Lisa Brown

SDDC Report - Mid October 2007
(First published in November Express)
 

Topics Covered


To go direct to your topic of interest please use the index to the left.
 

 

 Egginton Post Office

The postman always used to ring twice 

It is 372 years since King Charles I hit upon the idea of allowing his subjects to use his Royal Mail.  The story continued to develop and later, our Edwardian ancestors in Central London would receive 12 postal deliveries a day, while provincial households were offered a seven times a day delivery.   
Quick exchanges could be fired off (like modern day emails) and by 1914, all letters and parcels had reached 5.9 billion items a year.  The Royal Mail did all this with a staff of 250,000 employees and made a net revenue of £6.6 million.

Now, sadly, the profit has turned to an incredible loss of £4 million per week for Post Office Ltd and the plan is now for 2,500 closures of the 4,750 rural post offices. Egginton is one of three post offices in South Derbyshire scheduled to be culled.

We understand that no business can afford to run on such dreadful losses and that times do move on, but in Egginton, the village provides the accommodation for this, our only retail outlet and Jenny, our hard-working postmistress runs a smooth operation on a strictly part-time basis.  The cost to Post Office Ltd is minimal. 

I have been campaigning to save this vital service for Egginton, along with other residents and with the support of our MP, Mark Todd. 

 I am hoping to take our case to the Minister.  Please support this campaign and write to Mark Partington, Network Development Manager, P.O. Office Ltd, c/o National Consultation Team, Freepost Consultation Team or Email:consultation@postoffice.co.uk

Consultation ends 12 November.
Old Station Close While there is no doubt that we all support a reducing carbon impact for new build and are committed to more eco-friendly houses for the future, we must balance this with a responsibility for safeguarding our village heritage and protecting existing housing from flooding.  I argued strongly at a recent Development Control meeting that the impact of the new housing proposals off Old Station Close would negatively affect existing dwellings.  I received the support of fellow Members and the proposals were rejected, so now the developers must adjust their plans and re-submit.
 
 
Area Meeting

 
The next Area meeting which discusses civil matters, such as highways concerns, is to be held at Hilton Village Hall on 21 November at 7 pm.  This is your opportunity to meet your representatives and officers from the District and County Council. Looking forward to seeing you there!
 
Learner Pool for Etwall Primary School

& John Port Leisure Centre.
 


I recently organised a visit by Alan Charles, Cabinet Member for Education at Derbyshire County Council and his colleagues to three of our very important schools in the Ward – Egginton and Etwall Primaries and John Port School.  This was about raising the necessary funding to complete three very major projects – a big extension to Egginton Primary, which will provide additional classrooms and community accommodation, a refurbishment of the learner pool for Etwall Primary and a substantial contribution to the funding of the new John Port Leisure Centre.
 
 I am scheduling a follow-up meeting at Matlock and look forward to promoting these three excellent schemes which will bring so many benefits to our community.  I know that Alan and his colleagues were very impressed with the level of commitment from everyone involved.  Keep up the good work!
 
 
Flooding Issues

 
Last week, I organised a meeting with officials from the Environment Agency, Halcrow  (the Engineering Consultants), chairmen of local parish councils and our MP, to progress  vital work on providing flood defences for our area.  The good news is that the cumulative cost benefit of a large flood prevention scheme stacks up well and talks are progressing along the lines of constructing a large upstream reservoir to retain waters from the River Dove in the event of a flood.  There is much work to be done , but we have an excellent team in place and I am hopeful that, since the sums add up, we stand a good chance of success.  Potential sites are being investigated.
 
  T Mobile Telecommunications Mast
 		 ITelecommunications Masts
 
A bit of news in the battle against the march of telecommunications masts over our green and pleasant land! 
 
In July, the High Court quashed a decision to allow a 30 metre high mobile phone mast on the Green Belt in Surrey.  A local objector challenged Elmbridge Borough Council’s original decision to allow the applicaton.  He argued that the Council had failed to consider whether there were the very special circumstances necessary to justify what would otherwise be inappropriate development on Green Belt. And won!
 
You may be interested to know that  South Derbyshire District Council is currently looking at the new roll-out programme for telecommunications operators in our area..
 
 
Free Bus Travel 2008 You’ve got a ticket to ride
 
You will remember that I wrote last month about free bus travel from 1 April 2008 with the Gold Card for all those aged 60 or over.  The adventurous among you might like to try and cross the country or go to the seaside using free local services, because the Gold Card operates for all local authority areas.
 
The Department of Transport has agreed to compensate bus companies for losses in revenue and next April’s extension of free passes will take the total bill for free bus travel for the elderly and disabled to around £1 billion.  Don’t be confused though, the pass only works for local bus services not coach travel, so you will have to co-ordinate the different local timetables, which could be challenging.  Let me know how you get on!
 
 By the way, did you know that the first daily bus service was begun in 1824 between Manchester and Salford?
 
 
Waste Sites and Mineral Sites in Derbyshire
 


Waste Not Want Not in Etwall or Egginton!!
 
A large above ground waste site is being proposed on 265 hectares on Severn-Trent’s landholding in Etwall and Egginton parishes.  The site has already experienced gravel extraction , power station ash and sewage sludge disposal and, as if that were not enough, the site now appears as a preferred option for a built waste development. A consultation document says that if an “area of 80 hectares was filled and raised at an average depth or height of 8 metres, that would provide for 3.8 million cubic metres of waste.  The land-raise would be unlikely to be necessary before 2013, but once started could last for 10 years or more.  During that time large vehicles, noise and the possibility of wind-blown pollution and vermin” may be a feature. 
 
I have organised an emergency meeting of Egginton Parish Council on 22 October at 7.30 pm at the Memorial Hall to discuss this and advise you of what you can do. Alternatively write to The Mineral and Waste Framework Team, Derbyshire County Council, Shand House, Dale Road South, Matlock, Derbyshire DE4 3RY or email address:wasteminsldf@derbyshire.gov.uk
 
Lisa Brown   (Independent)  District Councillor Etwall Ward SDDC

Tel:

 01283734242

(home)

 07971295434 (mob)  
  e-mail: lisa.brown@south-derbys.gov.uk