Denton Parish Council
Minutes of the Meeting Held on Tuesday 13th January 2009
at 8pm at Denton Village Hall
Present: Liz Cargill (Chairman), Terry Hanner (Vice Chairman), Roger Gibson, Peter Hill, Adrian Hipwell, Eddie Winter, Pauline Sandell (Clerk).
Also Present: Dr. Murray Gray (District Councillor), Mr. Tony Tomkinson (County Councillor), 4 members of the public.
1. Apologies – None received.
2. Declaration of Interest – Roger Gibson had an interest in item 11.
3. Minutes of the Last Meeting – The minutes of the last meeting were agreed and signed.
4. Affordable Housing
In the absence of Alan Burden from Saffron Housing Trust, Abigail Dennington-Price from SNC was able to update the Councillors. A draft scheme had been circulated and it showed six units rather than five. Abi explained that the architects had drawn six not knowing that the agreement was for five. However, Denton could have six instead of five if they wished and various options were put to the Councillors for this sixth unit: a) not have it at all and stick to five units, b) have the sixth unit as shared ownership, c) have the sixth unit as social rent, d) have the sixth unit as shared ownership but if it didn't sell, then it would revert to social rent.. If it was to be a shared ownership house, because of the financial situation affecting mortgages at the moment, it is possible that a local person would not be able to afford it and it would then be passed on to surrounding villages. Under option d, if the house became available after it had reverted to social rent, it could go back to shared ownership.
Proposal: Keep the sixth house for shared ownership for Denton residents, but if not sold then it would be offered to surrounding villages. If still not sold then it would revert to social rent. Proposed by Adrian Hipwell, unanimously agreed.
The Councillors said that it was important to make sure that local people were aware about registering for the affordable housing. Abi said that before planning application there would be a full public consultation event and Saffron would be sending a leaflet to every household regarding the plans and telling them how to get on to the register.
Concerns about the layout on the sketch: Visibility onto the road needs to be looked at, because speed limit is still 60mph. This scheme could support the parish council's request for a 30mph speed limit. Width of the road and car parking for visitors was discussed. The road will be wide enough for a bin lorry, but Abi will speak to Saffron about parking for visitors. Could drainage for the affordable housing link up with a proposed mains sewerage system on Norwich Road? Saffron will almost definitely be looking into sustainable heating systems; solar panels, ground source heat pumps etc.
Surface water needs to be taken north and not towards the Chapel. The orientation of units 3 and 4 would be better turned around to the south.
Abi said that all these points will be passed on to Saffron Housing Trust. Abigail was thanked for her help and she then left the meeting.
5. Matters Arising:
a. Playing Field; Report by Eddie Winter and Roger Gibson. The mole hills were still a problem. The Clerk had contacted Steve Tricker but she had not heard back from him. The Chairman was given authority to arrange mole catching whenever there was a need without going back to the Council. The SCOPE bin was full again and the Clerk was asked to contact them for collection and to ask them to collect more often.
b. Play Area Inspection: The Chairman read out a summary of the report. Bird fouling is a major problem and Malcolm Skinner kindly agreed to put netting down to stop the birds landing. More bark is needed, but short term solution is to rake the bark from the sides into the middle. The remaining problems will be resolved under long term maintenance.
c. Play Area Project: 110 surveys were issued and 26 replies. 7 people offered to help with fund raising and working party. The wooden fort was a popular suggestion. The next step is to get quotes and Tanya has already spoken to one or two companies. One local company has offered to come out and take a look at the site. It is estimated that the cost could be between £10,000 and £18,000+. It would be good if £20,000 could be raised.
d. Highways: The Clerk read out a response from Highways regarding the junction of Middle Road with Trunch Hill. Highways thought that the hedge to the north was OK, but had requested that the hedge on the south side should be cut back. The Councillors did not agree with this response because it is the visibility towards the north where cars are coming towards the junction on that side of the road that is the problem. The Highways had also responded to the question of verge mowing late in the season.
e. Any Other Matters Arising: Peter Hill gave a brief report on the Village of the Year competition. Entry form had been sent off on the 27th November. The Denton website had been now updated and Richard Carden was thanked for doing this. The next step was to prepare for the end of March visit from the judges and it was decided that Peter would form a sub committee to deal with this.
6. District and County Council Matters:
Murray Gray reported that there have been so many objections to the sites for Travellers that SNC have decided to withdraw the plans and rethink. They are going to look at other sites on Thursday 15th January some of which have been suggested by landowners.
The budget process is in hand but SNC experiencing less income due to fewer planning applications and people not paying council tax. SNC have frozen all vacancies now.
Local Government reorganization has been delayed due to the high court challenge which will take place on 13th February.
It is proposed to build 1800 houses at Long Stratton which will help to fund the Long Stratton by pass. Not everyone is happy with the extra housing as it would almost double the existing population, surveys showed a 50/50 split.
Tony Tomkinson said that with regard to Local Government reorganization, a decision should still be made by 26th March even though there have been delays.
Northern distributer road; increased funding has been recommended and now waiting for approval from EERA. It is not a continuous road however. There is a gap across the Wensum Valley as the site is of scientific interest. Tony said that because of the collapse of the Iceland bank, NNC had lost some money. They may get their money back, but without interest.
The cost of oil has made it more costly to do road repairs.
The Travellers at 5 Acre Lane will be going back to court as they have infringed the agreement made at the last court hearing.
7. Questions from the Public – None.
8. Denton Directory
A new cover has been designed but still not enough information received. Still waiting for more information from Claire but hoping to produce a draft copy for the February meeting.
9. Public Information Act
The schedule of information available from Denton Parish Council was discussed and it was agreed that the Clerk would delete items that were not relevant to DPC and produce a final copy next month for agreement. However, it was thought that a cost of 20p per side of A4 was too low and the Clerk was asked to find out what SNC charged.
Proposal: Adopt the model publication scheme. Unanimously agreed.
10. Main Drainage Application
The meeting with Anglian Water went ahead in November. Not everyone was keen to have mains drainage and it was felt that there was not a lot of interest in the scheme because some people have installed treatment plants. However, if it could be linked in with the affordable housing scheme, Anglian Water suggested that SNC should be asked if they could requisition it. Murray was asked to look into this, but Councillors did not want the affordable housing to be held up because of a mains drainage scheme.
11. Planning 2008/2114 Grove Farm, Middle Road
The Chairman and Eddie Winter had attended the informal appearing in November but it was aborted. Since then more papers had been produced by Mr. Elliott and DPC had been asked to respond. A letter had been written by the Chairman to say that DPC's position remains the same and that all previous attempts to get residential permission had been objected to and resulted in enforcement notices. It was also noted that in September 2004 an application for dog kennels there was refused on the grounds that no-one lived on site.
12. Correspondence
Correspondence summaries had been circulated.
13. Finance
a. Financial Monthly Summary: a running budget summary and financial summary was produced by the Clerk for the months of November and December.
b. Pay the Clerk £88.05 for January.
c. Pay South Norfolk Council £74.03 for playground inspection.
Proposal: Pay b and c. Proposed by Adrian Hipwell, seconded by Eddie Winter. All agreed.
d. It was noted that DPC had received £110 from Bungay Outney Common for the going.
14. Any Other Business
The Chairman said that she had been approached by Pauline regarding the SNC arts festival to ask if Denton would like to host the event on Friday 14th August, 10am – 4pm. They would need use of the playing field and the village hall and possibly the marquee as well. They are expecting anything up to 200 people. DPC will have to pay for the hall at £5 per hour and if the marquee is used a further £60. It was unanimously agreed to do this.
Peter Hill said that because of the building work going on towards the Chapel there is a lot of mud on the road. To avoid the mud and also to avoid the stones on the verges people are having to walk in the middle of the road and this could cause an accident. This item is to be put on the agenda for next month.
Liz Cargill said that the Footpath Officer had visited the footpath behind the village hall, but she has not heard back from them since then. Peter said that the hedges do seem to have been clipped.
Liz Cargill reported that rabbits had done considerable damage in the Millennium Wood and she would get in touch with the Woodland Trust about this.
The Clerk passed a sample risk assessment to all the Councillors and asked them to read this and to let her have comments before the next meeting.
The meeting closed at 10.10pm.