Denton a village in South Norfolk, England

Denton Parish Council

Minutes of the Meeting Held on Tuesday 14th February 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).

1. Apologies
Murray Gray (District Councillor).

2. Declaration of Interest
None.

3. Minutes of the Last Meeting and Planning Meeting.
Both set of minutes were proposed as correct by Adrian Hipwell, seconded by Peter Hill, unanimously agreed and signed

4. District and County Council Matters
Tony Tomkinson reported: At a recent NCC meeting it was confirmed that there would be no rise in Council Tax this year as predicted. NCC will need to save a further £44million which will unfortunately cost a lot of people their jobs and there are 111 changed programmes. Tony reminded the Councillors that the Highway Rangers will be visiting Denton in March.
Murray Gray although not present had sent the Clerk an email to report; SNC's legal team (4.5 staff including Stuart Shortman) will be transferring to the County Council team from 1st April and SNC will obtain legal services from that team after that date. The Neighbourhood Board will have £80,000 to spend this year on a list of eligible services or 'social action projects' designed to encourage volunteering. This is in the context of the 'Big Society'/Localism themes of the Government and Mike Bentley will be discussing this issue at the Joint Parish Council Meeting in May, but there will also be a workshop for PCs at SNC soon.

5. Questions from the Public
None

6. Matters Arising:
a) Playing Field; Adrian Hipwell reported that all was as before. He had spoken to Malcolm about the car park and he said that once they had caught up from the spell of bad weather he will be able to do it. He would like volunteers to help. Wayne, Adrian and Terry will help. Glass bank; Terry said that there is now one clear glass and one mixed glass and the Clerk was asked to mention this in the Parish Magazine. It was agreed that the playing field inspection should be carried out fortnightly unless it is felt at any time that once a week is necessary. Terry has spoken to those people that park their cars in the car park. These cars may be in the way when work is done on the car park so it was decided to put a note on the windscreens to ask them to move the cars so that work can be carried out. Liz Cargill will remove the old compost bin that has been dumped on the other side of the playing field. Liz Cargill suggested that a playwall is erected for bat and ball practice which will make good use of the concrete area. This will be put on the Agenda to be discussed next month. Organize a working party will also be put on the Agenda for next month. It was agreed that Liz and Annie will buy the willow as soon as possible. Terry Hanner to do the next report.
b) Absence of Residence at Skinners Meadow; An email had been received from Saffron Housing Trust stating that they are satisfied that this property has not been abandoned and there are no current breaches of the tenancy agreement. The Councillors decided to keep an eye on the situation and put it on the Agenda for next month. It was agreed that Murray Gray might be able to help.
c) Letter of Complaint to SNC regarding Planning Application 2011/1779; A response to the letter of complaint had been received and was circulated to the Councillors. The Councillors were disappointed with the response. It was decided that in future the Clerk will always record the name of the person that she speaks to at SNC and that emails will be sent to confirm conversations. Paul Whitham said he would come to a parish meeting to answer any planning queries. It was decided to keep this in mind for the future.
d) Sign Cleaning; Two people interested, but only one interest was for charity and that was to raise funds for an overseas charity. It was agreed that the money should be for charity. The Councillors felt that they needed to know more about how the money would be paid out and how often the signs would need to be cleaned. The Clerk will speak to Bob Edwards and Tony Tomkinson said he would find out more about it.
e) Photo Exhibition; It had been confirmed that all monies raised at the exhibition would be for charity and therefore a cheque for £50 had been given to Lisa.
f)Any Other Matters Arising; The Clerk read out an email from Peter Ramsdale saying that he had again chased up the name plate and that repair for the car park lights had already been logged. It was agreed that the Clerk should write a letter to Peter to say that it had been over 6 months since the residents moved in and it was not good enough that there was still not a name plate. She will ask him to give a date for the erection of the plate. Also include in the letter that it would be preferable that the car park lights are on a sensor rather than on all night and Denton is trying to be a dark village.

7. Site Specific Policies and Allocations – Additional Site
A further site had been proposed for housing at land west of Upland Farm by Mrs Howman. The Parish Council was unanimous that it is not in favour of this suggestion as they wish to keep any development in the centre of the village and also felt that it was important to keep small meadows from being developed. This piece of land is opposite to land that was suggested originally for the affordable housing and was turned down then by the Parish Council.

8. Allotment Agreement
Peter had drafted a tenancy agreement for the plots for cultivation at Rogerson's Land. This will be circulated to all the Councillors and discussed at the next meeting. The amount and area to be agreed at the same time.

9. Planning Applications
2012/0064 – The Old Rectory, Danacre Road; Infilling Two Bays of Garage Block with Traditional Boarded, Ledge Framed Doors and Frames
This application was unanimously approved.
2011/1993 – Pockthorpe Cottage approved by SNC with conditions.

10. Correspondence
Highway Ranger: As mentioned earlier the Highway Ranger will be coming to Denton in March. The Clerk will let them know about the crumbling road at Watts Hill and Terry will let the Clerk know if anything else needs doing.
NALC: Neighbourhood Planning Meeting on 13th March. Liz and Peter wish to attend.
SNC: LDF Issues and Options Consultation; Liz and Peter will look at.
Tim Page; Countryside Ranger working alongside Parish Councils along the Upper Waveney Valley wishes to get involved in conservation/wildlife projects and will help to recruit local volunteers. The Clerk was asked to put this in the Parish Magazine.

11. Finance
a) Accounts Summary; The accounts for January were circulated.
b) Pay the Clerk £89.19 for February.
Proposal; to pay the clerk. Proposed by Adrian Hipwell, seconded by Annie Whiteman, unanimously agreed.

12. Any Other Business
Terry; signs have been moved from trees.
Roger; telephone box is an eyesore and a health hazard. The Clerk will ask for it to be removed.
Wayne; if the church clock is not wound up regularly his wife would agree to do it.
Liz; Recycling other rubbish. Put on the Agenda next month

The meeting finished at 9.20 pm.

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