane to Nunnington resulting in conclusion that sufficient unsuitable (heavy) traffic is using these lanes to pursue intervention. Traffic Restriction Orders are not realistic given likely timescales involved, so council are pursuing ‘advisory restriction’ signs.
Parish Summit
Most recent parish summit was 8th April 1730 – 2100, when amongst items on the agenda were the parish charter and PROW scheme.
County level strategic matters
Local Government Boundary Commission
The Council has received notification of the electoral review of Herefordshire Council by the Local Government Boundary Commission, which will start this month This is to consider the number of councillors elected to the council, the names, number and boundaries of the wards, and the number of councillors to be elected to each ward. It will take around 18 months to complete. The final recommendations will be laid in Parliament, with the new ward boundaries implemented for elections in May 2027.
Local Transport Plan
The local transport plan is open for consultation link here Local Transport Plan (LTP) consultation through your networks. The LTP sets out transport priorities for 2025–2041. The Council is asking residents, partner organisations, transport providers, user groups and neighbouring councils to provide their feedback to help shape the final plan and ensure it reflects the needs and priorities of communities across Herefordshire.
A49 ‘the New Bridge’
Some of you may have been caught up in traffic congestion on the A49 following a road traffic collision. This has been the subject of review involving national highways, West Mercia Police and the Council to review and apply lessons learned in terms of communications, diversion routes, traffic management and coordination between agencies.
Notification of major works by Cadent
Major gas main works are planned for the A49 from Asda towards Ross, from 24 May until the end of August. As significant travel disruption is expected, please find an alternative route for your journey during this period. There are full details on the Cadent website at Major Projects – Cadent Gas Ltd. Please share with your family and friends too.
Children’s services
Children’s services continue to make forward progress in line with the refreshed and current improvement plan. Ofsted have recently conducted their sixth monitoring visit and their findings were published on 20th March 2025. The link to the full report here:
https://files.ofsted.gov.uk/v1/file/50272252
The findings were generally positive which again shows progress and builds on previous momentum. We do understand ourselves well recognise and welcome the findings during the visit of where we need to deliver further improvements.
Ofsted will conduct their 7th and final visit some time later this year and will be the final visit before the next full inspection of local authority children’s services.
To provide some detail of strategic developments:
• Herefordshire are progressing towards ‘Child Friendly status, and have visited to Child Friendly Cov, and have a follow up meeting with Child Friendly Leeds so we can learn from our peers.
• Corporate Parenting Strategy / Education Strategy / SEND Strategy have been completed and published.
• Completed a ‘Voice of the Child’ session through scrutiny which has informed our Council wide approach to hearing children and families across the council not just children’s services.
• Re-engaged the Children and Young People’s Partnership
• Council Delivery plan 2025/26 is taking into account the requirements of the Family First implementation plan.
• We are commissioning of phase 2 residential care and are producing business cases for capital investment in Alternative Provision
• Children’s Budget position 2024/25 has delivered ‘on budget’ including delivery of the projected savings for that period, that against the backdrop of service improvement.
• Operationally we continue driving our pace of improvement, embedding our culture and commitment and setting the foundations for sustained and continuous improvement.
Devolution
I have included in full the Chief Executive’s update on devolution for reference.
Devolution – Next Steps for Herefordshire
Introduction
Following on from the Members briefings held in January 2025, this briefing has been circulated to provide an update on English Devolution at both a National and Regional level, and to set out the next steps for Herefordshire whilst we await further announcement.
Activity post publication of the English Devolution White Paper
Post publication of the English Devolution white paper the Leader of the council, the Chief Executive and key Directors have been proactively engaging with Central Government to understand the potential impact on, and opportunities for, Herefordshire.
The Leader and Chief Executive have been in informal, initial discussions with neighbouring authorities to understand their thinking and how this align with and shapes our own.
Running concurrently to these conversations, the Transformation Team has also been undertaking research setting the foundations for an options appraisal to support our thinking and decision making in relation to a devolution partnership for Herefordshire.
We have been clear in our messaging to Central Government from the outset and our position remains that any devolution deal must be in line with our vision of ‘Deliver the best for Herefordshire in everything we do.’ Any devolution deal must also support and enable us to retain our identity and integrity as a council. We will not be held back by the extended timescales to which we were originally working as a result of Local Government Reorganisation and we will work with the government to get the investment decisions Herefordshire needs in order to deliver against our vision.
The Devolution Priority Programme
As we have been engaging, listening, researching and learning about what devolution means for Herefordshire, the Government’s focus has been on appointing councils to its devolution priority programme (DPP) having welcomed applications from those who are ready and willing to move towards devolution at a faster pace.
The DPP has two tracks to it. One of which is for groups of local authorities who have already established (or are on the way to establishing) outlines plans in relation to Strategic Mayoral Authorities. The other track is for unitary councils who need to undergo a programme of Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) to enable further devolution opportunities to become available to them. Both Worcestershire County Council and Gloucestershire County Council applied to expedite the process of LGR, but neither application was successful.
Impact of DPP announcements
Both Worcestershire County Council and Gloucestershire County Council will have received a statutory invitation and will need to set out their high-level, interim plans for LGR to Central Government by 21 March.
Whilst no statutory decisions will be made on the basis of the interim plans submitted in March, the impact on our neighbours will also be felt by Herefordshire specifically in relation to the pace at which we move into deeper devolution discussions and research, and in relation to progressing against our strategic ambitions as the Government’s attention is on the DPP.
Full proposals for LGR will need to be submitted in the Autumn (2025.)
Next Steps for Herefordshire
We are awaiting further announcements to help shape and inform our planning; however, in the meantime we will continue to proactively engage with key government departments to ensure that we make our position as a council clear.
We will not let external influencing factors inhibit our ability to progress with our ambitions and commitments to deliver the best for Herefordshire in everything that we do. We will set out the funding and strategic support we need to deliver against our growth and wellbeing priorities and will use this time to build our presence and identity at National and Regional levels to ensure we are in the strongest possible position once the opportunity for further discussion and planning with our neighbours opens up.
We will continue to participate in Regional and National working groups and networks to ensure that Herefordshire remains ahead and will continue to share information and developments as we receive them.
Summary
• Devolution presents no immediate urgency for Herefordshire.
• We await further announcements and will continue to proactively engage with Central Government and Devolution Networks.
• We will join further discussions around shaping a Strategic Mayoral Authority when the opportunity opens up to us.
• We will continue to build our relationships with neighbouring authorities.
• We will keep Members updated as things progress.
Ivan Powell
Ward Councillor
Appendix 3
Thank you letter from Wessington Juniors FC.