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- Councillor Mrs M. Gilbert (Chair)
- Councillor Ms L. Hopkin
- Councillor Mrs S. Wheatley
- Councillor J. Wilton
- Councillor K. Rigby
- Councillor K. Harrison
- Councillor Mrs E. Harrison
- Councillor S. Pepper
- Councillor J. Keirnan
- Councillor D. Pringle (Broxtowe Borough Council)
- Councillor J. McGrath (Nottinghamshire County Council)
- PC H. Brown (Police)
- PCSO P. Keeley (Police)
Clerk
Mrs S.M. Bircumshaw
14/25 Apologies for absence
Apologies for absence were received from Councillor D. Keating, Councillor Mrs S. Keating and Councillor Mrs L. Ball (Broxtowe Borough Council).
15/25 Declaration of Interest
There were no Declarations of Interest.
16/25 Minutes of the last meeting
Councillor Mrs Wheatley referred to item 08/25 j) – in second to last paragraph the wording should read “It was reported that the oldest surviving soldier from WW2 …” not the last surviving soldier.
With this alteration, the Minutes of the meeting held on 14th January 2025 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.
17/25 Public participation
There were no members of the public in attendance.
18/25 Police report
PCSO Peter Keeley and PC Harry Brown (Beat Officer for Cossall, Awsworth, Brinsley and Giltbrook) attended the meeting. They gave a crime report for the last 3 months (17 November 2024 – 17 February 2025). There have been 8 crimes in total, which is very low.
3 Violence without injury, 2 Arson, 1 Bicycle theft, 1 Burglary from a caravan, 1 Stalking/harassment. These are all quite isolated incidents.
Arson – fly tip ignited on Solomon Road and vehicle set alight on Solomon Road.
Burglary – caravan break in, suspects have been detained.
Violence without injury – someone kicked in the street, someone punched in the street (2/3 related to the burglary).
Stalking/harassment – Domestic.
There has been 1 incident of Antisocial behaviour – this was recorded as a man living in a tent on Solomon Road, the bike theft is also linked to this incident.
To find out what is happening in the area, log into Notts Police website and search Cossall. PC Brown will send the link to the Clerk to pass on to all councillors.
Concerns have been raised regarding problems at licenced premises; the Neighbourhood Policing Team will be working with these premises.
19/25 County Councillor’s report
Thanks were passed on to Councillor McGrath and Councillor Doddy for their generous donation of £500.00.
Councillor McGrath reported that the flooding on Coronation Road is being looked into. More funding has been made available to help with flooding problems. Inspectors are going around a lot of areas to pinpoint where and what needs doing to alleviate this problem.
There is still a problem with the drains on Church Lane and Councillor McGrath recommended that Emma Georgiou be contacted regarding this.
It was requested that Councillor McGrath contact the Highways Department to request that they take a look at the potholes at the T-junction on Dead Lane – down the hill towards the bend – these are really bad.
Cllr McGrath asked to speak to Highways Dept. Re potholes
20/25 Borough Councillor’s report
Councillor Pringle reported that the work has started on the entrance/exit to the housing development on the bypass. He also reported that another entrance/exit is being proposed on the opposite side of the bypass for a new warehousing facility. Both he and Councillor Mrs Ball are fighting this proposal.
Broxtowe Planning Department have just approved that Avant can now build 30 houses instead of 20 to go on sale before the completion of the entrance/exit.
The question was raised as to whether the drain on Church Lane has been inspected. As water is still coming out even when there has been a spell of dry weather, it seems that the problem could be a blockage between the drain and the next one down, as the water is running freely in that drain.
It was reported that there seems to be a smell of gas – this needs reporting to British Gas.
Report gas smell
Is there any movement on dates for a Liaison meeting between Avant Homes and both Parish Councils, as all requests from both Cossall and Awsworth Parish Councils are being ignored? Councillor Pringle reported that Avant are apparently going through a big redundancy consultation at the moment, so maybe that has something to do with the lack of communication.
Standing Orders commenced at 8.00pm
21/25 Items for discussion
a) 2025 Commemoration of sale of properties in Cossall by the Willoughby Family
Councillor Mrs Wheatley reported that she has sent an invitation to Lord Middleton, who has replied and plans to attend the event. An advert was placed in the Ilkeston Life, which although detailed the event did not look very professional, as it was just printed as it had been written with no professional presentation (as was expected). Councillor Mrs Gilbert reported that she had sent an advert to the Erewash Sound and they had displayed it on their website straight away. They have asked if they can have an interview – John Wheatley was suggested and Councillor Mrs Wheatley will speak to him and let Councillor Mrs Gilbert have some dates/times when he is available to do this. It was felt that, if possible, the Breakfast Show would be the best time to do the interview.
Councillor Mrs Wheatley also reported that the drone filming has started and is being done a little bit at a time over the area. Clips so far are looking very good.
b) Church matters
Costings for the electricity have been received from Marilyn Reed. Up to 17 January the Standing Charge was 204.8p/day and the cost of electricity per kWh was – Weekdays 32.9p, Night 31p and Evenings and weekends 35p.
Marilyn has been trying to change the supplier from SSE Energy for a few months and has now been able to change to British Gas Lite.
The new rates from 17 January are – Standing Charge 40p/day and electricity/kWh – Weekdays 29.01p, Night 21p and Evenings and Weekends 23.21p.
We now need to work out what we owe to start and make regular payments to the church. Councillor Mrs Wheatley will ask John if he will work out what we owe up to now. We need to find out how often the church makes their payments so we can send money accordingly.
Cllr Mrs Wheatley to ask John how much we owe since the meter was changed
Councillor Keirnan reported that he has found a couple of places who offer a buy and return service for LED flood lights, so we can send them back if they are not what we want. It was suggested that we buy a 50watt flood light and a 100watt flood light to see which is the best, for lighting the outside of the church more cost effectively.
Cllr Keirnan to organise this
c) Footpaths and pavements
Councillor Ms Hopkin reported that nothing has yet been done regarding the state of the footpath on Coronation Road. Councillor Mrs Gilbert reported that she has had correspondence regarding this and that nothing will be done in the foreseeable future but it will be kept on the long term list.
Cllr. Keirnan mentioned that he had reported a problem with the bridge by the little car park.
The question was raised as to who is responsible for Mill Lane, as the road surface is very bad. It was suggested that Helen Spencer at the County Council be contacted regarding this.
Contact Helen Spencer
Councillor Mrs Wheatley reported that John has had a look at the flickering light in the phone box a new fitting is needed. Councillor Mrs Wheatley has asked Slater Electrical to sort out the problem.
There are still books appearing in the phone box. It was felt that as long as they are not cluttering up access to the equipment in there it is not too much of a problem. Councillor Pepper will keep an eye on this and remove books if they are causing an access problem.
Cllr Pepper to keep an eye on this
d) Roads/Traffic/Bikers
It was reported that, although the potholes have been repaired, the ones near Mill Lane have washed out again. We need photos of any problems we want to report as this will be helpful in identifying the severity and the location. Cllr. Keirnan is reporting this problem.
The speed restriction signs are leaning down on the corner of Dead Lane and also outside No 3 Robinettes Lane – these are awaiting attention.
It was reported to Councillor Wilton that a car parked on the corner of Church Lane by the church nearly caused an accident as it was protruding. This same car is there for days at a time. The near-miss incident needs to be reported to the police by the person it involved and a Crime number obtained for the Parish Council to pass on to our local police officers for them to look into.
e) RCAN
Councillor Harrison reported that there have been the usual networking events and he has passed on anything to do with Church Halls to Marilyn Reed.
Councillor Harrison had forwarded information regarding the Big Green Book on green spaces etc to the Clerk for distribution. If anyone has any ideas in addition to the canal nature reserve, the green and Millennium Park, please pass them on to Councillor Harrison.
f) CPRE
Nothing to report.
g) Trees and The Woodland Trust
Councillors Mrs Wheatley and Ms Hopkin have managed to get out, despite the weather, and got all of the information needed on 5 oaks on Robinettes Lane. Councillor Mrs Wheatley has uploaded all of the information on to The Woodland Trust website but it could take quite a while before the trees are inspected.
h) Floral displays
The planters are looking ok, apart from the one outside The Hollies It looks like things have been pulled up in the planter outside The Hollies as there are a few holes, possibly caused by squirrels. The bulbs are starting to come up.
i) Commemoration for the end of WW2
Councillor Mrs Gilbert reported that she has received a quote from Bluebell Florists of West Hallam. Any size of lettering can be done as everything is worked by hand. 18” high letters VE will be £50/letter and will be worked in red/white/blue flowers.
Councillor Mrs Harrison reported that the florists where we got the numbers last year can only be done 12” high. It was proposed and seconded and all were in favour that we order the letters from Bluebell Florists. Councillor Mrs Gilbert will organise.
Cllr Mrs Gilbert to organise
Councillor Mrs Gilbert reported that she has received a quote from Moorleys for 6 A3 size laminated posters at a cost of £15.00 (£2.50 each). She passed round a mock-up of the one produced for costing and a few suggestions were made for editing.
The Church service will be held on 11th May and can be in the morning or afternoon. After discussion it was agreed that the service be held in the morning at 10.30am. This will be confirmed with Marilyn Reed. A light buffet will be served from 11.45am and it was suggested a quote be requested from a local buffet supplier, catering for 20 people.
Cllr Mrs Gilbert to organise a quote
22/25 Correspondence
There was no correspondence.
23/25 Planning applications
There were no planning applications for discussion.
No one is happy with the new planning application system as it seems that some planning applications are exempt from appearing on the weekly planning list.
Email to planning dept. to ask what is exempt from the public
The question was raised as to what is happening at the Almshouses. Councillor Mrs Wheatley confirmed that work is ongoing and Councillor Keirnan also confirmed that workmen have been there every day for the last 2 weeks. They are working on the footings.
With regard to the ski slope development – the owner has passed away and all work has ceased – this could be to do with Probate which could take several months.
24/25 Finance
There were no finance matters to discuss.
25/25 Accounts for payment
| The following accounts were approved for payment | ||
| Mrs S. Bircumshaw – Clerk’s Salary/Phone Rental (Feb) | £513.27 | (£479.67/£33.60) |
| Cossall PCC – Room Hire – 18/2/25 | £35.00 | |
| Mr R Heard – Website Administration | £70.00 | |
| NALC – Annual Subscription | £216.64 | |
| Mrs S. Wheatley – Key cutting | £10.00 | |
| Mrs T. Wilson – Hall Cleaning | £20.00 | |
| Seal Calibration – Servicing of Defibrillators | £333.60 | |
| Bank Charges and Fees | £8.00 | |
| TOTAL | £1,206.51 | |
| Income since 14/01/25 | ||
| Bank Interest | £39.80 | |
| Donation from County Councillors | £500.00 | |
| VAT Refund | £1,406.52 | |
| TOTAL | £1,946.32 | |
| Deposit Account | ||
| Reserve | £7,000.00 | |
| MTFS | £750.00 | |
| TOTAL | £7,750.00 | |
| Balances @ Bank – January 2025 | ||
| Deposit A/C | £3,288.81 | (-Res/MTFS) |
| Current A/C | £455.91 | |
| TOTAL | £3,744.72 | (Available) |
| Balances @ Bank – February 2025 | ||
| Deposit A/C | £4,214.24 | (Reserve/MTFS deducted) |
| Current A/C | £233.40 | |
| TOTAL | £4,447.64 | (Available to spend) |
26/25 Date and time of next meeting
The next meeting of the Parish Council will be held on Tuesday 18th March 2025, commencing at 7.30pm in the Church Hall.
The meeting closed at 9.10pm.