Parish Council Meeting 15th March, 2000

The meeting opened at 7:30, with Clr. Hirst in the chair. There were no apologies were received, the previous minutes were accepted, with no matters arising. There was no update on the Backdale Quarry situation. One planning application was noted, in respect of mineral extraction at White Rake. This was an extension of an existing permission.

Under financial matters: The balances were £1000 in the current account, £3,699.87 on deposit. Clr. Hirst queried the need to keep £1,000 in the current account, which seemed a rather large amount. The Clerk responded to explain that this was a condition applied by the bank. Several minor payments were approved, including £510 for legal fees in respect of the acquisition of the allotment land, £403 for the Clerk’s salary and £118 to Cox Brothers for minor footpath works.

Clr. Askew reported that the Village Hall has been redecorated, and has new curtains. The replacement of the original dedication stone should be done shortly, and the addition of a decorative pump to the stone trough.

Playground Equipment: No progress has yet been made in altering and repairing the slide, but the work has been promised completed by Easter. As the better weather and longer nights approach, the council are keen to see this work completed as soon as possible.

A petition regarding the siting of the mobile recycling unit (trailer) has been received from Croft Road residents, urging that it not be sited on the car park there. However, events had already overtaken that plan, and the location was to remain the White Lion car park. The council expressed their appreciation to the White Lion for allowing the recycling centre to be on the car park.

The proposed Millennium Social Evening was discussed at length. Information about other events taking place during the summer has not yet been ascertained, and the future of the Cricket Club is still uncertain. Thus the fixing of a date is a problem, but a provisional date of 8^th July was decided, subject to change if it conflicts with anything else. It had been decided to form a sub-committee to discuss the scheme, but after much argument about how many people should be on the committee, who they should be and when they should meet, the chair proposed that the issue be discussed in the full council meeting, which it then was. Clr. Cox volunteered to provide the barbecue, and Clr. Mrs. Gregory to organise the children’s sports events. Some discussion about drinks licensing resulted in the decision to ask one of the local pubs to run the bar. A bouncy castle will be sought out, and an ice-cream van. The hire of a marquee was deemed to be prohibitively expensive, and so had to be ruled out. The possibility of rigging a tarpaulin over scaffolding was suggested. However it seems that the event will be completely outdoors, so if the weather is inclement, it will have to be cancelled. There was some discussion about the timing of the event, as it is intended to include all ages. The children’s sports will have to be held in the afternoon, and they will require something to eat after those, but the barbecue was intended to be an evening event. This means that the children’s tea will have to be arranged independently of the evening catering. There was also the issue of what to do between the end of the children’s afternoon and the start of the barbecue; the possibility of arranging a children’s entertainer was discussed, but again ruled out on the grounds of cost. Whether to provide music or not, or whether there should be a disco was debated. The outcome was that as this was supposed to be a social event, appealing to as wide a spread of the community as possible, there would not be a disco. Discreet background music would be arranged if possible.

The allotment land is finally in the PC’s ownership. As this was the last part of the West estate to be sold off, the PC had received all the "left over" documents from the estate, a pile about two inches thick. Some of these date back to the 1870s. It is proposed that the documents be loaned to the County Records Office for microfilming, and they will be made available to the local history group. Back in the present, the Clerk has prepared new tenancy agreements for the allotments, and the initial rent was decided at £5 per plot per year. There are four plots available, so if anyone is interested, contact the Clerk to the Parish Council, Mr. Paul Dalton (640181) as soon as possible. The plots are available on a first-come, first-served basis, and your request should include your preferences as regards plot, if you have any. The council wish to see this very visible area tidied up, so there will be an obligation to look after the plot properly included in the tenancy agreement.

Under the regular topic of maintenance, the current road repairs on Longreave Lane were discussed. Clr Fawcett reported that the combination of reduced clearance during the work and large vehicles going to the depot in the business park had resulted in some of the verges in front of the bungalows being driven on. The lane was a bit messy at the moment, but the problem should rapidly resolve itself now that the road works were moving on and the vegetation started growing again. The road works are in preparation for the re-chipping of all the roads around the village later in the year. Another topical issue was BT’s work in the centre of the village. It would seem that BT should have asked for permission to dig up the green, but as the work had already been completed, and the green replaced, it was too late to do much about it. The work is taking place in order to remove the overhead wires in the conservation area.

Much correspondence received this month: A letter from a resident in The Meadows complained about horse riding in The Meadows area. Horses are not allowed to ride on footpaths and only have a right to ride on roads and bridleways. The council agreed that riding on footpaths could be dangerous to pedestrians, and resolved to obtain a prohibition sign for erection in the area. The resurfacing of the footpaths in the old churchyard is still awaiting the approval of the diocesan authorities. A questionnaire has been received from a Sheffield University student regarding the proposed reopening of the Matlock-Buxton railway. This provoked some surprisingly strong reactions amongst the councillors, but the majority were in favour. A letter from the DDDC drew attention to the next Community Forum meeting, which will be in Grindleford, in May. DDDC Clr. Mrs. Crowther urged attendance and said that the previous meetings had raised important issues and been of value to the participants. The Peak District National Park Authority have written with news that members of the public will be allowed to attend, and speak (briefly) at PDNPA meetings. A document received from DDC detailed the proposed ward boundary changes. These will put Longstone in a ward 35 miles across, and grouped with villages such as Grindleford and Nether Haddon. The PC resolved to object to the proposals on the grounds that the ward was too big, and that it connected villages with no previous social or geographical links. A letter inviting participation in this year’s Derbyshire Village of The Year competition has been received, and buoyed by last year’s success, the council resolved to enter again this year. Finally, the official planting the Millennium Tree will take place on 21^st March, at 2pm, by the footpath from Station Road to Wager’s Bridge.