Minutes of the Forum Meeting held on Wednesday, 9th July 2025,
Manor Room, Buttery Lane, Teversal Village, NG17 3JN
1. Attendance.
Andrew Jenkins (Chair), Geoff Snare (Secretary), Victoria Crossley (Treasurer), Jan Jenkins, Lis Reid, Lynn Henstock, Viv Smith, Mick Smith, Chris Simms, Richard Goad, Janine Vardy, Doug Edwards, Julie Miller, Cllr Cathy Mason
Apologies: Mike Vardy, Sallie Vardy, Jane Cooper
Andrew Jenkins welcomed everyone to the meeting, in particular County Councillor Cathy Mason
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2. Minutes.
The minutes of the previous meeting were agreed as an accurate record.
Matters Arising - there were no matters arising
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3. Treasurers Report.
There have been no transactions since the Forum meeting in April, therefore all account balances remain unchanged.
This leaves the Forum with a balance of £3,032.78, which is split;
£154.40 FOSH,
£47.75 Repair Cafe,
£2,000.00 Energy Project and
£830.63 General Funds.
An invoice from Savi Energy for their ongoing work on the Community Energy Project feasibility study has been received and forwarded to MNZH (Notts. C.C) for payment, which is expected shortly.
There were no questions for the Treasurer and the report was accepted by the meeting.
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4. Reports from Working Groups
Planning & Environment - Richard Goad / Lis Reid
There has been very few new planning applications in the last few months.
Regarding the application for development of new houses on Silverhill Lane, under Reserved Matters an entirely new layout has been proposed with 8 large houses and an access road that will provide an opportunity for further development in the area behind the current plot.
There has been significant objections from local residents and from the Highways Department.
(Note: since the meeting we have now been advised that the revised layout has been approved by Ashfield District Council, despite the strong objections)
The application for the building of 10 flats on Forest Row, adjacent to the Rifleman P.H. was initially rejected, but has been resubmitted for 9 flats, and has now been approved.
A revised layout for the Persimmon Homes development of Fackley Road has been submitted and site clearance work has begun.
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Heritage – Lynn Henstock
The owners of the Spring Cottage / Whiteboro Farm site have appealed against the enforcement notice. It was noted that there was a 2017 planning application for the installation of solar panels on the site and the works which have been undertaken may be related.
The barrier to the entrance to Footpath 25 (runs west from Fackley Road near the railway bridge) apparently has an unlocked padlock, so is "accessible".
Formal advice regarding the potential of unexploded ordnance, has been provided to the construction company working on the Omberley Avenue site.
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Friends of Stanton Hill (FOSH) – Andrew Jenkins
The Stanton Hill Investment Plan Delivery group is meeting monthly and various members of the Forum are members of that group. A copy of the Investment Plan is available on the Forum's website. Funding for the Plan deliverables is still uncertain, but ADC maintain there is money available.
The Vine Tree are holding a 30 year birthday party / summer fair on Brand Lane on Saturday August 16th, from 10am to 2pm. The Forum will have a gazebo & stall at the event to promote the Investment Plan as well as the Community Energy Project. Nottingham Energy partnership will also be attending talking about Fuel Poverty and other related initiatives.
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Climate Change & Sustainability & Public Transport – Andrew Jenkins
Food Share
The Food Share continues to operate on Wednesdays at Skegby Library. The Place of Welcome, taking place alongside the Food Share, is also proving very successful - Citizens Advice Bureau is to give training to volunteers on how to direct attendees to obtaining advice from CAB, Council and government bodies.
Public transport
Discussions have been taking place with County Council transport officers, in particular regarding the 141 bus route.
It was noted that the newly elected East Midlands mayor has given a commitment to improve bus service connectivity in rural areas that are not currently well served, and has a £400m public transport budget.
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5. Community Energy Project (CEP) - Geoff Snare
An online meeting had taken place in April between the Forum steering group and Savi consultants, to discuss progress on the feasibility study, with the next meeting due on July 17th.
The following projects have been confirmed as worth taking forward to the next stage:
- A solar panel rooftop installation at Teversal Visitor Centre to provide significant electricity cost savings to the centre, as well as two EV charging points linked to the rooftop solar system
- A Residential Solar Club providing rooftop solar panel installation to local residents, without the normal upfront capital cost
A previous potential project working with R.E.A.L. education has been paused whilst the company transitions to new owners.
A new potential project working with the John Eastwood Hospice is under investigation.
The Savi Energy consultants will join Forum members at the Vinetree / Stanton Hill summer fair to talk about the Project, obtain feedback and details of prospective customers for the Solar Club.
The finalised Feasibility Study is due to be signed off by the CEP working group by early September, with public consultation events and an online survey taking place later in October.
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6. Teversal Repair Café - Geoff Snare
The Repair Café events are now running monthly on the first Saturday of each month. Our team of volunteers remains rather small, but all are very keen and turn out each month. At the July event almost 20 items were received, including an air fryer, an electric window cleaner, a garden leaf blower, wooden chairs and stools, knives and garden shears for sharpening and workwear trousers for patching - all bar a couple of items were repaired.
The next event is on August 2nd.
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7. Any Other Business
A lengthy discussion took place on broadband service in Teversal, Stanley and surrounding rural villages. Cllr Mason was asked to obtain a status update on the Project Gigabit (Lot 10) covering rural areas of Nottinghamshire which had been due to start connections in early 2025.
Lightsource - the company leading the project to install a Battery Electrical Storage System at Hurst Farm on Tibshelf Road, has advised that a Community Grant of potentially up to £50,000 could be available, in particular to support the residents of Stanley who are closest to the site.
Possible uses of the funds include providing super-fast broadband to the village and / or traffic management services for when the M1 motorway is closed and traffic diverts through the narrow lanes around the village, causing traffic chaos.
It was agreed that the Forum should pursue the agreement with Lightsource.
There have bee a number of reports of anti-social behaviour, in particular youths on e-scooters and e-bikes, on the trails in Silverhill Woods; local police are aware but unclear what action has been taken so far. It was agreed that we should invite the local PCSO to the next Forum meeting to discuss this topic.
Fackley Road from the Stanton Hill Co-op towards Skegby was highlighted as being in a very poor state and Cllr Mason was requested to check if there were any plans to address this.
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8. Next Meeting.
The next Forum meeting, will be held on Wednesday October 15th from 7.00 pm, in the Manor Room, Teversal Village
Attendees, in particular Cllr Mason, were thanked for their input to the meeting which closed at 8.45 pm.
The Forum is recognised by Ashfield District Council as the representative body for Skegby, Stanton Hill and Teversal
and Forum working groups are dealing with a number of issues affecting our area.
Anyone who lives or works in Teversal, Stanton Hill and Skegby is entitled to be a member of the Forum and attend its meetings.
To become a Forum member please visit our website