Denton Parish Council
Minutes of the Meeting Held on Tuesday 10th March 2009
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: Mr. Tony Tomkinson (County Councillor), Dr. Murray Gray (District Councillor), one member of the public
1. Apologies
None.
2. Declaration of Interest None
3. Minutes of the Last Meeting
Errata: Under finance add '£170 was paid to Thos. Rogerson Trust'. Under Play Area Project, first line read Peter not Eddie. The minutes of the last meeting were agreed and signed. The minutes of the Planning Site Meetings on the 21.02.09 and 28.02.09 were agreed and signed.
4. Matters Arising:
a. Playing Field Report; Terry Hanner reported that no further mole hills had appeared. Terry had repaired the wobble board. SCOPE bin is OK. The Clerk reported that the bottle banks were to be replaced by a Waste Recycling Group Glass Bank which would hold up to 3000 bottles/jars. Peter Hill to do the next report.
b. Play Area Project; the Chairman reported that she and Peter had met up with a representative from Produlic. He visited the play area and suggested two phases; to concentrate on the lower age group for phase one, this should include the removal of the post and rail and the monkey bars and use that area for new equipment. He suggested leaving the swings, leaving the mound, but managing it better, and thought that the pipe could be reinstated, a play wall could be installed. Peter has arranged to see two other playground equipment suppliers. The suppliers will be asked for a plan before the 2nd April so that it can be shown to the judges of the Calor competition. Once the quotes have been received a meeting could be arranged with lay outs for the village to say what they think. It would be good if this could be ready for the Parish Meeting. Funding is available. Adrian said that another Dentill is to be arranged for the Autumn and that the committee has agreed that half of the proceeds would go to the Denton Play Area Fund, but they would like help with the Dentill day. The Councillors thanked Adrian.
the Chairman reported that she and Eddie had been to a playing field information day at Bracken Ash which had proved to be very interesting and helpful. Bracken Ash PC had set up a playing field association in order to progress the project more speedily, which has enabled the parish council to keep in close contact but without being actually involved. The Councillors raised questions about VAT and who would own the equipment. As Bracken Ash had drawn up a formal constitution for their association, it was suggested that Denton PC should ask if they could look at it. Liz Cargill had a copy of Wortwell's constitution. It was suggested that the working party would only need to come back to the PC if a large amount of money was to be spent. If the new equipment is to be included in the insurance this would mean an increase in the premium. Meanwhile, it was agreed that the play area working party should continue with quotes and looking into funding.
c. Any other matters; The Clerk read out an email from Highways regarding the points that had been raised. A meeting had been arranged with Highways on the 23rd March at 10.30am. Peter, Terry and Eddie will attend.
The Clerk suggested that the Annual Parish Meeting could be held after the Affordable Housing Public Consultation on the 8th April. The Councillors preferred to keep the Parish Meeting on the original date of 3rd April.
5. District and County Council Matters
Tony Tomkinson; Highways; Tony will attend the meeting on the 23rd March. The Audit Commission has decided that the NCC is an excellent council and awarded four stars.
Local Government Review; as it has been put back a county council election will take place on 4th June. Police; the police share of the council tax will increase by 3.9% due to large costs during last year. Norfolk have 1660 police officers, more than have ever been in the county before. There are 260 PCSOs at the moment with a further 20 being trained at the moment. Virtually all crime statistics down and detection rate up, 32-44% in South Norfolk, the national average is 32-33%. Tony was asked if there was any chance of getting the 30mph speed limit in the village. He answered that there was little chance at the moment because of shortage of funding. The Councillors wanted to know why Norfolk could not have a blanket speed limit through all villages as has Suffolk. Tony replied that at the moment it isn't felt necessary.
Murray Gray; at the last meeting Murray had reported that the SNC Council Tax was expected to rise by 2.9%, but in fact it will rise by 2.48%. An independent panel has been looking at member allowances and has reduced the amount by a few thousand pounds.
The Greater Norwich Partnership consultation concerns major sites for significant housing. The consultation regarding the traveller and gypsy sites sets out three prospective sites in the Waveney Valley.
Joint parish meeting will be held at Wortwell on 15th May 7.30pm and the speaker will be Mark Bishop from SNC, representative for the neighbourhood action panel. There is up to £2000 grants for communities.
Changes to the planning system; all planning meetings to be held at Long Stratton. Under discussion � more than one objection needed for the planning application to go to committee.
6. Questions from the Public None.
7. Affordable Housing The Chairman and Peter Hill went to Saffron to discuss different lay outs and buffer zones. Saffron will put all the suggestions to their architects, but there may be cost implications to consider. A public consultation is to be held on Wednesday 8th April between 4pm and 7pm at the Village Hall. The Councillors would like to see the revised plans before the consultation and the Clerk was asked to contact Saffron. It is essential that residents needing affordable housing put their names on the SNC register and a reminder, and any progress, should be put in the Parish Magazine every month. The Clerk read out a letter that she had received from Saffron that would be sent to all residents regarding the Public Consultation meeting on the 8th April.
8. Calor Village of the Year Competition Peter reported that they were due to have another meeting on Friday. Photographs have been taken of various things. It was decided not to enter the EDP Pride in Norfolk competition this year.
9. Denton Directory The Councillors had received letters from Mr. Carslake regarding the Directory. He was upset about the situation that had arisen. The Chairman felt that she had not been given enough time to look at the draft given to her by Mr. Carslake and felt under pressure to give a quick answer because of the deadline set. The Councillors felt that Mr. Carslake had worked hard on the Directory and should be thanked for taking it on. Proposal: Proceed with the printing of the Directory although there was still one error to be corrected. The cost of printing 200 copies would be £175, a little more than originally thought. Proposed by Roger Gibson, seconded Eddie Winter, unanimously agreed. It was agreed that Adrian would visit Mr. Carslake and the Chairman would write him a letter.
10. Councillor Vacancy Annie Whiteman had shown an interest in filling the vacancy. No other applications. Proposal: Co-opt Annie on to the Parish Council. Proposed by Terry Hanner, seconded by Eddie Winter, unanimously agreed.
11. Planning The solar panels on The Patch were discussed. The Councillors were unsure whether the panels appeared on the planning application. The Clerk was asked to look at the original plans.
12. Correspondence Correspondence summaries had been circulated. Greater Norwich Development Partnership – Peter commented that Denton is still categorized as 'countryside'. Although there was a further note it was unclear to its meaning. Murray advised that there will be a subsequent consultation when Denton will be able to make comments.
13. Finance a. Financial Monthly Summary: a running budget summary and financial summary was produced by the Clerk for the month of February. b. Pay the Clerk £88.05 for March c. Agree new subscription for CPRE: CPRE had recommended a subscription of £29. d. Pay South Norfolk Council £60.79 for servicing the dog bins: This item was not on the agenda but could not wait until the next meeting. Proposal: Pay b, c and d. Proposed by Adrian Hipwell, seconded by Eddie Winter. All agreed. The Clerk reported that £963.55 had been received for composting credits.
14. Any Other Business The Clerk asked permission to buy a new lock for the notice board as the other one had broken. The Councillors gave her permission to pay for the new lock out of the petty cash. The Clerk had received a letter from the Chairman of intention to resign as Chairman and as a Councillor. The Councillors were deeply sorry to hear this and asked Liz to rethink. The Clerk was asked to put this on the agenda for next month.
The meeting closed at 09.50pm.