Agenda and draft minutes

Councillor Alex Dale, Leader of the Council

Councillor Alex Dale, Leader of North East Derbyshire District Council, welcomed everyone to the District/Parish Meeting and asked them to introduce themselves.  He thanked those present for attending.

Councillor Dale stated that he was very keen to be a listening Council and to work with partners, in particular Parish Councils, and to fully engage with communities to ensure services were the best they could possibly be.  He thanked Parish Councils for everything they had been doing and for rising to the challenges faced over the past year.

Councillor Dale stated that Parish Councils should be receiving monthly updates.  Councillor Dale reported that positive strives forward had been made with a number of projects, including £500,000 for the Clay Cross Town Investment Plan and £575,000 from the Green Homes Grant for home improvements in the District.  Other work that had recently been undertaken included, litter picks as part of Keep Britain Tidy, job fairs, and Beat the Street. 

Councillor Dale also spoke about the District Council Chair’s Charity Appeal.  Councillor Pat Antcliff, Chair of the Council, was fundraising for Alzheimer’s Research UK and the National Deaf Children’s Society.  It was a difficult year for fundraising and for charities so any help that Parish Councils could give would be appreciated. 

Councillor Dale apologised for the previous District and Parish Liaison Group meeting being postponed in July due to a backlog of meetings.  The District Council was now using zoom to hold meetings remotely.

Apologies for absence from the meeting were received from Councillor Jayne Barry (NEDDC and North Wingfield Parish Council), Helen Dowson (Shirland and Higham Parish Council), Councillor Roger Hall (NEDDC and Dronfield Town Council), Councillor David Hancock (NEDDC and Tupton Parish Council), Councillor Anthony Hutchinson (NEDDC and Dronfield Town Council), Dawn Kershaw (Clay Cross Parish Council), Dorothy Neal (Temple Normanton Parish Council), Councillor Paul Parkin (NEDDC and Dronfield Town Council), Councillor Tracy Reader (NEDDC and Clay Cross Parish Council).

Apologies were also received from Steve Lee (Strategic Partnership Co-ordinator).

To receive as a correct record the Notes of the meeting held on 6 March 2020.

The Group gave consideration to the Notes of the District and Parish Liaison Group held on 6 March 2020 and noted the content.

Presentation from Lee Hickin – Director of Corporate Resources and Head of Paid Service

The Director of Resources gave a presentation on the Covid-19 recovery plan.

The Director of Resources provided background to the plan, stating that Covid-19 had caused disruption to Local Authorities, businesses, organisations, individuals, charities and the whole community. 

The recovery planning process focussed on three key areas: Organisation, Economy and Community.  The inward facing organisation plan included the following strands:        

Maintaining financial control

Getting people back into the workplace

New ways of working

ICT and Cybersecurity

Front Facing Services

Reviewing our Strategies and Plans

The Director of Resources concluded the presentation with a summary of the work that had been achieved by the Council in the past three months, which included leisure facilities being back to around 68% of membership levels, ROSPA Gold Award for Health and Safety approach, and developing a new campaign to reduce carbon emissions called ‘Thanks a Tonne’.

It was AGREED that the presentation be noted.

Presentation from Karen Hanson – Director of Environment and Enforcement

The Director of Environment and Enforcement gave a presentation on the current situation with regards to Covid-19, including plans for the second wave.

The Director of Environment and Enforcement provided background to what arrangements the Council had put in place in March when the first lockdown started and what support had been provided to residents and businesses.   

The Director of Environment and Enforcement stated that planning for a second wave was currently being undertaken, along with winter business continuity planning.  The planning was also looking at managing the potential multiple issues that could arise, including flu season, Covid-19, flooding and Brexit. 

Councillor Dale added that cases were rising in the County so it was important everyone was working together.

It was AGREED that the presentation be noted.

Verbal Update from Councillor Charlotte Cupit, Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Environmental Services

Councillor Cupit, Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Environmental Services provided an update on the District Council’s Planning Service.  At the September meeting of Cabinet additional planning resources and a restructure had been approved.  This additional resource and restructure would double the planning enforcement team, recruit in-house specialists for arboriculture and heritage as well as increasing in-house development management.  Work was also continuing on improving the Planning Committee’s processes and procedures.

Councillor Cupit also spoke to the Group on the Government’s Planning White Paper.  This was a Government consultation on the planning process.  The changes were high level and were in the very early stages and any changes were not planned to come in to effect until the end of the current parliament.  The District Council was preparing a draft response on the White Paper.

It was AGREED that the updated be noted.

Presentation from Gill Callingham – Director of Growth and Economic Development

The Director of Growth and Economic Development gave a presentation on regeneration projects in the District.  The presentation covered the following:

One Public Estate – Killamarsh, Eckington, Clay Cross

£165k external funding had been secured and locality reviews had been carried out.  In Clay Cross two scenarios were being considered for a community hub.  In Eckington, options were being explored for a number of development opportunities and service provision across the town centre.  In Killamarsh, residential and commercial development opportunities were being explored as well as options for a new community hub.

Towns Fund – Clay Cross

The investment plan was due to be submitted by 30 October 2020.  A plan of emerging projects was displayed.

Barrow Hill Line

The opening of the Barrow Hill Line would connect the Sheffield-Worksop-Lincoln Line with the Midlands Mainline north of Chesterfield.  It was currently at the strategic outline business case phase.

Dronfield Civic Centre

The civic centre was currently up for sale so the creation of a supplementary planning document to regenerate the civic centre area was being explored.

It was AGREED that the presentation be noted.

Update from Sue Dixon, Partnership Strategy Officer.

The Partnership Strategy Officer reported that the last application round closed on 30 September but another bidding round would now run until 31 December 2020.  Applications would be assessed as and when they were received so the deadline might be brought forward.

Grants were available to formally constituted groups and to non-constituted groups sponsored by a constituted organisation.  Parish and Town Councils could not apply themselves but they could act as a sponsor to suitable non-constituted groups.  Grants of up to £500 were available to support residents to tackle local issues in the District in support of the Council Plan.  Examples included local community improvements, helping to promote physical activity, reducing social isolation, tackling climate change, improving recycling rates and reducing litter, enhancing biodiversity, supporting development of local volunteers and groups, addressing parking issues and reducing anti-social behaviour.

Further information was available on the Council’s website https://www.ne-derbyshire.gov.uk/community/community-action-grants or by contacting Sue Dixon, Partnership Strategy Officer.

It was AGREED that the update be noted.

One per Parish – taken in order of receipt.

Parishes may submit a question in advance by emailing Amy Bryan (amy.bryan@ne-derbyshire.gov.uk)

Councillor H Liggett asked if facts and figures could be provided on missed bin collections that occurred on Fridays, and whether collections on Fridays had a higher prevalence of missed collections.

Y Colverson asked a question regarding the status of the housing offices as no formal notification had been received regarding the permanent closure.  Y Colverson also noted that the consultation regarding the closure had been undertaken online, which had excluded the people who used the office.  Councillor Dale responded that the tenants who used the office had been written to.  The Director of Growth and Economic Development agreed to look into the notification of the closure and respond to Y Colverson.

Councillor J Funnell asked about the number of Covid-19 cases in the area and how lockdown/regional restrictions were determined.  Councillor A Dale responded that the number of cases had increased.  The Director of Environment and Enforcement added that the Government were trying to standardise the approach with three tiers of restrictions, which would be published next week.    

It was AGREED that:

(1)         Councillor Cupit and the Director of Environment and Enforcement look into missed bin collections.

(2)         The Director of Growth and Economic Development look into the formal notification of the housing office closure.

The next meeting of the District/Parish Liaison Group is scheduled for 26 March 2021 at 4.00 pm.

The next meeting was due to be held on Friday 26 March 2021 at 4.00pm.

Meeting closed at 5.30 pm.