[These and previous minutes are available as a web page on conservation.ecclesfieldgroups.com Just click on "Minutes" for the minutes of the last meeting]

Minutes of the Conservation Group meeting of 2011-07-18 (Monday) at 19:30 in the Stocks

[Numbers and letters in square brackets refer to corresponding items in the agenda of the same date. This version of the minutes was last amended on 2011-07-23 and has not yet been approved]

Attendance

[a] John Ellis chaired the meeting.
[ ] Jim Percival jim AT ... took these minutes.
[b] Joan and Mel Jones attended to offer their expertise in aid of the proposed Ecclesfield Heritage Board, and including them 11 people signed into the meeting. 1 person sent apologies. In all 32 people receive emailed agendas and minutes.

Things we are doing

[z] It was decided that there won't be an August meeting. The next meeting of the Conservation Group will therefore be on 2011-09-19 (Monday) at 19:30 in the Stocks.
[4] In view of the attendance of our guests, John Ellis, as Chair, dealt first with item 4 on the Agenda concerning the Ecclesfield interpretation board.
Joan and Mel Jones distributed copies of their "Initial thoughts on the Industrial Heritage of Ecclesfield". This listed some 15 sites which could be included. Space limitations on the board however, led us to discuss limiting the number of sites to perhaps half a dozen of these (with photographs). Since the board is to be situated on Ladycroft Meadow, it was thought reasonable to concentrate on those sites in the centre of the Village, so leaving other sites for a possible second board sited elsewhere [I have not distributed the full document, but have listed the sites included on http://ecclesfield.wikia.com/wiki/Conservation¬ so that anybody who wishes can leave comments].
Roger Tordoff, proposed, KF seconded, and it was carried without objection, that we would leave it to Joan and Mel Jones to decide which of the sites was the most important.
KF then thanked Mel and Joan for attending.
After they left, there was some discussion of the costs, with PB saying that he thought that Bolsterstone's board cost £2000, in its final form, however, there were good reasons to think that ours would not cost as much as this. PB suggested that we should put £200 towards the cost of the board, and it was agreed that he could submit the grant application form on that basis.
[2] RT reported on the letter he had sent to SCC Planning Department commenting on the application for an Aldi on the old Rollem site [Click Aldi planning application¬ and scroll down to "ECCLESFIELD CONSERVATION GROUP", to see a copy of the letter]. RT noted that the application included trees around the site plus a car park for 78 cars which the application said would be available to people visiting the nearby bank and butchers, and the meeting decided that we should continue to monitor the application.
[3] The large number of vehicles travelling down Church street, that was revealed by our two traffic surveys was discussed. It was decided that we should press for a pedestrian crossing, and write to the SCC with that request, giving them copies of the second survey in support [I apologies to attendees. I have just checked back and I did email all members on 2011-05-26, but the survey had then only just been completed and the results were not therefore included. However, our website is a more reliable source of information than my memory, since I uploaded the first survey results to http://conservation.ecclesfieldgroups.com/traffic on 2011-01-21, and the second on 2011-06-12, and both remain available at that location - JP].
[5] Arrangements for the Gala were discussed. PB said that our gazebos had been loaned to the Parks Group, and would have to be retrieved. He emphasized the importance of having people available to help erect the stand, relieve people manning it, and to dismantle things at the end.

Resolutions Passed

[y] The email we received about the concrete topping stones used to repair the wall next to the flats on Yew Lane was referred to. Members agreed that the loss of coping stones from the conservation area was a problem and asked ID to write to the council. [I have uploaded some photographs of missing coping stones to http://ecclesfield.wikia.com/wiki/Conservation¬ - JP]

Also Discussed

[x] The application by Gleeson Homes¬ for 387 houses was discussed, particularly the extra traffic it would bring, the fact that nearby schools are full, and the strain on medical facilities.
[y] The forthcoming closure of Ecclesfield Road¬, Chapeltown for 4 weeks from 24th July was also mentioned.

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