Council Meeting – 23rd April 2025
LITTLE EATON PARISH COUNCIL
clerk@littleeatonparishcouncil.org.uk
Minutes of the Monthly Council Meeting held on
Wednesday 23rd April 2025 at Little Eaton Village Hall.
PRESENT: Parish Councillors Howard (Chair), R Brown, E Jennison-Boyle, J Reid, P Rowlinson and K Shankland
IN ATTENDANCE: Parish Clerk
25/001 To receive apologies for absence – Apologies for absence were received and accepted from Councillors J Bush, and E Poyser-Darby who were unable
to attend due to work commitments.
25/002 To Receive Declaration of Members Interests – Councillors D Howard and J Reid declared an interest in agenda item 24/196 as they are members of the Carnival Committee. Councillor D Howard declared an interest in
item 25/014 as his wife is a member of the Little Eaton Greenway Support Group.
25/003 To consider any applications for Dispensations – none.
25/004 Public Speaking – (15 Minutes)
(a) 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
(b) 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
The two applicants for the Councillor Vacancies were present.
District Councillor Eddy sent her apologies.
Councillor Hart stated that Derbyshire County Council has published its Council Plan 2025-29 which sets out its direction and priorities for the next four years. A copy of which can be accessed here.
Councillor Hart has received correspondence from a resident concerned about the potential problems with parked cars once the Greenway opens. Highways are currently looking into this so that any disruption can be minimised.
DCC have now planted around 660,000 trees towards their pledge to plant a million trees by 2030.
Erewash Borough Council’s Core Strategy setting out the strategy for development across the Borough has been updated. There doesn’t appear to be anything that will impact Little Eaton in the revisions
PCSO Supervisor Steve Bowlzer attended the meeting as PCSO Helen Brown was unavailable. There is little to note as far as the police are concerned in Little Eaton at the moment. PCSO Helen Brown is continuing her 3
monthly rolling calendar of planned street meets and the Parish Council should get an updated copy soon.
25/005 Variation of Order of Business – It was agreed to move agenda item 25/015 to before agenda item 25/009 Chair’s report so that it could be discussed while PCSO Bowlzer and DCC Hart were still in attendance.
25/006 To consider a resolution to close the meeting for public participation under the Public Bodies (admission to meetings) Act 1960 – not applicable.
25/007 To confirm the minutes of the monthly meetings held on 26th March 2025 – All agreed that the Chair be authorised to sign the minutes of the monthly council meeting held on 26th March 2025 as being a true and correct
record.
25/008 To consider applications for Councillor co-option – Applications for the two Councillor vacancies were circulated to members. As there were two applications for two vacancies a vote was not necessary, and all agreed
to co-opt Stuart Caines and Andrew Done-Johnson to the roles of Parish Councillor. Stuart and Andrew signed the Acceptance of Office and Councillors welcomed them to the Parish Council.
25/015 To consider parked cars blocking access to Windy Lane – It was reported that delivery drivers and tradesmen are regularly blocking the entrance to Windy Lane. Presumably this is because the entrance to Windy
Lane is narrow and it’s not clear that vehicular access to the lane is required at all times. Following discussion it was established that Windy Lane is potentially a private road and therefore it will be for the residents to purchase and
install a sign indicating that access to the road is required at all times.
25/009 Chair’s Report – It was reported that Di Mulvey is stepping down as co-ordinator for the distribution of the quarterly newsletter. The Chair and Councillors expressed their sincere thanks to Di for her years of ensuring that
the newsletter is delivered efficiently to every household in the parish.
The Chair also expressed sincere thanks on behalf of the Council to the WI for their fundraising over the last year towards the restoration of the churchyard. They raised a staggering £2,340 which will pay for the repairs to the
corner wall of the churchyard boundary.
Actions from the Minutes
24/179 Update on cycle parking at Croft Corner/Greenway and ways to discourage pavement parking. Responses from residents to the proposals outlined in the Spring Newsletter, to manage the illegal parking at Croft
Corner, have been favourable and so the Chair will chase Richard Handbury at DCC for an update on the cycle racks and permissions etc.
24/178 To consider content and format of the Annual Parish Meeting (APM). Raising awareness of the APM was discussed again and the hope that tickets to the various events that Carnival is putting on over the year will be
available will encourage attendance. It was also agreed to invite the Kitchen Choir to perform at the APM.
24/196 To consider a funding request from Little Eaton Carnival Committee towards its 100th anniversary activities – Councillor Brown proposed and Councillor Shankland seconded that the remainder of the 2024/25
budgeted S137 expenditure should be given to the Carnival Committee in recognition of all the events they are organising this year. All agreed to allocate £725 to the Carnival Committee.
25/010 Report of the Clerk – The Clerk reported that she has prepared all the year-end documents ready for inspection by the Internal Auditor.
25/011 Working Group Feedback:
• Village Hall
o The Treasurer’s handover will commence shortly.
o There are issues with the alarm going off randomly which the Caretaker is investigating.
• Park Group
• Park
o Mowing in the village has resumed and no issues have arisen.
• Churchyard Sub Group
o The Rotary Club have done a great deal of vegetation clearance.
o Councillor Howard has walked around he churchyard with his Natural England contact. Comments were that there are too many fir trees and that in order to increase biodiversity further, there is a need for some water features, hedges and a wildflower area.
o The path in the churchyard continues to deteriorate and therefore the requirement to lay a new path is becoming more urgent. The Clerk will chase the contractor for a start date and investigate whether the quote from AB Camp still stands should the chosen contractor not be in a position to renew the path imminently.
o The setting up of a ‘friends of the churchyard group’ is progressing. A number of people have expressed an interest in getting involved and it is envisaged that a WhatsApp group will be formed.
This group is open to anyone that would like to get involved, please contact the Clerk or the Chair if interested.
• Finance Group – no update
• Environmental Action Group
o A recent retiree has offered to take on coordinating the creation of the recycling hub in the phone box.
o The next litter pick will take place on 18th May starting from Croft Corner at 10am.
• Footpaths
o The Chair stated that he had not yet managed to meet up with Councillor Bush regarding clearing the brambles on footpath number 2.
25/012 Finance
Payments for April totalling £2,749.59 were circulated to members for approval. All agreed that the payments be approved and the accounts to which they relate paid.
It was noted that the 2025/26 precept of £44,303.00 has been received.
A bank reconciliation showing the current account balance of £53,444.82 was circulated to members.
25/013 Planning Applications
Application Reference: ERE/0425/0005 – Land North East of 6 The Chase Little Eaton Derbyshire DE21 5AS
Proposed Development: Application for approval of reserved matters (appearance, landscape and layout) following
outline approval. (ERE/0422/0051)
It was resolved that the Council has no objection to this application, although it appears that the parking is very
limited for a 3 bed house where there is no roadside parking available due to the width of the road.
Application Reference: ERE/0425/0018 – 7 Barley Close, Little Eaton
Proposed Development: Formation of Front Car Parking Area and Terracing of Rear Garden
It was resolved that the Council objects to this application for the following reasons.
• Flooding in the area during the 2023 storms was exacerbated by water run-off from this street. This would be
further increased if what is currently a garden becomes paved for car parking.
• It will lead to a loss of a village characteristic, as there is currently a stone wall which runs along the length of the
front of these houses.
• It will remove public parking and make it more difficult for other residents to park.
• The road and pavement are quite narrow and this could cause safety issues for pedestrians and road users.
• It will set a precedent, encouraging other residents to also pave over their front gardens to create private parking,
which will exacerbate all the above.
25/014 To consider a funding request from Little Eaton History Club and Little Eaton Greenway Support Group – An application for funding of £1,000 towards 5 display Boards to be erected on the Little Eaton Greenway
was circulated to members. Following discussion, it was resolved to offer £500 towards the display boards.
25/015 To consider parked cars blocking access to Windy Lane – see above.
25/016 To consider the request from Duffield Cricket Club to install a fixed artificial wicket in St Peter’s Park in conjunction with opinions from residents – It was noted that following a request for comments from residents
in the Spring Newsletter only one response has been received. As this was in favour of the request it was resolved that Councillor Reid will inform Duffield Cricket Club that they can go ahead and install a fixed artificial wicket on the
park.
25/016 Correspondence for Action – none
24/200 Correspondence for Information
• Erewash Borough Council has produced and approved an amended version of its Core Strategy Review which will now be subject to a six-week public consultation period. Amendments are supported by a range of new
evidence and these materials are available to view from https://www.erewash.gov.uk/planning/planning information/erewash-core-strategy-review/core-strategy-review-amendment-consultation. Consultation runs
for a six-week period beginning on Monday 7 April 2025 and ends at midnight on Monday 19 May 2025.
There being no further business the Chair declared the meeting closed at 8.44pm.
