Denton a village in South Norfolk, England

Denton Parish Council

Minutes of the Meeting Held on Tuesday 13th September 2016.

Present: Peter Hill (Chairman), Terry Hanner, Peter Grant and Zoe Whiting (Clerk).
Also Present: John Chapman.

1. Apologies received from:
Kay Wiltshire, Zoe Brown, Kerry Norfolk, Roger Gibson, Murray Gray and Margaret Stone.

2. Declaration of Interest.
None.

3. Minutes of Meeting held on 12th July 2016.
The minutes were proposed as being correct. The minutes were signed and dated.

4. District Matters and County Council Matters.
Murray Gray sent report that he attended the Grove Farm, Denton planning appeal - the results are still awaited.
South Norfolk Council has proposed new District Council ward boundaries as from next elections in 2019 showing Earsham Ward as loosing Topcroft but gaining Bedingham, Woodton and Hedenham.
Margaret Stone sent report regarding the responses to Devolution, Adult safeguarding awareness week 12th - 16th September and that County Councillors are considering was to manage Ash die back (Chalara).

5. Questions from the Public.
None.

6. Matters arising from Meeting held on 12th July 2016.
None.

7. Playing Field Inspection.
a. Monthly Inspection – Kay Wiltshire August report showed wasps still present in willow structure.
Since Kay's inspection Terry noticed that nature has taken it's course and the wasps have now all gone so it was agreed that the barriers can be removed. Terry has heard of a box used to deter wasps from plum trees that might be worth considering if the problem arises next year.
b. Dead tree near one of the benches - Terry Hanner has begun removing the dead tree.
c. We have received the RoSPA safety inspection report – this highlighted the damage caused to several posts by strimming, Terry will look into getting some plastic mesh to put around the posts. Also the report recommended some maintenance is needed to the wooden play equipment due to decaying timbers.

8. Pocket Park.
The nettles and brambles are growing well and it was felt some action was needed. It was agreed that Peter Hill will contact Norfolk Wildlife to see if they are interested in preserving this area.

9. Traffic.
Following on from the Wheely bin 30 mile per hour stickers which are quite good but only effective on Thursday night/Friday morning it was felt the flashing signs would be a good idea.
The flashing signs which were loaned by the Council are now apparently controlled by the police. It was felt a permanent flashing sign would be worth looking into.

10. Defibrillator.
Kay has provided us with a quotation and report in which she has spoken with Andrew Barlow, Community Partnership Manager, East of England Ambulance Service; he has recommended a defibrillator for us.
This will cost £840.00 + VAT. The batteries, which are guaranteed for 4 years currently cost £215.00 + VAT. It was agreed that the best place for this would be inside the village hall, with the thought that it's most likely use would be during a function here.
Peter Grant proposed we go ahead with this and it was seconded by Terry Hanner.
Peter Hill will look into getting it insured.
The Clerk will contact Murray Gray as he has spoken in the past about £200 that we could get to help pay for this.

11. Training.
The Clerk to find out dates for next year for Clerk's and Councillor's training sessions.

12. Planning Applications.
2016/2017
Applicant: Mr Fearnley
Location: Barn adjacent to Manor Farm Road, Denton
South Norfolk Council have Refused the Full conversion of barn to dwelling-house, but Approved with conditions the listed building conversion of Barn to dwellinghouse on 26th August 2016.

13. Correspondence.
a. Invite to joint meeting of 5 parishes at Wortwell Village Hall on Monday 14th November, all members present were interested in going to this.
b. Broadband – The equipment recently installed on the Trunch Hill / Middle Road junction is not active yet but is a step towards improved reception for some but not all of Denton.
c. It was agreed that the Clerk would sign and return the Mini Recycling Adopter payment form from South Norfolk Council, to claim the annual £200 payment.
d. Letter from BT advising they are planning to remove 67 payphones from South Norfolk (undecided which ones yet) it does not appear that the payphone is used very often, but as mobile phone reception is not always perfect in this area the telephone could be useful in an emergency.
e. Helen Chester has offered her services (at a cost) to find and record rights of way re the 2026 cut off date for routes to be recorded.
This lead to a discussion on Back Lane which begins on Wash Lane and follows through to Alburgh and forms part of the Parish boundary. Peter Hill advised that this goes through land owned by 4 different landowners, it was agreed that these 4 people would be contacted and so long as no objections were made we would proceed with contacting Norfolk County Council and getting this right of way formally recognised.

14. Finance:
a. Accounts Summary up to end of July supplied.
b. Pay the Clerk £90.29 for August & September (+ July which has already been agreed) – 2 cheques, £216.87 to Zoe Whiting & £54.00 to HMRC.
c. Pay John Chapman £52.00 for hedge trimming & dead tree removal from Playing field.
d. Pay Playsafety £117.60 for Annual Safety Inspection of Playing Field.
e. Pay Norse £580.62 for 6 months Playing Field grounds maintenance.
f. Pay Denton Village Hall £100.00 for hire of hall for year ending 30th September 2016.
Terry proposed to make these payments, Peter Grant seconded it.
g. Audit – This has not been returned from Mezers, but they have informed the Clerk that they will return it to us by 30th September 2016.
h. Payment procedure seems ok at the moment.
i. Petty cash – The original petty cash book has been located and it was agreed that future cash receipts would be banked.

15. Any Other Business.
Terry Hanner has noticed that on the Playing field the drain pipes which go into the ditch are getting blocked as the ditch needs clearing out. Also the hedge alongside the track needs trimming on the Playing field side – It was agreed that Terry will speak with Malcolm Skinner about this.
Curb along Norwich road - Malcolm Skinner was going to contact Bob Edwards, Norfolk County Council – Terry will ask Malcolm how this is going.
Terry will also contact Bob Edwards re where the road floods by the church.

The meeting closed at 9.30 pm.

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