HORTON KIRBY AND
MINUTES of the MEETING of the PARISH COUNCIL held on
Present: Cllr P Bradley (Chairman)
Cllrs A Burchmore, D Payne, G Piller, M Powsey, D Snape, G
Tripp,
R
Valentine and I Wescombe
In attendance: C Allart, Parish Clerk
P McGarvey District Councillor
R Gough,
5 members of the public
Beat officer Geordie Laidlow
and PCSO Peter Hylands arrived at
Apologies for Absence: None
Declarations of Interests: Cllr D Payne declared a personal and prejudicial interest in Minute 158. Cllrs Bradley and Burchmore declared personal interests in the matter under discussion in Minute 151 (2) and did not take part in the debate.
148 POLICE MATTERS
Members received a new style report which they
agreed was fine.
Cllrs Burchmore
and Valentine reported that they would be meeting with the Police on 8 February
to discuss further the form of the monthly report and other matters.
PCSO Hylands reported that
there had been several arrests on Saturday 4 February and 1 on Saturday 28
January. He was also working on a
problem of kids playing football in an alley in
149 MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETINGS
Minute146. The Chairman pointed out that, as agreed
last meeting, £7,500 needed to be moved from the working balance in to the
building and amenity land reserve in the budget document attached to the
Minutes.
RESOLVED that, with the
addition of the above amendment, the Minutes of the meetings held on 5 and
150 MATTERS ARISING
Fireman’s Run
Members
were informed that two quotes had been received for tarmac surface but with
slightly different specifications and one for using bark chippings.
Members
decided that bark chippings would not be suitable as they were unlikely to stay
on the path. It was agreed that the more
expensive quote with a higher specification should be accepted and that the
extra cost, over the KCC grant allocation, would be met by the Parish Council.
There
were concerns about the tree roots which would continue to cause problems and
it was suggested that the owner of the tree should be asked if it could be
killed and/or removed.
RESOLVED
that
The Chairman reported that he and the Vice chairman
had had discussions about the contract and duties requirements for the new
assistant. He stated that KAPC had been
contacted but would not supply any information/standard contract documents
without the Parish Council being a Member of NALC. He said that consideration might have to be
given at a future meeting to becoming a member.
151 VILLAGE
HALL COMMITTEE
1
Last Meeting
To receive the Minutes of
the last meeting for information.
2
Problems / Vandalism
The Village Hall Committee Chairman reported on various matters following incidents on the weekend of 28/29 January.
Cllr Wescombe raised concern about the actions of the pantomime group the members of which disregarded notices left by the caretaker that the green room should not be used as it was a crime scene following a break-in on 28 January. Other Members were amazed and disappointed that the group had done this. PC Laidlow reported that the Police had a DNA sample from the room.
RESOLVED that Cllr Wescombe, as chairman of the Village Hall Committee, be authorised to write to the Pantomime group expressing the concerns of the Parish Council about their actions.
152 NEW PARISH COUNCIL FOR HEXTABLE
Parish councils were asked whether they had any
comments to make on the request by Hextable Residents
Association to Sevenoaks District Council for a new parish council to be
established in their area.
RESOLVED that support be
given to Hextable residents as it is considered
beneficial for the people of Hextable to have control
of their own assets.
Members were informed that a revised conservation
area now included more houses in
RESOLVED that the
information be received with approval.
SE/05/03155/FUL
Land East of
Construction of new highway
access and closing off of existing access and associated tree planting.
Members of the Gun Club and their consultant
attended the meeting and explained that there would be new planting and that
the new access would be hoggin with gravel and not
tarmac or concrete. They said that the
new entrance was intended to reduce the conflict with users of the byeway and therefore improve safety.
The Parish Council has no objections to this
application
SE/06/00091/FUL
6 East Hill
Rear external staircase to
give access to accommodation at first floor level via new doorway. Retrospective application.
The Parish Council has no objections to this
application
SE/06/00095/FUL
Convert existing double garage into part annexe to
main building to form bedroom, lounge/dining/kitchen, bathroom and garage.
The Parish Council objects to this application on
the grounds of over development contrary to Green Belt policies.
SE/06/00137/FUL
Land adj 11 Coopers Close
Detached 3 bedroom house with integral garage and
parking space
The Parish Council objects to this application on
the grounds that it is overdevelopment of the plot and will lead to an increase
in parking problems in the area. Parking problems are already acute and
additional cars in the road plus the loss of parking in front of the garage and
parking space will make things worse. It
is noted that the parking for 3 cars specified in the outline application
(SE/02/02455) has not been complied with.
06/00197/WTPO
Spinneys The
Street
Lift crown of Lime Tree
The Parish Council has no comments to this
application
The following
application has been withdrawn:
SE/05/02975/FUL
Convert existing double garage into part annexe to
main building to form bedroom, lounge/dining/kitchen, bathroom and garage.
The following
notice of Appeal decision has been received for information:
SE/05/00729/FUL
2 Beeches Farm Cottages,
Kennels for housing sick and lame racing greyhounds
APPEAL ALLOWED
Members considered the response to the Sevenoaks District
Council questionnaire concerning development control.
RESOLVED that the “very
dissatisfied” box be ticked in all 3 boxes of service assessment.
155 REPORTS OF COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVES
River Darent
Malcolm Dunn’s Report on the River Darent was enclosed for information.
RESOLVED that Mr Dunn be
congratulated on his report and thanked for his continuing work in keeping the
Parish Council informed on all aspects of the River.
Cllr McGarvey said that
CAMS felt that current abstraction licences were too generous and would be cut
back but this would not be done for another 18 months. On the subject of extra new homes, these
would have to find their water from elsewhere.
Eastern Quarry houses should be self-sufficient using the water that has
to be pumped out to prevent flooding.
Horton Kirby
Paper Mill Redevelopment
Cllr Wescombe reported on
developments at Sevenoaks District Council in dealing
with the Paper Mill planning application.
He referred to a meeting between the Development Director of Fairview
New Homes and Sevenoaks when officers asked
Cllr McGarvey agreed to
follow this up and said that there were some very good points made by the new
planning manager in the letter but it was unfortunate that they had been made
so late in the process.
Heathside Purchase
The chairman reported that he had spoken to the
Parish Council’s solicitor to find out the reasons for the delay in completing
the purchase. This was to do with
easements across the bowling club’s land to which the club had objected so he
had instructed the Solicitor not to proceed with the easements as services to
the Heathside land could be routed over either the
roadway or village hall land.
156 REPORTS OF DISTRICT COUNCILLORS
Cllr McGarvey mentioned a Sevenoaks Youth Conference and the Kent Waste Open Forum on
8/9 March. He reported that from 1 April
there was going to be a modest increase in the cost of garden waste bins and
sacks.
157 REPORT OF
Roger Gough mentioned the Local Board meeting on 14
February to which all were welcome and the recently published Strategy on
Primary Schools which kept the village school at the heart of the community.
158 SCHEDULE OF ACCOUNTS
RESOLVED that the schedule of accounts, as submitted, be approved and payments made accordingly.
159 ANY OTHER BUSINESS
Bollards at Bottom of Bull Hill
Cllr Snape mentioned that
the damaged bollards had still not been replaced.
Viaduct Lighting
Cllr Payne said that several locals had remarked how
nice the viaduct looks lit up at night as part of the security of the repair
works.
Prosecuting those who do Criminal Damage
Following a number of incidents of criminal damage
to Parish Council property, Cllr Valentine wanted those involved to know that
the Parish Council is prepared to bring private prosecutions.
Church Graveyard Fence
Cllr Tripp asked whether the Parish Council could
find the money for a new fence between the graveyard and the
Street Cleansing
A member of the public commented that the mechanical
sweeper only does the left hand side of East Hill and never does
The meeting ended at
Chairman
Date