Council Meeting – 11th June 2025

Minutes of the Meeting of Great Longstone Parish Council
held at 7.00pm on Wednesday 11^th June 2025
in Great Longstone Village Hall DE45 1TB

Present: Cllr Jane Rigby (Chair), Cllr Andy Douglass, Cllr Stevie Hornsey, Cllr Phil Barrett and Cllr James Cox.

In attendance: Simon Headington (Clerk)

113/25 Apologies for absence from members.
County Cllr Alastair Sutton and District Cllr Helen Froggatt.

114/25 Declarations of disclosable pecuniary interest relating to items on the agenda.
None

115/25 To Approve Minutes of the meetings of 14^th May 2025
Approved.

116/25 Suspension of Standing Orders for no more than 15 minutes to allow for public comments
There were no members of the public present, so standing orders were not suspended.

117/25 Discussion of Confidential Matters: (Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960 S1(2)) – To determine which items, if any, from the agenda should be taken with the public excluded.

No items of a confidential nature were scheduled for discussion.

118/25 Report from Proper Officer to the Council

1. Produced a “clean” version of the newly adopted Standing Orders, with a change to para 3i, as agreed in the meeting. This is now available on the Council’s website here: https://greatlongstone-pc.gov.uk/standing-orders/
2. Produced a “clean” version of the newly adopted Financial Regulations. This is now available on the Council’s website here: https://greatlongstone-pc.gov.uk/financial-regulations/
3. Updated Complaints Procedure to Version 1.2https://greatlongstone-pc.gov.uk/complaints-procedure/
4. Updated records retention Policy https://greatlongstone-pc.gov.uk/records-retention-policy/
5. Follow-up emails with test results sent to allotment holders, plus Environmental Health (DDDC) and Public Health (DCC)
6. AGAR forms and associated documents sent to external auditors
7. Notice of right to examine the Council’s financial records posted onto the noticeboard.
8. Outstanding/Ongoing tasks – Land registrations: Name/address changes with solicitor. Investigations relating to the Field and Quarry with Clerk
   

119/25 Allotments: Report from the Clerk on responses from Environmental Health (DDDC) and Public Health (DCC) and to discuss options.
A written reply had been received from the Environmental Health Department at Derbyshire Dales District Council. This explained that:

“naturally occurring lead and associated metals are common throughout soils in parts of Derbyshire Dales.  As such, lead concentrations in soils at the Great Longstone allotments are likely to be broadly comparable to other allotments in the mineralised area of the district and to concentrations in residential gardens across the district.  Under the Statutory Guidance, normal (also called natural) concentrations of substances in soil (e.g. caused by soil formation processes and underlying geology) should not be considered to cause land to qualify as Contaminated Land under Part 2A, unless there is a particular reason to consider otherwise. Currently there is no evidence that the natural levels of lead and other metals associated with mineralisation pose an unacceptable risk to human health in Derbyshire Dales.”

It was suggested that, if the Parish Council wished to carry out further investigations, they could consider:

1. Testing of allotment grown produce – Laboratory testing of a variety of commonly grown fruit/vegetables from the site would provide data on whether the foodstuffs have taken up lead from the soil. (i.e. taken up lead present in soil pore water) and therefore pose a potential risk to consumers.
2. Derivation of site-specific soil assessment criteria – You could engage a geo-environmental consultant that specialises in human health risk assessment to undertake what is called Detailed Quantitative Risk Assessment (DQRA) to derive site specific soil assessment criteria (SSAC) using exposure parameters for the Great Longstone allotments.

The clerk reported that he had been quoted a price of £32.50 per test, for option 1. It was thought that option 2 would be in the “thousands” of pounds.

Clerk instructed to clarify if the recommendation to close the allotments, made by Environmental Health in April, remains and to follow-up with DCC Public Health Department, for their advice.

120/25 Neighbourhood Plan Steering Committee
Cllr Douglass reported that the Steering Committee had an interesting meeting with a presentation from Andy Nash, who was one of the team that lead the development of the Bradwell Neighbourhood Plan. The next meeting is scheduled for Monday 16^th June.

121/25 Recreation Ground

1. Tennis Court Resurfacing Project: Cllr Douglass reported that the area has been sprayed with weedkiller and that the contractors were due to pressure wash the area on Friday 13^th
   The Clerk reported that a grant of £1,000 had been made by the Better Derbyshire Dales Fund, towards the cost of the lines and painting of the new surface.
2. Rules for safe use of the Recreation Ground: These are still with the Clerk who needs to discuss the potential by-laws with LASRA.

122/25 Longstone Village Week Update (12^th to 20^th July 2025)

A full programme of events will take place, starting on Saturday 12^th with the Well Dressings and Open Gardens. It will include the LASRA Sports day on Sun 13^th and various evening events. Little Longstone are also laying on a number of events. The bunting will be put up in the village, in time for the event.

123/25 Old Infant School Building
An email from the property owner was discussed. It was agreed that whilst the Council itself was not in need of a building it would try to set up a meeting between the owner and representatives of community organisations.

124/25 Energy Conservation Initiatives

1. Proposal: That a representative of Hope Valley Renewables be invited to give a presentation, in the village, on energy conservation initiatives that could be introduced within the community. Agreed 
2. Proposal: That the Council enter into discussions with the Village Hall Management Committee and Hope Valley Climate Action, on the feasibility of installing a solar energy system at the Village Hall. Agreed

125/25 Planning Applications

1. Recent – NP/DDD/0325/0194 – S73 application for the removal of condition 2 on NP/DDD/0197/002 – 1 Glebe Court, Glebe Road, Great Longstone. Awaiting Decision
   Note – The applicant emailed to request that the Council clarify that this “Condition 2”, or the original planning approval, refers to a “Local Housing Need” and not “Affordable Housing” as referred to in the minutes of the meeting of 1st Apr 2025.After some discussion it was agreed that:
   a) Minutes of previous meetings cannot be changed.
   b) The Council is happy to acknowledge that the original planning condition referred to the property having a condition that required that occupancy of the property was limited to people who met the definition of having a local housing need and that it did not specifically refer to “affordability”.However, as was pointed out that the terms “affordable” and “local need” tend to be used interchangeable and this is backed up in PDNPA Policy HC1 which includes the statement that properties that “addresses eligible local needs … for homes that remain affordable with occupation restricted to local people in perpetuity.”
2. New, for consideration in meeting NP/DDD/0525/0515 – S.73 for variation of condition 2 of NP/DDD/0924/1027 – Cluden Bank, Main Street. No Comments 
3. Enforcement Notices ENF: 24/0143 – “Breach of Condition” of Condition 20 of planning permission NP/DDD/0805/0818. PDNPA currently have nothing to report other than the deadline for compliance is now set as being 30^th June 2025. No update available.

126/25 Community Right to Bid (Localism Act 2011 Ch3 S87)
Proposal: To submit an application for a “Community Right to Bid” in relation to the White Lion Public House, Main St, Great Longstone. (See Appendix C)
It was agreed to postpone this proposal to a future meeting whilst further investigations took place.

127/25 Staffing Committee
Proposal: To approve Terms of Reference for a Staffing Committee.  Approved

128/25 Defibrillators: To note that the two Parish Council Defibrillators are now registered with the British Heart Foundation managed system called “The Circuit”. In future this is the system that East Midlands Ambulance will be using when they need to direct callers to the nearest available machine. Noted

128/25 Training: Cllr Rigby booked onto DALC “Chairs” course on 24^th June 2025. Noted

129/25 Data Protection Registration (Reg No Z2589722) – The annual fee to the Information Commissioners Office has been increased from £40 to £52. As we pay by Direct Debit we are eligible for a £5 reduction, so the amount payable this year will be £47, up from £35 last year. This will be taken automatically around 7^th July. Noted

130/25 Finance

1. Account Signatories
   Application to add Cllr Stevie Hornsey to Unity Account has been approved by the bank.
2. Payments made since last meeting

NOTED

3. To accept and approve new payments:

All Approved

131/25 Items of Correspondence

1. 19/5/2025 Email from owner of Old Infant School Building (see 123.1/25) – Noted
2. 21/5/2025 DDCVS – Notification of award of grant from the “Better Derbyshire Dales Fund” towards painting the MUGA surface. (See 121.1/25) – Noted
3. 21/05/2025 DDDC – Monitoring of Public Spaces Protection Order & encouraging responsible behaviour in parks, recreation grounds & public open spaces – Noted
4. 22/05/2025 NALC Newsletter – Noted
5. 26/05/2025 ICO – Notice about Direct Debit for annual fee (See 129/25) – Noted
6. 29/05/2025 – Calver Resident: Email about group using a barbeque on Longstone Edge and camper vans – Noted
7. 30/05/2025 – Citizen’s Advice Bureau – Annual Report/Impact Statement – Noted
8. 30/05/2025 – Bakewell Safer Neighbourhood Team Newsletter – Noted
9. 30/05/2025 – Various emails about the blessing of the Well Dressings – Noted
10. 30/05/2025 – Email from resident offering a water supply for MUGA resurfacing (following up on a UTE article) – Noted
11. 31/05/2025 – Email from local resident asking about qualifying criteria for local occupancy clauses (following up on a UTE article) – Noted
12. 02/06/2025 – Emails from Community Heartbeat Trust about re-registering the Defibs with “The Circuit”. (See 128/25) – Noted
13. 04/06/2025 – Email relating to planning application NP/DDD/0325/0194 (see 125.1/25) – Noted

132/25 Items of Late Correspondence

1. 08/06/2025 – Various about plans to sell the Vicarage – Clerk instructed to draft a letter to Diocese to request that building is used to help meet local housing needs.
2. 08/06/2025 – DCC -Closure of Mires Lane 12^th/13^th August – Copy to UTE
3. 09/06/2025 – Repositioning the waste bin on Beggarway Lane – Council wants bin to remain close to current location and not moved to top of Church Lane.
4. 10/06/2025 – DCC – Holiday clubs for children in receipt of free school
5. 10/06/2025 – DDDC – Postal Vote re-registration – Copy to UTE
6. 10/06/2025 – PDNPA – Local Plan Review: Questionnaire for Farmers and Business Owners – Post to GL Facebook page

133/25 Items from Councillors for information: (Note that anything that requires a decision to be made must go onto the agenda of a future meeting for discussion and agreement) None

134/25 To note forthcoming meetings

1. Dates of future Parish Council meetings:

• Wed 9^th Jul 2025 * Wed 10^th Sep 2025
• Wed 12^th Nov 2025 * Wed 14^th Jan 2026
• Wed 11^th Mar 2026 * Wed 13^th May 2026

2. Date of 2026 Annual Parish Meeting – 29^th April 2026
3. Date of next Neighbourhood Plan Steering Committee Meeting – 16^th June 2025The Chair closed the meeting at 8:25pm