We are receiving innumerable complaints from members of this community about a whole series of issues so let me try and update you on what we are trying to do to address them.
LITTER
The scenes this week have been appalling and will get worse as visitor numbers increase and as local businesses increase take away services to stay in business. To find disposable nappies on the pavement is a sign of our deteriorating times.
Derbyshire Dales District Council have been sent photographs of the litter, but they will take NO action due to budget constraints. That means NO MORE BINS and NO collection earlier than a Thursday.
We have had a long conversation with our District Councillor and hopefully some form of emergency relief can be found but nothing as yet.
However, the good news is that we believe we can organise a team of volunteer litter pickers, with proper pick up sticks, who if overflow becomes a problem can place excess in plastic bags.
The Village Hall Chairman and Committee have very kindly agreed we can use the village hall bin over the summer period (when their activity is low). The Parish Council will meet the costs of the extra collections.
Any individual help will be appreciated by contacting Liz Broomhead and I know the school are keen to be involved.
If businesses can get people to put take away rubbish in their own commercial bins – so much the better.
THE POND
We are intending to deal with the level of silt. We have previously fully consulted with the Peak Park about surveys and great crested newts but been told there are no grants and no other authority will tackle this problem so we will have to do it ourselves.
Our biggest problem is the fish which need to be removed before we can drain the silt and replenish the water. We are seeking advice on how to catch them and to put them somewhere else. They are not natural to our pond.
At present we are in discussions with an expert to try to get them removed safely.
If the lining is damaged it will be a massive and expensive job and beyond our resources. However, let’s see how we can manage with local farmer’s help.
We will hope to commence once silage and haymaking are over.
PS we are grateful for the barley straw bags supplied by a resident which see to keep the water free from green Algae.
THE STANNER
We have weeded the area and will use a digger to remove the silt and growth at the base. We have notified County Council that the tarmac around the Stanner is in a poor state, dangerous and needs repairing.
PARKING
Residents will know parking in summer and weekends has been a problem in this village for 40 years.
We have no control over parking and it is Derbyshire County Council’s responsibility for enforcing parking restrictions. They claim to make a large number of visits to Hartington each year which we have challenged as there seems little deterrent to parking on the yellow lines.
Any double parking in the centre are County Council Highways or police responsibility if it is causing an obstruction. We will be clarifying central free parking arrangements with the agencies involved. They have been sent photos of the chaos and we have informed our local police liaison officer. However, like everyone else, they say they have few resources and individuals must dial 101 to report specific problems.
Derbyshire Dales run the pay and display car park.
We currently have an application underway with County Council Highways to put double yellow lines at the end of the pond, on the brow of Hall Bank and on the bend opposite the Charles Cotton.
PIZZA TRAILER OUTSIDE DEVONSHIRE
We have notified both DDDC street licencing authority and Peak Park about complaints that is an eyesore on a public highway. We are the only village in Derbyshire who applied for restrictions on street trading so that helps. Any street trader now needs a licence from DDDC.
However DDDC are snowed under with Covid 19 issues in businesses re-opening and the Peak Park, who will send an enforcement officer to assess, warn us that they may have to be guided by government advice to encourage temporary measures to get business going again.
BURIAL GROUND
We have created a new garden of remembrance with over 60 spaces, weeded the existing areas, levelled the whole burial ground and installed new wider pathways.
There are adequate spaces in the garden of remembrance so these can be reserved. Burial plots remain in short supply and can only be allocated to resident’s at time of the resident passing away.
FACTORY SITE BUILDING NOISE
We are all suffering from the noise particularly from the machines.
An automatic bleeper is not mandatory so we have written to the Planning Director of Amos who is looking into it. We have also contacted the Peak Park and Derbyshire Dales Council. Residents have also complained directly to the senior person on site and received an abrupt response!
Unfortunately at the Public Inquiry where the Inspector overturned the Peak Park Committee’s decision to refuse the development, he stated that there were no conditions necessary in relation to noise.
He stipulated only that the Demolition or construction works shall not take place outside 07:30 hours to 19:00 hours Mondays to Fridays and 09:00 hours to 17:00 hours on Saturdays nor at any time on Sundays or Bank Holidays.
Any other ideas welcome. Please note we have had to deal with 3 completely different alterations to plans for this site over the past few months, including seeking to legalise work already completed which has involved alterations to every house and plot on site, The whole process is extremely time consuming and progress extremely slow. The Section 73 application for this latest plan goes before the Planning Committee in August and we will speak via remote camera.
SUMMARY
We live in an age of Covid, a huge surge in people with time on their hands, no flights abroad, extremely limited financial support from any agency who site lack of resource at every turn.
There are three hundred thousand people in the whole Peak Park and 20 million living on our doorsteps. The Parish Council will continue to do our best to support this community.