Parish Council Meeting Report — June 5th 2017

County Councillor Purdue-Horan was welcomed to the meeting and congratulated on his recent election to the new Bingham East ward, of which East Bridgford is now part.

During public comment, a resident on Kneeton Road raised concerns about a revised planning application for the site which was formerly the car park, grounds and outbuildings of the Reindeer Inn. During the discussion which followed, the PC decided to object to the application on a number of grounds. The most recent version of the RBC planning web site allows people to view relevant documents and the responses made.

The recent vacancy on the PC was filled at the meeting when Mrs. Gill Stevens was duly co-opted on to the Council, and welcomed as she took her seat at the table.

As part of the preparation for the Best Kept Village competition, a 'clean-up' took place on the morning of Saturday 20th May. A group of Scouts and Parish Councillors completed a number of tasks, including litter-picking, cleaning of the pillar box and signs, weeding the block paving at the junction of Haycroft Way and clearing areas of the car park. The PC is very grateful to the Scouts and their leaders for this contribution to our community.

The PC has decided to adopt a policy about flying Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS, including drones and model aircraft) on land owned or leased by the PC. The aim of the policy is to ensure that the safety, enjoyment and privacy of people who are on such land, or who work or reside on neighbouring land, are not adversely affected by UAS. Accordingly, it was resolved that no UAS may be used on or over land owned or leased by the PC, in particular Butt Close where notices to this effect will be posted in due course. There may be a rare situation where the PC will consider a request from a professional operator to use a UAS, subject to very stringent conditions, the details of which are set out in the policy which is publicised on the village website.

It was reported that the draft Local Minerals Plan, which was due to be 'examined' in July has now been withdrawn and reviewed in the light of new data about the demand for aggregates which has become available. This was the Plan which considered the extraction of sand and gravel from Shelford West. The PC was opposed to this scheme for a number of reasons, not least the impact on the A6097 traffic, and it is to be hoped that the outcome of the review comes to a different conclusion about this scheme.

Midlands Rural Housing (MRH) is considering whether there could be another affordable homes scheme in the village. The first such scheme was the small development at Foster's Close, and, in the first instance, MRH is investigating if suitable land would be available near there for a similar development.

First brief readings of the results of the traffic survey and other analyses of the impact of the new A46 seem to support the view that traffic through the village has increased at peak times in particular, with a number of vehicles also using Trent Lane to by-pass the traffic lights. Notts CC Highways are consulting on a scheme to make a section of Trent Lane from its junction with the A6097 one way only (towards the village) and, subject to this process, this would be implemented in the spring of 2018. This scheme has the support of the PC.

The PC supported an application to divert a section of footpath 40 at Topfield Farm.

The next meeting will be on Monday 3rd July at 7.30pm.

Coun. Phil Clarke

Parish Council Meeting Report - May 8th 2017

During public comment, a resident raised issues about the leases for the Sports Club and its constituent individual clubs. In the ensuing discussion, it was reported that the lease for Butt Close has been delayed while the processes for transfer of ownership from Nottinghamshire County Council to the PC are completed. In the meantime, it was noted that St. Peter's Academy is now a full member of the Sports Club and the PC congratulated the Friends of St. Peter's organisation for their successful Zorb football charity event which took place on Butt Close in early May.

While we await the results of the survey of traffic on roads affected by the building of the new A46 which has been undertaken on behalf of the Highways Agency towards the end of March, we have received notification of a further analysis which is being carried out into the effects of the A46 project. Details will be put on the village website, and individuals will be able to respond if they wish either directly or to the PC which will discuss its response in a future meeting.

Problems with hedges projecting onto footpaths and pavements are recurring. Residents and land owners are respectfully reminded that it is not sufficient to trim hedges tidily if they still project beyond the boundary of the pavement edge or restrict the width of a footpath. They regularly need substantial pruning back to the correct line.

The PC has decided to re-enter the Nottinghamshire Best Kept Village competition run by CPRE. Judging will take place in the summer, starting from June 5th. The PC is considering how to prepare for this, including a 'clean-up' on the morning of Saturday 20th May. The Car Park will also receive a further 'top dressing' of crushed stone. The PC is very grateful to Tony Beresford for re-painting the telephone box, which it owns and which is used as a book exchange and source of power to the defibrillator. Residents are asked to think about how they may help with this at their own properties, putting yourselves in the place of the judges and thinking how you might be able to influence them positively, for example with hanging baskets, etc.

At the Horticultural Society's request, the PC formally approved the use of Butt Close for the annual village show and wished them every success for the event.

The next meeting will be on Monday 5th June at 7.30pm.

Coun. Phil Clarke

East Bridgford Parish Council Annual Parish Meeting - 20th April 2017

Chairman's Report Butt Close and the Pavilion
The rebuilding of the pavilion after the devastating fire was completed on schedule and formally handed-over on the 13th May 2016. A ceremony to recognise this was held later when it was formally
re-opened by County Councillor Kay Cutts (see below). The whole process required a significant amount of hard work and consultation by all concerned to ensure that the pavilion was brought back into use as soon as possible, and it was another example of the depth of expertise and experience available in our community and the willingness of people to go the extra mile when needed. Some snagging issues have arisen over the last 9 months or so but these have been resolved.

Since then, a significant amount of work has been done negotiating new lease arrangements with the Sports Club for the pavilion, bowls green, tennis courts and Butt Close itself. As part of this, a public meeting was held to discuss use of the pavilion. Part of the way through this process, however, it became known that Nottinghamshire County Council (NCC) was prepared to transfer ownership of Butt Close to the Parish Council (PC), subject to a number of conditions mainly relating to protecting its use as playing fields, especially for St. Peter's Academy. At the time of writing, formal consent is awaited from the Government's Department For Education for this to go ahead. The whole process has required input from the PC's solicitors with consequential costs (see also the item about precept below).

Capital projects
Two planned projects, Improved Access to Cuttle Hill and the Trim Trail on Butt Close were set aside in 2015-16 because of the financial uncertainties arising from the pavilion fire. The former had attracted time-limited grant aid which was forfeited, but, although the scheme was on the reserve list for grant funding in 2016-17, this has not been forthcoming. The Trim Trail however did secure funding and the equipment was installed near the zip wire and skateboard ramp following widespread consultation about the types of machine and where they should be sited. The Council is grateful to Cllr. Atkins for seeing this project through to its fruition.

Traffic and Parking issues
Concern has arisen about the number of vehicles passing through the village, and their speed. Representations have been made to the NCC Highways Department, and the results of Highways Agency surveys of traffic patterns consequent upon the opening of the new A46, which have taken place in March of this year, are awaited to determine the extent of the problems. In the meantime, some Councillors have been trained to use the new speed-monitoring equipment which can be loaned from the police. Parking is still an issue around certain areas, especially near the Academy at the start and end of the school day. Consideration by NCC Highways of some restrictions to parking near to the crossroads of Trent Lane, Kirk Hill, Main Street and Kneeton Road has been requested because of the visibility problems, especially for vehicles emerging from Trent Lane, and dangers from vehicles needing to use the 'wrong' side of the road near the junction.

Dogs
Further problems with dog mess were reported last summer, especially on Butt Close. An article was placed in the magazine to explain why owners and dog-walkers need to ensure that this is cleared up, and what may happen if the problem persists. If reports of over-flowing dog bins are any indicator, this situation may be improving, and hopefully this improvement will continue. It will help if all dog walkers are vigilant and encourage others to be the same, if restrictions are to be avoided.

Planning applications, including tree works
At the time of writing, the publication of a further Local Plan consultation by Rushcliffe Borough Council (RBC) has been launched, with a public information evening arranged by RBC at the Village Hall. The consultation for East Bridgford focuses on a number of sites in the green belt which may be considered for development in the future. The Council has submitted a formal response which was agreed at a special extra meeting of the Council and it is hoped that many residents will have too. Copies of the PC's response can be seen on the village website. Over the year, there have been the usual number and variety of planning applications which the PC has needed to consider as a statutory consultee and the PC is fortunate to have the expertise and experience of architects amongst its ranks to call upon, as well as the support of the local RBC ward Councillor, Nigel Lawrence, who attends as many PC meetings as possible. A new survey of trees on parish-owned or leased land has been commissioned to meet the Council's obligations under its Tree Policy. This will form the basis of a management plan for the trees in question.

Support to other organisations
Small grants were made to other organisations during the year, including the following:
St. Peter's Academy, for the DARE project.
The Parish Magazine, towards printing costs, which, together with the East Bridgford website, continues to provide an invaluable service to residents and visitors
A new Donations Policy is now in place, details of which are available on the website.
The PC also purchased some 'Road Ahead Closed' signs so that the Horticultural Society could arrange for roads to be closed for the parade to Butt Close prior to the annual Village Show. These have also been used by the Scouts so that parades to the war memorial for Remembrance events can take place again.

Precept
Unfortunately, after a number of years with either no increase or increases of less than 2%, it has become necessary to increase the precept for 2017-18 by a significant amount. One area where costs have risen dramatically is legal services. Over the past year, the PC has needed to secure an existing asset, prepare to extend its ownership of assets to include Butt Close, and formulate long-leases to the Sports Club. Another area of expenditure which is rising rapidly is the maintenance of the Play Area. Some of this expenditure is related to items which the PC believes should have lasted longer before needing repair or replacement and this is being taken up with the contractor. However, the use of the Play Area needs to be as safe as possible, so if closing certain pieces of equipment is to be avoided, the repairs need to be done.

Finally, the past two years have been particularly busy ones, for both Councillors and Officers, who nevertheless give freely of their time and goodwill to try and ensure that our village continues to be a place where people want to live. Not only have the major issues mentioned above needed dealing with, but all the small but nonetheless important issues (especially for nearby residents). Examples include responding to consultation about gravel extraction at Shelford, monitoring waste spreading on farmland on Kneeton Road, installing & maintaining memorial seats, weekly monitoring of the Play Area, negotiating with the Medical Centre about parking during building works, reporting fly-tipping, liaising with RBC about a travellers' camp off Butt Lane, occasional cleaning & maintenance of information boards, the defibrillator and the telephone box, managing the allotments on Butt Lane and dealing with numerous concerns raised by residents. However, notwithstanding the enormous fund of goodwill, the Council has a responsibility to ensure that its structure is such that it can meet its responsibilities to the community and its employees. Hence, the PC decided to appoint a Minuting Secretary to enhance the capacity of the team of Officers. The Council also recognises the valued contribution of the internal auditor, Alan Hopwood.

Council News
Following the resignation of Tanya Hartfield, an election to fill the vacancy was held and Michael Verner was duly elected. More recently, Suda Sharma has also tendered her resignation and a replacement will need to be co-opted. The Council has extended its thanks to both Tanya and Suda for their service. The Community Plan group is working on a replacement for the existing Parish Plan from 2003, which itself was a successful and effective document, and the results of the latest village appraisal by questionnaire organised by the group have recently been published. The PC looks forward to the creation of the Community Plan following work done by the various task groups now being set up to progress it and in due course helping to implement any improvements which are identified.

Springdale Wood
Following protracted negotiations, the PC has secured Springdale Wood for the parish on a very long lease. This will mean that the Friends of Springdale Wood, who do so much to maintain the wood so that it can be enjoyed by everyone, can implement the management plan agreed with the PC to ensure that the this continues as the wood matures.

Fireworks Display
A very successful beacon-lighting and fireworks display was held for the Queen's 90th Birthday Celebrations on Butt Close on the night of last year's Annual Meeting. Consequently, the St. Peter's school PTA, the Friends of St. Peter's Academy, asked for permission to hold a similar event in November, close to Bonfire Night. This was granted and the experience from the first display enabled advice to be given about risk-assessment etc. The event was so successful that the Friends intend to hold another fireworks display around Bonfire Night this year.

Garth Powell Memorial
The new information board sited in the Car Park as a memorial to Garth Powell, the long-standing Headmaster of St. Peter's and Chairman of the Parish Council, was formally unveiled by Alison Powell last summer. It displays a poster and contains some flyers about landmarks around the village for visitors and walkers produced by the History Group and the project was funded by Alison Powell.

County Councillor Kay Cutts
The Council has been fortunate over the years for the continued valuable support of both the Rushcliffe Borough Councillor, Nigel Lawrence, and the Nottinghamshire County Councillor, Kay Cutts. Kay has been the County Councillor for the Radcliffe-on-Trent ward, which has included East Bridgford, for many years. During that time, she has attended most of our Parish Council meetings, and has offered her help and guidance on many occasions. However, with effect from the elections to be held in May this year, boundary changes mean that East Bridgford will be in a new County Council ward, Bingham East. Hence, whatever happens in the election, Kay will no longer be our County Councillor, so we extend our most grateful thanks to her for her valued support and our very best wishes for the future.

Parish Council Meeting Report - April 3rd 2017

In public comment, a resident attended to alert the Council to a spate of burglaries and attempted burglaries around the village. By an alarming coincidence, he had come across one such incident only moments earlier at the junction of College Street and Straws Lane. The suspects were middle aged and drove off in a silver Ford. It appears the pattern is that they will attempt rapid entry, in search of keys and portable valuables. Residents are urged to secure their property at all times.

The consultation on the RBC Local Plan Part 2 ended on March 31st. The Council's response was considered at a special meeting of the PC on the 27th March, and submitted before the deadline. There are three response documents which have been placed on the village website for residents to view.

In planning, it was noted that the significant development at the garden centre has begun. A revised planning proposal for a veterinary centre in the building near the garden centre has been submitted. The Council resolved to order more Footpath leaflets to replenish stock and also to contribute to the cost of publishing the parish magazine.

Further maintenance work has been approved to the Play Area once the field is firm enough for vehicle access. Issues related to the condition of some of the equipment are being pursued with the contractors.

A survey of traffic on roads affected by the building of the new A46 has been undertaken on behalf of the Highways Agency towards the end of March. It should provide evidence about whether and to what extent traffic through East Bridgford has changed as a result. Anecdotal evidence suggests that there has been an increase in vehicles using Main Street to avoid queues on the A6097 at the traffic lights but it will be useful to have quantitative evidence when that is available

. A request for a dog bin on Lammas Lane was received. The site will be subject to a visit by the dog warden who may recommend a dog bin be installed by RBC. The PC decided to wait and see what the outcome of that visit is.

There is a vacancy for a Parish Councillor and the procedure for
co-option was agreed. This is publicised on the village notice boards or you may wish to contact the Parish Clerk for further information: Jill Barlow - tel 01949 861791 or email parishcouncil@eastbridgford.com.

Finally, the Council believes it may be the right time to re-enter the Nottinghamshire Best Kept Village competition run by CPRE. Further details will follow in a later report.

The next meeting will be on Monday 8th May at 7.30pm.

Coun. Phil Clarke

Parish Council Meeting Report - March 6th 2017

As a result of changes in accommodation at Rushcliffe Borough Council (RBC), a number of artworks have been offered to communities in the borough. A winter-themed picture of the church from Kirk Hill corner was presented to the Chairman by Borough Councillor Nigel Lawrence at the meeting. The Parish Council (PC) agreed to make a donation to the RBC Mayor's Charity.

In public comment, a member of the Tennis Club attended to introduce the plans for the pavilion extension and to discuss the next stages in the process of applying for grant funds to build it. The PC accepted the outline design and expressed its support for the project.
Committee members of the Friends of St. Peter's Academy also attended to formally ask for permission to use Butt Close for an event to raise funds for a charity which supports families with children who have conditions which will shorten their lives. The Academy is now a member of the Sports Club (SC) but the proposed lease of Butt Close to the SC is not yet complete, which is why the PC still needs to give formal permission in cases like this. The PC supported this event, subject to the usual conditions involving risk assessments and adequate insurance.

At relatively short notice, a major consultation on the RBC Local Plan was announced which relates to housing. In common with several other rural settlements in the area, a number of sites in the green belt around East Bridgford are identified as potential sites for housing. A public meeting was to be held on 17th March and responses needed to be returned to RBC by 31st March. Following consideration of guidance related to declarations of interest, it was agreed in the first instance to delegate this to a small group of councillors which would produce a draft response for consideration by a special meeting of the PC on the 27th March.

In planning, the PC supported a pre-application proposal for a new CTIL base station near Springdale Farm. Poor availability of a mobile phone signal in the parish is an issue highlighted in several surveys, and this ought to result in significant improvement for some services.

Unfortunately, it was not possible to use the new Community Road Safety equipment to monitor speeds along Main Street as planned for February because of an equipment failure at short notice. A new date will be arranged in due course and in the meantime, it was requested that the police organise a check of their own in one of the time periods when through traffic is at a peak.

The PC agreed to contribute towards the cost of repairing potholes and water damage on the track and bridleway leading from Trent Lane to the marina.
A survey of trees on PC- owned or leased land has been carried out by a qualified consultant. When the report has been submitted, a new management plan will be adopted.
Storm Doris did cause some damage to a small tree on Butt Close which affected a neighbour, and this is being addressed.

The next meeting will be on Monday 3rd April at 7.30pm.

Coun. Phil Clarke

Parish Council Meeting Report - January 9th 2017

Members of the Horticultural Society Committee attended and during public comment spoke about their proposal to contribute to the cost of repairing the damage to Butt Close caused by the fire engine at last year's Show. They have already contributed to the cricket club for the additional expense it suffered as a result. The Council accepted this offer and wished them good fortune with this year's Show. Also in public comment, a resident explained problems related to water draining on to his property and a potential solution which will be investigated.

A request by the Council for Notts Highways to install agricultural gates on the by-way leading from the over-bridge on Butt Lane to cut down fly tipping and anti-social behaviour has received some support from the team which manages footpaths and bridleways. It is hoped that some progress may be made with this over the coming months, especially since there is more evidence of fly tipping getting worse in this area, and also along Occupation Lane.

It was agreed that the Community Plan group could use the village website to publish its findings, sub-group meetings etc. It is currently in the process of setting up the sub-groups to look at individual areas identified in the survey, and volunteers to help with those should contact the group.

An issue with the use of Butt Close as a school playing field has introduced a delay into the process of the Council acquiring it from the County Council while formal permission is sought from the Department For Education in London. In the meantime, following some intense activity over Christmas, a lease over the land owned by the Parish already which covers the bowls green, tennis courts and pavilion is being put in place so that an application for grants to the Sports Club towards building an extension to the pavilion can be made. This extension, if it goes ahead, will improve provision in several ways, and it is hoped, for example, that table tennis could be offered when completed.

A sum of £500 is being allocated to the Friends of Springdale Wood in the first instance for management of the wood which is being leased by the Woodland Trust to the Parish Council over such a long period as to be regarded as virtually permanent.

In setting the precept for the next financial year, the Council has needed to consider the demands of taking over significant assets for the community i.e. Butt Close and Springdale Wood, together with the trend where the funding of tasks previously done by the county and borough is falling on the parish, if they are to be done at all. The play area costs are also starting to mount as the equipment begins to age. Good practice requires ever more attention to areas such as tree management, health & safety, and legal issues, and so the Council has enhanced its team of Officers to increase capacity. Hence, this year the precept set will involve a 6.2% increase. For a band D property, this would be £45.69, an increase of £2.66 over last year.

The problem with relation to poor visibility of the white lines along the edges of the A6097 in the section between the traffic lights and the new A46 island, reported last month by a resident, has been acknowledged by Notts Highways, and action to correct it is planned for the spring/summer.

The Council was saddened to receive the resignation of Suda Sharma and thanked her for her willingness to serve the community with energy and enthusiasm. The vacancy has been notified to Rushcliffe which will initiate the process of electing a replacement. The Council welcomed Jess Molyneaux as the new Minute Secretary, a post which has been created in response to the extra workload placed on the Council's Officers by the very significant changes taking place both currently and in the future.

Some damage has been reported to one of the bookcases in the old Telephone Box. Tony Beresford, who lives close to the Box, has kindly repaired it and he regularly cleans it out and tidies the books. The Council is very grateful for this community spirit which is typical of many others and East Bridgford is very fortunate in this respect. At the time of writing the Box has too many books, with many on the ground. These are cleared from time to time but it would be helpful if leaving quantities of books on the floor could be avoided, please.

The next meeting will be on Monday 6th February at 7.30pm.

Coun. Phil Clarke

Parish Council Meeting Report - December 5th 2016

A resident attended to raise a problem with relation to poor visibility of the white lines along the edges of the A6097 in the section between the traffic lights and the new A46 island. She had used the online reporting facility but Notts Highways has said to her that an inspector had found no defects. At least one Councillor had noted he same problem so it was decided to write in support of further investigation, particularly during hours of darkness, and appropriate action.

On other traffic matters, some progress was reported in that Notts Highways has recognised visibility problems at night at the junction at the end of Butt Lane, and will be looking at suitable measures to improve things. The Parish Council has also had a detailed response about Trent Lane, and more work is being done to evaluate and consult further about a one-way scheme at the junction with the A6097.

Similarly, the issues around trying to reduce the dangers of the corner coming into the village from the traffic lights along Kirk Hill are also being investigated by Notts Highways, for example to see if signage can be improved.

Also in public comment, a resident returned to report that, further to his article in the parish magazine, he wished to create a community sports club to widen use of the field and the Pavilion. This included giving details of specific examples he personally would like to see. In subsequent discussion, the point was made that the management of the Pavilion was in the hands of the existing sports club.

Following action to post notices on vehicles being left for long periods in the car park, many have been removed, freeing up the spaces for residents and visitors to use. Further monitoring will take place in the coming months, particularly for untaxed vehicles, to see whether further action is needed. Some emergency repairs are needed to equipment on the play area, primarily related to a number of logs which have started to rot. The Parish Council is concerned that the logs have failed within a much shorter time period than might be expected, and will be pursuing the issue with the original contractor. Councillors agreed to take the opportunity created by a vacancy arising on the allotments to improve the car parking capacity down there.

A request to support the DARE programme at St. Peter’s Academy has been received, and the Council decided to give a donation of £500 towards this valued scheme, as it has previously done for several years now.

It was decided to monitor the situation with respect to dog fouling on Butt Close to see if the recent highlighting of this problem, and the appeal for improvement in the December magazine and elsewhere, have any effect. The Council is aware that this issue has also featured strongly in the questionnaire circulated by the Community Plan group. A short presentation of the main findings of this survey was given before the start of the Council meeting, prior to the full presentation being given to villagers on the following Wednesday. When the action groups formed to evaluate each aspect of the Community Plan have completed their work, the findings will be a very valuable resource for the Council and others to use in the future.

The next meeting will be on Monday 9th January at 7.30pm.

Coun. Phil Clarke

Parish Council Meeting Report - November 7th 2016

In public comment, a resident attended again to further his argument that community facilities such as the Pavilion and playing fields should be made more widely available, and that this was not likely to happen if leases were granted which put the management of these facilities in the hands of the existing Sports Club. After consideration of this and other matters, the Council authorised the Chairman to sign the lease prepared by its solicitors.

The PC was pleased that the fireworks event organised by the Friends of St. Peter’s Academy had gone so well, and extended its congratulations and appreciation to all those who had been involved.

Councillors expressed their appreciation of the Trim Trail equipment which has been installed on Butt Close near the wire fencing, and thanked Cllr. Atkins for his efforts in bringing the project to fruition.

Although the Dog Warden was unable to attend the meeting, he has provided some advice which Councillors have now considered. It was decided to have one more concerted attempt to educate the remaining few owners who will not clear up after their dogs, starting with a brief article accompanying this report.

A problem has arisen with some cars being left in the village car park for extended periods of time. Investigations show that at least two of these are untaxed, with one having no MOT. It is suspected that some or all of these cars may be in the process of being sold. The problem arises because the number of spaces available to other users is significantly reduced, causing inconvenience to people using the village hall, Methodist chapel and other amenities, especially the elderly or those with restricted mobility. Hence, the PC will be seeking to ensure these vehicles are moved as soon as possible.

It was resolved to make another effort to convince Notts CC Highways that a significant amount of traffic passes through the village to get on to the A6097 via Trent Lane, especially during the morning rush hour and that turning on to the A6097 from the end of Trent Lane is very hazardous. The PC will be requesting that this junction, and at least 80m of Trent Lane, should be made one-way only (ie traffic turning in to Trent Lane only).

On separate roads issues, it has been reported that there have been several incidents where vehicles travelling from the traffic lights towards Kirk Hill have left the road on the corner, including some collisions with the large wall. It was decided to approach Highways to see if improved signage and/or safety barriers may be provided. In addition, a request is being made for more reflective posts at the junction of Butt Lane with the old A46 road.

The PC thanked the WI for its work in replanting and maintaining the triangular ‘island’ on Cherry Holt Lane. Projects like these have a very positive impact on the appearance of the village as a whole.

The next meeting will be on Monday 5th December at 7.30pm.