Present
- Councillor Mrs M. Gilbert (Chair)
- Councillor Ms L. Hopkin
- Councillor J. Wilton
- Councillor K. Harrison
- Councillor Mrs E. Harrison
- Councillor J. Keirnan
- Councillor Mrs L. Ball (Broxtowe Borough Council)
- Councillor D. Pringle (Broxtowe Borough Council)
- Councillor J. McGrath (Nottinghamshire County Council)
- PC A. Davies (Police)
Clerk
Mrs S.M. Bircumshaw
94/24 Co-option of new councillor
Councillor James Keirnan was co-opted on to the Parish Council. He completed and signed all the necessary paperwork, which will be emailed to Broxtowe Borough Council.
95/24 Apologies for absence
Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Mrs S. Wheatley, Councillor D. Keating, Councillor Mrs S. Keating, Councillor K. Rigby and Councillor S. Pepper.
96/24 Declaration of Interest
Councillor Mrs Gilbert declared a pecuniary interest in any matters pertaining to the moving of the bench on Church Lane.
97/24 Minutes of the last meeting
The Minutes of the meeting held on 16th July 2024 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.
98/24 Public participation
There were no members of the public present.
99/24 Police report
PC Tony Davies from the Eastwood Safer Neighbourhood Team introduced himself to the meeting.
He reported that there have been 14 incidents in the last 30 days, including 1 burglary, 1 vehicle fire at Cossall Road car park, and some break-ins to sheds/garages.
He apologised for the sketchy report as is new to this. He reported that they do keep an eye regarding off-road bikers and do request the Off-road Bike Team depending on how many reports have been received – Cossall covers quite a large area.
There have been a lot of reports regarding ordinary cyclists threatening walkers by travelling too fast and too close to pedestrians, but it is mainly off-road motorbikers who are reported.
Councillor McGrath said that it seem that cyclists always think the right of way is theirs and not the walkers. Cyclists need to be made aware that walkers have priority on footpaths and bridle paths. Could do with some signage. Councillor McGrath will speak to someone at County Council regarding this and liaise with Councillors Pringle and Mrs Ball. It might be a good idea to email the East Midlands Mayor as a cycling person has just been appointed.
It was mentioned that delivery cyclists, usually wearing all black and balaclavas, from the direction of Bilborough, are getting a bad reputation for inconsiderate riding. Councillor Pringle reported that there is still evidence of misuse of the car park on Cossall Road.
100/24 County Councillor’s report
Councillor McGrath reported that all of the dropped kerbs have been done at bus stops.
With regard to the anti-skid surface at Dead Man’s Elbow – this will be monitored. Waiting to see what happens over the winter. There may be some more funding available for refurbishment of this surface.
Bus shelters have been requested for bus stops – inspectors have been round to see if they are applicable in this area.
Flooding – the Section 19 report has been made public after the election and there is a page on Cossall. Councillor McGrath will ask at full council as to what has been done or going to be done to help to prevent flooding in the future – sand bags were not effective in the recent flooding. There is supposed to be an Action Plan involving the Borough Council, County Council and Environment Agency but nothing has been heard yet. Councillor McGrath will raise the question next week. It might be worth writing to Steve Stone at County Council, copying in both County Councillors. Councillor McGrath will be speaking with him anyway to find out information regarding the proposals for alleviating flooding.
Cllr McGrath to ask full council what is being done to alleviate flooding in Cossall
101/24 Borough Councillor’s report
Councillor Mrs Gilbert asked Councillor Mrs Ball is there has been any progress regarding finding out what the problems have been with the planning application site – we know for sure that we didn’t receive one planning application and there could have been more that we are unaware of. Councillor Mrs Ball confirmed that she has spoken to someone about it but not heard anything back yet. We want re-assurances that this situation will not happen again.
We are still waiting for clarification regarding adding trees to the TPO – do we need to put in a planning application to do this or not? Councillor Mrs Ball confirmed that she is still trying to get in touch with the officer who deals with trees. Phil Wood is the person who deals with this – apparently he has been off work with an injury for a long time and no-one took over his work load – hence the delay. Councillor Mrs Wheatley will be asked to send the list of trees over to Councillor Mrs Gilbert to forward to Councillor Mrs Ball. Councillor Keirnan reported that there is no mechanism for requesting a TPO – only the Tree Officer can make a request.
Cllr Mrs Wheatley to send list over to Cllr Mrs Gilbert to forward
We have still not seen a copy of the environmental report on the canal from the environment Agency. Councillor Pringle will look into this. It was reported that there has not been a liaison meeting with Avant for a while as the last one was cancelled.
Cllr Pringle to investigate
Regarding the exit on to the bypass, Matt Lee who is in charge of Highways is still waiting for the information from Avant and Avant say they are still waiting for the paperwork from Highways. Are these liaison meetings still useful? There have not been any complaints for a while now so maybe the meetings could be quarterly rather than monthly? Both Jason and Mark are in touch via email. The access needs to be sorted sooner rather than later otherwise 200+ houses will be using Newtons Lane for access.
8.25pm Standing Orders commenced
102/24 Items for discussion
a) Church Matters
Nothing to report.
b) Footpaths and pavements
It was reported that immediately on the left after turning into Newtons Lane there is a large conifer hedge encroaching the pavement.
The seat on Coronation Road near the roundabout is very overgrown. This has been reported before but nothing has been done – cannot see the seat. Cllr Mrs Gilbert will look into this.
Cllr Mrs Gilbert to look into this
c) Roads/Traffic/Bikers
Nothing to report.
d) RCAN
Councillor Harrison reported that he has passed on information on Community Hall Training courses to the church.
RCAN have access to a grant adviser. This is a free service and Councillor Harrison will look into this for the car park.
Cllr Harrison to look into this
RCAN are requesting photos showing images of rural Nottinghamshire. We could use some of the photos used for the Neighbourhood Plan. Councillor Mrs Gilbert will send the photos and Councillor Harrison will send her the link to upload these.
Cllr Mrs Gilbert to send photos
RCAN want to change the membership payments to a fixed date starting from 1 April next year. Our membership is due to renew on 1 November so we have 5 months extra to pay to cover us until next April. This will be discussed later on in the meeting.
e) CPRE
Nothing to report.
f) TPO’s (Tree Preservation Orders)
Still awaiting information on how to add trees to the TPO.
g) Floral displays/Christmas tree
We need to look into putting a Christmas tree up with mechanical help this year. Councillor Mrs Gilbert has received a quote from “Festive Firs” for delivery and erection for a cost of £750.00. She has also emailed a national company but their quote is well over £1000.00. A text has also been sent to a local ground worker, Steven Walters, asking if he could recommend anyone who could do this. Suggestions from members present at the meeting were – Shane Easom, Seth Blant and John Patchitt. We will also need better wedges to keep the tree upright and, if we are collecting a tree, better transport. The tree will need to be 16ft in height (as last year), as 3ft will go into the ground. Councillor Mrs Ball will be asked who supplies/erects Awsworth’s tree. Local farmers will be asked if they can help with the transportation, erection and wedging of the tree, if we buy one locally.
Councillor Mrs Harrison reported that she has got the tulip bulbs from Trowell Garden Centre, for the village planters, but did not manage to get any toppers, we can get those ourselves. The bulbs need to be planted next month.
The two planters on Awsworth Lane need to be moved across the road near to the notice board at Blackboards and the planter on Newtons Lane needs to be moved near to the notice board outside The Gardeners. This will give a more noticeable display. This needs to be done before planting and will be started at the end of September, beginning of October.
It was reported that there were problems with the watering of the planters this year. There could be a feature on this in the next newsletter re volunteers – help is mainly needed for Awsworth Lane.
h) Website security/storage
The website is lacking on both. Russ Heard has done a lot of research on this and recommends the following Updraught+ Premium at £65/year and extending G Drive to the Standard version 200gb at £24.99/year. It was proposed and seconded and all were in favour that we accept these recommendations. Russ will sort this out.
i) Checking of defibrillators
Regular checks are recommended for the batteries, pads, that the display status is correct, that there is no physical damage and that the kit has got everything needed. Councillors Wilton and Keirnan will carry out these checks on a quarterly basis. Councillor Wilton will check the one in the phone box on Church Lane and Councillor Keirnan will check the one at Trinity Farm. Councillor Mrs Gilbert will email the codes and list to them.
j) Painting of the phone box
It was reported that Dean has not carried out the work as promised so a further quote has been received. This quote is from a local painter who has been recommended to us and is for £500.00. It was proposed and seconded and all were in favour that we accept this quotation to carry out the work.
k) Request for memorial bench
Gillian Thornhill’s son would like to renovate the bench outside the church, at his own expense, as a memorial for Gillian. It was proposed and seconded and all were in favour that this be approved. Councillor Mrs Gilbert will contact Gillian’s son.
103/24 Correspondence
There was no correspondence.
104/24 Planning applications
There were no planning applications for discussion.
105/24 Finance
Chris Gilbert had put in a quote for the work to be carried out on the bench on Church Lane and upon starting found that it was much more work than was expected and this has put him considerably out of pocket. The original quote was for £150.00, which is being paid to him this month, but Chris would like to put in a further invoice for £75.00 for the additional work he has had to do. It was proposed and seconded and all were in favour that the extra cost be accepted and for Chris to put in an invoice.
The date of the next Finance meeting will be discussed at the next meeting.
RCAN normally invoice us in October for membership renewal from 1 November (£114.00/year). As they are now going to be sending out invoices in March for renewal from 1 April the pro-rata payment they require from us up to the end of March is £47.50. It was proposed and seconded and all were in favour that this amount be paid next month.
106/24 Accounts for payment
The following accounts were approved for payment | ||
Mrs S. Bircumshaw – Clerk’s Salary/Phone Rental (Aug) | £513.27 | (£479.67/£33.60) |
Cossall PCC – Room Hire – 17/9/24 | £35.00 | |
Mr R Heard – Website Administration | £70.00 | |
Mr C. Gilbert –Bench Repair x2/Newsletter/Hall Clean | £475.00 | (£300.00/£155.00/£20.00) |
TOTAL | £1,093.27 | |
Bank Charges and Fees | £8.00 | |
Income since 16/07/24 | ||
Bank Interest | £52.20 | |
Notts ALC Refund | £250.00 | |
TOTAL | £302.20 | |
Deposit Account | ||
Reserve | £7,000.00 | |
MTFS | £750.00 | |
TOTAL | £7,750.00 | |
Balances @ Bank – August 2024 | ||
Deposit A/C | £8,199.76 | (-Res/MTFS) |
Current A/C | £282.78 | |
TOTAL | £8,482.54 | (Available) |
Balances @ Bank – September 2024 | ||
Deposit A/C | £7,199.46 | (Reserve/MTFS deducted) |
Current A/C | £181.51 | |
TOTAL | £7,380.97 | (Available to spend) |
107/24 Date and time of next meeting
The next meeting of the Parish Council will be held on Tuesday 15th October 2024, commencing at 7.30pm in the Church Hall.