Denton Parish Council
Minutes of the Meeting Held on 8th April 2008 at 8pm at Denton Village Hall
Present: Liz Cargill (Chairman), Terry Hanner (Vice Chairman), Peter Hill, Adrian Hipwell, Clare Valori, Eddie Winter, Pauline Sandell (Clerk). Also Present: Murray Gray (District Councillor), one member of the public.
1. Apologies: Roger Gibson.
2. Declaration of Interest: None.
3. Minutes of the Last Meeting: Item 13, although normally the light in the telephone box is on all the time, it is not on at all at the moment. The minutes were agreed and signed.
4. Matters Arising:
a. Playing Field; The report had been completed by Clare Valori who had found no problems at all. Steve Tricks had started to clear the mole hills. Using the donation to buy new equipment was discussed and it was agreed that Wickstead is too expensive. After some discussion it was suggested that a cycle track could be laid down. The Councillors arranged to visit Pulham Market and Harleston cycle tracks on Tuesday 15th April at 7pm. Murray Gray told the Councillors that grants can be obtained from South Norfolk Council. The Clerk reported that she had received a quote from Askews of £250 for the road planings and had spoken to Malcolm Skinner who had said that he would be happy to do it and would contact Terry Hanner to get more details. It was thought that it was drained before it was a car park and James Godsmark is to be contacted as it is thought that he has the map of the drains. Proposal: To go ahead with the car park with the proviso that the plainings will cost £250 and a maximum of £100 for the work carried out by Malcolm Skinner. Proposed by Clare, seconded by Terry and unanimously agreed. The drains may have to be done at a later date. Roger Gibson to carry out the next report.
b. Composting; Liz Cargill reported that the first collection of the year had taken place. The working party had not been as well supported as she would have liked, but that was probably due to the bad weather. She had received a call from an NCC journalist who will be writing something about the scheme. Liz reminded the Councillors about the social event on the 17th April.
c. Highways: Peter Hill reported that he had spoken to Bob Edwards who explained that if a grup already existed then the contractors would continue to dig them out. The reason that they do not always go all the way back is that if there is a hedge on the roadside they are careful not to go through the hedge. Very deep grups are sometimes necessary because of the deep banks. Bob Edwards said that he would come out and look at the grups if the Parish Council would like him to, but that it would be good idea to identify what grups are causing problems. It was agreed that a proper survey of the grups should be done and Peter Hill was asked to get back to Bob Edwards to ask how the Parish Council should carry this out properly. Clare Valori said she would be happy to survey Middle Road and Liz Cargill had already taken photographs.
d. Annual Parish Meeting: The Chairman reported that 17 members of the public had attended and that Derek Clarke had come to talk about Homewatch. Ken Ashton had volunteered to be a Coordinator and Derek said that he would come out and talk to Ken and to any other volunteers about the scheme. Eddie said that he would be happy to volunteer for his end of the village and Clare Valori said that she thought that Roger Gibson may do Middle Road. Richard Carden had also volunteered at the Annual Parish Meeting. Pocket Park; Eddie Winter had received a quote from John McRay of £70 per cut and the Garden Club may help with the maintenance after it is cut. Proposal: Agree to have Pocket Park cut by John McRay as soon as possible and then to talk to the Garden Club about maintenance. All agreed. Changing the name of Pocket Park was discussed. It is believed that it used to be called Pond Pasture. John Carslake said that he would look on a tythe map. Village Sign; Terry reported that the new piece of wood has been carved and replaced at the top and is being painted now. It should be ready fairly soon. Oil Scheme; Ken Ashton is taking this on and is taking names of anyone that is interested. There could be savings of 5p per litre. Night Noises heard by Liz Adeane; At the meeting it was suggested that she contact the Environmental Team at SNC and she was also going to look at the transformers to see if the buzzing came from them.
e. Any Other Matters Arising; None.
5. District and County Council Matters:
Murray Gray had the following reports to make: Sewage Treatment Plant: Murray Gray said that he was now more hopeful that the Council will release some more money to finance this scheme. Anglian Water requires a track to be created at the back of 5 and 6 Uplands Terrace and SNC are talking to the landowner about this. At the Cabinet meeting yesterday, car park charges were discussed again. The final decision will have to be made on 12th May. The owner of Budgens does not want car park charges and this will have to be resolved. Wymondham are very happy with their car park charges and want to increase them. Post Office Closures; not as bad as thought with only five closures in this area. Sale of Middle Road Site; this will be going ahead in May.
Murray Gray was asked if it would be worth the Parish Council writing to Anglian Water to ask about putting the houses around the Village Hall onto mains drainage. Murray Gray thought that it would be worth doing that on a 'first time' scheme as Anglian Water would get a fair revenue from the 11 or 12 houses affected. Clare Valori asked him if there was any news about Grove Farm, as although the van has gone people are still living there. Murray will follow this up.
6. Questions from the Public: A complaint was made about the rubbish heap in the garden of No.1 Globe Close, which is now making its way into the ditch. There are also complaints of loud music and people calling at strange times of the night. It was agreed that a letter should be sent to the occupier asking him to do something about the problem within a month or letters will be sent to SNC and to Saffron. The letter should specify that the rubbish in the garden must be cleared and loud music at unreasonable hours must stop.
7. Affordable Housing: Liz Cargill had received an e-mail from Abigail to say that they are currently looking for someone to oversee the survey and they need to produce a new form which is quite complex and also people on holiday has slowed down the process. Denton is the first parish that is being looked at, but the process will take longer as we asked for another survey. It was agreed that more specific information is needed so that people can be kept informed. In particular, the figure of £25,000, could this be raised, and how will the applicants be prioritized for this particular scheme. Liz will contact Abigail about these points.
8. Denton Directory – Costings, Grant: John Carslake has agreed to work with Clare Valori and a meeting has already taken place to discuss several things. It must be easy to read and easy to navigate. It needs to inform people what is available within the community and within the local towns. John will design a cover and the Parish Council will be asked to agree it. It might not need to be changed each year, just an addendum sent out. It was thought that 20 pages plus a cover would be adequate. It was agreed that Clare should produce a flyer explaining about the Directory and asking people for anything that would be useful to put in the Directory. The first application form for a grant has been sent to SNC.
9. Planning:
a. Application 2008/0645 Denton House, Church Hill, Denton – Alterations and extensions to the house and modifications to existing access and new driveway. Peter Hill, Roger Gibson and Terry Hanner had visited the site on Saturday. After some discussion the following proposal was made: Proposal: Agree the application as it will restore and enhance the building. Proposed by Terry Hanner, seconded by Liz Cargill, unanimously agreed.
b. Application 2008/0517 Denton House, Trunch Hill, Denton – Proposed new tractor/storage barn. This application had been circulated and agreed 'no comment'.
10. Pride in Norfolk Competition: Peter Hill will do this.
11. Correspondence: Items on the correspondence summary of 7th April were noted. The following action was taken:
CCN – Big Lottery Food grant programme – the Clerk will give Liz Cargill the e-mail address for further information.
CPRE – Are having a litter picking campaign scheduled for launch on 17th April. As this can be a problem in Denton, the Clerk was asked to mention it in the Parish Magazine.
NCC – Hannah Cook will provide advice and support about grants to communities in South Norfolk.
SNC – First draft consultation for the Sustainable Community Strategy for South Norfolk 2008-2018. It was agreed to give to Liz to look at. The Clerk was asked to get some more copies.
Homewatch – A bike with a wicker basket had been found in Denton. The Clerk was asked to put this in the Magazine.
12. Finance:
a. Financial Monthly Summary: the summary was circulated and explained by the Clerk. No action taken.
b. Pay the Clerk £83.87 for April 2008
c. Pay the Clerk £82.75 expenses for 2007/8. This was a different figure to that on the agenda because the wine and juice for the annual parish meeting was added after the agenda had been circulated.
d. Pay NCAPTC £100.23 subscription.
Proposal: pay b.c.d. Proposed by Clare Valori, seconded by Adrian Hipwell, unanimously agreed.
13. Any Other Business:
Clare Valori reported that the school is thriving with the highest number of pupils ever. An Ofsted inspection took place at the school and nursery school before Easter, both had very satisfactory results, and some aspects good. 16 children have applied as first choice and 28 applied as second choice. The problem with traffic as school times has been discussed with Highways; however they cannot make it officially a one way system and would not put a speed limit on it because during school time, drivers were going very slowly and that may be safer. A suggestion is to reverse the current voluntary one way system so that children that are dropped off can get out the pavement side of the car, this is currently being considered. The school will continue to encourage parents to car share and ask them to park on only one side of the road. The new classroom is to be officially opened on 1st May at 9.15am by the Bishop and everyone is welcome to attend.
Liz Cargill reported that she had received a letter from Mrs Melcher at Pockthorpe Lane saying that she was unhappy with the state of the lane and the ditch could do with digging out. The Councillors thought that the Lane was in good enough repair as a footpath and that the residents need to sort this out themselves.
The meeting closed at 10.25.