Cllr Keith Miles (Chesterfield Borough Councillor for Rother Ward) opened the meeting by introducing himself and explaining that the object of this meeting was to form the official “Friends of Group”. To this end a secretary, treasurer and chairperson were selected as follows:-

Linda Oades was proposed as secretary by Keith Falconer and seconded by Sue Burnley

Josie Cooper was proposed as Treasurer by Linda Oades and seconded by Andy Hill

Keith Falconer was proposed by Andy Hill and seconded by Carol Carver.

Andy Hill was proposed as Vice Chairperson by Linda Oades and seconded by Glenys Falconer

Andy Hill, Pat Hill and Linda Coles agreed to be on the committee.

Natasha Keen, the Community Organiser, said that she could not be a committee member but would be there to advise and pass on the mailing list.

Name of the Group

It was reported that there was some confusion in the community about the name of the fields. Apparently some people even call Queens Park Boythorpe Park, so it was decided that the group should be known as Friends of Whitecotes Playing Fields from now on.

Keith Miles reported that once the group was official by opening a bank account it would be possible to start applying for funding. The whole of Whitecotes Policy fund is in Rother. When applying for funding, the Boythorpe postcode ties in with the disadvantage area and so could possibly generate more help. Wendy Blunt was given as a good contact for suggesting funding possibilities along with Links.

Site Visit and Report

Keith reported that together with Ron Mihaly he had visited Whitecotes Field and then reported their findings to John Ramsey Green Spaces Development Officer at Chesterfield Borough Council.

The Play area at the bottom of Hazel Drive

Tarzan swing bars needed painting.

Some tiles had shrunk leaving dangerous gaps for young feet and ankles to be injured.

The perimeter fence needs strimming as the grass is encroaching underneath and onto the tarmac.

Disabled Access

No access for disabled from any of the entrances, Whitecotes Close, Whitecotes Park, Hucklow Avenue, Grindlow Avenue and especially Hazel Drive where the tarmac leads up to the Play area, which is contrary to our Parks & Open Spaces Policy.

Footpaths

Footpath from Whitecotes Park needs the hedge either seriously cutting back or preferably removing as does the large growth of weeds down each side, it is getting that in a week or so you will not be able to walk down it without having to push it out the way to get past also the tarmac at the field end needs re-doing as a wheelchair would not be able to cross over it and you would struggle with a push chair, it is also a trip hazard.

The footpath & entrance at Grindlow Avenue needs cutting back.

Football

The football pitch changing facilities have been removed from the site adjacent to the pitch and Keith Miles reported that this is a junior pitch only. Perhaps this is something that could be advertised for use in one of the local sites/papers.

Also the small football goal which used to be next to the children’s play area has been removed; this could possibly be brought back out of storage quite quickly.

Keith reported that when any housing developments are undertaken the builders then have to pay a levy per square metre to the council (SIL). With the 106 proposed houses on the Walton Hospital site along with the Walton Works residential proposal he has already written to the council to try to earmark some of this money for playing fields projects in the Rother area.

The Borough Council are under some pressure to meet housing targets and we need to have a strong case ready to put forward before the public consultation due in November.

Apparently Sport England who gave £1million to the new Queens Park Sports Centre are not happy about house building being considered on open space/playing fields and that the Whitecotes Fields should be lower down on the list but the fact remains it is still “on the list”.

Wildlife Habitat

A large amount of wildlife can be found on the fields which are next to the cemetery. With this in mind, it was agreed that the middle section of the area which has remained uncut for several years could be classed as a conservation area and wild flowers could also be planted there. Keith Miles said that Will Thornhill a local tree expert could look at the best places to plant a woodland area.

Ownership

Linda Coles reported that she has been unable to ascertain who owns the land or who gifted the land in the first instance. Therefore we are not in a position to try to get the land designated as a QE2 “field in trust” which make it very difficult to be built on. The fields are currently designated as parks/open spaces/playing pitches.

Natasha said that now we have a group formed she will be able to find this out via the Land Registry.

Future Meetings

Sue Burnley reported that a lot of people who use the fields on a daily basis would have liked to attend this meeting but due to other commitments could not be present. Also because we have not had the personnel to help distribute leaflets etc. we have been unable to target a larger audience with the details of the meetings

Sue explained that Streetlife Chesterfield is a good way of advertising your group’s activities. Other suggestions were the Derbyshire Times and S40 Magazine. Natasha said that if anyone was interested in accessing Streetlife she would gladly tutor those people.

The next Annual General Meeting of The Friends of Whitecotes Playing Fields will be 1 August 2017.

The next meeting for the group was agreed as Wednesday 7 September at 7:30pm, at Burns Close Community Room Kingsley Avenue Grangewood Chesterfield S40 2SW - the secretary to email Keith Miles to book this room for us.

For agenda next meeting

At the next meeting it was suggested that a large site map should be printed off so that we could identify possible paths, seating, play area, trim trail, tree planting positions etc.

Constitution

The members then discussed the constitution and agreed the following as their constitution which was to be added to the accompanying paperwork which Keith Falconer, after discussion with those present, was filling in for Natasha to complete:-

1) Retain and improve these fields for future generations to enjoy

2) Preservation of the wildlife

3) Sustain and improve the Health and Wellbeing of everyone in the community