We have provided a snapshot of just some of our key achievements, as we reflect on the difference we have made by working together for our residents and businesses during the last four years.
As we come to the end of an administration cycle here at North East Derbyshire District Council, it is important to take time to reflect on the journeys we have all been on over the last four years and consider the challenges we have faced and overcome during that time.
Covid, the cost of living and the war in Ukraine have affected all our lives.
Despite all these challenges though, Councillors and officers have worked together as one team, to help and support our communities when it most matters. Cllr Alex Dale, Leader of NEDDC
Brighter future for our leisure services
Pictured: artist’s impression of Clay Cross Active
With 40 per cent of UK council areas at risk of leisure centre and swimming pool closures, or reduced services, by the end of this month*, we are proud to be bucking the national trend by expanding our leisure services!
- We carried out a £1.5m makeover at Eckington Swimming Pool and Fitness Centre. Improvements to reduce carbon emissions has made it one of the greenest in the area!
- Work is almost complete on Dronfield Sports Centre, after we received £1.33m of funding to de-carbonise the building. The improvements are set to make it one of the first existing facilities to reduce its carbon emissions by 100% in the UK!
- Killamarsh Active opened its doors after a £1.9m refurbishment, creating even more facilities for residents and visitors to enjoy.
- Plans have now been approved to replace Sharley Park Leisure Centre with a new £24m community hub, including leisure centre, health provision and support services.
- We have extended our leisure discount scheme to include the Armed Forces community.
- Fitness memberships in our four leisure facilities are at their highest on record with over 4,500 live members now signed up and enjoying the benefits of both physical and social interaction in a safe, friendly and welcoming environment.
- We continue to offer great value for money by freezing these memberships again to support our residents with their fitness journey at an affordable price.
*Source: UK Active
Housing and Climate Change / Environment
- In 2019, we declared a Climate Change Emergency and gave the go-ahead for a range of tough-tackling measures intended to reduce the authority’s impact on the environment.
- Hundreds of Council tenants are now benefiting from warmer and easier-to-heat homes thanks to a major £12million investment scheme by us.
- We have helped householders get their share of Government grants of up to £10,000 when making their homes more energy efficient.
- All electricity purchased by the Council has been from 100% certified renewable sources since April 2021.
- As part of our efforts to reduce carbon emissions and improve air quality, we installed a car charging point in Dronfield’s Civic Centre.
- We produced a revised Climate Change Strategy to ensure we remain focused on addressing the organisational and community challenges faced.
- We received funding as part of the Government’s Household Support Fund and prevented 75 households from becoming homeless.
- We have started the rollout of CCTV in licensed taxis to safeguard residents as we lead the way in becoming the first authority in the county to take up the initiative, backed by the Department for Transport.
Clean and Tidy District
- When our burgundy bin recycling contractor went bust, we moved quickly to bring the service in-house, protecting jobs and with absolutely minimal disruption for residents.
- We doubled fly-tipping and littering fines to the maximum allowed in law and invested in cameras to catch fly-tippers in the act. 2022 saw the highest number of patrols and fixed penalty notices we’ve issued on record!
- Fly-tipping reports are down 20% since 2019 as a result of all the proactive efforts we’ve taken on the issue.
- We doubled the size of our planning enforcement team, recruiting tree and heritage experts.
- We made a significant investment in our joint Environmental Health Service, with job vacancies to help tackle enviro-crimes, ensure the safety of our residents, help our economic recovery, and better serve the District.
- Litter picking groups were supported with the loan of equipment and free disposal of rubbish collected.
- A district wide Dog Management Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) was implemented and we launched a dog fouling campaign to identify hotspots and educate dog owners, as well as carrying out enforcement action.
- We crushed a persistent fly-tipper’s vehicle in a fly-tipping crackdown.
A listening council accessible to all
- We’ve been carrying out Meet the Council events, to give residents an insight into our work and enable us to listen to their concerns.
- We launched a new website, have seen more engagement on our social media over the last four years, have given out more news updates and also send out regular e-newsletters to our subscribers.
- Listened to residents’ concerns about needing a new leisure centre in Clay Cross – work is now underway as part of a £24.1m Clay Cross Town Deal which will transform the town over the next 4 years.
- We launched an Older People’s Strategy to support some of our most vulnerable residents.
- We were successful in our bid to become one of only ten Councils nationally involved in making planning services easier to use, particularly by using new technology.
- Produced and implemented the Annual Community Safety Partnership Action Plan which includes; serious acquisitive crime, anti-social behaviour, domestic abuse, communit safeguarding, alcohol and drug related crime, human trafficking and exploitation, terrorism and extremism.
- We showed our commitment to the deaf community, by becoming the first District Council in the UK to sign up to the British Sign Language Charter.
- Introduced a video relay service at our District Council Offices and Dronfield Sports Centre for the deaf community.
- Signed the Armed Forces Covenant, pledging our support to the Armed Forces Community.
- Delivered jobs and training fairs to support local communities into work, further education and training opportunities across Derbyshire.
- We were officially presented with the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme Gold Award, for our outstanding support to the Armed Forces Community. Amongst almost seven million employers in the UK, just 638 have received a Gold Award.
Covid, Cost of Living and Disaster Response
- Streetscene worked to save people’s houses during the 2019 and 2020 floods.
- We worked alongside NHS staff to deliver over 60,000 vaccinations from Sharley Park Leisure Centre.
- £45m of government grants distributed to businesses in record time, with processes to prevent fraud.
- Delivered 10,000 prescriptions to residents.
- Supporting Ukrainians fleeing war, and the families kindly hosting them.
- Afghan resettlement commitment made with two properties made available.
- We produced a breadth of dedicated support to help residents and businesses during the Cost of Living Crisis, with information distributed across all parishes and on our website, a Cost of Living Special in The NEWS and additional resources made available for Warm Spaces and helping residents with household advice.
- In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, 20 people from North East Derbyshire who were sleeping rough or made homeless, were housed and supported in a local hotel.
Levelling up North East Derbyshire
- Secured a £24.1 million government funded Town Deal for Clay Cross, which will extensively regenerate Clay Cross, improving the town centre, traffic, housing and leisure facilities for residents.
- We secured £2.58m UK Shared Prosperity Funding to help level-up the infrastructure and opportunities for communities across the District. We’ll use the money to make improvements to the public realm, shop fronts, parks, play areas, route ways, village halls and community hubs.
- We have awarded funding worth over £8,000 to 17 projects since August 2020, helping them thrive and new ideas to develop through our Community Action Grants Scheme.
- We completed a master plan for Eckington Town Centre, which identifies a number of areas for development, and will continue to bid for further rounds of levelling-up funding to deliver the regeneration programme.
- We launched our Inclusive Communities, Quality Parks and Play Areas and Village Halls and Community Venues funds through our UK Shared Prosperity Fund programme.
- Concluded the BNED LEADER Programme, approving 25 projects totaling £707,329, to help NE Derbyshire businesses.
- Our Chairman, Cllr Martin Thacker, raised £79,500 for Ashgate Hospice – ‘the largest amount ever received by the hospice from a Council appeal’!
- We secured almost £100,000 of funding to improve the skate park in Killamarsh.
- We launched our Visitor Economy Strategy, setting out how we will work with our partners to support and grow businesses within the visitor economy.
