CHAPEL-EN-LE-FRITH PARISH
COUNCIL
ANNUAL REPORT 2007/2008
The parish of Chapel-en-le-Frith
covers a large area, split into four wards; Chapel East, Chapel West,
Barren Clough, Combs & Whitehough and Dove Holes, Sparrowpit & Martinside.
Three councillors represent Chapel East, six Chapel West, two Barren
Clough and two the Doves Holes ward and the Council meets in the Town Hall
on the first Tuesday of each month at 7.30pm.
Meetings are open to the press
and public and people are able to address the Council during the agenda
item “Open Forum” about any issues of concern.
Clerk of the Council
The Clerk is Mrs Suzan
Stockdale, she is assisted by the Administrative Assistant, Miss Louise
Grisdale.
The Parish Office is within the
Town Hall and is open to the public between 9.00am and 12.30pm each
weekday morning to provide information, advice and to deal with queries.
Tel: 01298 813320
Email -The Clerk:
clerk@chapel-en-le-frithparishcouncil.gov.uk
Email: Admin. Assistant:
astclerk@chapel-en-le-frithparishcouncil.gov.uk
Website:
www.chapel-en-le-frithparishcouncil.gov.uk
The Clerk is the Line Manager
for the Town Hall and Park staff, the Council having a total staffing of
eight.
Chaplain
A Chaplain is appointed each
year and leads the Council in prayers at the start of each Council meeting
and takes part in several ceremonies during the year.
Ward Members
Contact details are on the
website, and on a leaflet available from the Parish Office as well as the
name and phone numbers in the Newsletter.
Planning Applications
All planning applications for
the parish are considered by the Council at the meetings of the Planning
Committee and relevant comments and recommendations are made to the
Planning Department at High Peak Borough Council. Members of the public
are also able to view all applications in the Parish Council Office during
weekday mornings, with a direct line to the HPBC Planning office.
Dates of the Planning Committee
meetings are listed on the website and the public may attend and listen at
the meetings.
Committees
In addition to the Planning
Committee, which all members can join, though some do disbar themselves by
reason of being HPBC Councillors or employees of that body, there are the
following Committees:
Financial & General Purposes
Amenities
Town Hall
Health & Safety
Personnel
Disciplinary
Communications
Youth Liaison Committee
Councillors are also represented
on very many other local bodies including Police, Central Area Forum, DCC
Care Home Liaison, Quarry Liaison,
Transport, Schools & Charities.
Precept, Income and
Expenditure
The income for the year 2007/8
amounted to £187,810 and the expenditure was £198,255.
The precept for 2008/09 will be
£111,980; this would increase the cost for the average Band D property
council tax by 3.2% on the previous year
The yearly accounts are
available, from the Parish Office and website, once they have been
approved by the District Auditor.
Grants and Donations
The Council gave grants and
donations during 2007/8 to local organisations totalling £2,520 during the
year.
Police
PC I DePee, & PCSO J Shaw
attend, as available, at Council meetings to give detailed reports of
local incidents and answer questions about local concerns.
The Local Police Inspector,
Tracy Lewis, attends as requested.
Property
The Council owns the
Town Hall.
The Council also
owns 47/49 Market Street, adjacent to the Town hall which is currently
leased to a Newsagent. The Council was successful in obtaining a Heritage
Economic Regeneration Grant to refurbish the frontage of the property with
traditional sash windows.
The Council also leases to the County Council the area occupied by the
Library and Registrar.
The buildings and Green occupied by the Bowling club are owned by the
Council.
Memorial Park, Ashbourne Lane Recreation Ground,
Dove Holes Recreation Ground and War Memorial & Nanny’s Well
The Parish Council
owns and manages the above sites.
The Annual Carnival, ‘Proms in the
Park’ and many other events take place in the Memorial Park throughout the
year. The Bowling Green is owned by the Council and leased to the Chapel
Bowling Club.
There is also a
football pitch, which the Junior Football
Club play their matches on, children’s play area with rides and swings,
basketball court as well as quiet areas and seats provided in the Park.
Skateboard and BMX Area
This area is in the
Memorial Park and was provided, at the request of the young people in the
parish, by the Parish Council. Regular inspections and repairs
are undertaken by High Peak Borough Council to ensure that the area
and equipment is safe, at a cost of £3,000 last year, including repairs.
The facility is provided free of charge for the enjoyment of our younger
age group. It is in constant use throughout the year. Two shelters are
provided adjacent to each end of this area.
Other Services
The Council provides
many seats around the Parish as well as in the Memorial Park, many of
these donated by residents in memory of loved ones for which the Council
is very grateful.
A ’Tourist Information’ rack was
set up, in 2007, adjacent to the Parish Council Office displaying leaflets
from all over the area and further away. This had been so well received
that more racks have now been installed. The leaflets are accessible even
when the Parish office is closed, whilst the Library is open. The Town
Brochures and Parish Council Newsletters are available from these racks.
The Town Brochure has also been
made available from many places including Doctors surgeries, Post Offices,
Pubs and the local Supermarket.
The Council has public notice
boards in Chapel-en-le-Frith, Dove Holes, Sparrowpit, Combs and
Whitehough, where the Newsletter and other information is displayed.
Play areas are maintained at Combs
and Sparrowpit as well as giving financial support to the Dove Holes
Community Association play areas.
The Council plants and maintains
the well at Whitehough.
In addition the Council contracts
Derbyshire County Council to maintain an area at Buxworth Basin known as
‘Pennys Garden’. However, from 1 April 2008 the Parish Boundary will
change and this area will be transferred to Chinley Buxworth and Brownside
Parish Council along with the allotment site at Barren Clough.
The website has a page where
people searching for ancestors in the area can display messages and local
groups and organisations are encouraged to provide details of their events
which are detailed on the ‘What’s on in Chapel’ page free of charge, a
similar page is provided specifically for events of interest to young
people.
There have been over 20,900
visits to the website since it was started in late 2003.
Bus Shelters
The Council provides
2 bus shelters in the Parish. Monthly cleaning amounts to £200 per
year.
Hanging Baskets and Tubs
Hanging baskets on
the Town Hall frontage and 18 flower tubs are provided in and around
Chapel-en-le-Frith to enhance the area. Parks and Recreation Ground
maintenance, including the cost of planting the hanging baskets and tubs,
costs the Council in the region of £500 each year.
Newsletter
The Council produces
an A4 quarterly newsletter, with
photographs, which is distributed to various outlets in the parish, and
from the Parish Office as well as being placed on each Parish notice board
in the outlying villages to keep the community informed about council
activities, news and contact information, it is also available, in colour,
on the website.
Town Hall
The Town Hall on
Market Street is managed by the Council and provides facilities for the
benefit of the whole community. Rooms can be hired for meetings,
functions, children’s parties, classes, etc. Disabled access doors and a
lift are provided.
Derbyshire County
Council operates the Library on the ground floor.
The Parish Office is
situated on the ground floor. During recent years the Annexe Room kitchen
has been refurbished, the central heating system has been replaced, the
building rewired, new lights in the Main Hall and all re-decorated and
asbestos removed from the external passageway.
The work to entail
replacing stair treads, carpet tiling the Annexe Room floor to improve the
acoustics, refurbishing the Main Hall kitchen and proving a P.A. system,
has now been completed, all these items financed by a Lottery grant.
The Council are looking
at the possibility of organising table top sales, Farmers Market and
possibly an indoor market in the Town Hall during the year.
Allotments
The Council leases
and provides sites at Chapel-en-le-Frith, Barren Clough and Dove Holes and
runs an annual competition with awards for the best kept plots at each
site.
Chapel-en-le-Frith Regeneration Partnership
The Parish Council works with
local organisations, businesses, High Peak Borough Council and Derbyshire
County Council to maintain and improve the vitality and viability of
Chapel-en-le-Frith, protecting the environment and ensuring future
prosperity, this partnership is currently chaired by a Parish Councillor.
The High Peak Borough Council
‘Going Local’ Programme has a budget to fund environmental improvements
in the High Peak Central Area. Many projects in the town have taken
place, including the tidying of ‘grot spots’, remaking the pavement by the
Town End Post Office, the cobbled area at the Kings Arms, providing
planters for the Market Place and refurbishing the area by the one way
system at Hayfield Road, with several other projects in the pipeline.
A new leaflet and map giving
information on local shops has been produced and distributed in the early
part of 2008.
The Council produces a ‘What’s on
for Young People’ leaflet each summer.
The Council has been successful in
obtaining a grant from Progressive Market Town Fund for re-printing the
Town Trail and removing unsightly concrete which had been overlaid on
stone flags in the Terrace Road/Church Brow areas.
Chapel-en-le-Frith Brochure
The Parish Council
has distributed nearly 2000 copies of a free colour brochure giving a
short history of the town, places of interest and a local map as well as
adverts by many local shops and businesses. The text and photographs have
been provided by the Clerk and Councillors, there being no cost to the
Council. These are available from the Parish Office and many local shops,
the supermarket and Doctors surgeries.
Chapel High School and
Leisure Centre
The Parish Council make a
contribution towards the Leisure Centre to keep charges affordable. The
contribution in 2006/07 was £4,545.
Parish Council Website
The website may be viewed at
www.chapel-en-le-frithparishcouncil.gov.uk and provides much
information about the locality, news, events, history, etc. It is
provided as a service by the Parish Council and minutes of meetings,
agendas, Councillor and contact details may be viewed on the pages.
Annual Parish Meeting
This is held in April each year
and all residents are encouraged to take part, an Agenda and Chairman’s
report is placed on the website and on the Parish Notice Boards.
May Day
The Council, along with other
local organisations, organises the very successful May Day celebrations on
the Market Place with children’s rides, jugglers, magician and many other
events bringing the community together. This is an ongoing project
increasing in popularity year by year.
Chapel Carnival
Council Members take an active
part in judging the Floats and the procession is led by the Chairman,
through the Town to the Memorial Park, where the Carnival Queens are
presented and the current Chapel Carnival Queen is crowned. Many other
activities take place during the afternoon in the Park.
Well Dressing
The Council supports the Civic
Society who organise the five Well Dressings in the Town in early July and
several Councillors and their families take a very active part in this
tradition, which is appreciated by locals and visitors alike
Remembrance Day
With the assistance of the local
British Legion branch, local groups including the Town Band, Boy & Girls
Brigades, Scouts & Guides and Army Cadets, the Council organises the
Remembrance Day Parade, which is led by the Chairman, Councillors and
Clerk, and the laying of the wreaths both at Chapel-en-le-Frith and Dove
Holes War Memorials, following services at the Churches.
Winter Grit Bins
The Council operates a scheme to
provide grit bins in areas where the County Council do not provide a
regular gritting service and access during bad weather conditions and the
bins are filled once each year by the Council. The Council provides 6
bins throughout the parish. This service is to maintain access to roads
and footways and not for the use of individual residents.
Christmas Trees
The Council provides
Christmas trees for Chapel-en-le-Frith, Dove Holes, Combs, Sparrowpit and
Whitehough at a cost of £1,964.
The Council, with the Chapel
Traders Association, assists with the Annual Christmas Tree lighting
ceremony at Town End and organises the lighting and carol service on the
Market Place on the last Monday in November following the parade through
the town from the Town End Methodist Church to the Market Place.
Chairman |
