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Please note that these minutes will not be approved until presented at next years APM.
MINUTES OF THE TROWELL ANNUAL PARISH MEETING HELD IN THE PARISH HALL ON TUESDAY 27TH APRIL 2010 AT 7.30PM.
Present: Cllr. Mrs. M. Birkitt, Chairman.
Cllrs. G. Lockwood, K.E. Rigby (Parish, Borough & County Council), Mrs. J.E. Bryant, W.J. Bryant, K. Birkitt, Mrs. L. Harley, Mrs. P. Cardwell, Mrs. C. McGann, R, McGann, S. Hallam and approx. 40 parishioners.
Clerk: Mrs. A.K. Mitchell.
Cllr. Mrs. Birkitt opened the meeting & thanked everyone for attending especially those taking part in the market place exhibition. She then went on to announce the fire safety formalities & introduce herself to those attending.
No apologies were forthcoming.
Copies of the minutes of the previous Annual Parish Meeting held on 28th April 2009, had been distributed prior to the start of the meeting, & were moved for acceptance by Cllr. Hallam, seconded by Cllr. Mrs. Cardwell. All in favour.
Cllr. Mrs. Birkitt then presented the following report.
2009/2010 has been another busy & productive year for the Parish Council.
The Parish Hall continues to be a well-used community facility & as a result the Parish Council has had to continue its investment in the building to maintain & improve its condition & also to comply with new regulations imposed on such buildings. The hall now has a fire alarm and new fire doors have been recently installed to improve safety. These new doors will be painted shortly to match the existing interior. The kitchen has seen the installation of new flooring & a new cabinet to house the gas meter. New curtains are to be delivered shortly; the council has chosen to go for replacements as it was doubtful that the existing fabrics would stand another cleaning & fireproofing! Further improvements are planned for 2010/2011 & all this hard work was rewarded in 2009 when the Parish Hall was awarded the title of Best Run Village Hall in Broxtowe.
A new bench has been installed in the play park with the kind assistance of Cllr. Rigby & a second one is to follow shortly through the kind offices of Nottinghamshire County Council. To further develop the park the Clerk is currently seeking funding to add some pre-school equipment to the site. There are currently problems on site before park closing (8pm April – October) with young people gathering at the back of the parish hall to drink etc. The police & the parish council’s security contractors are aware of the situation & are acting accordingly. Whilst with the exception of litter & the setting of some small fires the youngsters are not causing trouble the council is concerned for their welfare & safety as the effects of binge drinking are well documented.
Linking in with this theme, additional CCTV equipment has been ordered for the parish hall & its environs; this will be linked directly to the Broxtowe monitoring unit in Beeston. Unfortunately, the works have been delayed as the contractors have been stranded abroad due to the volcanic ash cloud!
Trowell achieved considerable success in the Calor Village of the Year competition, winning the communication category, the best place to live category & the overall title of Nottinghamshire’s Calor Village of the Year 2009. The prize money received from the communications category is being used to redesign the parish council website. Those involved are currently being trained on maintaining & updating the site & so the new format should hopefully be launched very soon. In respect of the remaining prize monies, the parish council has appealed through the Trowell Times for ideas from parishioners on how this money should be best spent. So far no firm proposals have been received but any suggestions would be considered on their merits.
The Aligned Core Strategy has proved a very hot topic over the last 12 months & the parish council has been campaigning on Trowell’s behalf from the outset. The parish council was aware from the initial consultation document that some sites in Trowell may be put forward for consideration & asked, if that was the case that these sites be clearly identified as being in Trowell. The parish council was told that this request would be granted but subsequently these assurances were not adhered to. Official complaints were made to Broxtowe on these points & the parish council will receive the findings on these complaints at its next meeting. The current consultation period has now closed & the parish council submitted a lengthy letter to the borough council detailing its many concerns, objections & suggestions in respect this second consultation document. We all now have to wait & see if these concerns are recognised & have any affect of the firm proposals which are anticipated to be put out for consideration in the late summer/early Autumn. In the meantime the parish council will continue to keep residents informed & organise public meetings, leaflet drops etc as & when necessary in order to achieve this.
The parish council continues to use the Trowell Times newsletter to assist it in letting residents know about things that are happening in the village. This newsletter is delivered to every household & the parish council is indebted to those Neighbourhood Watch & other volunteers who assist by delivering these newsletters to their neighbours.
Despite the withdrawal of emails & telephone messages from the Police to inform co-ordinators about relevant Neighbourhood Watch issues, Trowell is endeavouring to continue the organisation’s good work by evolving & adapting. Volunteers are to meet regularly with our local police representatives, PC Farrell & PCSO Freeman & information received will then be fed back to co-ordinators via the group’s own email links.
The Parish Council continues to support entertainment in the village & in 2009 promoted a concert by local Rock & Roll legends Revival & outstanding blues artists, The Daniel Smith Blues Band. Revival are returning to Trowell this June & tickets are on sale now from the Clerk at £10.
The sterling volunteers of the Trowell Festival Village Committee again staged the village Christmas Event at the Parish Hall last November. A fantastic evening was had by all & £112.82 was raised for charity. This summer the committee is planning a heritage transport event at the parish hall & new volunteers are always welcome – full details are available from the committee’s stand in this evening’s market place.
The parish council is working hard to reinstate the Christmas lighting display around the village. Parishioners need to be aware that the issue is not with the lights themselves but with the infrastructure now required under new legislation to stage them. Unfortunately, Trowell has a high proportion of concrete lamp standards & as with the hanging baskets these can no longer be used to support Christmas lighting displays. The parish council is currently awaiting a response from Nottinghamshire County Council on this matter before further progress can be made.
During 2009 the parish council awarded a grant of £200 to Trowell FC to assist them with moving the former youth club portacabin to Pit Lane to be used as changing facilities. The Council also donated the Clerk’s time in co-ordinating the necessary planning application for the building. The parish council hopes to continue working with the club to further develop the site & the clerk has already met with the development officer at the FA to find out how they can help & assist with this project. The Club’s under 15’s should also be congratulated on reaching their first Sunday Youth Cup Final recently – a significant achievement for such a young club.
This evening we welcome various local clubs & organisations to our Market Place in the annexe & I would encourage everyone present to visit the stands & see what opportunities are on offer in the village.
Finally I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all my fellow Councillors for all their hard work throughout the year including making the tea this evening!
This concluded the Chairman’s Report.
Cllr. Mrs. Birkitt then introduced the keynote speaker, Mr. Nigel Hamshere to the meeting.
Mr. Hamshere then proceeded to give a short presentation on The Greening Campaign & how Trowell could become involved with the project. At the conclusion of the presentation it was noted that Mr. Hamshere as the local co-ordinator of The Greening Campaign will be attending the next meeting of the Trowell Parish Plan Steering Committee to see if this initiative can be progressed within the parish.
Cllr. Mrs. Birkitt then thanked Mr. Hamshere for his attendance & informative presentation.
Cllr. Mrs. Birkitt then invited questions from the floor.
Barry Ward – Ilkeston Road.
Mr. Ward asked if there had been any further developments regarding the proposed new road from the Stanton Regeneration site. The Clerk advised that she had received nothing official but she has herself seen surveyors out at various locations in the village taking readings.
Cllr. Rigby advised that like BBC, EBC has had to take part in the Aligned Core Strategy process & he advised that the Stanton site could eventually take up to 9,0000 new homes & the figure that is currently in the Aligned Core Strategy (2,000) is much less than the possible final total. This means that a road will have to be built. It should be noted that the government states that a development of that scale would need a dedicated road in & out of the development Cllr. Rigby went on to say that 2 years ago, the consultants employed suggested 8 possible routes for the road, this was whittled down to 3 favorites: 1 through the greenbelt to the A52 near the M1 junction & this would cost in the region of £20million. The second route would cut through the Erewash Valley & 2/3rds through Broxtowe running parallel with the railway & river & this would cost approximately £80million. This would exit at Toton near the railway sidings. The third option would come through Trowell, loop around Cossall & link up with the Awsworth Bypass.
Cllr. Rigby also advised that there are rumours circulating of a direct route out of the site exiting onto Stapleford Road near the sewerage works.
Cllr. Rigby added that he knows no more now but there will possibly be an update in September.
Mr. Ward commented that a haulage company has recently paid £4 million for land in Erewash adjacent to Trowell & he cannot see a company that uses such big vehicles coming to the area for nothing.
Cllr. Rigby said that all we have ay the moment is rumour & speculation but he does believe that they are looking at the possible route through Trowell. There are dates later in the year when the plans will come forward but we won’t know anything further until September/October but residents are right to be concerned.
Mrs. Hughes MBE suggested that residents should be doing something about it even if it is only a rumour. She commented that Stanton by Dale is running a huge campaign against it organizing fundraising events etc. She said that people only have to look at the distance from the site to the exit near the sewerage farm to see which would obviously be the cheapest route.
Cllr. Rigby advised that the reason the action group is fighting it is because actual plans have already been drawn up for that route. The protest group involved actually wants the road to come down Moorbridge Lane & cut across The Moor.
Cllr. Rigby queried how you can campaign against plans that don’t yet exist but added that there is not long to wait for the suggestions to be put forward. Then if Trowell’s fears are realized it will be time to start campaigning.
Cllr. Rigby added that he doesn’t think the village should repeat what happened with the open cast issue. Residents started a campaign & then nothing happened so people lost interest because no application has been submitted yet. Cllr Rigby feels that open casting is the biggest threat facing the village as there is a possible 20-30 years possible extraction period available & this will have an adverse effect on property prices in the village. He added that in 1972 properties in Trowell were £1,000 cheaper than equivalent properties elsewhere in the area because of Stanton Ironworks.
Cllr. Lockwood said that he would reassure those present that the parish council has been involved in the proposed routes since day one & has representatives on one of the committees. Those who attend are there to listen to what is being said & to comment so the parish council does have its ear to the ground. He added that the greenbelt route is the cheapest option & that is where all this opposition is coming from. He concluded by saying that what he doesn’t want is Trowell taking the pain for an entire development in Erewash Borough & that Trowell doesn’t what any more problems from that area.
Mr. Jackson was concerned about some of the discussions taking place; he thinks that Cllr. Rigby is more bothered about open casting than the Aligned Core Strategy. Mr. Jackson said he was at the meeting where BBC had said that they would bring the PUA to the M1 & he thinks people should be very careful about campaigning. He thinks that a new road from Stanton onto Stapleford Road would put pressure on the existing infra structure but may in turn stop the development of Fields Farm.
Cllr. Rigby responded that he didn’t say that open casting is the only concern; he said it was one of the main concerns in Trowell.
Mr. Ward said that people can forget open casting after the previous day’s announcement by UK Coal that they are putting up agricultural land up for sale & this will be attractive to property developers.
Cllr. Bryant said that one thing should be noted about the Stanton site, it could prove to be the saviour of Trowell in that Erewash Borough Council could take some of Broxtowe Borough Council’s allocation. He added that a development of 9,000 houses would produce a town slightly bigger than Stapleford, a total 3 times bigger than the 3 proposed sites in Trowell. He went on to say that to build anything in Stanton a road is required & it has previously been stated that they won’t add another junction to the M1 so another route needs to be considered. However, since the original proposals were put forward 2 new junctions have been added to the M1 so campaigners could push for a motorway link. He stated that the Risley road would be a white elephant because it would be going the wrong way; the most attractive route in this direction would be along Moorbridge Lane & through Trowell. He said that a bridge over the M1 would be enormously expensive as it would not be possible to close the M1 to build it, so he thinks that particular option is remote unless a solution can be found to avoid the M1.
Mr. Jackson said that in regards to the plans for Stanton the route that travels down the railway & river costing £80 million is not really a new plan, it is about 30 years old & would link up with Bessell Lane & A52 which would open up Toton Sidings etc so it would probably be not that expensive an option. He did agree with Cllr. Bryant that the greenbelt option would be a waste of money.
Mr. Ward asked if Cllr. Rigby has yet received the report from STW regarding the problems on Ilkeston Road.
Cllr. Rigby advised that he had asked BBC officers to contact STW last week as despite promises to send the report through quickly nothing has been forthcoming. He will continue to chase STW for the results with the help of BBC.
Mr. Ward raised the issue of the part of the bridge being knocked away near the river on the Trowell side & the fact that this has not been repaired since 18 months. Cllr. Rigby has chased this up & added that some works have been postponed recently.
Mr. Ward asked if anyone knew the cause of problems on the A6009 that morning. Cllr. Rigby said he left home at 8.15am that morning & at 8.30am he still had not got up the hill. He advised that when he got to Balloon Woods there was nothing. Cllr. Mrs. Bryant advised that there are major road works on Bilborough Road with 3 way lights & she thinks that is what is causing the problems. Mrs. Cornhill advised that at these lights the problem is that people are not being courteous to other drivers. She said that it took her 20 minutes to travel from Windsor Close to the Church Hall & when she reached Balloon Woods drivers kept blocking the junction when the lights changed.
Mr. Jackson then said he would like to speak about Trowell Parish Council. He added that he has been involved with village matters for a long time & he has been impressed by those involved who are very hardworking people. He added that the achievements this past year have been fantastic & those involved put themselves out & it is apparent that some people are involved in all the groups in the village.
Cllr. Lockwood said that to follow up on this point that with his having been heavily involved in the Calor Village of the Year competition & the Trowell Parish Plan Steering Group he would like to thank all the groups & individuals involved & those that attended the two Calor Village presentations. He added that on both occasions everyone pulled together & it was a great disappointment that the village wasn’t successful in the regional final. He went on to say that the Trowell Parish Plan Steering Group is open for anyone to join. He also thanked RCAN for their support & involvement. Cllr. Lockwood then extended an invitation to everyone to come along to the next meeting on 16th June. He said that new blood & new enthusiasm is wanted & new volunteers would be made very welcome. Cllr. Bryant advised that the Aligned Core Strategy will be discussed at the next meeting & he added that the group is indebted to the Clerk who has composed & submitted a very comprehensive reply to BBC on this issue.
There were no further issues raised.
Cllr. Mrs. Birkitt closed the meeting by thanking everyone for their time & attendance & parishioners were then invited to visit the stands in the hall & partake of light refreshments in the lounge.
The meeting closed at approximately 8.35pm.