HARTINGTON TOWN QUARTER PARISH COUNCIL
A meeting of Hartington Town Quarter Parish Council was held on Wednesday, 1st April 2026 at 7.30pm in the Bakehouse.
Present: A Grindey, R Sherratt, S Bruce, S Wager, S Spencer and the clerk, S Hampson. There was one member of the public in attendance for part of the meeting.
Part 1 Non-confidential information
26.4.1 Apologies and attendance register
The members present completed the attendance register. Apologies had been received in advance of the meeting from Mr D Annat.
26.4.2 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. The minutes were duly signed by the Chairman, Mr Grindey.
26.4.3 County Councillor update
The County Councillor had been invited but unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances, was unable to attend. He is, however, going to attend the next meeting.
26.4.4 Public speaking
The member of the public in attendance reported that during periods of icy weather, some vehicles have collided with their walls on Hyde Lane. She also expressed concerns that vehicles exceeding the weight limit are also using Hyde Lane. This may be in part due to the signage not being readily observed. There is no weight limit sign near the funeral gate side of the church. Derbyshire County Council (DCC) had already been consulted about heavier traffic ignoring the weight limits and insufficient signage; however, DCC had advised that there were no issues with the signage. Hyde Lane is also quite narrow and a width restriction may also be of benefit.
Resolved: to request an additional weight limit sign, for additional clarity, at the junction of Church Street with Hyde Lane, near the funeral gate of the church.
26.4.5 Update from District Councillor and churchyard graves
The clerk had contacted the District Councillor regarding the manner in which some grave stones had been laid down in the church yard. The District Councillor had taken the matter to the Derbyshire Dales District Council (DDDC) and reported that DDDC were unaware of this and assumed this action had been undertaken upon instruction from the Diocese. DDDC were horrified by the lack of respect. Mr Sherratt had seen some of the contractors working and advised that some of the graves appeared to be forced down suggesting they were actually still safe upright. DDDC requested some photographs and will pursue answers.
The District Council was asked again about field 0657 which DDDC purchased many years ago as a possible extension to the cemetery administered by the parish council. The parish council would like to be in control of this field. The funding for the development for this field has been withdrawn but the District Council stated this could be reinstated.
Resolved: The District Councillor to make further enquiries about this field with DDDC.
The District Councillor has been the Civic Chairman for the last 10 months and invited the clerk and the members of a forthcoming civic service ceremony in May in the church.
26.4.6 Neighbourhood Plan and referendum
At the end of February. Mr Annat published an article updating residents on the Neighbourhood Plan in ‘News and Views’. At the time, he was unaware of the identity of the person who had queried the legality of the Section 18 process leading to the Referendum, as both the Steering Group and the Parish Council had been told by the Peak Park Authority that the person wished to remain anonymous. In fact, the Clerk had written asking for the person’s name, as the parish council felt it should be in the public domain; a reply was not received.
Much later, on 6th March,a member of the Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group received a letter from The Head of Planning stating, “I’ve just had contact from (name supplied) and I needed to advise you that there has been a misunderstanding between the Authority and (name supplied). (Name supplied) had not sought anonymity as regards his role in raising a concern on the neighbourhood plan.”
The following day, on 7th March, this resident wrote to Mr Annat, kindly informing him that he was the person who had identified the errors; had contacted the Authority by phone as early as 12th January and at no time had sought to remain anonymous. In fact, he was more than happy that his identity be known, as he felt that unless the section 18 process was repeated correctly, the Neighbourhood Plan could be subject to future challenge.
Mr Annat accepts he placed too much emphasis, in his article, on the matter of anonymity, rather than the fact that the PDNPA had both made an error to the titling of the schedule of modifications (Bradwell rather than Hartington) and also failed to post on their website, the specific regulation 18 Decision Statement which should set out the recommendations of the Inspector and the view of the local planning authority in whether to accept those recommendations. including any suggested modifications.
Mr Annat; therefore, posted an article and apology on the Community Group Website, identifying the Hartington resident who had identified PDNPA’s failure to follow the correct procedure and explaining that, due to procedural issues arising from errors on the part of PDNPA, there is a requirement for a fresh referendum on the Neighbourhood Development Plan.
The resident had made clear that his reason for flagging a statutory procedural issue with the PDNPA sought only to ensure that the Plan, once made, is sound and is available to support the interests of the community over the Plan period. The parish council totally accepts this and will be happy to set the record straight in the next publication of ‘News and Views’.
It has been a struggle to understand exactly what was wrong procedurally and it is clear that the incorrect information about anonymity was very unhelpful to both the parish council and members of the Steering Group. Overall, there have been clear and serious mistakes by the Authority in this matter. The parish council hopes the community responds in the same way to a second Referendum. The parish council is very grateful to the resident for his part in this and in future, the parish council welcomes early information from any member of the community, should such a matter ever again arise
Mr Annat had advised the clerk, immediately prior to the meeting, that PDNPA was due to post, on 1st April, the household and business letters, explaining their mistake and their intention to repeat Section 18 publicity and the second referendum. The date of the second referendum has not yet been confirmed; however, PDNPA has confirmed that the costs of dealing with the issue would be met by the Authority with no financial liability on the Parish Council.
26.4.7 Former cheese factory site, flood attenuation measures
The members were disappointed by the lack of a progress update from PDNPA regarding flood attenuation measures at the former cheese factory site as a previous communication suggested this would have been resolved in October 2025.
Resolved: the clerk to contact PDNPA for a definitive start date for the flood attenuation measures at Peakland Grange.
26.4.8 Grit bin monitoring and snow warden scheme
Resolved: Mr Grindey to check grit bin stocks
26.4.9 Seating
Mr Grindey will be unable to mend the damaged seat removed from the pond. He had obtained some further details and illustrations of seats available from a local company used in Bakewell. Delivery time will be approximately 6 weeks. The company does not install. For illustration, a bench seat with arms would be £618 plus VAT.
Resolved: Mr Grindey to obtain a price for a bench type seat, without arms, more in keeping with those already in place and members to view the seating policy.
26.4.10 Items of account, salaries, clerk’s pay award, HMRC, general administration, mowing contractor, bus shelter maintenance, on line banking
Cq 1880 Shelter Maintenance Bus shelter cleaning service £13.62 (VAT £2.27)
Cq 1881 S Hampson April clerk’s salary £455.41
Cq 1882 S Hampson April internet provision £17.00
Cq 1883 S Hampson Annual premises allowance £312.00
Cq 1884 S Hampson Reimbursement of expenses £9.90
Cq 1885 Hartington Community Group News and Views contribution £250.00
Cq 1886 DALC Annual subscription without training £195.03
Cq 1887 HMRC Awaiting national insurance figure £
Cq 1888 Hartington Village Hall Meeting hire for 26-27 (10 meetings) £275.00
26.4.11 Planning applications, planning sub-committee and appeals, enforcement
PDNPA had advised that proposals at Bank House would be going before planning committee on Friday, 10th April.
26.4.12 Highway issues, yellow lines, pot holes, street lighting, No though road sign at Reynards Lane
The village pavements have all been re-surfaced. In places, vehicles have parked on pavements resulting in tyre marks but of most concern is the area in front of the War Memorial. During the village enhancement scheme, the area in front of the War Memorial had been surface-dressed and the contractors have gone over the top of this.
Resolved: The clerk to contact Derbyshire County Council (DCC) regarding the disappointment of eradicating the defined area in front of the War Memorial during the pavement resurfacing.
DCC advised that the parking spaces previously requested to be converted to disabled spaces are not wide enough and there is no pavement access there. DCC recommend spaces at the DDDC car park.
The clerk had contacted the County Councillor regarding a number of outstanding highway reports. A number of these had been addressed although the quality of some of the repairs is questionable, including the repair on Stonewell Lane and around the grass island and it is doubtful that these repairs will last. Dig Street was reported as complete but members advised the grid near Digmer Farm has not been attended to and is dangerous. Potholes have developed on Hall Bank at the edge of the previously tarmaced area, near the junction with the lane. Mrs Spencer reported a lot of cases of dog faeces on Leisure Lane. One dog could be responsible for quite a lot of this and the parish council urge dog owners to be responsible and to pick up after their animals as children regularly walk this area.
Resolved: to report again, the grid area near Digmer Farm along with issues on Hall Bank.
Mr Grindey reported that the yellow lines need updating and repairing near Nettletor Farm. All the advisory posts detailing the seasonal yellow lines are missing. The edge of the road is also in need of repair prior to reinstating the yellow lines. Members discussed the seasonal yellow lines and considered the village would benefit from extending the period to 1 March to 31st October, annually.
Resolved: The clerk to contact DCC regarding the possibility of an amendment to the time period of the seasonal traffic regulation order and subsequently, for advisory posts to be reinstated
It was reported that parking on Hall Bank has become problematic again by some residential parking occurring on both sides of the road, effectively making Hall Bank a single track. As a consequence, some of the visitors to the YHA have parked on the grass verge causing damage and future difficulties for the mowing contractor.
Resolved: the clerk to contact the landlord of the Hall Bank property concerned with the vehicular parking issues.
The clerk had contacted the local Ranger regarding the Minor Maintenance Agreement (MMA) for footpaths available from DCC and for any tasks which could fit the criteria. She had suggested an approach to the owners of Nettletor Farm. Mr Grindey had visitor the owners and a suggestion had been received. The first gateway after the style where the public footpath leading from the rear of the public toilets crosses the ‘dirty lane’ is near a spring fed cattle watering rough. This area is frequently ‘boggy’ and would benefit from the import of some stone.
Resolved: the clerk to contact the Ranger regarding possible improvements to this gateway and for further guidance to achieve this.
26.4.13 Items for News and Views
Articles will continue to be placed regarding updates and information connected to the Neighbourhood Plan.
26.4.14 Correspondence and communication
Correspondence had been forwarded to members in advance of the meeting and in addition to those items addressed through the agenda:
PDNPA Local Plan Review: Publication of Settlement Character Analysis and Landscape Sensitivity Assessment and Regulation 19 consultation, PCSO April newsletter, Via Gelia average speed cameras switched on 16th March, DALC: April Forum: Flood Risk, Response & Emergency Planning, Update to HR Advisory Service for Members, Martyn’s Law, Trade Waste Collection documents completed by the clerk for cemetery bin, DCC Healthy beginnings support for parents to be.
26.4.15 Items for the next agenda
Neighbourhood Plan and Referendum, former cheese factory site and flood measures, grit bin monitoring. seating. Additional items to be compiled by the clerk.
26.4.16 Date of next meeting:
Wednesday, 6th May 2026.
This date will be for the Annual Parish meeting at 7.15 pm followed by the annual parish council meeting at 7.30 pm.
The meeting was declared closed at 9.10 pm
Mrs S Hampson, Clerk
Hartington Town Quarter Parish Council
3rd April 2026
©Hartington Town Quarter Parish Council minutes remain draft until approved by the parish council at the next meeting