MINUTES OF THE PARISH COUNCIL MEETING OF TANSLEY PARISH COUNCIL ON MONDAY 12 DECEMBER 2005

 Present:  Councillors R Whitworth,  J Spink, R Bourne, K Gray,

S Greenhough,  I Spencer

DDDC Steve Flitter,

David Smith representing Arlington Projects.

77/06                  APOLOGIES

Cllrs N Johnson, B Taylor & N Whitworth

78/06                  DECLARATIONS OF INTERESTS

Cllr Ken Gray declared a prejudicial interest as he had been asked to represent the residents of Masson Terrace with regards to the item 7, the petition (Cllr Gray is also a resident of Masson Terrace).

79/06        MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON MONDAY 14 NOVEMBER 2005

The Minutes of the Meeting held on Monday 14 November 2005 were approved and signed as a true and accurate record.

80/06        MATTERS ARISING FROM PREVIOUS MINUTES

There were no matters arising

81/06        EXCLUSIONS

There were no items to be taken in exclusion.

82/06        MASSON TERRACE PETITION/LETTER – CLLR GRAY

Cllr Gray presented a petition/letter relating to problems experienced by people living in Masson Terrace.  He said that the petition/letter had taken quite a while to compose as all of the residents had been involved.

In response to a question he said that he had signed on behalf of one of the residents who was unable to do so, with their full consent.

Cllr Gray then left the room and took no part in the discussion and formulation of the reply.

The Parish Council considered the petition/letter point by point:

1.   It is acknowledged that the Fete Field Project is not as far forward as it might have been, as delays have occurred in obtaining the planning consents and the seeking of tenders.  These delays have thrown the whole project into the wrong season.  The Parish Council has been waiting for confirmation that an easement would be forthcoming for connection into a manhole adjacent to Masson Terrace.

2.   At the request of one of the residents and in accordance with an undertaking by the Chairman at the last meeting, the garage forecourt has been made level using graded limestone and is now in better condition then when it came into the Council’s ownership.

Flooding occurred on 2 December because the stream which crosses the property adjacent to Masson View has been neglected and had become partially blocked.

Cllr Gray has inspected the stream with the Chairman who had spent considerable time in alleviating the blockage.

3.  It is acknowledged that the drainage trench had consolidated and this was repaired on 3 December as referred to previously.

4.  The Parish Council has made an application for the drainage connection and has a conditional approval.  The approval suggested two alternatives; that is to connect into the public sewer adjacent to 1 Masson Terrace or onto the highway at the top of Spout Lane.  The Chairman has been discussing with Severn Trent Water, the prospect of providing the mixed system of soakaways and storage with restricted access into the public sewer.

However, arising out of Mr Gray’s representation of residents of Masson Terrace that the option will be acceptable. It is impossible to guarantee that all the roof water from the building will soakaway all of the time.

5.  The suggestion of storing water for use in the toilets (of which there are only 4) has not been considered.

6.  The pipe referred to which is currently on the surface of the access way has been moved by persons unknown from its formerly safe place.  Health and Safety issues are a matter for the contractor and his attention had been drawn to this.

RESOLVED:

That a response be sent to each of the signatories along the following lines:

Further to the petition/letter that was brought to the Parish Council meeting on Monday by Councillor Ken Gray.  Councillor Gray read out the contents of the petition/letter and explained that it had taken quite a while to compose as all of the residents of Masson Terrace had been involved.

Following the Local Government Code of Conduct for Members, and the guidelines of the Standards Board, Councillor Gray having a prejudiciary interest in the item was unable to take any part in the discussion and left the room whilst the remaining Councillors discussed a response to the petition/letter.

The Parish Council accept that there have been delays with the contract but these have been outside of the Council’s control, as delays have been concerned with obtaining planning consent, seeking tenders and agreeing a drainage easement.

The garage forecourt which constitutes a right of way to the Fete Field and the fields beyond is safe and in a better condition than when the Parish Council acquired it.  The Parish Council have no land drainage powers and will therefore write to Derbyshire Dales District Council to request that they exercise their discretionary powers to get the stream cleaned out adjacent to Masson View.

The residents of Masson Terrace are advised to contact the agent, Messrs Fidler Taylor, Crown Square, Matlock direct as this is a matter between private landowners.

The Parish Council can connect only the foul drainage into the public sewer, in which circumstances it will not be possible to pick up the drainage from the garage roofs.

The contractor’s attention has been drawn to the PE pipe and also the health & safety issues highlighted within this letter for his action.

The Chairman suspended standing orders to allow Arlington Projects representative to speak to the meeting regarding the problems concerned with the building works.

The Chairman resumed standing orders.

83/06        CHAIRMAN’S REPORT 

1.                FETE FIELD

Work is still progressing despite the delays, and the plasterer and tiler are soon to be on site.

2.                CEMETERY PATH

Work has now been completed.

3.                VILLAGE HALL

The committee has all now resigned and a new one formed, the previous committee have done an excellent job and have all received a plaque commemorating their service to the village.  The Parochial Church Council own the Village Hall. Recent legislation could ultimately lead to a requirement for an attendant at all bookings to ensure licensing conditions are met There is available £50m from lottery funds for village halls.  The roof leaks and it is in need of proper modernisation.  If the committee set up a charitable trust, it could acquire the building but they must have a strategy.

The Parish Council may wish in the future to have a representative on the committee which is allowed for in the current constitution.

4.                ENVIRONMENTAL MAINTENANCE

Mechanical sweeping should have been carried out in October; they turned up in December, and were unable to do a proper sweep due to parked cars.  The surface had deteriorated on Whitelea Lane and in Green Lane the gullies have lifted.

The service is contracted out and is not adequately monitored to ensure that works are carried out correctly and fully.

5.                SPEEDING TRAFFIC CHURCH STREET

The Parish Council has been pressing for measures across the footpath at Spout Lane and for improvements to Church Street between the Post Office and Whitelea Lane. and DCC have put expenditure for consideration as part of next year’s budget.

RESOLVED:

To write to DCC welcoming their response and request drawings of any plans at the planning stage.

84/06        VILLAGE PLAN

The questionnaire has been circulated and responses are awaited, a volunteer has come forward to analyse the questionnaires when they are all in.

Currently grants are available for help with village plans in Derbyshire and more information would be gathered on this.

Thanks were given to Cllr Greenhough who distributed the questionnaire.

85/06        NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH

Nothing to report.

86/06        PLANNING MATTERS

Application for consideration, dealt with under Chairman’s delegated powers –

05/00989/FUL Erection of 4 No dwellings (revisions to planning 05/00690/FUL Barncroft Homes – no objections

Applications for consideration:

None

Derbyshire Dales District Council Decision Notices:

TPO 156 Ash Tree – Moorcroft Alders Lane Tansley – conditional consent for removal of main centre branch and reduce two other branches, thin the canopy by 20%.

Planning Inspectorate Decision

Brook Cottage, Oaksedge Lane, Tansley – appeal dismissed

87/06        CIRCULARS

were discussed;

33/2005 the pay settlement would be as agreed at last meeting

34/2005 General Circular covering the reduction of street furniture, and goal post safety.

35/2005 Indemnities for Members and Officers – there is a scheme available at Derbyshire Dales for their Members.

88/06        PAYMENT OF ACCOUNTS

was ratified as follows:

14.11.05 National Playing Fields Association

                       (Contract Supervision)                     4044.94

14.11.05 Arlington Projects (stage payment)          10575.00   

14.11.05 Amberol (watering)                                     373.44

14.11.05 G Pearson (shelter cleaning)                        156.00

14.11.05 Royal British Legion (wreath)                        16.50

 5.12.05  Severn Trent Water (drain connection)         186.00

Meeting Closed at 8.40pm  ………………………………………………………