Parish Council Meeting 20th March 2002

The meeting was opened at 7:30, with Cllr. Hirst in the chair. Cllr. Askew submitted his apologies. The minutes of the previous meeting were approved, with one matter arising, that being the (re)naming of Great Longstone Wood. Several people had commented to councillors about this, that the wood already had a name, ‘The Willows’. Why had it been changed, without any consultation?
There were two planning applications considered. An extension and loft conversion at Netherdale, 2 Moor Road, was approved. Then consideration was given to an application to demolish The Bungalow (the wooden one) on Mires Lane and replace it with a stone-built house. This was discussed at length. All the councillors were in favour of the site being ‘redeveloped’ but several expressed concern over the size of the proposed new property. It was felt that replacing a bungalow with a full-size house was not acceptable, particularly as the site was a very prominent one, and the new property would be visible from many areas of the village. As the PPPB’s planning application rules specify that an application must either be approved or rejected, with no half measures, the vote resulted in the application be refused.
The financial situation of Ł1000 in the current account and Ł5191.23 in the deposit account was noted. Payments totalling Ł784.80 were approved, which the largest of Ł417 being the Clerk’s salary. This moved the discussion onto the next item, the Clerk’s Annual Salary Review. Prior to discussing remuneration, the Chairman read out the resignation of the current Clerk, Mrs. Stokes. The main reason for her resignation was the amount of time necessary to carry out all the work required, about double what she had been led to expect. The Chairman expressed his thanks for all the work Mrs. Stokes had done and his regret that she had decided to resign. The discussion moved onto the Clerk’s workload and salary. In the first three months of this year, the Clerk had spent about 140 hours on Council work. At the current pay rate, this worked out at just below Ł3 per hour, far below the minimum wage. The amount of time and effort the Clerk was required to expend was ever increasing, as the amount of ‘red tape’ and regulations relentlessly increased. Even for a small parish, the workload was now considerable, and the post was vastly different to what it had been a few years ago. Thus the Chairman proposed that the salary immediately be increased to equal the minimum wage rate, and this increase back-dated to the start of the year. The new salary would be Ł574 per quarter. This resolution was passed. It was further resolved that in future the Clerk’s salary would be reviewed every six months and that if a good Clerk was found, it would be worth paying more in order to retain them. As to a replacement for Mrs. Stokes, Cllr. Hirst had already approached Paul Dalton (the previous Clerk) and he had agreed to provide cover after Mrs. Stokes finished, and may consider returning to the job ‘full time’. The Council wasn’t clear whether it was obliged to advertise the post, so it was resolved to contact DDDC to ascertain this, and then consider the matter further next month.
Glebe Mines have agreed to provide the walling stone for the West Green, and the Council has already received donations totalling Ł1920, plus a promise of some new seats. It was felt that together with the grants available for walling, this would be enough to get then project underway. Two quotes had been received for the tree felling, with another expected, and it was resolved to accept the lowest. The Council felt that it would be worth reapplying to WREN for further grants once the work had been started, as the application may be looked upon more favourably. On the allotments proper, a site inspection had decided against draining the waterlogged plot, on the grounds of cost, but Cllr. Mrs.Gregory had obtained plans of the drain system, and armed with this, it appeared that draining would not be as big as job as thought. It was resolved to obtain some idea of the cost of a new drain, and then consider the matter again. It was noted there were still some plots available.
A letter had been received by the PC, copied to DDDC, pointing out that the ‘No Dogs’ signs on the recreation ground were not legally acceptable. This is because there are several public footpaths running across the ground, these are rights of way, and people cannot be prevented from taking their dogs with them when walking on a public footpath. DDDC had responded to the complainant, copying the Parish Council and they confirmed this was true, but that the dogs had to be under control and must not stray off the footpath, which would constitute trespass. The Council resolved to contact DDDC Cfor advice and suggestions, and discuss the matter further next month. It was also proposed to look into having the footpaths diverted to the edge of the ground.
It was confirmed that the minor repairs needed to the playground equipment – as reported by Wicksteed - would be carried out by a local contractor, who would also paint the goalposts. Cllr. Hirst reported that one of the Feemouth Yard gates had been removed by the PDNPA, the other would follow shortly. DCC had responded to the Council’s request for the footpath between the Crispin and Butts Road to be repaired and promised it would be done next financial year. Some of the blocked drains had been cleared, but some remained to be done. The Council had received a report that water coming off the roof of an outbuilding on The Close was pouring onto an adjacent public footpath; the Council resolved to ask the householder to rectify this.
The Council had been informed by Focsa, on the Business Park, that they intended to bid for a new contract that would require them to add a further five heavy vehicles operating out of the Park. It was reported that Glebe Mines had started work on Longstone Edge, by Wigley Lane, working West. A letter from the Kim Bramley Memorial Fund had been received asking if the Council would object to a stone picnic table being erected in Kim’s memory, near the children’s play area on the recreation ground. The Council had no objection in principle, but would need further details before actually deciding.
Cllr. Mrs. Gregory reported to the Council on her attendance at one of the meetings about the new ‘ethical framework’. All councillors will have to declare all their financial and land-owing interests, and any gifts received. The last point was greeted with merriment, the former with dismay. As was discussed, in rural areas farmers own a great many pieces of land, and reporting on each of these in detail would be an onerous task. The general feeling was that all the paperwork and ‘red tape’ was making taking on the responsibility of being a councillor just not worth the effort and that many parish, town, and even district, councillors would stand down. The feeling was that this was an unwarranted invasion of privacy and several councillors indicated they would not be seeking re-election next year. It was reported that if a parish or town could not form a council, the council’s assets would be taken over by the district council, and the parish would be run by the district council. It was not known, but it seems unlikely that once control was lost to the district, it could ever be regained.
Last month the Council received a report that the developer – and owner – of the new houses on Glebe Court was refusing to sell them even to people who fulfilled the ‘local needs’ requirements. Currently only one of the six houses is sold, and the other five tenants do not fulfil the ‘local needs’ conditions. It was resolved to report this to the PPPB and let them deal with it.
The Parish Council has been asked informally if they would object to the Well Dressing have a concrete plinth created below ground, so as to make it easier to fix the board upright, and if the Well Dressing could be lit, using the power outlet used by the Christmas Tree. The Council had no objections in principle, but would decide when the proposals were submitted in more detail.
The Jubilee Sports day is expected to be on 1st June, but a date has to be finalised by the Sports Day committee.
The local Beat Manager, PC Kevin Lowe, has expressed concern about dangerous parking when parents take or collect children from school. He also reported that the Longstone Neighbourhood Watch representative had not been attending meetings.
Great Longstone will be entering the Derbyshire Village of The Year competition again in 2002.
There were 11 items of correspondence received, the only one of which was considered was the notification of the Saturday Morning Waste Collection dates. Cllr. Casey requested a copy to put up in his shop, and a councillor expressed concern that parishioners didn’t know when the collections were due. The Clerk pointed out that the dates were on the Village Notice Board and were reported in Under The Edge.
The next meeting will be on 17th April, at 7:30pm in the Village Hall.