Denton a village in South Norfolk, England

Denton Parish Council

Minutes of the Meeting Held on Tuesday 13th April 2010

at 8pm at Denton Village Hall

Present: Liz Cargill (Chairman), Terry Hanner, Roger Gibson, Peter Hill, Adrian Hipwell, Eddie Winter, Annie Whiteman, Pauline Sandell (Clerk)

1. Apologies
Murray Gray.

2. Declaration of Interest
Eddie and Terry declared an interest in item 8 as they are members of the Rogerson Trust.

3. Minutes of the Last Meeting
The minutes were agreed and signed.

4. Matters Arising:
a) Playing Field; Peter reported that the tunnel is still exposed, bark is still to be done, chains on the eastern toddler swing are corroded and the steps up to the slide are in a poor state. There were also a number of rabbit scrapes in the play area. It was decided that Terry, Roger and Adrian would meet on 19th April to do the bark and any necessary immediate maintenance. The other problems would be dealt with once the project is under way. The Clerk was asked to invoice Alburgh Parish Council for half of the bark. Roger Gibson to complete the next report.
b) Play Area Project; Annie reported that a meeting had taken place on 30th March and 16 people had attended, 4 of those were young people. Annie spent some time explaining to those people the aim of the Playbuilder scheme. More information will become available after the first meeting with SNC which takes place on the 21st April. Matilda Ziegler will also be attending the meeting on the 21st with Annie. A smaller group of people will be meeting at the beginning of May to discuss the consultation process and they will then report back to the bigger group. The Playbuilder funding must be spent by the end of March 2011, but Annie said that it would be a good idea to get going now with the landscaping and fencing. Peter said that there is some concern that the scheme will not provide for the very young. Liz suggested that some of the money earned from the composting credits could be used to provide something for the younger ones this summer. Liz had received a survey from Predulic and Annie agreed to complete it.
c) Any Other Matters; Liz reported that the Head of Alburgh with Denton School had resigned on the spot. Liz had communicated with Bob Flatt, Chairman of Alburgh Parish Council, and they had agreed that at the moment the Parish Councils should not get involved. A copy of the school constitution had been received and this was passed to Eddie Winter. After the Councillors have read it, it will be passed to the Clerk for safe-keeping. Peter Hill said that the minutes of the School Governor's meetings were to be published on a 'selective' basis, but he thought that they were obliged to publish them all. Peter Hill said that he had attended the SNAP meeting and he did not raise the question of vehicles parked outside the garage by the Dove because they had gone and he understood that the police had spoken to them.
The Clerk reported that she had spoken to CPRE about a speaker for the Joint Parish Council Meeting and also to the Police, but she had not had a reply yet.

5. District and County Council Matters
The Clerk had received an email from Murray Gray to say that SNC continues to talk to Breckland Council on sharing of services. Murray has written to the Planning Inspectorate about Grove Farm.

6. Questions from the Public
None.

7. Affordable Housing
The Clerk had spoken to Peter Ramsdale regarding Tony Tomkinson's remarks at the Annual Parish Meeting on the speed limit. Peter Ramsdale said that as far as he knew the speed limit would be implemented and he had sent emails to Adrian Jacklin and to Jon Taylor to find out the time scale but had not had a reply. Peter also informed the Clerk that he knew of no problems and matters were in the hands of the solicitors. The Clerk had spoken to Abigail Dennington-Price to ask her how many Denton people had their names on the affordable housing list. Abi said there were 4 names at the moment, but she expected more people to sign up once building started.

8. Contract Between DPC and Rogerson Trust re Playing Field
Eddie reported that a map for the Land Registry had been sent to Durrants and they had been asked to do a valuation. Eddie had asked for the lease to be 50 years. Eddie had telephoned Sprakes last week to say that the matter was of some urgency, but no response from them at the moment.

9. Feedback from Annual Parish Meeting
A member of the public had raised the problem of the Diss High School Bus which travels along Chapel Hill and into Paynes Hill. The bus is very large and is not appropriate along such narrow roads. It was suggested that this bus is re-routed. Other members of the public had said that all the buses that come into Denton drive too fast. After some discussion it was agreed that the Clerk would write to all of the bus companies involved to ask them to take particular care when driving through Denton and to drive slowly.
The vehicles parked on the road outside the garage near the Dove had already been resolved. Double parking outside Globe Close has improved.
Help with community composting; Liz reported that the first collection week got good support.
Ambition Award; the ideas that had been put forward will be looked at in detail by a member of the public and some of them will be taken up. Peter had sent out questionnaires regarding a shop facility and had received 80 back most of which were very positive. Peter may enter the Ambition Award. The Parish Council will not be involved in any of the schemes but will give its support where it can.

10. Planning Applications
The Clerk had received an email from SNC regarding engineering operation at Beck Farm. The owner of the land had been requested to submit an application for permission to carry out this work.

11. Correspondence
A correspondence summary had been circulated. NRCC – asking for evidence of slow broadband speeds that are having an effect on local people. The Clerk was asked to respond saying that local farmers and other local businesses are affected because much of their paperwork has to be done on the internet including tax returns. The community at large are also affected because the village does not have facilities such as shops, people rely on the internet.

12. Finance
a. Accounts summary; the Clerk circulated the accounts summary showing separate accounts for composting, grants/donations and regular annual income and the reserve.
b. Pay the Clerk £89.19 for April 2010
c. Pay NALC £102.60 annual subscription.
Proposal: Pay b and c. Proposed by Adrian Hipwell, seconded by Peter Hill, unanimously agreed.
Liz asked the Councillors if the Composters could buy a couple of wheelbarrows, some forks and spades using the some of the funds collected from the sale of compost. Proposed by Peter Hill, seconded by Annie Whiteman, unanimously agreed.

15. Any Other Business
Terry had been approached by Mrs Mencher at Pockthorpe Lane about the state of the lane. After some discussion it was agreed that Terry would act as mediator.

The meeting closed at 9.35pm.

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