Denton Parish Council
Minutes of the Meeting Held on 13th May 2008 at 8pm at Denton Village Hall
Present: Liz Cargill (Chairman), Terry Hanner (Vice Chairman), Peter Hill, Adrian Hipwell, Clare Valori, Pauline Sandell (Clerk) Also Present: Murray Gray (District Councillor), Tony Tomkinson (County Councillor).
1. Apologies: Roger Gibson, Eddie Winter.
2. Declaration of Interest: None.
3. Minutes of the Last Meeting:
4a. second line should read 'Steve Tricker'. 4d. Line 8 should read 'John Macray'. 5 line 8 should read 'and do not want to increase them'. The minutes were agreed and signed.
4. Matters Arising:
a. Playing Field: The report had been completed by Roger Gibson who had found a plastic bag of key fobs in the bin near the shelter. It has been mentioned to Ken Ashton Homewatch. A branch from a tree near the shelter has been broken off and this could have been caused by vandals climbing the tree. Eddie Winter is to complete the next playing field report. Eddie, Adrian and Terry had visited the bike tracks at Pulham and Harleston, but they were not very impressed and after some discussion it was decided not to go any further with a bike track. It had been mentioned by a resident that there were no pieces of equipment for the under fives. The Councillors felt that it would be a good idea to investigate the costs of equipment for the under fives and to speak to Chloe and Jane Raynor for ideas. Funding would be met by the donation plus a possible grant or recycling credits. Malcolm Skinner would be shortly ordering the plainings for the car park and will not charge for labour. A map had been found showing the drains. This was passed to the Clerk for safe keeping.
b. Composting: Liz Cargill reported that 4 tonnes of garden waste had been collected in the first four weeks. About a dozen people from Trunch had visited the site and will be starting their own scheme shortly. The Composting Social had taken place with about 20 people in attendance. Certificates of stamina and various awards had been presented to the volunteers. Liz informed the Councillors that she intended to nominate Denton Composting Scheme to be considered for an award.
c. Highways: Peter Hill reported that he had not spoken to Bob Edwards yet. Due to the dry weather he had not been able to look at areas that had been puddling. Clare Valori reported that the high bits of Middle Road had been taken off and the road was much better although the ditch is still a problem. The Clerk was asked to speak to Raz again regarding the heap of grass cuttings on the corner of Bungay/Norwich Road.
d. Any Other Matters Arising: Nothing more to report on Denton Directory. Globe Close; a lot of the rubbish gone already and some trees have recently been cut down. Recently tyres have been burnt in the garden. To be put on next month's agenda. Peter Hill gave the Councillors a copy of the entry for the Pride of Norfolk competition. Eddie and Liz attended the opening of the new classroom and met the Bishop. Clare said that the school was very appreciative of the attendance of two Parish Councillors.
5. District and County Council Matters:
Murray Gray had the following reports to make: Sewage Treatment Plant: Murray Gray said that a meeting will be held on Monday and he is now very hopeful that the money will be released for 10 more schemes, of which Denton is one. It is now down to the landowner to agree to the track. A Council meeting had been held regarding car parking charges and there is still not a final decision made on Harleston. However, Harleston is reluctantly considering funding the lease of the car parks from SNC to enable free parking. They hope to get some of that money from local businesses and it is possible that Denton Parish Council may be asked to help with the funding. Lodden will have 2 hours free car parking, Diss and Wymondham 1 hour free. Grove Farm; there is an enforcement order in place. Neighbourhood Forum Funding is still available but a decision has been made to centralize the decision making. The new Panel will report back to the Neighbourhood Forum. Adnams will also make grants available up to £5000 within a 25 mile radius of Southwold. Anglian Water - The Clerk said that a letter had not yet been written, Murray said that it would be well worth a try.
Tony Tomkinson had nothing to report.
6. Questions from the Public: No public in attendance.
7. Affordable Housing: All surveys have been delivered. The Chairman has not yet had a chance to speak to Abigail Dennington-Price regarding the figure of £25,000 and the prioritizing.
8. Pocket Park: Terry will speak to John Carslake about the original name. A question was raised whether it might be a good idea for Denton Parish Council to claim ownership of the land. The legal costs would need to be investigated and Clare said she would speak to David about this. Eddie had not yet spoken to John Macray but will speak to him this week. Village sign; it is being painted at the moment and will soon be finished. Dawn would like to correct the piece in the magazine, which should say that a new one had been carved. Liz Cargill will speak to Mike about cutting the grass around the sign.
9. Planning None.
10. Correspondence: The correspondence summary of 06.05.08 was noted. No action taken.
12. Finance:
a. Financial Monthly Summary: the summary was circulated and explained by the Clerk. No action taken. It was agreed not to increase the Fidelity Guarantee as suggested by the Audit Commission. The Clerk was asked to speak to the Audit Commission regarding the increase in annual fee, bearing in mind that the income and/or expenditure had only just gone over the £5000 limit.
b. Pay the Clerk £85.95 for May 2008
c. Pay Steve Tricker £30 for removing moles from the playing field.
d. Pay Allianze £385.02 insurance
e. Pay Audit Commission £141.00 for annual audit.
Proposal: pay b.c.d. and e. Proposed by Adrian Hipwell, seconded by Clare Valori, unanimously agreed.
13. Any Other Business:
Terry Hanner; George Nobbs is no longer able to cut the grass in the Play Area and around the noticeboard due to ill health. The Clerk was asked to put a piece in the Magazine to thank George and to wish him a speedy recovery and to ask if anyone else would like to take over the job.
Liz Cargill; A suggestion to change the priority at the bottom of Roundhouse Hill, so that vehicles coming along Low Road would have to stop to give priority to vehicles coming down Roundhouse Hill. This would stop vehicles going along Low Road too fast. It was decided that this would be very costly and probably not a good idea. No further action to be taken.
Liz Cargill; A suggestion asking the Parish Council to consider buying a piece of land for growing trees to coppice for fuel for the future. It was agreed that this was not something for the Parish Council to take on, but could be organized within the village.
Liz Cargill, Clare Valori, Adrian Hipwell and Murray Gray gave their apologies for the next meeting.
The meeting closed at 9.20pm.