LITTLE EATON PARISH COUNCIL

clerk@littleeatonparishcouncil.org.uk

Minutes of the Monthly Council Meeting held on

Wednesday 25th February 2026 at Little Eaton Village Hall.

PRESENT:  Parish Councillors D Howard (Chair), R Brown, J Bush, S Caines, A Done-Johnson, E Jennison-Boyle, J Reid, & P Rowlinson

 

IN ATTENDANCE: Parish Clerk

25/164 Apologies for absence were received from Councillor P Rowlinson.

25/165 To receive declaration of Members Interests – None.

25/166 To consider any applications for dispensations – None.

25/167 Public Speaking – (15 Minutes)

A period of not more than fifteen minutes will be made available for members of the public and Members of the Council to comment on any matter.

If the Police Liaison Officer, a County Council or Borough Council Member is in attendance they will be given the opportunity to raise any relevant matter.

There were no members of the public in attendance at the meeting.

PCSO Helen Brown attended the meeting and reported that the police are still targeting traffic with the focus on the ‘fatal 4’ in and around the area. The fatal 4 targets phone use whilst driving, no seatbelt, driving under the influence and speeding.

Parking on the zigzag lines at the Co-op is also being regularly enforced with a number of Notices of Intended Prosecution (NIP) being issued.  This will continue over the coming months.  Councillor Brown will write a post for social media reminding residents that it is illegal to park on zigzag lines.

The SNT are strengthening their engagement with the community by working with year 6 pupils at the primary school on a weekly basis and continuing regular Street Meets outside the Co-Op.  Upcoming Street Meets dates can be found on their website.

County Councillor Hart and Borough Councillor Eddy were unable to attend due to other meeting commitments.

County Councillor Hart sent a written report stating that she had again reported the uncollected signage left following the completion of temporary road work and also added some more that a resident had reported directly to her. CC Hart also stated that she has informed Highways that if they cannot collect the signage, she is prepared to collect and take it to a depot.  She is currently awaiting a response.

Complaints about potholes and the length of time taken to sort them continues. However, it was noted that this is the first bad weather the new administration has had to deal with and the Highways teams are working flat out.

Lots of trees are being felled due to Ash Die back but hopefully the Heartwood Forest scheme will replace some of them.

Borough Councillor Eddy also sent a written report.

Food waste bins are being delivered with the instructions on how they need to be used ready for food waste collections starting on 31^st March.

Garden waste subscriptions are now open and if you sign up before March 31^st the cost is £25 rather than £37 after this date. More information is here Grab our £25 garden waste deal.

There is a landlord and agents forum at Morley Hayes on Tuesday 24^th March, this is to help with the new legislation that comes into force on 1^st May. More information can be found by clicking the following link. Advice event for landlords as renters get new rights.

The Mayor has launched his Erewash Voluntary Civic awards.  There are 7 different categories and if you want to nominate anyone use the following. Nominate your local heroes!

The finances at Erewash look like there will be an underspend, the Executive are looking to introduce free parking in December, deliver a new play park and launch a new Parish Grant fund.

25/168 Variation of Order of Business – None.

25/169 To consider a resolution to close the meeting for public participation under the Public Bodies (admission to meetings) Act 1960 – Not applicable.

25/170 To confirm the minutes of the monthly meeting held on 28th January 2026.  All agreed that the Chair be authorised to sign the minutes of the monthly council meeting held on 28^th January 2026 as being a true and correct record.

25/171 Chair’s Report

The Chair thanked Councillors for their hard work clearing the leaves from the gullies around the Village Hall.

Thanks were also given to Councillor Reid for installing the new playground sign.

Actions from the Minutes

24/179 Cycle parking at Croft Corner/Greenway and ways to discourage pavement parking. The Croft Corner planters are ready for delivery and the school are very keen to adopt them and will supply the plants.  Chris Camp has some soil that he is willing to provide.

25/172 Report of the Parish Clerk – Nothing to report.

25/173 To receive Working Group Feedback (except if the issue is elsewhere on agenda):

•        Village Hall

• The solar panels are now installed and generating electricity.
• The emergency lighting has been replaced in the whole building and the cost will be split between the Parish Council and the Village Hall Committee.

•        Park Group

• The new playground surface around the roundabout will be completed tomorrow.
• The new playground gate has been installed and Councillor Reid has received positive comments from users.
• Application for funding for the accessibility swing have been submitted.
• Councillor Reid will look to see if the section of playground fence removed to make way for the new entrance can be repurposed to block off the old entrance.

• Councillors Brown and Reid have cleared out the broken toilet and are sourcing a like-for-like replacement.
• Bottle Brook Gardens have quoted £120+VAT to repair the area in the park where the water leak was. All agreed to accept the quote and ask Bottle Brook Gardens to proceed with the work.
• Duffield Cricket Club have said that they wish to go ahead with installing an all-weather wicket within the current wicket area of St Peter’s Park.
• Churchyard Sub Group
• The Chair stated that he had received communication from the Vicar regarding the benches, troughs and compost heap. A scheme will need to be drawn up for presentation to the church for approval.
• The trees have now been removed and it is intended that three new, fairly large, trees will be planted to fill the gap at the front of the church to create an avenue.
• Finance Group
• It was agreed that the Finance Group will meet on 11^th March 20296 at 8pm.

•        Environmental Action Group (EAG)

• A February litter pick was well attended and it has been decided to aim to do them monthly going forward. The next litter pick will be on 8^th
• Councillor Reid proposed that the Parish Council purchase 10 litter pickers and 10 bag hoops for approximately £300. It was agreed to purchase the litter pickers and bag hoops and then claim reimbursement from the environmental grant secured last year.
• The recycling hub is doing really well, in particular the blister packs.

•        Footpaths

• The footpaths remain too muddy for any work to be undertaken.

25/174 Finance – Payments for February totalling £6,185.86 were circulated to members for approval. All agreed that the payments be approved and the accounts to which they relate paid.

25/175 Planning Applications

Application number: ERE/038746 – 7 Morley Lane, Little Eaton DE21 5AH

Erection of Two Storey Extension, Enlargement of Two Front Dormers, Erection of Rear Dormer, Alteration of Fenestration, Installation of Roof Lights, Installation of Render and Timber Cladding. Associated External Alterations.  It was resolved that the Parish Council has no objection to the application.

25/176 To consider the refurbishment of the Sports Pavilion.  The Chair stated that he has had an initial meeting with a contractor to look at converting the pavilion toilets and half of the storeroom into three separate unisex toilets, a disabled toilet and a kitchenette. The idea would be that the kitchenette could be hired out for use as a tuck shop or similar during events on the park.

The Chair has also engaged with the Cricket Board and the Football Association with a view to revamping the pavilion to meeting current regulations.

The next step is to approach the football clubs and cricket club to make sure that the specification meets their needs.

25/177 Correspondence for Action

• The Clerk received correspondence regarding cars parking in the bus stop at the bottom of Barley Close. This has been reported to DCC for enforcement as the police had stated that it is not within their remit.
• An email was received reporting a number of discarded temporary road works signs. These have been reported to DCC.  As mentioned above Councillor Hart is follow up to ensure these are removed.

25/163 Correspondence for Information

DCC have provided the following information regarding the location of grit bins owned by the Parish and County Councils.

Grit bin no – GB1364 Woodlands Close, – Owner LEPC

Grit bin no – GB0624 Wesley Crescent – Owner LEPC

Grit bin no – Morley Lane – Owner DCC

• It was noted that there are more than 3 grit bins in Little Eaton and so it was agreed that Councillor Caines will log all the grit bins and their location, so that the Parish Council can update DCC’s list.

There being no further business the Chair declared the meeting closed at 8.45pm.