Denton Parish Council
Minutes of the Meeting Held on Tuesday 11th January 2011
at 8pm at Denton Village Hall
Present: Liz Cargill (Chairman), Roger Gibson, Peter Hill, Adrian Hipwell, Annie Whiteman, Eddie Winter, Pauline Sandell (Clerk).
Also Present: Murray Gray (District Councillor), 8 Members of the Public.
1. Apologies
Terry Hanner, Tony Tomkinson.
2. Declaration of Interest
None.
3. Minutes of the Last Meeting and Extraordinary Meeting on 10th December
9th November minutes; item 5 line 7 should read NCC not NNC.
Extraordinary minutes; item 2 line 9 should read 'wording of the grant agreement' not 'wording of the agreement'.
The minutes were agreed and signed.
4. Speed Limit
Mr. Carden explained, on behalf of the Denton residents, that the road between the end of the proposed speed limit and the bottom of Trunch Hill is very narrow with bends and would be safer with a speed limit. After doing a survey to obtain the view of other Denton residents he organized a petition which was sent to NCC asking for the proposed speed limit to be extended southwards to the bottom of Trunch Hill. He apologized for not informing the Parish Council. He also wrote letters to Councillors Murray Gray and Tony Tomkinson asking them for their support which they both gave. He asked the Parish Council if they would reconsider their decision.
Liz Cargill said that the Clerk had been informed that should the parish councillors decide to ask for the speed limit to be extended the delay would, at the most, be one month and the cost would be in the hundreds which would be picked up by NCC. She then asked each Councillor to give their views:
Peter Hill: in support of the extension and would also like to see the speed limit taken further north, starting from Mill Farm in Darrow Green Road to the Old Kings Head and then all the way through the village as 20% of all Denton houses are in that area and properties are close to the road.
Adrian Hipwell: Did not want to see repeater signs in open countryside and therefore disagreed with extending the speed limit north. However, would support extending the speed limit south. He also suggested that at a later date it would be beneficial to walkers and cyclists to try and get a footpath or cycle path along that part of the road.
Eddie Winter: In favour of extending the speed limit south.
Annie Whiteman: The main concern of the Councillors at the last meeting when the speed limit was discussed was time delay and extra cost. As it is now clear that the cost and delay will be minimal she was in support of the extension to the south.
Roger Gibson: In support of extending it south. He was concerned that the speed limit may start too close to the affordable housing at the northern end and therefore drivers would not have time to slow down to 30mph before reaching the affordable housing.
Liz Cargill: In the past residents were only concerned about the centre of the village having a speed limit and no mention had been made previously about extending it either way. However, she was happy to support the extension to the south.
Some members of the public said that they would prefer to see the speed limit all through the village.
Extending the speed limit further north was not supported by the majority of councillors and was not put forward as a proposal.
Proposal: Ask NCC to extend the speed limit south to the end of Trunch Hill.
Proposed by Liz Cargill, unanimously agreed.
5. Matters Arising:
a) Playing Field: Roger Gibson reported that the bottle banks had been emptied and the car park is very wet and may need a man drain. Peter said that people should ring the telephone number on the bottle bank when it gets to the marked level. The Clerk reported that she had contacted SNC regarding the hedging around the recycling area and they said that they do not own the hedging but would trim the branches if thought to be a risk to users of the recycling area. The Clerk said that she had been informed that the lid of the dog bin was broken, but Roger thought it was the box under the bin that was broken. Liz Cargill said that she would investigate and the Clerk will get a quote for new bins if necessary. A date for a working party will be decided at the next meeting.Playing Field: Peter Hill reported a badly split post on the wobble board, badly rusted and worn set of chains on the swing, bark under swings holing out and puddling, head of the chicken badly damaged, hedging around the recycling centre needs trimming, hopper of the SCOPE bin full.
b) Play Area Project: It is finished and RoSPA have inspected it and sent a written report and people are delighted with it. Denton Parish Council is the first to get the play area finished under this scheme in Norfolk. The Councillors said a huge thank you to Peter for his stamina in seeing the project through and also thanked Annie. Annie said a thank you should also go to the people that helped with the hedging.
It was agreed to write a letter of thanks to Joy Playgrounds as their team worked very hard through some of the worst weather of the winter. Still to do – grass the mound (Joy Playgrounds will be doing that); in the Spring get together a working party of children to paint the wigwam; put in an entrance gate; plant willow a bit later on (Joy Playgrounds say they can get a willow much cheaper and possibly free); Spring Chicken and See Saw need to be looked at. Possibly do some fundraising to pay for Chicken and See Saw.
Need to think about an official opening ceremony and get the sign erected. Also need to arrange a press announcement to say that we have finished and the first to do so. Peter Hill will organize this.
c) Bus Service: A meeting was held in November between Anglian Buses, Chris Limbach of NCC, members of Alburgh PC, Murray Gray, Liz Cargill and Peter Hill to discuss the bus service. Four points were put forward: a) NCC would revisit the 508 service even if they could run it just one or two days through the village, b)investigate the Topcroft route, c)investigate community car/bus scheme and d)the taxi bus that brings people back from Harleston should be changed from Tuesdays to Wednesdays. The Councillors were informed that item d has already happened. The Clerk was asked to make sure times and days of bus and taxi bus are shown in the Parish Magazine, Website and the notice board. The current system is in place for 6 months and started end of September 2010. Peter, Liz and the Clerk will keep this actively under review.
d) Any Other Matters Arising: Roger Gibson asked for an update on Grove Farm. Liz Cargill said that she had not written a letter to SNC yet, but the Clerk was informed that a revised enforcement order has to go before the Committee for approval. Murray said that this may happen next week at the earliest or if not in February.
6. District Council Matters
Murray reported; SNC are making cuts in two ways, a)cutting back on services such as tree wardens, cultural events and b)saving costs by sharing services with other councils and to this end SNC is talking to Gt. Yarmouth Council about sharing senior management and sharing services such as IT and Committee services.
Over 3,500 responses were received on the Local Development Framework Consultation and this will take time to analyse and an additional round of consultations will take place because new sites have been proposed.
Publication of the Localism Bill could have significant implications for parish councils as some powers will be devolved down to the lowest appropriate local level.
SNAP meetings; more discussion will take place involving topics raised by the public.
Roundabout at Hempnall junction with A140; the motion was supported by SNC but no official response from NCC yet.
7. Questions from the Public
When do the public get to hear about the Local Development Sites? Murray answered that the Parish Council has been consulted and there is a public consultation.
8. Affordable Housing – Drainage
Malcolm Skinner and Terry Hanner attended a meeting on site with John Whitelock regarding the drainage. It has been agreed that the drains will now go under the road opposite the affordable housing, but the Clerk was asked to get this decision confirmed and in writing.
Liz Cargill said that she had been informed that there are more people looking for affordable housing than available houses. Liz Cargill said that Saffron will organize a meeting at the Village Hall to say who will be eligible for the housing. There was some confusion about this statement and Liz Cargill said that she would make further enquiries. The Councillors were keen to make sure that the housing is available for Denton residents.
9. Attention to Tree by the Shed
Following gales at the end of last year there are large branches which look to be unsafe. However, Peter Hill did not think they would come down near the Play Area. It was agreed to ask Malcolm to have a look.
10. Planning Applications
No applications. Decision to approve the planning application for The Rectory with conditions had been received. This was passed to Peter Hill.
11. Election Year
In May this year all Councillors will stand down and either an election will be held or councillors will be co-opted. It was agreed that DPC would prefer Councillors to be elected rather than co-opted and therefore more than seven people must stand so that an election can be carried out. The Clerk will advertise in the Parish Magazine, the Denton Website and the Notice Board for new Councillors. Eddie Winter said that he would not be standing again in May and Liz Cargill said that she would also be resigning as Chairman and as a Councillor. Peter Hill said that he thought she should not resign as a Councillor as it is preferable to have the outgoing Chairman still on the Council.
12. Correspondence
Peter Hill took all the documents relating to the GNDP's Joint Core Strategy and the consultation requested in respect of the proposed changes put forward by the Inspectors of the Strategy. Comments must be made by 2nd February.
13. Finance
a) Accounts Summary; no comments made.
b) Pay the Clerk £89.19 for January.
c) Pay Joy Playground £4208.85 for playground equipment (the cheque had already been passed to Joy Playground on 10th January as agreed on 10th December, minute 669).
Proposal: Pay b. Proposed by Adrian Hipwell, seconded by Annie Whiteman, unanimously agreed.
14. Any Other Business
Peter Hill; The Clerk was asked if she could scan, and send out electronically, some of the documents that need to be seen by the Councillors. Liz Cargill asked if the same could be done with the accounts summary. The Clerk agreed to do this.