Council Meeting – 26th March 2025

LITTLE EATON PARISH COUNCIL

clerk@littleeatonparishcouncil.org.uk

Minutes of the Monthly Council Meeting held on

Wednesday 26^th March 2025 at Little Eaton Village Hall.

• PRESENT: Parish Councillors Howard (Chair), R Brown, J Bush, J Reid and K Shankland
• IN ATTENDANCE: Parish Clerk

24/183 To receive apologies for absence

Apologies for absence were received and accepted from Councillors E Jennison-Boyle, E Poyser-Darby who were unable to attend due to work commitments and P Rowlinson who was ill.

24/184 To Receive Declaration of Members Interests – Councillors D Howard and J Reid declared an interest in items 24/167, 24/176 and 24/196 as they are members of the Carnival Committee.

24/185 To consider any applications for Dispensations – none.

24/186 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 was one member of the public present who attended the meeting to observe.

Rachel Scott, Community Health and Wellbeing Development Officer from Erewash Borough Council attended the meeting to talk about Erewash walking month, which following feedback, will this year be held in May when it is hoped the weather will be better.

There are a range of walks on offer over the course of the month, whether you are interested in learning about local history, exploring nature or socialising with friends.  More information can be found here or on the Parish Council website.

The 85 mile challenge will take place again this year, whereby participants walk 85 miles during the National Walking Month of May. This equates to 2.74 miles each day and is approximately 54 minutes walking every day throughout the month of May.

County Councillor Hart and District Councillor Eddy sent their apologies as they were unable to attend the meeting.

Councillor Hart sent an update via email.

Regarding the sale of County Hall in Matlock, there has been a lot of interest from hoteliers and it is not expected that the sale will cost the taxpayer anything. Smaller new DCC offices will be built in the car park.

DCC are about half way there with the pledge to plant a million trees by 2030.

Devolution proposals from DCC and the Derbyshire Borough and District Councils have now been submitted to Government.

PCSO Helen Brown was also unable to attend the meeting, however she sent a report.

Helen has continued to keep an eye on parking issues around the Co-op and has requested that parking enforcement officers pay attention to this area.

A street meet outside the Co-op took place on 24^th March and Helen was able to speak with quite a few residents about their concerns.

There have been a couple of incidents around false banknotes recently which are being investigated.

Helen is supporting a recently formed group of Public Service Student Volunteers who will carry out Speed watch sessions in both Little Eaton and Breadsall.

24/187 Variation of Order of Business – none

24/188 To consider a resolution to close the meeting for public participation under the Public Bodies (admission to meetings) Act 1960 – not applicable.

24/189 To confirm the minutes of the monthly meetings held on 26^th February 2025 – All agreed that the Chair be authorised to sign the minutes of the monthly council meetings held on 26^th February 2025 as being a true and correct record with the following amendment:

24/190 Chair’s Report – It’s pleasing to see the zig-zag lines on the road near the Co-op reinstated, although there are still other areas in the village that require lines to be repainted. The give way lines at the bottom of Morley Lane have been reported to DCC as have the potholes.

The Chair attended the Parish Council Liaison Forum in Matlock earlier in the month. This gave him an opportunity to present the Parish Council’s proposal to prevent cars parking on the pavement at Croft Corner.  DCC gave favourable feedback on the proposal, although they were not keen on concrete bollards and would rather see planters. DCC said that can donate some cycle racks that they would also be willing to install. This will be especially welcome once the Greenway is open as it is anticipated that it will bring more cyclists to the village to use the shops and cafes.

The boundary wall at St Paul’s churchyard has now been repaired as has the memorial garden seating area wall.  All the storm damage has now been repaired.

The Churchyard Group now has 3 members, and the Rotary Club will also be asked to be part of the group.

The Newsletter, which is now in colour was well received by residents and the advertisers were happy with the new look.

The Chair thanked Councillor Rowlinson for keeping residents informed of events in the village and Parish Council news with her social media posts.

Actions from the Minutes

24/179 Update on cycle parking at Croft Corner/Greenway and ways to discourage pavement parking. See Chair’s report above.

24/176 To further consider request from Little Eaton Carnival Committee to use the Sports Lounge during its Beer Festival. The response from the Carnival Committee regarding the Parish Council’s concerns about protecting the Sport Lounge flooring from beer spillages was circulated to member.  It was agreed that as long as the Carnival Committee acknowledge that it will be their responsibility to get the carpets commercial cleaned, should it be necessary, the Parish Council will allow the use of the Sports Lounge for the Beer Festival.

24/167 To further consider the Carnival Committee’s request to use St Peters Park for an outdoor cinema event in September. The Carnival Committee’s response to the Parish Council’s queries regarding the outdoor cinema was circulated to members.  It was agreed that the Parish Council are happy for the event to take place on the park, however the Carnival Committee will need to consider disabled access to toilets and should consider hiring the village hall to allow access to the toilets in the foyer.  It was also noted that the pavilion toilets will need to be open beyond the usual hours. It was also resolved to ask the Carnival Committee what their plans were for clearing any litter etc left on the park and car park, after the event.

24/178 To consider content and format of the Annual Parish Meeting (APM). Councillors discussed how they could raise awareness of the APM and encourage more residents to attend. It was agreed to email local organisations to invite them to make a tabletop display at the meeting and asking for suggestions on how turnout can be improved. It was noted that tickets to the various events that Carnival is putting on over the year will be available at the Annual Parish Meeting.

24/191 Report of the Clerk – The Clerk reported that she had spoken with the insurance brokers and they had recommended that as the Pavilion and Village Hall have not been valued for over 5 years the Parish Council should consider getting this done.  The brokers can do a desktop valuation for £150+VAT, but it may have to be treated as 2 separate properties.  It was agreed that the brokers should be instructed to undertake a revaluation of the village hall and pavilion if it can be done as one property, as it is only for lottery purposes that the building is classed as two.

24/192 Working Group Feedback:

• Village Hall
  • The Treasurer’s role has now been filled.
  • Hall usage is up and the table tennis club are returning.
  • Storage needs to be better organised and the Committee will ask the user groups what storage they need and ensure that only items that are still being used are stored in the village hall.
• Park Group
• Park
  • Councillor Reid is meeting the new Millenium Way contractor on Friday to undertake the first cut and then the contractor will carry on in the same manner going forward.
  • Maintenance of the car park has commenced for 2025 and the drains around the Village Hall have been cleared.
• Churchyard Sub Group
  • Councillor Reid has repaired the coping stones that were hidden under the ivy on the boundary wall.
  • More of the waste generated from clearing the churchyard will be used to create wildlife habitat which will also reduce the amount of waste being taken to the recycling centre.
• Finance Group – no update
• Environmental Action Group
  • Meetings have now resumed.
  • It was decided that the priority will be creating the recycling hub in the phone box and ensuring that someone has responsibility for taking each of the types of recycling, once full, to the central recycling point.
  • The litter pick took place on 16^th March but was poorly attended.
• Footpaths
  • It was noted that the owner of the land next to footpath 2 on Morley Lane has cut back some of the hedge, however there are brambles which Councillor Bush will clear with help from Councillor Howard.
  • Councillor Bush will start his early season walk around soon to check that the footpaths are clear.

24/193 Finance

Payments for February totalling £1,763.51 were circulated to members for approval. All agreed that the payments be approved and the accounts to which they relate paid.

A bank reconciliation showing the current account balance of £14,335.23 was circulated to members.

A Full Year Budget -v- Actuals comparison was circulated to members.  There were no queries on the comparison.

24/194 Planning Applications

Application: ERE/0325/0002 – 1Stoney Cove, Rigga Lane, Little Eaton Derbyshire DE56 4BL

Proposed Development: to replace the existing detached garage with a Granny Annexe

It was resolved that the Council has no objection to this application subject to mitigating measures being incorporated to ensure there is no increase in surface water run-off following completion of the development.

24/195 To consider Councillor Co-option – the vacancies were advertised in the Spring Newsletter and one person has so far shown interest.  The Clerk will also post the vacancies on the website.

Anyone interested in becoming a Parish Councillor should contact the Clerk for more information and to request an application form.

24/196 To consider a request from Little Eaton Carnival Committee for funding towards its 100^th anniversary activities – An application for funding of £650 from the Carnival Committee towards the 100^th Anniversary events was circulated to members.  It was noted that £725 remains in the 2024/25 budget for S137 expenditure.  Councillors are minded to award this amount in full to the Carnival Committee however a final decision will be made at the next meeting when more Councillors, who are not involved in the Carnival Committee, should be in attendance.

24/197  To consider a request from Little Eaton Football Club and Little Eaton Diamonds to replace the goals on St Peter’s playing field with portable goals and store them in open view close to the pavilion

An email was circulated to members from Little Eaton Football Club requesting permission from the Parish Council  for new portable goals purchased by the club, to be stored in open view close to the Pavilion, for security reasons.

Following discussion the following observations and concerns were raised:

• There is a path that runs around the perimeter of the Pavilion and it would not be appropriate to store goals on this path as it would adversely affect accessibility for people with prams and those in wheelchairs.
• If the goals were to be moved out slightly to avoid the path they would then be on the grass which would interfere with the grass mowing and take up an area which is regularly used.
• The goals would also cause a trip hazard, which could make the Parish Council, as owners of the land, liable for any potential injury claim.
• There is a significant risk of unauthorised use, with the goals being moved so that they can be used to play football by people not associated with the club and in unsuitable areas of the park.  In fact, this has already been experienced with the cricket screens, which were moved around the park and used as football goals.  This eventually led to them being broken and dangerous and was one of the primary reasons they were removed.  With the goals being on wheels this makes them even more likely to be moved around the park.
• St Peter’s Park is a multi-use area and all users have to be considered.

It was resolved that there is no suitable location on the park where the goals could be stored securely to mitigate the above hazards and therefore the new goals need to be stored securely in the pavilion to mitigate any risk of damage to the goals or members of the public.

24/198 To note the change in time for the Annual Parish Council meeting and the Annual Parish Meeting in May – it was noted that the Annual Parish Meeting  will now be held on Wednesday 28^th May between 7pm and 9pm and the Annual Meeting of the Parish Council will be held on Wednesday 21^st May at 7pm.

24/199 Correspondence for Action

• To note the response received from request for comment on Croft Corner proposals outlined in the newsletter – a number of comments have been received regarding the proposal, so far they are predominantly supportive of the scheme.
• A few comments on the MUGA proposal have also been received but more are needed to be able to gauge residents feelings towards it.
• A query relating to the Parish Council terms and conditions attached to its hire agreement has been received. It was noted that the terms and conditions have not changed for several years’ and all hirers are asked to abide by them.  The Clerk will write to the hirer to this effect.
• An email has been received from a regular hall user asking for a key to one of the storerooms. It was agreed to refer the query to the village Hall Committee.

24/200 Correspondence for Information

• Holiday Activities and Food Programme 2025 (see Parish Council website for further details and eligibility.

There being no further business the Chair declared the meeting closed at 9.48pm.