Denton Parish Council
Minutes of the Meeting Held on 8th May 2007 at 8 pm at Denton Village Hall
Present: Liz Cargill (Chairman), Terry Hanner (Vice Chairman), Roger Gibson, Martin Sida-Page, Clare Valori, Pauline Sandell (Clerk).
Also Present: Dr. Murray Gray (District Councillor), three members of the public.
1. Apologies:
Adrian Hipwell.
2. Declaration of Interest:
Clare Valori, Roger Gibson and Martin Sida-Page declared a prejudicial interest in item 5.
3. Minutes of the Last Meeting:
Agreed and signed.
4. Matters Arising:
a. Playing Field; Terry Hanner had completed the monthly report. He had nothing untoward to report. Liz Cargill asked about the progress on the Chicken. Terry will repair it. Terry had received a phone call from some boys that wanted the big goal post put back. It was agreed, however, to leave the situation as it is for now. The Clerk was asked to do a new rota for the playing field inspection. The Clerk to keep one set of keys for the Shelter litter bin and the other to be kept with the Inspection Folder. The Clerk was in possession of the new sign. Terry Hanner said he would put it up, with the help of Roger Gibson. Eddie Winter will complete the next report.
b. Composting; Liz Cargill reported that the Training Day had taken place and the shredder was now up and running. Eddie Winter said that the Training Day was very successful and congratulated Liz on arranging it. Roger Gibson said that it was essential to have had the training. The shredder will be on display at the Open Day on Saturday 12th May and there is plenty of compost that can be taken away on that day.
c. Cycle Racks; The Clerk explained that the price quoted at the last meeting was unfortunately for only one hoop and not for the four shown on the picture. Liz Cargill had three other options; i) A person that had attended the Annual Parish Meeting had said that he could obtain tubes at 19.5ft long at a price of £14 each. Keith would be able to bend these tubes into the right shape and they would then have to be concreted into the ground, ii) look at the School cycle racks and find out how much they had cost (Clare will photograph them) and iii) Argos were selling 4 bike racks at £30 (although these may be rather flimsy). Terry said that the Village Hall were putting in poles around the tennis court, it might be possible to put in some shorter ones for the cycles. This, however, may interfere with people playing tennis. Martin suggested hooks screwed into the wall. After some discussion it was agreed that option i) seemed to be the best and Liz was asked to investigate further.
d. Village Sign; Terry Hanner had nothing to report other than an invoice will be sent shortly for the wood.
f. Verge outside the Chapel; Eddie has not yet been able to see Mr. Greenmore, but will do so soon.
h. Any Other Matters Arising:
None.
5. Travellers:
Clare Valori informed the Parish Council of recent police activity at the Traveller site and that at the present moment there are no occupants at night and no lights on site at night. She thought that the Inquiry date may be as early as June but that could be changed. The Parish Council agreed that the Chairman and Eddie Winter would draft a letter to Mr. Fuller to request that the new Council follows the lead that has been given by the previous Council and would uphold planning law as before.
6. District and County Council Matters:
Murray Gray said that he was very pleased to have been elected again and thanked everyone for their support and that he will try to represent everyone in the five villages as before. However, his position as Leader of the Opposition only gives him limited powers. He said that it is important for the Parish Council to read through the Gypsy and Traveller ‘Issues and Options’ document and to give comments. There will be a discussion held at Broome Village Hall on 17th May at 6.30pm regarding the Issues and Options Consultation Document.
At this point in the meeting, the Chairman had to leave and the Vice Chairman took the Chair.
7 Questions from the Public:
None.
8. Wind Turbine/Solar Panels
The Clerk reported that she had arranged a meeting to be held on Wednesday 30th May at the Village Hall for Rod Gilmore of the Energy Saving Trust and Lee Rose, who will explain the Broadsol Course, to come and talk to those people that showed an interest in solar panels on the survey. The Clerk was asked if she could also do flyers for the newspapers and a poster for the Village Hall. With regard to the Wind Turbine she had not got much further. She had been told that there is a town in the Fens that had started the process of obtaining a wind turbine, but she didn’t think that this was a community wind turbine.
A member of the public asked: What background information has been gathered, and what cost evaluations have been done? It was explained about the meetings and the survey, and that we needed more information.
After some discussion it was agreed to put the wind turbine on hold for now until such a time when more information is available.
A member of the public asked: Would there be a problem with installing solar panels on Grade II Listed Houses?
Murray Gray said that planning is not always granted.
9. Norwich City’s Bid for Unitary Status
The information is still being circulated and it was decided to put this on the agenda for next month. The Clerk told the Councillors of two meetings; Norwich City Council presentation on advantages of unitary status on Wednesday 23rd May 7pm at Wensum Valley Golf Club and NCC and District Councils presentation on advantages of retaining status quo on Thursday 31st May 7pm at South Norfolk House, Long Stratton.
10. Revised Code of Conduct
The information will be circulated and put on the agenda for next month.
11. Homewatch
As a result of discussions at the Annual Parish Meeting, it was decided to arrange a meeting for the end of June to get the Homewatch scheme resurrected. The Clerk said that she would get in touch with the Co-ordinator and arrange a meeting.
12. Planning:
a. Decisions: The Clerk had not heard of the result of the planning meeting that had been held on 30th April when the revised application for the Forge was heard. However, Murray Gray said that the application had been refused.
b. Standard Clause regarding light pollution when considering planning applications: The Clerk read out a standard clause that had been written by CPRE regarding outdoor lights associated with planning applications in order to preserve dark landscapes and dark lights. CPRE asked the Parish Council to attach the clause to all planning applications that come before it. Clare Valori said that light pollution was a real problem and thought the clause was a very good idea. It was agreed that this will be considered when planning applications are received. The outside lights at the School were discussed, but NCC has a policy that all schools should be well lit. However, Clare said that they were trying to do something about it and the orange lights would be replaced.
13. Correspondence:
CPRE: AGM on Wednesday 23rd May at Dragon Hall in Norwich. Guest speaker is Anna Hill, the presenter of BBC Radio 4’s Farming Today.
The Clerk said that the regional CPRE AGM will be held on Thursday 24th May at 7pm at Hempnall Mill Centre and the guest speaker would be Dr. John Constable speaking on ‘Wind Turbines: Is this Countryside Invasion Helping Save The Planet?’
Alburgh Parish Council: Joint meeting on 17th May at 7.30pm in Alburgh Village Hall. The guest speaker will be Jamie Warren from SNC on Norfolk Open Link.
14. Finance:
a. Pay Audit Commission £58.75 for annual audit fee.
b. Pay the Clerk £83.87 for May 2007.
c. Pay Norfolk Playing Fields Assoc. £20 annual subscription
d. Pay Allianz Cornhill £372.30 annual premium (this includes an additional £44.68 to cover the shredder.
e. A cheque for £200 was sent to Easton College to pay for the shredder training day.
f. A cheque for £1895 was paid to Hempnall Lawn Mowers for the shredder.
Proposal: Pay a.b.c.and d. Proposed by Clare Valori, seconded by Eddie Winter, unanimously agreed.
g. The Clerk reported that £1400 had been received from SNC in respect of the half year precept.
15. Any Other Business:
The road surface in Middle Road has become quite bad. However, it had been noted that the ruts have been marked and it was decided to wait to see if these would be done.
Terry Hanner reported that the white lines on the road at Wells Corner are wearing away and are difficult to see. The Clerk was asked to speak to Highways about this.
Clare Valori said that the hedges either side of the Middle Road/Trunch Hill junction are causing a problem when pulling out of Middle Road into Trunch Hill. It was agreed to ask Liz Cargill if she would have a word with the residents involved to see if they could trim their hedges.
The meeting closed at 09.35 pm.