HORTON
KIRBY AND SOUTH DARENTH PARISH COUNCIL
MINUTES of the ANNUAL MEETING of the PARISH COUNCIL held on 27 May 2004 in the Village Hall, South Darenth at 8.15 pm.
Present: Cllr P
Bradley (Chairman)
Cllrs A
Burchmore, D Payne, G Piller, M Powsey,
D Snape,
G Tripp
and I Wescombe
P McGarvey, District Councillor
Approximately 15
members of the public
In attendance: C
Allart, Parish Clerk
Apologies for
absence: Cllr B Valentine (holiday)
Declarations of
Interest: None
3 MINUTES
OF THE LAST MEETING
Cllr McGarvey asked for a correction to be made to Minute 122 to
take account of the fact that a taxi-bus service “might be arranged”, not “had
been arranged” from West Kingsdown.
RESOLVED that,
subject to the above amendment, the Minutes of the meeting held on 22 April
2004 be approved and signed as a correct record.
Village Hall
Management
Following on from
Minute 115, Cllr Bradley suggested that at a future meeting consideration be
given to the advantages and disadvantages of changing the Village Hall Advisory
Committee into a Committee of the Parish Council with delegated powers and
comprising parish council members only.
Low River Flows
Cllr Wescombe reported that he had spoken to the Paper Mill’s
managing director about a local person operating the sluices on the Mill’s
behalf and was waiting for a definitive answer.
Parking Notices
in Shrubbery Road
Cllr McGarvey offered to follow this up with Sevenoaks officers.
With reference to
Minute 46, the clerk reported that the urn had been checked, was working and
did not leak. The only place that
boiling water could drip from would be from the underside of the lid if it was
taken off whilst the urn was in use.
(NB A sign has since been put next to the urn telling users to remove
the lid with care)
RESOLVED that the
Minutes of the meeting held on 13 May be approved and adopted.
Membership for
2004/5 was agreed as follows:
Chairman and Vice
Chairman
Cllrs Burchmore, Payne, Tripp and
Valentine
Anita Cockrill, Hazel Barrett
Chairman and Vice
Chairman
Cllrs Piller and Valentine
Fred Cook,
Malcolm Dunn, Audrey Gee, Brian Kinsey
and Greta Reynolds
Chairman and Vice
Chairman
Cllr Payne
Malcolm Dunn
Cllrs Burchmore and Powsey with
deputies Cllrs Valentine and Wescombe
Cllr Bradley
Cllr Tripp
Cllr Piller
The Parish
Council agreed to change its meeting date from the fourth Thursday to the first
Monday at 7 pm starting from July 2004. In August there will normally be no meeting
The Village Hall
Advisory Committee will meet bi-monthly (January,
March, etc) on the second Thursday at 7 pm.
The Westminster
Field Advisory Committee will meet bi-monthly (February, April, etc) on the second Thursday at
7 pm.
This small
charity has funds of only £222 and is for the “poor of Horton
Kirby” which includes South Darenth.
RESOLVED that Cllrs Bradley and Powsey be
re-appointed as trustees to the Thomas Terry Charity for a further year.
The conclusive
map has been issued and a copy has been received showing there is no common
land nor open country in this parish.
Reported for information.
A letter received
from the Southdowns office raised several problems at
Shrubbery Road. Youths are throwing
stones at cars, balls are being kicked into the road and motor bikes and
scooters are being ridden dangerously in the road in front of other traffic.
Members were
aware that the fence at Shrubbery Road had not long ago been replaced by Sevenoaks District Council so it was obvious that a
sturdier fence should be erected, possibly with one or two gaps in it to allow
youngsters to retrieve their ball without having to climb over it.
RESOLVED that the
letter be forwarded to Sevenoaks District Council and
the local beat officer for their comments.
Report
This boardwalk was constructed by the North West Kent Countryside Project in April. On 16 May an inspection showed that many of the boards were splitting and the clerk called out the Countryside Project officer to have a look. The response was initially unhelpful but the Project has since offered to replace the timber with thicker planks free of charge.
Members also suggested that timber struts along the length of the boardwalk should be incorporated to make it stronger. Chicken wire to prevent slipping in wet weather, which had not been priced for in the original work, was also necessary. The cost of this would be an additional charge to the parish council.
Report
The parish
council helped the Farningham Road Action Group with
some photocopying when they needed to advertise the public meeting in
April. The number of copies was about
1500 in total costing about £25. The
clerk enquired whether this should be a contribution from the parish council or
whether the Action Group should be invoiced.
It was suggested
that the Action Group has access to considerable funds and that this was an
appropriate charge on that fund. It was
noted that the parish council had given support to the Group with the clerk’s
time which would not be recharged.
RESOLVED that an
invoice be sent to FRAG for photocopying costs.
RESOLVED that the
annual audit form be approved, signed and submitted to the external auditor.
A written report from Cllr Valentine was considered. Members were asked to visit the site before the meeting.
It was agreed that the tree officer from Sevenoaks District Council should be asked to visit the site and give advice on which trees needed attention. In connection with the next item, it was agreed to apply for a local board community grant to help pay for these essential works.
County councillor
David Brazier had written asking whether the Parish Council had any ideas yet
about a project for which it would like to make application for a community
grant. The amount he is looking to give
to each of his parishes is no more than £2,000 (which must be
match-funded). The grant could be given to a local community group if the
parish council does not have a scheme.
RESOLVED that an
application be made for works at the Lower Paddock including tree clearance and
rebuilding of the retaining wall.
Report
The District
Council planning officers have started enforcement action on the walls and
gates at Riseley Hall. They consider that if the top section of the
gates were removed they would then be acceptable. The walls however need to be reduced to 1
metre. The householders have been given
until 4 June to consider whether they will either submit planning applications
or agree to carry out the alterations within a short time. A CCTV pole is also required to be moved
further back from the highway because it is visually harmful.
The appeal
decision for the “stables” has also been received (see below) and the owners
have been reminded of the time period for compliance to remove the building.
Reported for
information.
The following planning applications have
been received:
SE/04/01145/FUL
Kent House, The
Street
Erection of
Single Storey Timber Framed Conservatory on Dwarf Wall
The Parish
Council has no comments.
SE/04/01058/FUL
Point Pleasant,
Dartford Road
Double Storey
Side Extensions
This appears to
be overdevelopment in the Green Belt.
SE/04/01211/FUL
Land Adjacent
Westminster Mill, The Street
Residential
Development of 3 Houses with Associated Garages and Parking
The Parish
Council objects strongly to this application in similar terms to the previous
application SE/04/00375/FUL.
SE/04/01296
Resthaven, Horton Road
Demolition of
Existing Single Storey Flat Roof Extension and Garage and Erection of Two
Storey Side Extension, Replacement Garage, Façade Improvements and Boundary
Treatments
The Parish
Council has no comments.
The following decision notices have been
received:
SE/04/00623/FUL
The Hutch,
Rabbits Road (actually Wilsons Lane)
Attached
Garage/Games Room
REFUSED
1 Holmesdale Cottages, Holmesdale
Hill
Single Storey and
First Floor Side Extension
GRANTED
SE/04/00725/FUL
2 The Bungalows,
School Lane
GRANTED
SE/04/00793/FUL
80 School Lane
Front and Rear
Single Storey Extensions and Pitched Roof on Front and Rear Dormers
GRANTED
The following Appeal decision has been
received:
Riseley Hall, Eglantine
Lane
Appeal by Mr and
Mrs Noyes against enforcement notice to remove
“stables” building
APPEAL DISMISSED
Cllr McGarvey informed the meeting that both the new Sevenoaks Chairman and Vice Chairman were from villages at
this end of the District which could be a good thing.
He reported back
from the KCC Local Board meeting that was mainly about the unrest and proposed
industrial action of library staff.
He reported a
request from Southdowns for help towards getting salt
bins on the estate which he asked to go on the agenda of the next parish
council meeting.
Cllr McGarvey said that Horton Kirby
and South Darenth would become part of the Sevenoaks Constituency as a result of the recent review.
Horton Kirby Paper Mill
Redevelopment
Cllr Wescombe informed the meeting that the Chairman of SEEDA
had visited the paper mill site following a suggestion from him and had thought
that the loss of employment on this site would be significant if it is
redeveloped for housing.
Fly Tipping in
School Lane
Cllr Snape reported on an incident with fly tipping when an
address was found amongst the items but Sevenoaks
District Council did not want to know about pursuing the matter. Cllr McGarvey
promised to follow this up with Sevenoaks officers.
Triangle of Land
Cllr Powsey reported that a great deal of activity was taking
place on the land including mounds being built and large rocks being
imported. Members wanted to know why Sevenoaks was not enforcing the terms of the Injunction
which did not allow any development operations.
Cllr Wescombe will attend the Public Hearing on Tuesday 13 July
at Sevenoaks on behalf of the Parish Council.
Development at Waverley, The Street
Cllr Tripp thought that the granny annexe at Waverley
was huge and wondered whether it had been built in accordance with the approved
plans.
The meeting ended
at 9.50 pm.
Chairman
Date