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 and R Valentine
P McGarvey, District Councillor
3 members of the
public
In attendance: C
Allart, Parish Clerk
Apologies for
absence: Cllrs I Wescombe, T Searles,
District Councillor and D Brazier,
Chairman’s
remarks
The Chairman
asked that the Parish Council’s condolences to Tony Searles
on the recent sad loss of his father, Jack Searles be
recorded.
Declarations of
Interest: None
RESOLVED
that the Minutes of the meeting held on
Action Group
Funds
The clerk
reported that before putting an item in the parish newsletter, she would
appreciate clarification on exactly what should be said. It was agreed this would be done at a future
meeting.
RESOLVED
that the Minutes of the Village Hall Advisory Committee held on 8 January be
approved and adopted.
148
PARISH COUNCIL
MEETINGS
There was
discussion on the suggestion by the Village Hall Committee that the date of
Parish Council meetings should be changed to allow a move into the hall if
necessary when a large number of people wanted to attend.
RESOLVED
that, from June 2004, Parish Council meetings are held in the main hall on the
first Monday in the month.
Notes of the last
meeting held in Otford on
Report
Following receipt
of a press release about the provision of this facility for young people for a
day in New Ash Green, Cllr Valentine has made some enquiries. The cost is £1000. SDC paid for the New Ash Green one but say
they have no money for other areas.
There may be other funding options.
Discussion
Cllr Valentine
said that he would like to see something provided for the youth as he felt that
the community should not be surprised at the trouble it gets when the
youngsters have nothing to do. The clerk
reported that 40 young people had used the facilities on the day in New Ash
Green. Members generally felt that this
cost was too high for a small number of people for such a short time.
151 KCC
TOWARDS
The clerk
reported that KCC are consulting on the targets to be included in the next
“Vision for
152
The clerk
reported that a consultation document “Seeds of Change”, a vision and outline
plan for health services in 2003 – 2016 has been received. She briefly reported that a major part of the
vision was to provide health and social care centres for population groups of
20,000 which would deal with all but the most major matters needing
hospitalisation.
Reprot
The Audit
Commission has sent a questionnaire to all parishes asking for views on how
well the District Council is delivering its services.
Discussion
The questions on
the form were discussed one by one. Many
items such as the district Council is good at consulting locals and engaging
the parish council in improving local services were disagreed or strongly
disagreed with. Some like clearing
abandoned vehicles and providing refuse collection and recycling were
agreed. An overall rating of 4 (where 1
is very poor and 10 is very good) was given to the
District Council.
CPRE has asked
for support for 2 issues:
to ask the
Government to
·
give county councils a statutory responsibility to engage in the preparation and review of
the new Regional Spatial Strategies; and
·
address the urgent need
for better enforcement of planning controls.
RESOLVED
that a letter be written.
Alun Michael in his
capacity as Minister for the Horse has sent details of a new website (www.defra.gov.uk/rural/horses)
that contains details of horse passports, medecine
regulations, off-road access, etc. He
hopes that parish councils will act as channels of information for rural
communities.
RESOLVED that
the report be noted;
and
Alum Michael be informed of the fields of ragwort
opposite the village hall.
Report
Enclosed is a
copy of an NWKCP document containing details of the various jobs carried out
during 2000 – 2003. Project Manager Rick
Baine has offered to send an officer along to meet us
if Members have ideas for projects they would like to discuss.
The report was
noted.
157 AWARDS FOR ALL – GRANT FOR NEW FOOTPATH – 100 YEAR WOOD
Report
The amount spent
on the new footpath was £500 less than awarded but permission has been given
for that money to be spent on improving the existing footpath. This is very uneven and slippery when wet (I
have had several strong complaints about it even though it isn’t in our
parish!). I have asked the NW Kent
Countryside Project if it can organise the work. Sutton at Hone and Hawley PC are happy for
this to go ahead. Reported
for information.
Discussion
Cllr Valentine
wondered why we were spending money on a footpath outside of the parish but it
was explained that many parish residents use the path to get to the stationas well as for recreational purposes. It was also explained that the money might
have to be given back if it is not spent.
RESOLVED
that the additional work go ahead.
Report
SDC Cabinet is
tonight discussing a recommendation to withdraw the weekly buses to
Discussion
There was some
discussion on the loss of these buses and on the withdrawal of the 20p flat
fare bus passes. Residents from
159 INCREASE IN VILLAGE HALL FEES – RIVERSIDE PRE-SCHOOL KINDERGARTEN
Copies of 2 letters from the Riverside Manager was circulated. These explained that no increase could be made to those receiving free places (money paid by KCC) and that a £2 increase would have to be charged to those currently paying the £4 session fee to cover the increased rent charge.
Members could not
understand why those receiving free places could not be asked to pay a very
small amount (about 30p per session) when they were paying nothing at all at
the moment. It was also pointed out that
the increase had nothing to do with inflation and that Mrs Reynolds should be
told that what had changed was a review of an unsustainable subsidy for what is
in effect a commercial operation. She
should be told that she is still receiving a huge discount on the normal
commercial rate.
Report
Now that the salt
bin is installed, KCC want to send an invoice to us! No mention of charging us had been made at
any time previously. It will be in the
region on £350.
RESOLVED that KCC
be informed that the bin was installed on the grounds of highway safety which
is its responsibility and that no contribution be made
to the cost of the salt bin.
A list of
recommendations from the Welfare Working Group was circulated for
approval. In addition to the grant
requests, a request was made from the local history society for an
interest-free loan to help with the printing of its latest booklet.
RESOLVED
that grants as shown in Appendix A to these Minutes be approved and paid
accordingly.
A draft budget,
including forecasted end of year figures and estimates for the year 2004/5
together with notes were circulated in advance of the meeting.
Figures were
discussed heading by heading and final figures agreed in accordance with
Appendix B to these Minutes.
RESOLVED that
A sum of £15,000
be included in the estimates for 2004/5 to allow for a Community Support Police
Officer to be employed in this parish; and
A precept of
£69,800 be requested for 2004/5.
SE/03/02966/FUL
12 Russell
Terrace,
Single Storey
Rear Extension and Rear Dormer
The Parish
Council has no comments on this application.
SE/03/02759/FUL
The Stores, The Street
Change of Use and
Alterations to Front Elevation from Previous Approval
More information
received.
The Parish
Council has no comments on this application.
The following
decision notices have been received:
SE/03/02721/FUL
Single Storey
Extension and Conservatory
GRANTED
REPORTS OF
COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVES
Pavilion Plumbing
Work
Cllr Burchmore told Members that he had been taken round the
pavilion by plumber, Chris Elliott and saw that all the pipe work had been
completed.
REPORT OF
DISTRICT COUNCILLOR
Triangle of Land
Cllr McGarvey had nothing further to report as the Appeal
Hearing was the next stage and this would not be until July.
REPORT OF
SCHEDULE OF
ACCOUNTS
RESOLVED that the
schedule of accounts, as submitted, be approved and payments made accordingly.
ANY OTHER
BUSINESS
School Parking
Cllr Tripp
reported on a nasty incident in
Dog Breeding
Business
Cllr Powsey reported that SDC’s
enforcement officer had been informed of large cages for breeding Staffordshire
Bull Terriers that had been installed in the back garden of
Confidential
Items
The clerk read
out a statement from Cllr Wescombe detailing his
concern that comments made by him at the last meeting and prefaced with the
words for the ears of the parish council only had been reported by Cllr Powsey in the local paper.
He wanted an item for discussion on the next agenda on Cllr Powsey’s conflict of interests.
For information,
Cllr Powsey told Members that he would be giving up
his column in the Messenger in 2 weeks.
Awards For All Grant Application by Parish Council on behalf of
Field Study Centre
Information from
Gary Cliffe, head of centre was circulated for
information. The clerk reported that as
this item missed the agenda, it will go to next month’s meeting.
The meeting ended
at
Swanley Volunteer Bureau £150
Youth Befriending 121 £50
Victim Support
Rural
1st Horton Kirby Scouts £400
1st Horton Kirby Brownies £100
South East Regional Play Association £20
Swanley Citizens’ Advice Bureau £150
Ellenor Foundation £250
Lions Hospice £250