· Keith confirmed that he is awaiting a reply to an email he has sent to the Borough Council regarding looking into obtaining Fields in Trust status to ensure the protection of our green field for future generations to enjoy.

Treasurer’s Report

Josie confirmed that the sum of £716.22 was transferred from HSBC to Lloyds bank where there are no monthly fees to pay. After spending £600.46 on the picnic bench we currently have the sum of £115.76 in the bank.

Secretary’s Report

· The Borough Council have erected antisocial behaviour notices around the field requesting that any ASB should be reported to 101. The continuous motorbike nuisance suffered last year, thanks to prompt reporting to 101, seems to have been stamped out.

· It was reported that the main green path running down the centre of the field had developed some holes in places which are difficult to see. The construction of the drainage system, to create the green path, which runs the length of the field and also along the side of the blackthorn bushes to the cemetery gate, consists of pipes which then have sand, soil and grass on top of this. Unfortunately, in heavy rain the sand can be washed away in places the erosion this causes creates the problems. The council to be contacted to repair these.

· Holiday activities on the field run by Samba on behalf of the council have taken place again this last week. It was agreed that the Borough Council should be asked to post notices at least a couple of weeks prior to the free sessions so that families are aware of these in the future.

· A request has been made for the Borough Council to replace the old notice on the fenced play area with an updated one.

· The self-close gate on the children’s play area, which has only been in situ since 2018 had been reported to the Borough Council for them to decide if the broken spring can be fixed. Unfortunately, the gate is out of guarantee.

· Following a request for the dog fouling stencils to be redone, it was reported that some of these still needed to be done.

· The new picnic bench is proving a popular addition to the play area.

· It was reported that several people had commented on the new orchard which contains 4 plum trees, 2 cherry trees, 2 apple trees and 2 pear trees.

· A request had been put through for the grass cutting team to strim the grass at either side of the Whitecotes Park entrance at the bottom of the field.

· The bird box building and flower bomb making event last October was enjoyed by all those who attended. Blue tits have been spotted utilising the new des res. One of those present said that he had scattered some wild flower seeds around the bottom corner of the field where some of the old sandy hard standing is still visible.

Constitution

The Friends of Whitecotes Constitution currently states that there should be a minimum of three ordinary meetings per year plus the AGM. It was agreed that since we can email and organise small get togethers as required, we could change this to two ordinary meetings per year. This was unanimously agreed by those present.

Communication

A discussion was held around how we keep in touch with the community and if we could utilise Facebook to our advantage. One of those present said that he would look to setting up a Facebook page for us to see how this could improve our information stream.

The secretary had a reminder to contact Nick who kindly runs the Weebly Web Page for us with regard to the domain renewal if applicable.

Chesterfield Borough Council - Community Grants Funding

Grants range from £500 to £6,000, depending on what the group require the funding to deliver. The deadline for applications is Friday 27 October 2023.

The secretary reported that she had received only two responses for suggestions on how we could enhance the current facilities in the field.

It was agreed that we would continue to invite ideas for the field and feed these through to the community and local schools in the area for feedback.

Any Other Business

At the end of the meeting a Mr Hickling who was walking his dog pointed out that the dog bin at the entrance to the field had not been emptied and large plastic liners had been left for temporary use. The secretary duly reported this to the council raising concerns around the safety issues with regard to the bags and asking if a more appropriate size bin could be provided instead.

This issue can be reported on line via the Chesterfield Borough Council website or alternatively ring 01246 345345.

Date of Next Meeting

To be confirmed.