Denton Parish Council
Minutes of the Meeting Held on Tuesday 11th November 2008.
Present: Liz Cargill (Chairman), Terry Hanner (Vice Chairman), Roger Gibson, Peter Hill, Adrian Hipwell, Eddie Winter, Pauline Sandell (Clerk). Also Present: Dr. Murray Gray (District Councillor)
1. Apologies
Clare Valori.
2. Declaration of Interest
Roger Gibson had an interest in item 11.
3. Minutes of the Last Meeting
Item 10, last line, instead of 'unanimously agreed' should read 'one objection'. The minutes of the last meeting were agreed and signed.
4. Matters Arising
a. Playing Field: Report by Clare Valori. Moles have appeared again. The Clerk was asked to contact Steve Tricker to ask him if this would be a good time of the year to catch the moles. A car has been seen driving over the playing field leaving indentation marks. The wobble board is still broken. John Carslake has done the grass cutting this year and it was agreed to formally thank him by letter and to ask if he needs to be paid for petrol. Roger Gibson and Eddie Winter to complete the November and December report respectively.
b. Play Area Report: The Chairman reported that she, Tanya, Andrew and Peter had met the previous night to discuss ideas. It was suggested that a survey should be carried out to gauge a) numbers of each age range and b) what type of equipment people favour. Such information would also be needed when applying for grants. Once the survey had been carried out, the Working Party would put a plan forward to the Parish Council in January 09. A ball park figure for the cost of the equipment could be about £20,000 and they would like to know how much the Parish Council would be able to put towards the project. It was agreed that money from the composting, the Pride of Norfolk prize money and the donation from Mr. Frost's funeral would go towards the funding amounting to about £3500.
It was suggested that the Village Hall should be approached and the Clerk was asked to mention the project in the Parish Magazine which would help with the survey and with the fundraising.
c. Highways: The Clerk had not had a response from Highways but she will chase them up. Terry said that he had noticed that despite a shortage of money, the verges are cut three times a year and the last cut was on the 13th October. This seems too late in the season as the grass will not grow until the Spring and is a waste of money. The Clerk was asked to mention this to Highways.
d. Any Other Matters Arising: Mains Drainage Application, Gary Parson will be coming to Denton on Monday 17th November at 10.30am to meet the Councillors and those members of the public that are involved. Pool Meadow has not been cut yet, Eddie will chase him up. Liz has tried to contact Norfolk Wild Life Trust but will try again.
The Clerk reported that she had not contacted the Footpath Officer yet as Liz had been very busy. She will contact her to arrange a meeting later in the month.
5. District and County Council Matters
No.6 Chapelfield: Murray reported that the Environment Officer had been made aware of the Councillors views and he will keep an eye on it.
Gypsy and Traveller Allocation Policy: 600 letters of objection had been received and this large quantity of objections had put the time table back. Murray said that one of the letters had come from him and that he had done his own survey by looking at side roads and had identified a number of possible sites.
Neighbourhood Forum: funding of £2000 is available and could be used for the play area or the Denton directory.
6. Questions from the Public
None.
7. Composting
Liz Cargill reported that this year was a 30 week season and she wished to thank all the volunteers as they had worked very hard. 22 tonnes of garden waste had been collected this year, in contrast to 14-16 tonnes in previous years and this should amount to approximately £990 credit. All last years garden waste has been shredded and the shredder has worked well. Photographs have been taken and will appear in the Norfolk County Council magazine and the scheme has been used as a case study by NCC. Liz has tried to discourage brown bins being used in the village as this defeats the object. An education morning will be arranged to try to encourage householders to use black bins for kitchen waste. The Councillors congratulated Liz on the success of the composting scheme which owes its success to her enthusiasm.
8. Affordable Housing
The Clerk had spoken to Peter Ramsdale of Saffron Housing Trust. He reported that the survey had been completed and the preferred site was the one next to Thanksgiving Cottage. The next step is to get the architects to draw up a sketch scheme which will be passed to Highways for constructive comment, budgeting will be looked at and then a pre-planning application to SNC will be forwarded. The Design and Review Panel at SNC will also look at the scheme for energy efficiency comments.
9. Denton Directory
Liz Cargill circulated the existing newcomer's welcome leaflet and said that the new directory should be based on that with updated and additional information. John had received 5 or 6 responses from the Magazine article. However, more information is needed and John intends to put another piece in the Parish Magazine to ask for contributions and information. The website was discussed and it was suggested that monthly updates could be on the site. The aim is to get a draft copy of the Directory for the February meeting so that it is in place for the Calor Competition Judges.
10. Calor Village of the Year Competition
The overall winner receives prize money of £7000, £2000 for the regional winner and £500 for winners of each category. Peter emphasized the importance of getting the website updated and has agreed to look at the editorial side. Someone, either Matthew or someone with expertise, would have to update the site on a regular basis or create a programme so that anyone could log in and put in information. It was agreed to send out a flyer with the play area survey form to ask for help. Peter has also spoken to Ken to ask for photographs of Denton or activities in Denton and it was suggested that he spoke to Steve to ask about aerial photographs. The Councillors thanked Peter for his hard work.
11. Planning
Planning Application 2008/2114 Grove Farm, Middle Road – application for a lawful development certificate for an existing use. Liz Cargill read out the letter sent to SNC regarding the above application, stating that the only planning permission given was in December 1993 to the previous owner for a temporary standing of residential caravans and on the condition that these be removed by 6th December 1995. Permission has never been granted to support the term 'retention of existing dwelling, mobile home etc.'. The informal hearing will take place on 27th November at 10.30am. Liz, Eddie, Clare and Roger had attended a meeting with Paul Whitham to discuss the above.
12. Correspondence
CCN - Response to exemptions can be found on their website – Liz will look at.
SNC - Liz Cargill read out the SNC response to the draft proposals for Unitary Local Government in Norfolk and Suffolk.
Communities and Local Government Consultation Paper and Starston Parish Plan were given to Peter.
Parish Council Toolkit given to Liz.
Copy of Voice and Norfolk Police Authority responses to the Policing Green Paper Consultation were given to Roger.
13. Finance
a. Financial Monthly Summary: a running budget summary and financial summary was produced by the Clerk for the month of October.
b. Back dated pay for the Clerk: it was proposed to back date the Clerk's salary of £8.805p per hour from April 1st 2008 as suggested by the NALC, an amount of £16.80. Proposed by Eddie Winter, seconded by Peter Hill, unanimously agreed.
c. Pay the Clerk £85.95 for November and £88.05 for December. Proposed by Liz Cargill, seconded by Arian Hipwell, unanimously agreed.
14. Any Other Business Peter Hill: asked if it was worth considering becoming a quality council. The Councillors asked Murray Gray for his opinion. He said that although some councils in Norfolk had become quality councils, they tended to be bigger councils than Denton. After some discussion it was agreed not to take this route at the moment.
The meeting closed at 9.30pm.