PARWICH.ORG

PARWICH PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of the Annual Open Meeting held on Thursday 2 April 2009 at 7.00pm in the Memorial Hall

To consider and if accurate, approve the minutes of the Annual Open Meeting held on 3 April 2008.
RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 3 April 2008 be confirmed as a true record.

To consider matters arising from the Annual Open Meeting held on 3 April 2008.
* The Parish Council are in the process of developing dedicated pages on parwich.org. Agendas have been posted.
* Concerns raised regarding the B5056 are still relevant. The update provided by the Highways Department regarding the road conditions stated that the 1st set of temporary traffic lights are due to works being carried out by Severn Trent Water, these are due for completion by the end of April.
* The 2nd set of temporary traffic lights is due to subsidence. Designs for a crash barrier and solution are due for completion in June with works planned for late summer.
* The 3rd set of temporary traffic lights is due to the potential collapse of the road. The Structures department is investigating solutions.
*Concern was raised that the traffic lights are frequently faulty. Pc Cooper advised that faults should be reported to the Call Derbyshire Service or the police.

Report of the Chair.
I would like to open by welcoming you all and introduce Simon Spencer our District Councillor and Pc Ian Cooper.
This year the village was hit with unexpected flooding causing problems for many residents. The following morning saw tremendous community spirit in the clearing of roads and affected properties, which is a credit to the village.
Other remedial work took a little longer but Derbyshire District Council has now repaired footpaths and roads. River clearance is underway with a volunteer day held in November and it is planned that a mini digger will clear the river in the near future. Keeping the river clear is the responsibility of the ‘riparian’ landowner and those responsible have cleared sections of the river. The Parish Council continue to liase with County and District Council in keeping verges and drains clear.

Highway and Footpath issues are regularly reported to Derbyshire County Council. It is important that any issues are brought to the attention of the Parish Council or reported directly to Derbyshire County Council.
The Parish Council annually assesses trees on the greens and football pitch. The decscion to fell any tree is only taken after consultation with the Peak District National Park. The trees on the football pitch are diseased. Regular inspection determines the gradual but necessary felling.

The tree on Creamery Lane planted to commemorate the Silver Jubilee was inspected following concerns from residents. It was agreed that this was too large for the plot.

The Parish Council continue to support the Memorial Hall Committee. Many people to achieve the successful funding have carried out a vast amount of work. A great amount of work is still required.

I would also like to thank the field management committee for their work.

The Clerk and I have attended training sessions organised by Derbyshire Association of Local council. Attendance has also been made at conferences organised by Derbyshire Dales District Council and PDNPA.

I would like to thank the Councillors for their work over the last year. I would also like to thank Karen for her support. This time last year we anticipated a change with Carolyn due to take over and we again send our best wishes to. Karen will continue as clerk.

Financial Report.
The Clerk distributed ‘draft’ Income and Expenditure account for the year ended 31 March 2009.  Budgeted staffing costs had changed over the year with the vacancy for toilet/pavilion cleaner not being filled and the work carried out voluntarily. The role of booking clerk had been incorporated into the parish clerk role with a £1,300 cost saving.
The electricity plan had been changed again making a saving of £200.
Rents received on land had been increased.
This will offset the unexpected cost of the river clearance, which will be £1000. Money is being set aside for work required on the children’s play area.
The precept remains at £4,50 for the year 2009/2010.

Mr J Barnett questioned the reimbursable expenditure received from Derbyshire Dales District Council, which were less than 2008. The clerk confirmed that this had changed to a set amount with annual increase rather than the previous 80% reclaim on costs.

P C Ian Cooper.
PC Cooper reported that the figures for the village had rocketed over the past year in comparison to previous years, which included: 2 assaults, 1 report of damage resulting in fixed penalty notice, 1 dwelling and 3 shed burglaries. A tractor was stolen from Pikehall and a fixed penalty notice issued for actual bodily harm
Within the county diesel is being targeted
Crime figures in this area are lower but crime prevention is still very important. The police can help with home checks and do have shed alarms available for sale.
Car crime has eased although thefts did occur at Alsop Station.
It is important that anything suspicious is reported. Good calls have been received and investigated.
Any road poor road conditions should be reported to Call Derbyshire, don’t wait until the next Parish Council meeting.
Community Forums are held regularly with attendance fluctuating. Operation Focus is on motorbikes on the A515.

Representative Reports

Tennis Club
The tennis club have 23 adult members and 12 junior members. Three teams compete. Junior and ladies coaching takes place.
New members are always welcome. Contact Di, Glynis, Nia or Paul.

Field Management Committee
The committee formed from representatives of the cricket, bowls, tennis and football teams. The purpose of the committee is to coordinate maintenance and management between the user groups.
A session was held to tidy the car park and it is planned to paint the pavilion over the Easter weekend.
The committee have supported the proposed temporary move of the Pre-School into the pavilion while the Memorial Hall is unavailable.

Parwich United Charities.
The Trustees met twice in the last year. The Trustees have distributed donations and dispensations to organizations in the village including the Over 60’s, Junior Church, Stepping Stones, Toddler Group and the school. Individuals have received vouchers for fuel to the value of £40. There was also a special donation for a bereaved family to help until the estate was completed.
At the last meeting in December 2008 the Trustees made the decision to increase the rents of the Charity land by £5 per acre. All the tenants have been given notice of this and the increase will take effect from the 25 March 2010.
Since the last meeting the Chair, the Rev Christopher Harrison has left the village. The trustees comprise The Incumbent of the Parish, 5 members of the Parish Council who are Mr O Bradbury, Mr S Dale, Mrs A Griffith, Mrs J Harris and Mr R Walker. Also Mr P Rawlins and Mr D Wigley. The Clerk is Mrs V Kirkham.
If anyone knows of any parishioner in need then they should contact one of the trustees and the matter will be dealt with in the strictest confidence.

Parwich School
The Chair of the Governors reported that the new head teacher Caroline Rodgers was making a real impact. The school has good numbers. Derbyshire County Council does provide extra support for the additional educational challenges.
A choir represented the school in the Young Voices concert held in Sheffield Arena.
A £7,00 grant has been received for a community garden shrubs have already gone in with more planting to be done.
The head teacher is trying to develop community links. An open coffee morning was held and links made with the Church. The end of term assembly will be held in Church tomorrow (Friday 3 April) to which all are welcome. The PTA is also active.
New strategies are being developed one of which is to include parents in the teaching process. Parents are invited into school to learn with their child.
Structural changes are planned. The toilets will be refurbished with the library area and office. Work is also planned on the outdoor play area.

Bowls Club
The club is about to start its 19th season. The new season starts week commencing 6 April 2009 with evening sessions on Mondays at 6.00pm until dusk for the next 8 weeks.
We still have two league teams. The ‘Tuesday’ team are in the lower Matlock and District League and finished fifth. Tuesday matches start at 6.30pm and are played on a home and away basis. Our Thursday team games start in the afternoon at 1.30pm, again on a home and away basis. We also play friendly matches most weekends
The Green is open for play anytime during the week, except of course when a league is match is played.
We are still attempting to get more members, but to no avail. It appears the people of Parwich do not want to enjoy the great facilities put together all those years ago.
Please come along and have a try. Give John Henbery a call on 390302 or John Barnett on 390455 and arrange a go. We will even lend you the bowls. All you need is a flat-soled pair of shoes. The saying `use it or loose it` may well soon come true as far as bowls is concerned in the village.
It was questioned why it was thought people were not using the facility. The next generation of younger players were not coming in. Rules have been laxed to encourage new members.

Memorial Hall.
The AGM was held on 24 March 2009 with the same officers elected.
A full report of the AGM will be published on Parwich.org and the church magazine.
Thanks were extended to the committee and all who had worked on the Big Lottery Funding application. Plans need to be put into place on relocating the user groups. The design needs to be fine tuned and the remaining £190,000 raised.
All were thanked for their continued support.
It was questioned when the build would start. It was confirmed that the new build would not start until all the money was in place. £23,000 was given as a lead in payment, which can be spent on preliminary works. The plan is for works to start on 01 August 2009. Confident in the funding bids applied for.

History Society.
The society had a number of events over the past year. A talk on Comfort Mill was held in Parwich and a visit arranged to Comfort Mill and Middleton Top. A Christmas quiz was held. The website is active with 2 news quartiles published last year. Recently a talk was given on Archaeology of Bradbourne by the University of Sheffield in Bradbourne.
Programme of activities planned for the year.

Parwich Village Action Group.
Thanks were expressed to Ann Wheeldon who stepped down as secretary and Peter Trewhit who stepped down as Chairman. The group are looking for a replacement Chairperson and secretary. (A full summary report attached)
The VAG contacted DERA in support of the proposals for direct elections to National Park Boards, met with the PDNPA on their visit to Parwich early this year; lobbied EMDA for funding for the successful Peak Park grant application to continue the Community Planning team beyond this March; and had input on various planning applications in the light of our aims and previous survey results.
The Environment group made valuable comment on the Conservation Appraisal produced resulting in a number of amendments to the draft including dropping the description of Parwich as a dormitory village. There is a need to complete a statement of what is valued in our local environment. Flooding was discussed with the PDNPA and the group are looking at funding can be accessed for flood prevention not available to the Parish Council.
Affordable Housing projects will only be supported by DDDC and the PDNPA at a third of the current need. The group continue to monitor progress. The group participated in a DDDC evaluation of current methods for providing affordable housing. The roads, traffic and parking section are looking at the traffic speeds within the village and investigate solutions to parking difficulties.

Carnival and Recreation Group.
The committee have been fortunate in recruiting new members but do need more men.  The weather last year did not impact on the children’s sports but there were showers for parts of the hill race.  Councillor Dale was thanked for his efforts in liasing with the fair.  The bonfire did not light successfully on the night but burned well the following day.
Carols on the green was a successful event with Chris Hooley steeping in for the brass band.

Parwich.Org
The website has gone from strength to strength receiving 10,000 to 20,000 hits a month. The Peak District National Park Authority and local police do use the blog to convey information and gauge public opinion.
The site introduced a polling facility. One of the surveys carried out gave people the opportunity to vote on the proposed changes in local democracy. 51 votes were cast.
The site has developed strong links with the local newspapers. The village calendar works well, any information should be passed to Jane Bennett who will update as soon as possible. It is hoped that the Parish Council could post the minutes on the blog until the dedicated pages become available.

Steeping Stones Pre-School
The Pre-School is relatively stable although numbers are slightly down on last year. The Pre-School committee have recently changed with Tracy Marshall and Karen Wigley taking roles as Chair and Treasurer. Fundraising activities included the Christmas Fair, quiz and darts evening. The children do many activities; last term the topic was toys, which included learning about toys parent, grandparents and great –grandparents played that the children enjoyed.
This term the topic is people who help us. Members of staff have attended various training courses including special needs and continue to do an excellent job.

Councillor Simon Spencer
Cllr Spencer reported that the District Council had less budget but more things to do. Cllr Spencer reported that he had visited the village soon after the flooding in September. Derbyshire District Council is responsible for cleaning gullies with riparian landowners responsible for the sections of river on their land. Improvements have been made to the recycling centre. Cllr Spencer is working with the Memorial Hall Committee and is always available and happy to help.

Questions and comments from the floor.
Mr J Barnett raised serious concern that the Parish Council has not cleared the river. It is felt that more needs to be done and could be considered negligent. The Jubilee garden is full of sludge and advice would be sought if the problem were not solved.
Mr G Peat endorsed Mr Barnett’s comments that the Parish Council has not done enough.
It was raised that necessary ditches at the side of the road are no longer in place due to the use of heavy tractors pushing the verges in. It was also felt that landowners were not taking responsibility for keeping the ditches clear.
Cllr Bradbury stated that the drain under the road was clear and questioned where the water could go only onto the natural flood plains such as Wash Meadow. The extreme levels of water on the evening had damaged 12ft slurry tank and this was only one of the routes heading down hill.

This comment was considered ‘unacceptable and unbelievable’.

Mr G Peat has a report, which considered that the flooding at the bottom of the end of the village could have been prevented by removing the wall on the football pitch to make this an escape route. Cllr Bradbury stated that this should be brought for village discussion.
The Chair asked if a copy of the report could be made available.
Cllr Spencer stated that the flooding was unusual in the volumes of water and the locations affected. DDDC do liase with the Environment Agency. If landowners are neglecting their duties then DDDC can become involved.
Mr Peat is holding a meting with Mr Bookes from DDDC; the Chair asked if she could attend. Details of the meting will be confirmed.
Cllr Bradbury will liase with Mr J Barnett when the mini digger clears the river.

Concern was raised regarding the speed of cars around the village particularly on the main road.
Pc Cooper confirmed that a review is taking place and more roads will have speed limits.

Present
Councillors: Mrs J Harris (Chair), Mr R Walker, Mrs A Griffiths, Mr S Dale, Mr O Bradbury, Mr R Bunting, Mrs N Linnell.
Parishioners: Mr J Barnett(Parwich Bowling Club) Mr D Laycock(PUTT & Carnival &Recreation Committee)Mr P Drummond(Tennis & Field Management Committee) Mrs J Bennett(Parwich.org)Mr M Gerard-Pearse(Memorial Hall)
Mr J Henbury, Mrs T Marshall(Stepping Stones)Mr E Linnell (Parwich School) Mr G Peat, Mr S Spencer(District Council) Pc Ian Cooper(Derbyshire Constabulary)

Meeting Closed at 8.30pm