Denton Parish Council
Minutes of the Meeting Held on Tuesday 10th January 2012
at 8pm at Denton Village Hall
Present: Liz Cargill (Chairman), Terry Hanner (Vice Chairman), Roger Gibson, Peter Hill, Adrian Hipwell, Wayne Mayhew, Annie Whiteman, Pauline Sandell (Clerk).
Also Present: Tony Tomkinson (County Councillor), Murray Gray (District Councillor).
1. Apologies
None.
2. Declaration of Interest
Liz Cargill and Terry Hanner declared an interest in item 10.
3. Minutes of the Last Meeting and Planning Meeting.
Incorrect name in Planning Minutes under Apologies, should read Wayne Mayhew. Both set of minutes were agreed and signed
4. District and County Council Matters
Tony Tomkinson reported: His blog is now up to date and can be found on tonytomkinson.wordpress.com. NNC had a good year despite the cut backs. During the year it has secured savings of £60million. No increase in Council Tax last year, this year or next year. NCC will be investing £58million in Capital Grants into Norfolk's economy. Norfolk is one of the first counties to get funding from the Government for Broadband and it has matched NCC's investment of £15million. It may not make much difference to rural communities such as Denton but will improve broadband at industrial centres in the big towns. NCC has been successful in the 'Make it Marham' campaign. Eleven new fire engines have been bought that are additional to the existing fleet. These are smaller 4 wheel drives and can access rural areas and get on to farms more easily and quickly. They also can operate with fewer crew, three instead of six. One of these will be stationed at Harleston. NCC has not closed any fire stations or libraries. The library at The Forum is the most used library in the Country. Government has withdrawn the funding for the over 60's bus pass from Norfolk and NCC does not think it is fair to have it withdrawn so a 'fair fares' campaign has been organized and Tony asked the Councillors to visit the website so that they can add their signatures to the petition. The final part of the A11 duelling has already started. £8million spent on a care home in Aylsham and working hard for the elderly and less fortunate.
Adrian pointed out that there are small businesses in rural areas that need faster Broadband. Tony replied that he knew how important Broadband was to rural areas but many more people would benefit in cities and towns than in rural areas.
Q) What about the Icelandic money? A) All the money would be paid back, but the interest that would have been earned would not be refunded. The return of the money may take up to 5 years to get it all back. Q) Is it extra money? A) It is still part of the reserve. Q) What is the latest news on the Incinerator? A) The judicial review was lost. Planning will not take place until June/July at the earliest. Q) If it is refused what are the alternatives? A) There are various other smaller schemes and landfill would continue. He does not know what other chemical alternatives there are. Landfill is very expensive. Q) What is NCC going to do to help with youth unemployment? A) NCC has £8.9million pounds unallocated and will be spending half of that on youth employment and training.
Murray Gray reported: SNC won most of the appeal at Grove Farm. It cannot be continued as a residence, but no requirement to strip out what is there. They have six months to move out. Murray was thanked for his hard work on this. Planning; to avoid resource implications and excessively long meetings SNC has decided that from 1st January 2012 planning applications will only be referred to the Planning Committee in specified circumstances and if the Parish Council wished for a planning application to go to Committee it would would need to be supported by two premises before it went to Committee. This revised scheme will be reviewed in one year's time. SNAP is now known as Neighbourhood Board. About £200,000 will be available for the Waveney Valley and this money will be used to fund local parishes to take on certain services. It will be 2-3 years before the scheme is up and running. The next Neighbourhood Board meeting is 27th March.
5. Questions from the Public
None
6. Matters Arising:
a) Playing Field; Liz Cargill said that she had spoken to Malcolm about the car park but she had not heard anything further. Liz will jog his memory. A serious working party will be needed next month. George Nobbs has been trimming back the hedge and it was agreed that the Clerk would write to thank him. Cars parked permanently in the playing field car park cause a problem when the lorry arrives to empty the bottle bank. Terry will have a word with the car owners. The Clerk has received an annual inspection form from Rospa. Peter Hill proposed that the form should be completed for an inspection, Liz Cargill seconded, unanimously agreed. Adrian Hipwell to complete the next report.
b) Speedwatch; Peter Hill reported that he has had no response from his telephone calls or emails. The Clerk had received an email from SNC regarding a new speeding strategy. The email was passed to Peter Hill.
c) Skinners' Meadow; Liz Cargill reported that all lighting is now white and low level. It is not known whether it goes off at night. The ditch has been dealt with satisfactorily. The Clerk reported that Peter Ramsdale had promised that the Skinners' Meadow nameplate will be installed by the end of the week. There is some concern that the upstairs flat does not appear to be occupied although the flat is furnished. It was decided to write a letter to Saffron Housing, with a copy to SNC, to notify them of the absence of the resident.
d) Any Other Matters Arising; Sign cleaning. The Clerk reported that there are 101 signs in Denton and DPC would receive £1.65 to clean each sign. It was decided to put this in the Parish Magazine to see if any fundraising group or individual would like to clean the signs for charity.
7. Funding for Denton Photographic Exhibition
Lisa Jones had asked Liz Cargill if DPC would consider giving her a small donation for her expenses for the exhibition. After some discussion it was proposed by Adrian Hipwell, seconded by Roger Gibson that up to £50 would be donated if Lisa was making no personal gain and all monies go to charity. Unanimously agreed. If this was the case then DPC would like a small notice at the exhibition to say that the Exhibition was supported by Denton Parish Council.
8. Allotment Agreement
Peter had looked at the agreement and the following was agreed; the agreement would be signed by The Clerk, The Chairman and the Tenant. Vehicles should not be allowed unless authorized and no livestock allowed..
9. Painted Roof Tiles at Chapelfield
Liz Cargill had contacted SNC Planning Department to ask if planning permission was needed for painting roof tiles and they were unable to give her an answer without coming out to look. Murray Gray agreed to find out more.
10. Planning Applications
2011/1993 and 1994 – Pockthorpe Cottage, proposed alterations and extension to dwelling
After a great deal of discussion the Councillors took a vote on whether to approve the application. Five voted for approval and two voted against the application. The planning application was therefore approved with the following conditions:-
- The public right of way stays on its existing line
- The hedge along the side of the footpath should remain
- The external lighting should be low level white light
- When alterations take place construction vehicles should not obstruct the public right of way, therefore allowing safe passage for footpath users
2011/1966 – Wheatcroft, Darrow Green Road, proposed extension to bungalow and new double garage It was agreed that this application should be approved but to make SNC aware that the piece of land that the garage was planned to be built on was agricultural land and may need permission for change of use. 2011/1109 – Rose Cottage, Norwich Road. The clerk reported that she had received a letter from SNC to say that an appeal had been made against the refusal of this application.
Liz Cargill reported that the planning application, 2011/1779, was not received by DPC until about the 25th November although it was received by SNC on 28th Oct. A meeting was arranged for the 5th December and the Clerk spoke to SNC to say that the PC response would not be given until 6th December and was told that this would be OK. The Clerk then handed in the PC response to the receptionist at SNC on the afternoon of the 6th December. It is now understood that the Planning Dept did not get the response until 8th December and they had already made the decision on the 6th December and had not waited for the PC response and they presumably had not notified the owner of the land. It was agreed to write a letter of complaint and also to write to Mr Lambert to inform him of our comments on the planning application.
11. Correspondence
SNC: email regarding a new speeding strategy was passed to Peter Hill.
12. Finance
a) Accounts Summary
The accounts for December were circulated and agreed.
b) Pay the Clerk £89.19 for January.
Proposal; to pay the clerk. Proposed by Peter Hill, seconded by Annie Whiteman, unanimously agreed.
13. Any Other Business
Road is crumbling at Watts Hill. The Clerk was asked to inform the Highway Rangers next time they are in the area.
Wayne Mayhew said that he would be willing to help Malcolm clear away the rubbish before he does the car park.
The meeting finished at 10.35pm.