As the term of our Council draws to a close I thank members past and present for their work on behalf of Middleton over the last four years.

In the last twelve months we welcomed Nicky Wallace to the council but were sorry to see the resignation of Derek Renshaw.

We were saddened to learn in the course of the year that former Chair of the Council, Cheryl Ward, and our previous Caretaker, Nicky Mumford, have passed away.

I would like to thank our County Councillor Cllr Dermot Murphy, and District Councillors Cllr Dawn Greatorex, Cllr Peter Slack, and Cllr Mike Ratcliffe for their contributions on behalf of the village and the wider community.

Thanks are also due to our Caretaker, Rod Alvin, and to the Parish Clerk.

The Parish Council has met 10 times in 2022-23 with two further meetings planned. Details of Parish Council meetings can be found on our website. Members of the public are welcome to attend our meetings and may make representations during public speaking.

Thanks are due to Holy Trinity Church for their hospitality for making the church available to us for our meetings.

We have continued to raise streetscene issues with Derbyshire County Council, most of which remain on-going. We have supported a request for a footpath to be established from Rise End to the top of Cromford Hill running along the side of Porter Lane. We were pleased to see the restoration of the Dene Hollow path.

We have continued with the renewal of benches in the village with contributions from several sources making for a total of five new benches.

The Parish Council is supporting the 20's Plenty road safety campaign.

We have purchased a flagpole and Union flag for the Village Green.

We have worked with DDDC to conclude the current upgrade to the Recreation Ground and have purchased nets for the goals and funded work to the goalmouth areas.

We have recently received a copy of a draft lease from DDDC for the Millennium Garden covering the period up to 2048. We thank the volunteers for their work at the Garden. We have supported their work with the purchase of a garden shredder.

The Parish Council is a statutory consultee on planning issues, and we have commented on a total of nine applications this year.

In 2022-23 the Parish Council has made grant awards to:

• Millennium Garden Group £390
• Village Pump £250

The Parish Council believes the "Pump" is an essential part of village life and something Middleton should be proud of. All issues since January 2016 are available to download from our website.

The Middleton Remembers book is also available on our website. It remains a popular document and has been downloaded over 175 times in the last twelve months.

For 2023-24 the Parish Council has set a precept of £15,000. However, with our costs rising, and inflation at its highest for 40 years our budgets are under significant strain. Reserves of £3,000 will be used to support routine spending plans this year. The Parish Council has also instigated a moratorium on non-budgeted expenditure for other than for health and safety requirements, urgent operational matters, or spend to save measures.

The local government elections will take place on 4th May 2023, and, following the election, amongst the items for consideration by the new Parish Council will be

• progressing the many Streetscene issues with DCC Place including Speedwatch, 20's plenty, parking, and electric vehicle charging points,
• improvements to the Millennium Garden
• arrangements for incorporating WW2 inscriptions into the Middleton Memorial

In the meantime, we look forward to, and continue to plan our celebrations to mark the coronation of His Majesty King Charles III in May.