Denton Parish Council
Minutes of the Meeting Held on Tuesday 11th August 2015
at 8pm at Denton Village Hall
Present: Peter Hill (Chairman), Terry Hanner (Vice Chairman), Roger Gibson, Zoe Brown, Pauline Sandell (Clerk). Also Present: Murray Gray (District Councillor), Margaret Somerville (County Councillor), Kay Wiltshire (Candidate for DPC vacancy).
1. Apologies.
None.
2. Declaration of Interest.
Terry Hanner and Roger Gibson item 9c. Peter Hill proposed to give Terry and Roger a dispensation, Zoe seconded.
3. Minutes of the Last Meeting.
The minutes were proposed as being correct by Roger Gibson, seconded by Terry Hanner. The minutes were signed and dated.
4. District Matters and County Council Matters.
Margaret Somerville reported; the biggest issue is trying to keep to the restricted budget. Margaret is in charge of Adult Social Care and is already £5 million overspent. A care village is being developed at Bowthorpe which will open this year.
The Company building the Northern Distributer Route have told NCC that the cost has risen by £39million. NCC will be holding an emergency meeting to discuss this.
An amnesty of paints, weed killer, and other toxic items will take place at various refuse sites during September.
Murray Gray reported; SNC trying to find 34 Gypsy and Traveller pitches by 2031. 20 pitches have been found so far. A final meeting will be taking place on 14th August and recommendations will be made to Cabinet on 14th September.
5. Questions from the Public.
None.
6. Matters Arising:
a) Skinners’ Meadow; Peter Hill spoke to Mike Masters to say that the field has been harvested and work can be done on the ditch. Mr. Masters said that Saffron had done a lot of work to try and alleviate the smell problem, but the smell is caused by a higher proportion of detergent to faeces. Saffron will write to the residents about this.
b) Any Other Matter Arising; None.
7. Playing Field Inspection.
a) Monthly inspection; As Kerry Norfolk was not in attendance no report was given. Zoe Brown will do the next inspection.
b) Annual Report; the report had been received from Playsafety. Peter Hill to read in more detail and report back at the next meeting, but swing chains will probably need replacing.
c) Norse; The Clerk had received a phone call from Norse Accounts Department asking why DPC had not paid the bill. They had not been told about the problems of non cutting and Mr. Madox had not told them that DPC had written a letter to say that they would be holding payment until the matter had been resolved.
Peter Hill said that although at the moment the grass cutting is regular and good, for the first half of the year only 4 cuts instead of 8 had been done. It was therefore proposed to pay half the invoice, i.e. £230 + VAT and a letter to be sent to Norse explaining DPC’s action. Proposed by Terry Hanner, seconded by Roger Gibson, unanimously agreed.
8. Co-option of Two More Councillors.
Kay Wiltshire was asked to give a brief resume of herself and her work. Terry proposed to accept Kay’s application to become a Denton Parish Councillor, seconded by Zoe Brown, unanimously agreed. Two other candidates are interested in filling the single vacancy left and they will be asked to attend the next meeting..
9. Annual Parish Meeting Projects.
a) Defibrillator – Bearing in mind that the play area may need some work, it was decided to leave the purchase of the defibrillator for the time being.
b) First Aid Course – It was agreed to go ahead with a one hour session. The Clerk was asked to book a session sometime in October.
c) Village Hall Extension – The Village Hall Committee have received just under £10,000 from SNC and £1080 from Adnams.
d) Playground Equipment for Younger Children - Zoe Brown will circulate a questionnaire to find out what kind of equipment people would like for the younger children up to the amount of £2500. Murray Gray said that he also had a fund of £200 that could be used.
10. Planning Applications.
None.
11. Correspondence
Mini Recycling Centre – Annual agreement with SNC is due and DPC agreed to the terms set out by SNC.
SNC Housing Strategy – passed to Peter Hill.
12. Finance
a) Accounts Summary.
b) Pay the Clerk £90.29 for August and £90.29 for September.
c) Pay Playsafety £103.20 for annual report.
d) Pay NPFA £20 annual subscription.
It was agreed to pay b,c and d. Proposed by Roger Gibson, seconded by Terry Hanner, unanimously agreed.
13. Any Other Business
Terry Hanner said that he disagreed with the Government’s suggestion that affordable housing should be put on the open market. He proposed that DPC should make its opinion known with a letter to the local MP with a copy to SNC.
Zoe Brown brought up the question of having a local community run shop. This has been discussed before with the decision not to take it any further.
The meeting closed at 9.35 pm