CRESWELL PARISH COUNCIL

Clerk: Mrs Lisa Horritt

www.creswellparishcouncil.co.uk

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Annual Public Meeting Minutes

Minutes of the meeting held on Monday 20th April 2015 at 7.00 pm at the School Hall, Tillington Manor Primary School, Young Avenue, Holmcroft.

1. Welcome by the Chairman of Creswell Parish Council – Councillor Maria Redfern

The welcome address is attached to these minutes – Appendix 1.

Apologies have been received from Cllr R Sutherland, Cllr M Winnington, Mr H Hidderley, Mr & Mrs R Dixon, Anne Williamson, Dave and Joy Breeze.

2. Minutes of the 2014 Annual Public Meeting.

These are attached (Appendix 2). There were no questions raised by the public in relation to the minutes and they were accepted as a true record by the meeting.

3. Short update on developments in the area

(i) John Flynn – Staffordshire County Council – update Redhill Business Park
SCC have been on site for the last 18 months. The infrastructure is now complete. It has been confirmed that Alstom will be building on plot 7 (large plot at the back), they are a clean environment, no heavy industry and no night shifts. There will be a small number jobs and room for expansion and more importantly, no lost jobs in the town.

Cllr Chapman noted that this was encouraging in relation to job growth. He asked if the roads would be publically adopted – this was confirmed by John Flynn. It was also raised how issues with HGV parking would be avoided. There will be double yellow lines on the site but SCC are keen to hear how issues on Primepoint are being dealt with to see if any solutions can pass onto Redhill Employment Park.

John Flynn also informed the meeting that Alstom will be taking plots 3&5 for a further move and expansion. He also confirmed that they are considering a speculative build on plots 4&6 and have a firm interested in carrying this out.

(ii) – Speedwatch

Paul Marriott from Speedwatch addressed the meeting. They have 8 volunteers Speedwatch monitor speed through Creswell Grove and Great Bridgeford. They record every vehicle over 36mph and count the volume of traffic passing through the area in both directions.

The police are copied the information collected and this results in the following:

Over 39mph – Letter from Police to offender.

2nd Offence over 39mph – Letter and a DVD sent by Police to offender

3rd Offence - Offender receives a visit from the police.

Speedwatch operate as follows:

At each check, 3 volunteers are present, they use hi-vis jackets and speed monitoring signs. They record make, colour and Vehicle registration number. Volunteers cannot use the speed device unless they have been trained.

Some Statistics:

In the last 12 months, 59 checks have been completed with over 1500 drivers speeding over 36mph. Fastest recorded was 65mph. Great Bridgeford has been particularly bad since the new speed limit was introduced, 102 drivers over 36 mph last week.

Paul noted that it is also disappointing to see more local residents not sticking to the speed limits. If local residents can try and stick to the limits this would be a great help.

(iii) No More HGV’s
Unfortunately no-one from No More HGV’s responded to the invite to attend the meeting and address residents.

4. Reports by Local Borough and County Councillors
County Cllr Chapman addressed the meeting – he informed the meeting that the division is the 2nd largest in the County and has a very large rural area. Cllr Chapman is also currently a Borough Councillor although he is standing down this election and also sits on the Fire Authority and is a member of the Crime and Police panel.

On local issues, he is currently working with the Parish Council and businesses on Primepoint 14 to try and resolve huge issues caused by overnight HGV Parking. He noted that he wants these sites to be showpiece sites and not blighted by the issues currently felt.

Broadband issues were also raised – first date was originally March 2012, this has been being put back each quarter and more recently by a year. It was referred to Cllr Winnington who is the broadband champion for the area.

5. Statement (circulated) of the Parish Councils main activities over the past 12 months.

These are attached to the minutes – appendix 3, and in addition a statement of additional activities – Appendix 4.

Chairman’s Address – this is attached to the minutes (appendix 5)

6. Financial Report by the Clerk/Responsible Financial Officer

This was read out by the Clerk and is attached – appendix 6. There were no questions on the financial expenditure for the year.

7. Planning Issues in the Parish – Councillor Richard Thomas

This is attached to minutes - Appendix 7

8. Clerks Report

This was prepared and read by Lisa Horritt – Appendix 8

9. Public Forum

Q: There are issues with the local bus missing the layby at Creswell Grove.

A: This may be due to the shelter not being lit and the nearest light being quite far away.

Q: Why are the bus services constantly being reduced. The Sunday service was scrapped approx. 13 years ago, followed by bank holiday services approx. 3 years ago. 1 year ago the 490 was re-routed through Doxey further reducing the amount of buses going through Creswell Grove. The latest bus from town is now 2210 – the public noted that Arriva used to have a number of passengers on the 2300 service.

A: (FC) Most bus services are now run by commercial companies. Some are subsidised and these have needed to be assessed as many do not offer value for money and some have been assessed as costing as much as £20-25 per user.

10. Close and return of attendance register

Cllr Redfern thanked the public for attending and wished them goodnight. His closing address is attached – Appendix 9.

Cllr Thomas addressed the meeting – this is his last meeting as a Parish Councillor as he will be standing down at the election in May. He thanked everyone for the privilege of being a Councillor and noted it is both a rewarding and frustrating role. One of the public thanked Councillor Thomas for all his work over 32 years and noted that this was appreciated.

Cllr Allsop also addressed the meeting as he will also stand down at this election. He noted that when first approached about joining the Council he refused but then changed his mind and he is glad that he did. It has been a marvellous experience and he has enjoyed working closely with great and genuine people.

The meeting closed at 9.10pm

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