A meeting of Hartington Town Quarter Parish Council was held on Wednesday, 8th June 2022 at 7.30pm in the Bakehouse of Hartington Village Hall.
Present: D Annat, E Broomhead MBE, S Bruce, S Wager, R Sherratt, Mr A Grindey (part of meeting), the clerk, S Hampson and District Councillor, D Chapman. There were no members of the public in attendance
Part 1 Non-confidential information
22.6.1 Apologies and attendance register
Apologies had been received from Mr S Wager. Members present completed the attendance register. There was no need, by any member present, to declare an interest in the agenda items below.
22.6.2 Minutes of the previous meeting
The minutes of the previous meeting had been forwarded to members in advance of the meeting and posted on the parish council’s website and noticeboard.
Resolved: to accept the minutes as a true record of proceedings. The minutes were signed by Mr Annat
22.6.3 Public speaking
There were no members of the public in attendance.
22.6.4 Update from District Councillor
Members reiterated information from previous meetings to the District Councillor about the state of the Derbyshire Dales District Council (DDDC) car park on Mill Lane, regarding the removal of all of the coping stones and the rubble left behind. District Councillor Chapman was also informed of the difficulties with car park payments experienced by many visitors with the ‘App’ payment due to poor mobile phone signals and its impact on car park revenue. Members remain concerned that the reduction in car park revenue may have an impact on the sustainability of the public toilets.
Resolved: District Councillor Chapman to report the above concerns to relevant personnel at DDDC.
District Councillor Chapman enquired if the parish’s waste collections had returned to normal. He further asked if the £150 energy payments had been received. It was thought, by those present, that this had not taken place and enquired about payments for those who do not pay their council tax by direct debit. District Councillor Chapman was advised that there were no suitable sites in the parish for traveller encampments. Details of the new Chief Executive at the Peak District National Park Authority (PDNPA) were provided.
22.6.5 War Memorial trees and land
A site meeting between the land owner and Mr Annat had not taken place prior to the meeting but this will happen soon.
22.6.6 Former cheese factory site
District Councillor Chapman was brought up to date on some information which may be very relevant to a potential application for a cheese heritage centre at the former factory site. He was further asked about the provision of the affordable housing at Peakland Grange, as now over 50% of the open market houses have been completed.
Resolved: District Councillor Chapman to report to the planning officer associated with the housing development regarding the position of the lack of progress with the affordable housing at the site.
The clerk had contacted BT for details of previously used painting contractors for the BT telephone box. An email contact had been forwarded and the clerk had sent an email but a response had not been received in time for the meeting. The clerk had also obtained a telephone number for a local contractor.
An invoice had been received from Hartington Village Hall in relation to three recent Neighbourhood Planning meetings in the village hall. Mr Annat reported that he had now formatted the neighbourhood plan document to enable all future amendments to automatically update eg numbering systems will automatically amend. He reported that another meeting will take place shortly to enable policies to be reviewed. Further contact had been made with PDNPA. A consultant will be required to write the ‘Conditions and Habitats Statement’. Money has been included in the parish council’s budget for this. The production of the Neighbourhood Plan will permit the parish boundary to be defined.
Resolved: District Councillor Chapman to liaise with a member of PDNPA regarding the production of the Conditions and Habitats Statement and to advise the parish council accordingly.
22.6.9 Queen’s Jubilee Outcome
The £500 grant from Derbyshire Dales District Council (DDDC) had been received into the parish council’s bank account. Mrs Broomhead MBE had provided an invoice from the Hartington Community Group (HCG) in support of this and some images of other expenditure
Resolved: To donate the equivalent of the jubilee grant to HCG by way of reimbursement jubilee celebration costs.
Resolved: The clerk to submit the HCG invoice to DDDC and await any further requirements from DDDC.
Mr Annat thanked HCG and Mrs Broomhead MBE along with all other volunteers for their contribution to a very successful series of events to mark the jubilee occasion.
22.6.10 New cemetery fees
The clerk had prepared new cemetery fees in line with DDDC fees.
Resolved: to implementthe new fees with immediate effect and place on the website.
Mr Annat asked the District Councillor to find out whether DDDC would consider a partial transfer of the previously acquired field 0657, to the ownership of the parish council, to preserve it for future burial use and extension to the existing cemetery administered by the parish council. Ideally, it would be to facilitate approximately 50 burial plots in the future.
Resolved: District Councillor Chapman to make enquiries and report back to the parish council.
22.6.11 Review of policies
The clerk had forwarded existing policies to members, for consideration and review, in advance of the meeting. Mr Annat had viewed all of these.
Resolved: To accept the policy review dates without the need to materially amend the policy contents.
Resolved: Mr Annat, Mrs Hampson and Mrs Broomhead MBE to review the parish council’s standing orders, in comparison to a more recent NALC model copy, and to report back at the July meeting.
22.6.12 Bank Account
The clerk had contacted DALC regarding a possible switch of bank account to another provider. Mr Annat had reviewed one suggestion and it appeared to be satisfactory. It did, however, involve a £6 monthly administration fee and deposits for this financial institution cannot be made at the post office. Members discussed the possibility of running bank accounts from two different providers and to close the Nat West business reserve account.
Resolved: The clerk to make further contact with DALC regarding this particular bank, for additional information about receipts and payments and to report back at the July meeting.
22.6.13 Items of account, salaries, HMRC, general administration
Cq 1570 B Coles Mowing for May, inc. additional village hall £564.00 (VAT £94)
Cq 1571 HMRC Income tax £204.00
Cq 1572 S Hampson June clerk’s salary £257.25
Cq 1573 S Hampson June internet provision £17.00
Cq 1574 S Hampson Reimbursement of expenses £11.69
Cq 1575 Hartington Village Hall Hire for June meeting £27.50
Cq 1596 Hartington Community Group Jubilee grant money £500.00
Cq 1597 Hartington Village Hall Hire for 3 Neighbourbood Plan meetings £36.00
A cheque issued to Hartington Village Hall for hire had not been presented for over 6 months. In view of the fact that the parish council overpays each month for hire of the Bakehouse for meetings, Mrs Broomhead MBE had advised the clerk to write this cheque off.
Mrs Brooomhead MBE advised that a cheque, previously given to Hartington Community Group (HCG) for £190 for First Aid training, was thought to have been lost in the post. The clerk had checked the accounts in May and this cheque had not been presented but the June bank statement had not been received by the meeting.
Resolved: to issue a replacement cheque, for £190 (First Aid Course contribution) at the July meeting, if the previously issued cheque for this amount has not been presented.
22.6.14 Planning sub-committee, planning applications and appeals
There were no new planning applications to consider.
22.6.15 Highway issues and yellow lines, potholes, footpaths, street lighting
The clerk had received a request from Derbyshire County Council (DCC) to consider completing a Minor Maintenance Agreement (MMA) in relation to works on local footpaths. The clerk had contacted the Ranger Service to see if any footpaths could be identified for attention under this scheme. Mr Annat referred to a previous area of concern near Beresford Dale but this work would probably not fall under the remit of the MMA scheme.
22.6.16 Correspondence and communication
Details had been forwarded to members in advance of the meeting and in addition to those matters covered by the agenda included: Rural Bulletins, PDNPA Local Plan Review*, training sessions on Law and Good Practice and Anti-Social Behaviour, RSN Rural funding.
*Mr Annat had forwarded some information on the PDNPA Local Plan Review and this will be considered further, at the July meeting, prior to the submission deadline.
Mr Annat had undertaken a site meeting with a representative from DCC regarding flood risk in the village. As part of this walking tour of the village, Mr Annat had pointed out issues with culverts. He reported that the culvert at Dig Street has completely collapsed. The narrow replacement culvert at the new housing development may be leading to problems further up the village, as all culverts meet at Stonewell Lane. Mr Annat had requested the use of CCTV to establish problem locations but this is costly. The cost of replacing all of the village culverts could approach £1,000,000! Unfortunately, in comparison to other areas of high risk of flood damage, Hartington features quite low in the priority list for DCC. The local immediate need/problem areas should be identified.
The DCC personnel advised Mr Annat that DCC had not been consulted on the swale and flood alleviation scheme at the new housing development. He stated that from what he had seen so far at this location, it will not be successful.
Resolved: Mr Annat to email District Councillor Chapman with concerns expressed by DCC at the new housing development regarding the swale and flood alleviation scheme. This should enable consultation to take place with the responsible planning officer.
22.6.18 Date of next meeting: Wednesday, 6th July 2022
Part 2 Confidential information
There were no confidential items to discuss.
The meeting was declared closed at 8.50 pm.
Mrs S Hampson,
Clerk,
Hartington Town Quarter Parish Council,
9th June 2022