Denton Parish Council
Minutes of the Meeting Held on Tuesday 10th July 2012
at 8pm at Denton Village Hall
Present: Peter Hill (Chairman), Terry Hanner (Vice Chairman), Adrian Hipwell, Wayne Mayhew, Annie Whiteman, Pauline Sandell (Clerk).
Dr. Murray Gray (District Councillor), Jane Marlow (Governor at Alburgh & Denton School), 2 Members of the Public.1. Apologies
Roger Gibson.
2. Declaration of Interest
Peter Hill 7b.
3. Minutes of the Last Meeting and Planning Meeting.
The minutes were agreed as an accurate record, proposed by Terry Hanner, seconded by Annie Whiteman, unanimously agreed. The minutes were signed and dated.
4. District and County Council Matters
Murray Gray reported that the Waveney Valley Neighbourhood Board had decided on the following projects using the £80,000 funded by new homes, having consulted with the public:-
1) Increase access to jobs and training for young people.
2) Supporting vulnerable residents by enhancing the handy person scheme.
3) Increase physical activities particularly for young people on low incomes.
4) Improving arts and culture.
5) Improving road safety by providing a SAM machine to share around the parishes.
These projects will need to be adopted by the Cabinet.
Murray reported that now the Standards Board for England has gone and a new code of conduct has been initiated, although there will still be an independent person as a monitoring office, the Standards Committee will police itself.
5. Jane Marlow – Report on the School
Jane informed the Councillors that the school has 87 pupils, with 14 leavers this term and 14 intake in September. The school is made up of 4 classes with relatively small numbers, i.e. 19-26 pupils to a class.
The school has become much more stable in respect of number of pupils, staff and leadership. However, only 42 children are from Denton or Alburgh which could leave the school vulnerable and difficult to predict in the future. It is therefore very important to spread its reputation further afield as well as locally.
Extra curriculum activities include annual visit to the beach, leaver's disco, visit to Norwich museum and after school activities such as gardening, football, gymnastics and eco warrior clubs. The school supports those children that are under achieving, of which there are 20, and those that are gifted and talented.
Outdoor areas are under development, such as creating access to the pre school, a trim trail, a bridge and tunnel for younger children, but although money from the budget has been allocated for this area, and financial support has been given by the Parents Association, further funding is needed to complete this development.
The financial status of the school at the moment is strong, but it is predicted that there will be a reduction of funding in the next two years which will bring down the surplus of money that the school has. Future challenges include more cooperation with other schools in the cluster.
Jane concluded by saying that it is very important to have a Governor on the Board, such as herself, that represents the two parishes and that is completely impartial as she is not a parent and does not represent an organisation. She asked the Councillors that, should there ever be a move to change the make up of the Board of Governors, they consider making a strong case for keeping an independent person on the Board.
6. Questions from the Public
Richard Carden said that the Denton Website was encouraged by the PC from the start and states on the website that it is sponsored by the PC. However, the cost of hosting the website has always been taken on by the people that run it and not by Denton Parish Council. Richard asked the PC to consider taking on the cost of hosting the website, approximately £25 per annum.
Proposal; Denton Parish Council accepts the responsibility of the cost of hosting the website. Proposed by Adrian Hipwell, seconded by Annie Whiteman, unanimously agreed. The Clerk to action.
7. Matters Arising:
a) Letter to BT Regarding Phones; Peter Hill said that a letter has not been written as problems had subsided.
b) Ditch at Skinners' Meadow; The Clerk read out an email from Crocus Contractors. The problem was still not resolved and the Clerk was asked to initiate a meeting on site with Crocus and Saffron.
c) Any Other Matters Arising; Annie Whiteman reported that following the film archive event in Norwich recently, she had been informed that funding had not been given. However, this may still go ahead by operating it in a different way and they will keep in touch.
Peter Hill reported that Liz Cargill agreed that the cash she held from the compost sales should be handed over to be banked. Some expenditure had been made which had not been relayed to the Clerk.
8. Chairman's Report
The Chairman had attended the Waveney Valley Neighbourhood Meeting and felt that a SAM at Denton would be a good idea
9. Discussion on Registration of Interests on Denton Website
The Clerk had confirmed with SNC that the registration of interests had to be displayed on the Parish Council website as well as the District Council Website.
10. Playing Field Inspection
Wayne Mayhew reported that all was clean and tidy. Thistles needed pulling, it was agreed not to use Round Up. Cigarette butts found in the shelter. Adrian to do the July inspection and Terry to do the August one.
11. Discuss and Decide Whether to Archive Old Minute Books
The Clerk was now in possession of the old minute book. Richard Carden had asked if he could have the minute book for a while to extract information for the web site. It was agreed to let him do this. Terry Hanner said that he had some old minute books. He will pass these on to Richard to look at. Once all the old minutes are back with the Clerk, their place of keeping will be decided on.
12. Parish Online Trial
Peter Hill reported that no further action had been taken. After some discussion it was decided not to go ahead with the trial, but to keep this scheme in mind should it be needed in the future.
13. Better Broadband
Peter Hill to speak to the Denton resident that is involved with this at NCC first and then ask, on Denton Talk, if anyone would like to organise a working party to investigate this further.
14. Co-Option of Replacement Parish Councillor
Peter Hill suggested that Kelly Norfolk be co-opted. Proposed by Terry Hanner, seconded by Wayne Mayhew, unanimously agreed.
15. Footpaths/Permissive Headlands
Wayne Mayhew offered to clear some of the footpaths that were difficult to walk. The Clerk was asked to find out what NCC's policy was for clearing parish footpaths. Eddie Winter told the Councillors that the agreement for the headlands around the centre of the village expires on October 1st.
16. Planning Applications
None.
17. Correspondence
SNC – Mini Recycling Agreement. The Councillors did not want to request figures on quantities of materials.
June edition of Signpost.
NPFA AGM on 19th July.
18. Finance
a. Accounts Summary – The summary was approved. Proposed by Annie Whiteman, seconded by Adrian Hipwell, unanimously agreed.
b. Pay the Clerk £89.19 for July and August
e. Pay St.Mary's Church £200 for Graveyard Upkeep
It was proposed that b and c be paid. Proposed by Terry Hanner, seconded by Adrian Hipwell, unanimously agreed.
19. Any Other Business
Peter Hill reported that one of the allotments had not been well tended and was full of weeds. He will speak to the person concerned.
The meeting finished at 9.40 pm.