Denton Parish Council
Minutes of the Meeting Held on Tuesday 12th June 2012
at 8pm at Denton Village Hall
Present: Peter Hill (Chairman), Terry Hanner (Vice Chairman), Roger Gibson, Wayne Mayhew, Annie Whiteman, Pauline Sandell (Clerk).
1. Apologies
Adrian Hipwell, Murray Gray.
2. Declaration of Interest
None.
3. Minutes of the Last Meeting and Planning Meeting.
The minutes were agreed as an accurate record and were signed and dated.
4. District and County Council Matters
Neither Tony Tomkinson, nor Murray Gray were present, but Murray Gray had sent the clerk an email;
1. The consultation on housing site allocations and development boundaries will now start in September and will last 6-8 weeks.
2. The Waveney Valley Neighbourhood Board met recently to decide how to spend the £80,000 to enhance District Council services in this area. Several activities were agreed, e.g. increased funding for Borderhoppa. There is still debate going on in SNC about the scale of activities identified.
3. Changes to the Planning Committee procedures are being discussed including a name change to Development Management Committee and a reduction in public speaking time from 5 minutes to 3 minutes.
Council Tax; SNC had frozen their part of the Council Tax, the Police increased their part by 3% and the Parish Council by 4%. The Councillors were surprised that the PC part had increased by 4%, as it was their intention that by raising the precept by £150 this amount would be offset by the extra housing at Skinners' Meadow and therefore the PC part of the Council Tax would remain the same. Murray said that he would check this out.
The Waveney Neighbourhood Board has received £80,000 from the Government, a sum of money is given to SNC for every new house built in the district and this money is going to be spent on services that the public will be allowed to vote on. There are a number of services suggested such as; youth activities, vulnerable older people initiatives, health, culture and sport, community transport, natural open space management, grass cutting, community safety and public toilets. The public can vote by logging onto www.south-norfolk.gov.uk/neighbourhoods.
SNC have a new web site that will be launched on 2nd April. This web site will provide the public with a great deal of information about their area such as, which council tax band a particular house has, what the council tax is, bin collections, names of the parish clerk and district county councillor, what recent planning applications have been received for that area, what highway repairs are being planned, doctors surgeries, pharmacies, schools, as well as a number of other things for that area. If you register on the site you will get emails sent to you to notify you of recent planning applications.
Murray said that he had not yet investigated the painted roof problem.
5. Questions from the Public
None
6. Matters Arising:
a) Sides for Composting Trailer; Peter Hill reported that Ifor Williams had been contacted and they were preparing a quote. However, the idea of buying sides is no longer in favour.
b) Dogs on Playing Field; Terry had spoken to the people concerned and there have been no further reports of dogs running loose on the playing field
c) Letter to BT Regarding Phones; Due to lack of time a letter has not been written yet.
d) Ditch at Skinners' Meadow; The Clerk reported that she had informed Peter Ramsdale of the problem and he had contacted Crocus, but as yet a reply has not been received.
e) Vehicles Parked on Trunch Hill Bend; Terry has not been able to speak to the people concerned, but cars have not been parked there recently.
f) Letter to Previous Chairman; A letter of thank you had been sent to Liz Cargill.
g) Overhanging Hedge; Peter Hill had spoken to the person concerned and they will get the hedge trimmed.
h) Any Other Matters Arising; None.
7. Playing Field Inspection
Annie reported that she had spent some time clearing thistles from under the swings and around the willow structure. She said the willow structure looked very good. The see-saw is in bad repair. Terry to deal with it. She had found no signs of dog faeces. Roger said that he had noticed that at one end of the castle the water proofed plywood with black skin had started to delaminate. Peter said that he thought it should have been lipped. Not a serious problem at the moment but needs watching. Terry said that he thought the playing field had missed a cut, as it had got very long.
8. Play Wall
Annie said that since the last meeting, when she agreed to the idea of a play wall, she had thought long and hard about how the area would be affected by putting in a play wall and felt strongly that it would go against the whole ethos of the play area. After some discussion it was agreed to put the play wall on the back burner for the time being.
9. Consider and Approve Dog Signs for Playing Field
Peter reported that Black Dog Signs had quoted £17.50 + VAT for a 1sq.ft. sign reading 'no dogs' with a picture and £15 + VAT for a 1sq.ft sign reading 'dogs on leads'. It was proposed by Roger Gibson and seconded by Annie Whiteman to purchase three of the no dog signs and one of the dogs on lead signs. Unanimously agreed.
10. Chairman's Report
Playing Field Car Park has been surfaced. Peter has thanked Malcolm and all the other helpers
14th May Peter and Roger attended the Joint Parish Meeting. Most of the discussion concerned the £80,000 for enhancing local services. The general public had been consulted, but only about 500 people responded and public toilets was the highest vote.
16th May Peter attended the burying of the time capsule at Skinners' Meadow. The Head from the local school plus 5 children attended. The capsule is due to be opened 1st August 2061.
Peter and Bridget attended the Jubilee Thanksgiving Service at Norwich Cathedral.
11. Composting Scheme
Peter Hill reported that he had spoken to Liz Cargill about establishing the composting scheme separately from the Parish Council. Liz felt that this would be very complicated as it would involve setting up bank accounts, getting a new system to receive composting credits from NCC and obtaining insurance and felt that the Composting Scheme would collapse in a short time if this happened. With regard to the cash from compost sales and the composting credits, it is the view of the Composting Group that the money is there for the Parish Council to do with it as they wish. The Parish Council does not need to ask the permission of the Composting Group when they wish to purchase something with the proceeds. It was agreed that the Composters should be thanked at the Annual Parish Meeting.
12. Consider and Approve Risk Assessment
Peter Hill proposed that the risk assessment should be approved with the addition of risk to the helpers of the composting group. Seconded by Annie Whiteman, unanimously agreed.
13. Co-Option of Replacement Parish Councillor
No nominations had been put forward during the 14 day period and therefore it is now for the Councillors to co-opt a person. The Chairman felt that the vacancy had not been advertised sufficiently and will advertise it in the Parish Magazine with a closing date before the next meeting.
14. New Code of Conduct for Adoption
Peter Hill reported that due to the Localism Act the code of conduct had changed and therefore a new one had to be adopted. There were three options, to adopt the one suggested by South Norfolk Council, to adopt the one suggested by NALC or to draft its own. The Clerk had sent out to the Councillors copies of the one suggested by SNC, but only the Chairman had seen the one suggested by NALC. The Chairman felt that the NALC one was easier to understand, but adopting the SNC one would aid consistency. As the Councillors had only seen the one suggested by SNC and were happy with it, it was proposed by Annie Whiteman and seconded by Terry Hanner that Denton Parish Council adopt the Code of Conduct suggested by SNC. All agreed.
15. Consider and Approve Free Trial of 'Parish Online'
The Chairman had attended a meeting where it was explained that Parish Online would provide the facility to download OS and aerial maps of the area. There is a 30 day free trial on offer and then the first year fee would be £10 and the second and subsequent annual fee would be £20. It was proposed by Annie Whiteman to take the 30 day trial and to get three nominated people to use it and see how useful it would be for DPC to sign up to. This proposal was seconded by Roger Gibson, unanimously agreed.
16. Planning Applications
None.
17. Correspondence
The Clerk reported that Highways had visited Denton on 23rd March and carried out work on Trunch Hill and Danacre Road. Terry Hanner said that the footpath from School House to side of Pocket Park was very overgrown. The Clerk was asked to inform Highways of this.
18. Finance
a. Agree End of Year Accounts – The Chairman will speak to Liz Cargill regarding the compost cash from sales. Annie Whiteman proposed that the end of year accounts should be approved, seconded by Roger Gibson, unanimously agreed.
b. Complete Audit Form – Section 2 of the annual governance statement was completed and signed and dated by the Chairman.
c. Accounts Summary – The summary was approved. Proposed by Annie Whiteman, seconded by Terry Hanner, unanimously agreed.
d. Pay the Clerk £89.19 for June
e. Pay Norse £301.34 Half Yearly Grounds Fee
f. Pay the Clerk £194.30 Expenses for 2011
g. Pay the Chairman £12.50 for Chocolates for Lucy
h. Pay Liz Frere-Smith £35 for Internal Audit
The invoice for Liz Frere-Smith was not on the agenda as it was received after the agenda was printed.
It was proposed that d-h be paid. Proposed by Roger Gibson, seconded by Terry Hanner, unanimously agreed.
19. Any Other Business
Annie Whiteman reported on the Film Archive event at the Forum. Annie had registered an interest on behalf of the Parish Council.
Roger Gibson; An email from Murray Gray was received on achieving better broadband for South Norfolk but Roger was unable to contact Murray for more information as he is away on holiday at the moment. Roger said that he was not sure how to proceed and the deadline is 6th July. Peter Hill said that he would try to find out more about it.
The meeting finished at 10 pm.