Morton Parish Council

At a meeting of the Parish Council held in the Rectory Rooms on the 16th March 2011.

Informal Session.

Police. The crime figures have been received from PCSO Gary Green and there was one recorded crime in Morton during January that was in respect of one incident of criminal damage on Westwood Gardens. There were no reports of nuisance made within Morton during January. There were two recorded crimes in February relating to one theft on Church Lane and a burglary on Pilsley Road. A request was made for further information regarding the theft on Church Lane as no one present knew anything about this incident.

PC Andrew Cropper gave a verbal report to the meeting and confirmed that the initial activity on the road safety campaign with motorists on the A61 near Stonebroom School had been a success; a similar campaign will be launched in Morton in the near future. Also, two people have been fined for fly-tipping following information that was given to the police by local people, which is excellent news.

It was reported that there had been two males in the Village visiting properties and saying that they were Jehovah’s Witnesses; it was felt that these people may not be genuine and the police noted this. There is a lot of litter in the Village at the moment and it was agreed that Councillor Edson will approach Morton Primary School again in order to try and arrange another litter pick involving the local school children.

Unfortunately there is a growing problem with motorbikes and quad bikes again on the old colliery tip and the police are doing what they can to minimise the impact of this nuisance that may also lead to a serious accident if it continues.

There are cars parking, and blocking the pavement, near the entrance to the Corner Pin Public House; there is also a problem with a vehicle parking on the bad bend outside the Old School Room. These problems will be passed on to PCSO Gary Green for his attention.

PC Cropper and PCSO Sweet were thanked for their attendance and left the meeting at this point.

District Council. Councillor Cooper reported that the Strategic Alliance with Bolsover District Council is now taking shape and the Chief Executive at North East Derbyshire District Council is leaving on Thursday 24th March 2011; there are a number of other senior managers leaving and with effect from the 1st April 2011 there will be a joint senior management team across the two authorities headed up by Wes Lumley who is currently the Chief Executive at Bolsover District Council. Each authority will keep its own identity and after the first year there will be anticipated savings in the region of £500,000.

Councillor Cotterill reported that there is now a new Neighbourhood Champion for Rykneld Homes for Morton and her name is Josie Davies.

County Council. There was no report as Councillor Lewis was not in attendance at the meeting.

103/11 Members Present. Mrs M. Hawkins, Mrs E.R. McCullough, Mr W.H. Edson, Mr A. Cooper, Mr A.

Coates, Mr C. Lawton, Mrs B. Roe, Mr D. Cotterill and Mr S. Cashin (from item no. 107/11).

Also in attendance were Mr P. Goodwin - Clerk, PC Andrew Cropper, PCSO Stephen Sweet and 3 members of the public.

104/11 Apologies. County Councillor Mr B. Lewis and Mrs A. Holmes - District Councillor.

105/11 Councillors Absent. None.

106/11 Declaration of Members’ Interests. There were no declarations made in respect of any of the agenda items.

107/11 Items from members of the public. It was reported that there were vehicles parking in an inconsiderate way again on Evershill Close and it was agreed that this matter should be reported to Josie Davies who is the new Rykneld Homes Neighbourhood Champion.

Apparently there appears to be an ongoing problem with the reliability of the bus services within Morton; as some of these are subsidised by the County Council this problem will be raised with them by the Clerk for their investigation once specific details have been provided to him i.e. date, bus route number, advertised time and time of arrival.

Trees that have been brought down by the heavy snowfall in December 2010 block part of the footpath between Morton and Stonebroom and the Clerk will arrange for this obstruction to be removed.

108/11 Non-Exempt Minutes - 16th February 2011.

RESOLVED to confirm as a correct record the Non-Exempt Minutes of the meeting held on the 16th February 2011.

109/11 Items in Exclusion. There were no items to be taken in exclusion.

110/11 Clerk of the Council’s Report. Fly tipping - the Clerk has not had any further information in this respect and Councillor Cotterill agreed to follow this matter up again with the District Council. This is specifically in respect of the fly tipping that still needs removing from under the bridge on Higham Lane and now also on Station Road near to the Corner Pin Public House

RESOLVED to note the Clerk’s report.

111/11 Matters for Decision.

a). Adam Gunby and Councillor Cashin - Youth Activities in Morton. Everyone present introduced themselves to Adam and he then proceeded to deliver an interesting verbal report about the work that he and others have been carrying out within Morton; Adam is one of 6 Village Games Co-ordinators across Derbyshire funded by the Community Support Trust for a fixed period of 3 years.

The aims and objectives are to engage local people in activities and hopefully by the end of the 3-year project some of these will be self-sustainable. A number of possible new activities were discussed and it was agreed that ‘taster’ sessions should be held and these will be advertised throughout the whole Village by the means of a leaflet drop.

Councillor Hawkins thanked both Adam and Councillor Cashin for the success to date with the activities that have already been arranged and also their ongoing commitment to making this project a success.

Councillor Cashin then gave a report on the work that he has been doing to find out the likelihood of obtaining funding for the provision of further play equipment for children and young people in Morton. A lot of effort had been put into this concept a few years ago without success but that is not to say that there wouldn’t be a different outcome this time around. Discussions have taken place with Brian Morris from North East Derbyshire District Council and he has agreed to provide some assistance in terms of trying to identify the best possible sources of funding; initially, at least, it is felt most beneficial if the Parish Council lead this Project. A detailed discussion then took place about this idea, the need for wide ranging local consultation and the fact that it would be most helpful if the Parish Council could make a 10% contribution towards the cost of the work.

RESOLVED that Councillor Cashin should pull together a small group of interested local people, including Councillors, in order to start this process off and that around £5,000 should be committed towards the possible provision of a play area/Multi Use Games Area as the Parish Council’s contribution in order to give this Project the best possible chance of success.

b). Dog fouling in the Village. This issue was discussed in some detail and it was agreed that as an initial step some large notices for display should be obtained highlighting the problems that are caused by dogs fouling public areas and the owners not clearing it away. The general view was that there are plenty of dog waste bins for people to use in the Village and it is a change in behaviour that is required rather than an increase in the number of bins.

RESOLVED that Councillor Cooper will try and obtain some posters for this purpose from the District Council

c). Request for financial assistance - Derbyshire Children’s Holiday Centre. The Derbyshire Children’s Holiday Centre has written to request financial assistance towards their holiday programme for disadvantaged children in 2011.

RESOLVED that a grant of £25 should be made to the Derbyshire Children’s Holiday Centre.

d). Request for financial assistance - Derbyshire Coalition for Inclusive Living. The Derbyshire Coalition for Inclusive Living has written to request financial assistance towards the work of their organisation in support of disabled people.

RESOLVED that a grant of £25 should be made to the Derbyshire Coalition for Inclusive Living.

112/11 Finance. The following payments have been made :-

a). Payee. Cheque No. Amount

Impact China Ltd - 180 royal wedding mugs 001202 475 . 14 Mh-p - website charges 001203 18 . 00 Derbyshire County Council - superannuation 001204 164 . 41 Morton PCC - room hire and grant 001205 1,100 . 00 Derbyshire Children’s Holiday Centre - grant 001206 25 . 00 DDCIL - grant 001207 25 . 00

The Clerk reported that the Council’s balances up to and including the 16th February 2011 are as follows :- Capital Reserve Account £ 3,000.38 Current Account £ 5,284.06

RESOLVED that the payments listed above were authorised and the current level of balances noted.

113/11 Planning. There were no objections to the following planning applications: -

10/01044/FL - Proposed Construction of a two storey 4 bedroom house with detached double garage change of use of land for the keeping of horses and erection of a stable on land (Private Drainage System) (Amended Plans/Amended Title) at 94 Main Road, Morton, Alfreton, Derbyshire for Mrs Carol Noon.

11/00086/OL - Proposed outline application (with all matters reserved) for a three bedroom detached bungalow (re-submission of 10/00218/OL) on land adjacent the north side of 54 Evershill Lane, Morton, Derbyshire for Mr Philip Barratt.

11/00194/FL - Proposed application for a new planning permission to replace planning permission NED/07/01464/FL for the change of use of land to the keeping of horses, erection of stable block comprising two loose boxes and a tack room and creation of ménage on land on north side of Stonebroom Industrial Estate and to the rear of 114 to 176 Pit Lane, Morton, Derbyshire for Mr George Whitmore.

10/01044/FL - Proposed construction of a two storey 4 bedroom house with detached double garage change of use of land for the keeping of horses and erection of a stable on land (Private Drainage System) (Amended Plans/Amended Title) (Further Amended Plans) at 94 Main Road, Morton, Alfreton. Derbyshire for Mrs Carol Noon. The following planning application has now been withdrawn: -

10/01116/FL - Proposed residential development of four bungalows and garages on land opposite 148 to 164 and on the west side of 15 Main Road, Morton, Derbyshire for Mr F. Sissons.

114/11 DALC Circulars.

RESOLVED to note the information contained in Circulars 13/2011, 17/2011, 18/2011 and 20/2011 - General Circulars, 14/2011 - Consultations, 15/2011 - Parish Council and Community Council Clerks PAYE Implementation, 16/2011 - Parish and Town Council Elections and 19/2011 - Good Councillor Guide (3rd Edition).

115/11 General Correspondence. Various items of correspondence were distributed amongst the councillors present. The Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service has written to ask if there are local people prepared to become Community Fire Safety Champions in an attempt to reduce the number of injuries and deaths from fire throughout Derbyshire.

RESOLVED to note the correspondence as distributed at the meeting but no-one was nominated for the role of Community Fire Safety Champion in Morton

116/11 Reports from Parish Council Representatives on other bodies.

Village Hall - The Clerk has previously contacted Chris Milner and this matter should be completely resolved within the next two months.

Church - Councillor Lawton stated that there was nothing further to report at the moment. A letter has been received from Morton Parochial Church Council requesting payment of the annual grant and also the room hire. The total agreed for this amounts to £1,100.

School - Councillor Edson stated that there was nothing further to report at the moment.

South Eastern Neighbourhood Partnership - Councillor Coates and McCullough will be attending the next meeting that is due to take place and the Clerk will find out when this is and ensure that they are included on future mailing lists.

Youth Activities - This matter had already been dealt with under the specific agenda item when Adam Gunby attended the meeting.

RESOLVED to note the verbal reports that were received.

The meeting was declared closed at 9.30pm

Chairman 20th April 2011