Denton Parish Council
Minutes of the Meeting Held on 9th September 2008 at 8pm at Denton Village Hall
Present: Liz Cargill (Chairman), Terry Hanner (Vice Chairman), Roger Gibson, Peter Hill, Adrian Hipwell, Clare Valori, Eddie Winter, Pauline Sandell (Clerk) Also Present: Dr. Murray Gray (District Councillor), One member of the public
1. Apologies Murray Gray and Clare Valori said that they would be late for the meeting.
2. Declaration of Interest Peter Hill declared an interest in item 8 (1 Globe Close).
3. Minutes of the Last Meeting:
The minutes of the last meeting were agreed and signed. The minutes of the extraordinary meeting held on the 22nd July were agreed and signed. The minutes of the two planning site meetings held on 23rd July and 21st August were agreed and signed.
4. Matters Arising:
a. Playing Field; Problems – broken post on wobble board, however all posts need replacing. Liz Cargill will look into costs of new wobble boards which could be bought with the donation from Mrs Frost. The chicken is still a problem. Terry Hanner will complete the next report. The bottle bin has been very full and the Clerk was asked to find out how often the bin should be emptied. The SCOPE bin was also quite full and the clerk will arrange for it to be emptied. The state of both bins should be included in the playing field report. Terry said that before Bonfire Night the bushes and trees near the entrance need trimming to improve visibility. Terry and Adrian to do this.
Car Park; no progress to report.
b. Highways: No work done since the last meeting. The Clerk was asked to chase Bob Edwards. Grups; Liz and Peter will mark the unwanted grups.
c. Pocket Park: The Clerk was asked to speak to John Carslake about the map that he has with the original name on it. It was agreed to get John Macrae to cut it again and Peter Hill will speak to the Garden Club to ask them if they would like to manage it and to come up with some proposals. It is important to manage it as a conservation area.
d. EDP Pride of Norfolk Competition: Everybody was delighted that Denton had won the under 500 population category of this competition and were looking forward to the presentation evening on the 18th September.
e. Any Other Matters Arising: Harleston Car Parking Charges – Liz Cargill had been invited to a meeting with the Redenhall with Harleston Town Council on the 15th September.
Footpath behind the Village Hall – it is very overgrown and the path is uneven. The Clerk to ring the Footpath Officer.
5. District and County Council Matters:
New DC Chief Executive has been appointed.
The Council is looking at sites for Travellers along the A143, one at Earsham and a reserve site at Kirby Kane. One of the conditions of creating a site at Earsham would be that the 5 Acre Lane site would be removed.
Boundary Committee single unitary Council for Norfolk – comments must be in by 26th September.
Joint Core Strategy Consultation – suggestions on how much housing would be suitable for each level. Denton has been classed as 'countryside' which means that the only housing permitted would be affordable housing. Alburgh, however is classed as 'other villages' because it has a school. It was agreed to write to the Planning Policy Team at South Norfolk Council to ask them to consider Denton as 'other villages', because the school is shared, Denton is a sustainable village and won the Pride of Norfolk Competition.
6. Questions from the Public: None.
7. Affordable Housing
The Clerk had spoken to Peter Ramsdale of Saffron Housing Trust asking for a report on the progress. So far they had spoken to the owner of the two sites and he had said that he would be willing to discuss their proposals further.
8. Concerns on the following areas: Chapelfields, 1 Globe Close, 6 Chapelfield
Concerns had been expressed about the stones and concrete blocks that had been laid along verges by homeowners. The Highways inspector had commented on his visit that should damage to a vehicle occur because of the stones then the homeowner would be liable. It was agreed to put a piece in the Parish Magazine drawing people's attention to this fact.
1 Globe Close – has been quieter of late although the rubbish is starting to build up again. It was decided to keep this under review.
6 Chapelfields – Murray Gray reported that during a meeting held that afternoon SNC had agreed to require the owner of the property to tidy it up.
9. Application for 'First Time' Mains Drainage System: Peter Hill had read through the papers and felt that it would be a good idea to get Gary Parsons to come to a council meeting to outline was what involved. This was agreed.
10. Planning:
Planning Application 2008/1391 Denton House for modification to access, erection of gates and walls and new driveway, has been refused. Planning Application 2008/1397 for a wind turbine has been approved.
11. Correspondence:
Norfolk Waste Partnership Conference and AGM on Thursday 23rd October – Liz will attend.
NCAPTC – The NALC are working with the Standards Board to implement a model compact and wish for views from parishes. The Councillors said that they do not feel sufficiently informed about the new determination regime and its process and thought that it was essential that parish councils should indemnify their members from legal costs arising from defending an allegation in respect of breaching the code. The Clerk will pass on these comments.
Community Speed Watch leaflet – Denton does not have a speed limit so would not be able to do a community speed watch.
Suck and See It leaflet – passed to Terry Hanner.
CCN – Grassroots Grant for groups with under £20,000 annual income.
CCN – Waste exemption workshops – Liz Cargill said that at the moment the changes do not affect Denton.
12. Finance:
a. Financial Monthly Summary: a running budget summary and financial summary was produced by the Clerk.
b. Pay the Clerk £85.95 for September 2008
c. Pay £210 to Dawn Crafts for the village sign
d. Pay £100 to Denton Village Hall for the hire of the hall
c and d were not on the agenda, but received after the agenda was drawn up.
Proposal: Pay b,c,d Proposed by Adrian Hipwell, seconded by Terry Hanner, unanimously agreed.
13. Any Other Business
Village sign. It was agreed to write a thank you letter to Dawn and a letter to Mrs Hooker to thank her for donating the brass plate at a cost of £52.70. The Clerk was asked to put a piece in the Parish Magazine thanking Dawn and Mrs Hooker.
Terry: Mr. Gunton's hedge at the bottom of Trunch Hill needs trimming. Terry will speak to him.
Roger: Coming out of Middle Road into Trunch Hill has become even more difficult than normal. Hedges on either side need trimming but although property owners have been asked to trim them, it probably needs more than just a trim. The Clerk was asked to speak to Highways about this.
Clare: School is back and has 90+ pupils, more than ever before.
Eddie: Referring to the unitary council proposed for Norfolk, he thought a letter should be written to say that Denton Parish Council would prefer to keep the status quo, the new proposal would be just a waste of money. Proposed by Eddie Winter, seconded by Adrian Hipwell, unanimously agreed.
The meeting closed at 10.00pm.