Sutton-cum-Duckmanton Parish Council

At a meeting of the Parish Council held in the Arkwright Centre on the 9th December 2019.

93/20 Members Present. Councillors N. Hough, M. Smart, B. Brocksopp, A. Clark and J. Stocks,

Also in attendance were District Councillor J. Birkin, Mr P. Goodwin - Clerk and Edwina Edwards from the Bolsover Woodlands Enterprise Ltd. for agenda item 101/20 a). only.

94/20 Apologies. Councillors A. Foster and J. Foster, County Councillor N. Barker and District Councillor P. Kerry.

95/20 Councillors Absent. None.

96/20 Declaration of Members’ Interests. There were no declarations made in respect of any of the agenda items.

97/20 Public Speaking.

Items from members of the public. There were no members of the public present at the meeting. However, Councillor Hough reported that the land on the farm where surface water had previously caused flooding problems for nearby properties has now become an issue again; it was agreed that Councillor Brocksopp will arrange for someone to look at the area of land in question and report back to a future meeting regarding any work that can be carried out to enable this problem to be resolved. Also, Councillor Hough will speak to the owners of the adjacent land in order to ascertain who the various owners are.

Police. The figures for November aren’t available yet; however, the Clerk will include these details in the minutes of the meeting following their availability on the police website. The Clerk has collated the figures for October and these are as follows:-

October

Arkwright Town

One incident of anti-social behaviour on Laurel Avenue One public order offence on Laurel Avenue One incident of anti-social behaviour on Rosling Way One other theft on School Lane

Long Duckmanton

One incident of anti-social behaviour on Chesterfield Road One other theft on St. Peter’s Close One incident of shoplifting at the petrol station

Sutton Scarsdale

Two burglaries on Shire Lane One violence and sexual offence on Shire Lane

1 District Council. Councillor Birkin reported that the District Council has carried out a temporary repair following the damage caused to the steps at the rear of the Arkwright Centre in order to make them as safe as possible; they are still considering the option of replacing the steps with a sloped gradient access, together with a handrail facility, as a potentially more cost-effective way of resolving this problem.

The car parking bays in the Arkwright Centre car park still need remarking and this was reported a few months ago. Also, the play area surface at the Arkwright playground has still not been repaired and both of these issues will now be reported again to the District Council.

The area known as ‘The Dell’ where Penrose Crescent meets Beech Drive in Arkwright is now in a very poor condition and it needs cleaning out as a matter of urgency; Councillor Birkin will raise this matter again with the relevant department at the District Council.

A request was made for the green waste re-cycling bin collections to carry on throughout the winter months and Councillor Birkin agreed to put this suggestion to the District Council.

Councillor Smart mentioned the fact that the street sweeping vehicles appear to be carrying out the work on a less frequent basis than in the past. Apparently, Steve Brunt, who is the joint head of Streetscene for North East Derbyshire and Bolsover, has offered to visit each Parish to discuss issues such as this and it was agreed that the Clerk will invite him to attend a future Parish Council meeting.

Councillor Birkin was thanked for his attendance and he left the meeting at this point.

County Council. The list of outstanding issues that have been reported to the County Council is now as follows:-

• The directional sign at the Shire Lane/Palterton Lane/Sutton Lane junction has a broken post which allows the sign to rotate in the wind; it is also held upright with an old wooden post and is at risk of falling over.

• The pavement on Staveley Road from the Arkwright Arms up to Tom Lane has been significantly reduced in width as it has become overgrown; the Clerk reported this to the County Council following the July Parish Council meeting.

• The trees on Sutton Lane are growing through the boundary fence from the land occupied by the composting plant; Councillor Stocks has contacted the company and apparently this isn’t within their boundary and so the matter has been reported to the County Council for them to deal with.

Councillor Brocksopp raised his concerns regarding the condition of the multi-user trail that runs along the route of the old railway line between Arkwright and Staveley; the Clerk will ask Councillor Barker to follow this up on our behalf and obtain the details of the relevant officer who has responsibility for this area of work.

The Clerk will also ask Councillor Barker to enquire further regarding the directional sign at the Shire Lane/Palterton Lane/Sutton Lane junction which has had a broken post for some considerable time now and this is a straightforward matter to resolve.

There is a lot of water running across Sutton Lane near to the ‘s’ bend and Elliott’s Farm and this will cause an extreme hazard during icy conditions which has been the case in most recent winters.

2 It was further reported that the owner of Wrang Farm, Shire Lane has filmed the water running across the road on the corner of Shire Lane, near to Shire Lane Farm and Yew Tree Farm; it misses the drain completely and then flows into her garden. Also, the problem with water leaking from the fire hydrant on Shire Lane has occurred again.

All of these issues will now be raised, or reported again, to the County Council.

There has been no further information regarding the yellow brick road since the September 2017 Parish Council meeting.

98/20 Non-Exempt Minutes - 11th November 2019.

RESOLVED to confirm as a correct record the Non-Exempt Minutes of the meeting held on the 11th November 2019.

99/20 Items in Exclusion. There were no items to be taken in exclusion.

100/20 Clerk of the Council’s Report. The Clerk reported that the street lighting work on Chavery Close and Dunsil Close has now been completed and all 5 columns are now working. The County Council has confirmed that the work to complete the pavements and roads up to an adoptable standard will begin either in the week commencing the 6th or the 13th January 2020; this is weather dependent as if there is snow on the ground, or extremely cold temperatures, the work will be delayed. Even so it is good news that hopefully the work will be completed so quickly.

Finally, the position of the new bus shelter has been marked out on Piper Road but the Clerk hasn’t received any indication of the timescale for the completion of the work.

RESOLVED that the Clerk will liaise with all of the relevant people and organisations involved with this matter in order to ensure that this matter is brought to a satisfactory conclusion as soon as possible.

There has been a glass panel broken in the bus shelter on the A632 near to the junction with Deepsic Lane; the shelter is otherwise in a decent condition and the missing panels are both at the rear as there are no side panels on this shelter.

RESOLVED that in view of the fact that there is little usage of the shelter, and the fact that there is a hedge right behind it, it was decided just to leave the shelter in its current condition.

101/20 Matters for Decision.

a). Bolsover Woodlands Enterprise Ltd. - request for financial assistance. Edwina Edwards from the Bolsover Woodlands Enterprise (BWE) was welcomed to the meeting; BWE has asked for a grant towards funding for protective equipment for people with learning disabilities supporting their work in Derbyshire and in particular within North East Derbyshire. The type of work they have carried out includes fence removal, woodland management tree felling, coppicing, chipping and scrub clearance, cutbacks on trails and the fitting of benches.

Edwina gave a very interesting presentation regarding the work carried out by BWE and there is one person who works on a voluntary basis for the Trust who lives within our Parish; the cost of providing protective equipment for one person is just over £200. Edwina was thanked for her presentation and left the meeting at this point. 3 RESOLVED that a grant of £450 is approved in order to provide protective equipment for two team members.

b). Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal. Although we have a spare poppy wreath, which could be used if there is ever a problem obtaining one in time for Remembrance Sunday, another wreath was delivered this year and the cost of this is £18.75.

RESOLVED that a grant of £100 should be paid which will cover the cost of the wreath and it will also provide a grant towards the work of the Royal British Legion.

c). Precept and staff wages 2020/21. The Clerk presented a draft precept for the financial year 2020/21. There was unanimous agreement that there needs to be an increase in the precept this year and not least because there hasn’t been any increase for the past five years.

RESOLVED that after a long discussion it was agreed to defer a decision about the precept until the January meeting when all Councillors should be present.

d). War memorial. This item was deferred until the next meeting.

RESOLVED that the Clerk will add this item to the January 2020 agenda for discussion.

102/20 Accounts. The Clerk read through all the items of income and expenditure that had taken place since the last meeting. The following cheques were duly approved :-

a). Payee. Cheque No. Amount

November’s wages - 874 . 85 M. T. Stanley - litter picking 000918 605 . 50 DCC - works to Chavery Close and Dunsil Close 000919 24,804 . 33 The Arkwright Centre - grant 000920 3,000 . 00 NEDDC - empty dog waste bins (July to September 2019) 000921 501 . 23 Mr N. Hough - Chair’s expenses 000922 500 . 00 The RBL Poppy Appeal - wreath and grant 000923 100 . 00 Bolsover Woodlands Enterprise Ltd. - grant 000924 450 . 00

RESOLVED that the accounts are unanimously approved and the payments listed above were authorised.

Note - due to the length of the discussion regarding the Precept, and in view of the fact how late it was, the remaining agenda items were deferred until the January 2020 meeting and the meeting was closed.

103/20 DALC Circulars. 12 and 13/2019 - General Circulars.

104/20 General Correspondence. Various items of general correspondence were distributed to the meeting. The Clerk has sent a copy of the Markham Vale Liaison Committee December e-newsletter to all Councillors by e-mail.

RESOLVED to note the correspondence as distributed.

4 105/20 Reports from Parish Council Representatives on other bodies.

MEGZ - There hasn’t been a Liaison Committee meeting since the October Parish Council meeting was held.

The Arkwright Centre - Councillor Smart will give a report in January as the meeting had already ended concluded before this item could be discussed.

District and Parish Liaison Group - The last meeting was held on Monday 25th November but Councillor Smart will give his report at the January 2020 meeting.

RESOLVED to note that these verbal reports will be received at the next meeting.

106/20 Planning Application. There were no objections to the following planning application:-

19/01090/CATPO - Proposed notification of intention to prune 4 Sycamores and 1 Ash tree within Sutton Scarsdale (Conservation Area) at Stable Wood, Hall Drive, Sutton Scarsdale for Mrs Shirley Jowle.

The following planning applications have now been approved:-

19/00998/TPO - Proposed application to fell 1no. Sycamore and remove dead branches on 1no. Ash within A1 of TPO number 8 at Hilltop Bungalow, Chesterfield Road, Duckmanton, Chesterfield for Mr Graham Turner.

19/01055/FLH - Proposed application for a single storey rear extension (affecting the setting of a listed building) at Cedar House, Chesterfield Road, Duckmanton Chesterfield for Mrs J Sellars.

19/00858/DISCON - Proposed application to discharge conditions 2 (Planting Scheme), 4 (Gas protection measures) and 5 (External Lighting Scheme) pursuant of 18/00820/RM at MV55 Enterprise Way Duckmanton for Chesterfield for Mr Mark Fannon.

Permitted development has been granted in respect of the following planning application:-

19/00883/CUPDMB - Notification for prior approval for a proposed change of use of an agricultural building to a dwelling house at Longcourse Farm, Longcourse Lane, Duckmanton, Chesterfield for Mr John Seward.

The District Council has no objection to the following planning application:-

19/01090/CATPO - Notification of intention to prune 4 Sycamores and 1 Ash tree within Sutton Scarsdale Conservation Area at Stable Wood, Hall Drive, Sutton Scarsdale, Chesterfield for Mrs Shirley Jowle.

107/20 Date and venue of the next meeting. The next meeting will be held in the Arkwright Centre on Monday 13th January 2020 at 7:15pm.

Chairman 13th January 2020 5