Denton Parish Council
Minutes of the Meeting Held on 13th February 2007 at 8 pm at Denton Village Hall
Present: Eddie Winter (Chairman), Jo Wright (Vice Chairman), Liz Cargill, Terry Hanner, Adrian Hipwell, Malcolm Skinner, Pauline Sandell (Clerk).
Also Present: One member of the public.
1. Apologies:
Clare Valori and Dr. Murray Gray.
2. Declaration of Interest:
Terry Hanner declared his interest in Item 12.
3. Minutes of the Last Meeting:
Agreed and signed.
4. Matters Arising:
a. Playing Field; Liz Cargill had completed the monthly report with no problems other than those already known. The Councillors agreed to meet at the Playing Field on Saturday 17th February. The Clerk circulated a budget summary to show Playing Field income and expenditure. It was agreed that replacement swing chains and that something to replace the Spring Chicken and possibly the See-Saw would be purchased after discussion at the meeting on Saturday. After some discussion regarding a litter bin for the shelter the following proposal was made:
Proposal: Purchase a ‘Metal Guppy’ Bin for the Shelter at a price of £211.97 and purchase the necessary amount of swing chains and, if thought necessary, a replacement for the Spring Chicken and See-Saw. Proposed by Jo Wright, seconded by Liz Cargill, unanimously agreed.
The Clerk had prices for information signs from Wicksteed, but it was thought that these were a little too expensive and she was asked to get further quotes from Bartlett Signs at Long Stratton and Diss Signs. The sign should read more positively than the existing sign, e.g. ‘Welcome to Denton Playing Field. We would ask you to observe the following guide lines’. The Clerk’s details should be put into the Notice Board so that they can be changed easily when necessary. It was agreed that one sign would be enough. The Goal Posts had been purchased and will be put in shortly. Adrian Hipwell will complete the next report.
b. Composting; Recycling credits of £678.73 had been received. Liz reported that Becky Heath from NCC would like to visit the site on 15th March. The Norfolk Rural Community Council could provide a grant of up to £1500 to which the Parish Council would have to raise 25% of the cost. The application form must be in by the end of this month and Liz Cargill was given the go ahead to apply for a grant for a shredder. Three shredders were mentioned; a 5hp at £6-800, a 10hp with 3” capacity at £1600 and another at £2100. It was thought that the middle one at £1600 would be the better one. It was agreed that some of the grant should go towards training. Once bought the shredder would need to be insured.
c. Village Sign; Terry Hanner reported that instead of getting the piece of wood from Tim Barber at a cost of about £100, the wood would come from Roger Dove and would be a piece of mahogany at a cost of £94.
Proposal: Buy a piece of Mahogany from Roger Dove for the Village Sign at a cost of £94. Proposed by Malcolm Skinner, seconded by Adrian Hipwell, unanimously agreed.
d. Village Speed Limit; The Clerk had not received a reply to the letter sent to NCC and had not had a response from Alan Burrell whom she had e-mailed to ask to chase NCC.
e. Stiles on the Walk; The Clerk read out a letter from Sharon Bland, the Countryside Officer, which said that the stiles would be replaced with wicket/pedestrian gates, with a weighting device for extra security.
f. Any Other Matters Arising; None.
5. Travellers:
The Chairman reported that the Planning Application had been unanimously rejected at the Planning Meeting on 31st January.
6. District and County Council Matters:
None.
7 Questions from the Public:
None.
8. Public Meeting Held on 07.02.07 Regarding Community Wind Turbine:
It had been a very well attended (44 people) and positive meeting. The Clerk reported that if the Parish Council would like to have the NEF do a Windscope Report, the initial site visit informing of whether it would be viable to have a wind turbine in Denton and where it would be possible to situate it, would cost £250. After that a full report including planning and consultation would cost £2500. It would be possible to apply for a grant to cover the £2500.
Lots of questions were raised at the meeting and those questions that were not answered at the meeting would be answered by Carol Randall after some research. It was agreed that it would be interesting to talk to someone who has already done it to find out how much energy is generated compared to estimated figures.
It was decided to organize a survey to find out the views of all Denton residents before going ahead with a Windscope Report. The Clerk and Liz Cargill will get together to do the survey. Each Councillor will be asked to take an area and collect the survey so that a face to face discussion can take place. A number of people at the meeting were interested in buying solar panels as a community to lower the price. It was agreed to also ask how many people would be interested in doing this in the survey.
9. Election Year – Timetable, Pre-election Campaign of Local Publicity:
The Clerk had had no replies from the advert in the Parish Magazine but another advert will be placed in next month’s issue.
10. Annual Parish Meeting and AGM:
The Annual Parish Meeting has, in the past, been held on the last Friday of April, but because the Local Produce Shop is held on a Friday night now, it was agreed to change the day to the last Tuesday of April which will be Tuesday 24th April. The same format as last year.
Liz Cargill said that she had found the Welcome to Denton Pack and it will be updated. The AGM will be held on Tuesday 8th May at 7.30pm.
11. Planning:
a. Application 2007/0209 and 0210 – Globe House, The Forge, Norwich Road. A single storey rear extension to provide covered parking, living room, bedroom with ensuite and utility room.
A letter from Mr. Hill was read out. Proposal: Although Denton Parish Council has no objections to the application, it is felt that a hedge, no lower than 1.5m, should be established and maintained between the Forge and the Village Hall to reduce the noise from the Village Hall and lights from cars entering and leaving the Village Hall car park. Proposed by Eddie Winter, seconded by Malcolm Skinner, unanimously agreed.
b. Application 2006/2718 - Darrow House, Darrow Green. Proposed extension and garage.
The Councillors were made aware that the above application had been revised to exclude the cartshed garage.
c. Application 2007/0268 – Valley View, Grove Farm, Middle Road. Retention of existing mobile home, portacabins and parking motor home and caravan for recreational use and hobby use.
It was noted that the motor home is in fact a heavy goods lorry and that flood lights are on all night.
Proposal: Denton Parish Council is of the opinion that the application should be refused for the following reasons:
- We would query the word ‘retention’ as this is an agricultural site with agricultural buildings and we are unaware of any residential permission being given for change of use.
- We would object to a change of use.
- We believe that there is an enforcement order pending at this property since January 18th 2007.
- We understand that the motor home is in fact a heavy goods lorry.
- We understand that strong flood lights are on all night causing light pollution and causing problems to the neighbours.
d. Planning Decisions. None.
The Clerk reported that another planning application had been received, this will be dealt with at a site meeting on Saturday 24th February at 11pm.
12. Correspondence:
Postwatch: Government Consultation on the future funding and structure arrangements of the post office network. Passed to Jo Wright.
SCN: Planning Training on 28th February. Liz Cargill will attend. The Clerk to ask Clare Valori if she would like to attend.
CCN: Asking the Parish Council to nominate them for the ‘Customers Who Care’ campaign. It was agreed that Denton Parish Council would give its support.
Saffron Housing Trust: Installation of lifeline alarms at low cost. The Clerk to put it in the Parish Magazine and Jo Wright to advertise it at the Post Office.
13. Finance:
a. Pay the Clerk £81.47 for January.
b. Pay Norfolk County Council £235.55 for grounds maintenance.
c. Pay Philip J. Warren £264.37 for bark.
Proposal: Pay a. b. and c. Proposed by Terry Hanner, seconded by Adrian Hipwell, unanimously agreed.
d. Received from Norfolk County Council £678.73 for composting credits.
14. Any Other Business:
Terry Hanner reported that the mechanically dug grups are causing problems. The water does not drain away because the grups do not extend to the ditch and water lies in the road. The grups are so large that the edge of the road by the grup has become eroded and is a danger to cars and cyclists. This has been reported to NCC before and it was agreed to write to them again and to ask them to take more care when digging the grups.
Liz Cargill said that there would be an Composting Open Day on Saturday 12th May, normally restricted to Parish Councillors but this time open to those people who wish to start a project
The meeting closed at 10 pm.