crich area community news

Minutes of the meeting of Crich Parish Council
Monday, 9 January 2006, in the Glebe Field Centre

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Present: Cllr Lane (Chair), Cllr Brierton (Vice Chair), Cllrs Goodhead, Harris, Harwood, Salt, Smith, Tromans, and Whitney, Clerk in attendance, Cty Cllr Jackson, and 6 members of the public.

Apologies: Cllrs Bendon, Cooke, and Thorpe.

05/290 Public Participation
Two members of the public explained their objections to planning application AVA/2005/1502.

05/291 Minutes of the meeting of 5 December 2005
RESOLVED: that these be signed by the Chair after two amendments (05/269 add suggestion for Police to use facilities at Glebe Centre and 05/289 add The Beeches, letter to be sent to DCC on access and other matters).

05/292 Matters arising from the Minutes
Cllr Brierton had information that the mess on the verge at Town End had been caused by a low loader entering or leaving the Tramway Museum and asked the Clerk to write to the Museum.

05/293 Declarations of interest
Cllr Smith declared a prejudicial interest in planning application AVA/2005/1502. The application was not however discussed (see 05/302 below).

05/294 Police matters
No PC attended. Inspector Brown had taken charge of Alfreton Police Station and the subsection. Cllr Harwood reported a case of obstruction of the pavement on Bowns Hill. Cllr Tromans reported further from Wheatcroft. Cllr Smith said that Mrs Turville was now enquiries Clerk at Alfreton. The Council asked the Clerk to write to Inspector Brown about PC attendance in the light of the Chief Constable’s remarks at the Parishes’ Evening in November.

05/295 Length of meetings
Chair expressed concern at the length of Council meetings. A widely accepted time limit for efficient discussion was two hours. She intended to be stricter in confining members to speak on the items listed on the Agenda and would discourage serial repetition of views. She would also advise the Clerk on the provision of background material with the Agendas when necessary and asked members to contact the Clerk if they needed further assistance.

05/296 Local Authority Councillors
Cty Cllr Jackson reported: (a) The Common bus shelters would be resolved shortly; (b) he was pursuing the New Road access matter; (c) the Joint Transport Forum was to meet on 17 January (Cllr Harris asked for parking on pavements to be included); (d) on Police attendance at meetings he was going to the Chief Constable and was also arranging a joint meeting between local parishes and the Police on general policing issues; (e) there was a public meeting at Alfreton Leisure Centre on 10 January on a proposed crematorium in Alfreton Park.
Borough Cllr Thorpe (through the Chair) said that Cleanaway were looking at reinstating the green waste scheme, plus kerbside recycling of plastic and corrugated cardboard, and strategic siting of ‘plastic banks’.

Clerk’s Report
05/297 Allowances for Parish Councillors It was now possible for parish councillors to receive attendance allowances for the first time. A brief questionnaire from AVBC was discussed.
RESOLVED: not to recommend attendance allowances for parish councillors.
05/298 AVBC definition of affordable housing The definition from AV Housing Strategy 2005–10 was: ‘Affordable housing (within Amber Valley) is housing which can be accessed by households with an income that is on or below the median income of all households within Amber Valley. In accordance with the Housing Needs Survey (2000) households who fall into this category should not spend over 25% of their income on housing.’
RESOLVED: Clerk to request information from AVBC on income of households in Amber Valley and Crich Parish.
05/299 Grit bins After Cllr Brierton reported an empty grit bin at St Michael’s Close before Christmas, the Clerk had asked Mr MacArthur to inspect all the bins in Crich, Whatstandwell, and Fritchley and asked Cllr Tromans to look at Wheatcroft. The Clerk had asked DCC to fill empty bins. St Michael’s Close had been filled then emptied again quickly and it appeared that this could be theft. Members then reported various bins newly emptied in the cold spell. The Clerk would arrange to have them filled.

05/300 Planning procedure
Cllr Brierton put forward two motions for discussion. (a) ‘That the present new method of replying to planning applications via a planning committee of three members of the Council, should revert to the original method of the plans being put out for inspection at least 15 minutes before the start of the meeting.’
RESOLVED: that this motion be rejected.
(b) ‘That all plans are put out at least 15 minutes before the start of the meeting for all present Council members to inspect and be allowed to add any additional comments they may have on any of the applications.’
RESOLVED: that this motion be passed with the proviso that the Clerk is to request AVBC to extend the reply period if it fell before a regular meeting, but to submit the planning committee’s comments if an extension is refused.
Further discussion took place.
RESOLVED: that the Clerk inform all members of new planning applications.

05/301 Planning decisions
AVA/2004/1022 Wheatcroft House (Moore): wooden stable block. Appeals granted
AVA/2005/1301 The Cottages, Sun Lane, Crich (Harrison): demolition of garage + new access. Withdrawn

05/302 Planning applications
The Clerk apologized for not having sent the applications below to members of the planning committee as there had only been a few days for distribution after the holiday period and he believed that the Council would wish to consider at least two of them itself. He would keep to the agreed system in future and to the new resolutions adopted under 05/300 above. The Council then discussed what to do with these applications.
RESOLVED: to pass to the planning committee the following:
AVA/2005/1455 Plaistow House Farm (Hartshorne): certificate of lawfulness for haulage business.
AVA/2005/1494 Conway Reed, The Common, Crich (Else): 2 storey side extension.
AVA/2005/1502 Old Cottage, Taylor’s Yard (Curzon-Jones): rebuild derelict building.
The Chair asked other members to give their comments to the Clerk as well is they wished. Cllr Whitney said he agreed with the concerns expressed by the two parishioners about 2005/1502 and asked for his views to be included.

05/303 Transport
The DALG application has been submitted by the required date of 6 January. A consultant had been engaged who would complete his work by mid February. There would be a copyright fee for a digital map of the Market Place. Parkwood Conservation Group had been contacted on future footpath clearance work.

05/304 S137 Donations
The Council considered the Finance Committee’s recommendations (meeting on 2 December). The Chair also proposed a donation to Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal.
RESOLVED: to pay the following S137 donations for 2005/6:
1st CRICH SCOUT GROUP £200
CLIFF INN HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY £50
CRICH & NEIGHBOURHOOD COMMUNITY CARE SCHEME  £200
CRICH BRASS £250
CRICH EVERGREENS £200
DERWENT VALLEY MILLS PARTNERSHIP £50
FRITCHLEY OAP ASSOCIATION £200
FRITCHLEY PRIMARY SCHOOL GOVERNORS A/C £90
FRITCHLEY SPORTS CLUB TRUST £200
HEARING HELP (AMBER VALLEY) £100
MID-DERBYSHIRE CITIZENS ADVICE BUREAU £100
ROYAL BRITISH LEGION POPPY APPEAL £10
The Council would consider another application on receipt of accounts. The Council then considered the Finance Committee’s recommendation on level of the monthly grant to the Glebe Field Trust.
RESOLVED: to increase the monthly grant to the Glebe Field Trust to £462 from January.

05/305 Precept 2006/7
The Council considered the Finance Committee’s recommendations (meeting on 2 December) which excluded any sum contingent on a successful DALG application.
RESOLVED: to include the DALG application contingency sum and to set the Precept for 2006/7 at £33,000.

Accounts
05/306 Balances 9 December Current £39942.70; Jubilee £945.06; Charity £116.80

05/330 Circulars and publications
AVBC Minutes of Borough/Parishes Liaison Committee 30 November
AVBC Corporate Performance Plan 2005/6
Derbyshire Constabulary Minutes of Parish Councils’ Evening 3 November
Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site economic development plan (Dec 2005)
Office of Deputy PM: Standards of Conduct in English Local Government – the future

05/331 Information
Cllr Harris requested Clerk ask DCC to add the spur to the Surgery to its gritting schedule.
Cllr Goodhead asked Clerk to investigate current position of AVBC on lighting blackspots.
Cllr Harwood asked for the dirt and dog mess along Cromford Road pavements to be brought to AVBC’s attention. She also said the Burial Ground was full of molehills. Cllr Tromans would pass details of a molecatcher to the Clerk.
Cllr Brierton asked if the Glebe Centre car park could be made available to weekend walking groups if pre-booked.
The Chair asked that copies of a letter from the Environment Agency dated 30 December 2005 be distributed to members for discussion at the next meeting. She also reported that Crich Heritage Partnership had asked her to write a letter in support of their application for a Greenwatch award.