Minutes
of the Conservation meeting of
2014-06-24 at 19:00 in “The Stocks”
[For acceptance at the meeting on 2014-07-22]
[As usual, letters refer to standing items, and numbers new items, in the agenda of the same date, which can be seen at conservation.ecclesfieldgroups.com/minutes. ]
A. Chair: Ian Deans (ID) chaired this meeting.
B. Attendance: ID, DM, MM, AM, KM, SP, JP. Apologies were received from RT, LS, and BS.
C. Minutes: The minutes of the last meeting were approved for placing on the web site.
The next meeting will be on July 22nd (I.e. fourth Tuesday), at 7 o'clock in the Stocks.
JP said that Ecclesfield Parish Council were now advertising their part time “project coordinator” job. He added that we were also doing our best to publicise the job, with the hope of getting the best possible candidates - ideally someone with good connections to the local community.
Our need for storage space, both for our gazebo, and for the bulk of our proposed physical historical archive was discussed. JP said that he had already enquired about the Gatty Hall, and at Hulberts, but their storage appeared to already be fully used. Members suggested that perhaps one of the ex. public houses might have a cellar available, or the Hearse House in the grounds of St. Marys Church might have some space. Yellow Box commercial storage was also mentioned, as was the currently empty shop next to “Shields”. Other Ecclesfield groups were also desperate for space, and AM said that the Parks Group had had to purchase a container for the Community Garden, but it was thought that to buy a new one could cost around £3,000.
ID told us that the boundary planter on the junction of Chapeltown Road and Church Street was now in place. The owner of the nearly cattery had agreed to maintain this, but had asked if we could pay for the plants. The meeting agreed that MM should provide a cheque for £20 to cover the cost of this. ID said that the first part of this project looked like a success, but that we still needed a location for the second boundary planter. Cinder Hill, and Yew Lane were suggested, and MM suggested the grassed area outside the old vicarage.
JP showed the meeting our new insurance certificate, and described something of what it did and did not cover. ID asked for a copy of this to submit to the Parish Council for printing further copies of the heritage board leaflets.
The fishing lake known as Ecclesfield Dam was discussed. It was identified in 2010 by the City Council as a local wildlife resource, on which “development would not normally be allowed”. It provided a specially valuable habitat for plants, mammals. Bats and watervoles were mentioned.
The signs at Pinks Estate Agents was put on the agenda for next month. However, JP said that Mr Pink had told him that he had received a letter from Sheffield City Council, and that he intended to normalise the situation by applying for planning permission.
ID attended the meeting in the library on the 28th May to discuss the formation of an “Ecclesfield Forum”. Councillor Vic Bowden chaired the meeting, and asked Councillor John Housley to tell everybody about what had been done in Chapeltown with the Chapeltown Forum. Apparently, the aim of the Chapeltown Forum was to raise the profile of the area and arrange events. There was a newsletter, Facebook, and Twitter account. However, there were questions as to whether an Ecclesfield Forum would just be a talking shop or whether it could actually promote and co-ordinate other groups in Ecclesfield.
AM gave us details of our expenditure, including £500 on planters. We also had committed to £113 on insurance, and £20 on plants. However, we had been told to expect a cheque for £100 from St. Mary’s Trust, which just about paid for the insurance.
ID said that he was applying to have the interest on the account paid to us gross, so that we weren’t paying tax on it.
There were no requests to comment on any of the new planning applications. [Although we had already objected to the potential developments at Smithy Wood, which were still pending - JP]
ID Mentioned the “taster courses” at the Grenoside Reading Room. He had spoken to Alan Hooper, who was suggesting that it might be possible for us to visit the Archive under the Community Centre in Grenoside.