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
P McGarvey, District
Councillor
2 members of the public
In attendance: C Allart,
Parish Clerk
Apologies for absence: None
Declarations of Interest:
Cllr Bradley declared an interest Minute 132 (Grants to Voluntary
Organisations)
RESOLVED that the Minutes of
the meeting held on
Villages Design Statement
Cllr McGarvey reported that he now had everything he needed to work on the draft VDS. He hoped to be able to have a copy ready for February’s meeting.
Two representatives of the
Horton Kirby Football Club attended. Ray
Brotherwood asked for at least one more season to find another pitch as the
League has to know by May this year and this did not give the club enough time
to find a new pitch. There was a great
deal of discussion and the club was asked whether it would be interested in
taking more control by having a licence on the pavilion and pitch. It was agreed that the decision to stop
football from the end of the current season would not be ratified, that the
club would be supplied with the relevant financial facts and that a meeting
would be held with Horton Kirby FC in the near future.
Parish councillors were not
in favour of security lighting as it gives assistance to vandals and would
probably not bring any response from neighbouring residents.
RESOLVED that, with the
exception of the recommendation on football in Minute 124, the Minutes of the Westminster Field Advisory
Committee held on
128 BINDING OF MINUTES
In order to keep Minutes in
good order and to reduce storage space, it is suggested that the Minutes are
bound. The cost would be in the region
of £120 per book and several books would be needed as the loose Minutes go back
to the 1920s.
There was discussion on
whether legally Minutes had to be bound, whether they could be kept as loose
leaf or whether an electronic version was acceptable. This would be clarified.
RESOLVED that the Minutes be
bound subject to an acceptable estimate being received.
The Council was asked to
make a decision on whether to alter the status of the Village Hall committee
from an advisory one to a full committee of the Parish Council. It was reported that a full committee is open
to the public in the same way as the council is. It can have delegated powers to make
decisions (including spending money) without having to be ratified by the full
council. The only things a committee
cannot decide are its precept and agreeing to take out a loan. Only members of the council can have a vote
on a committee but other, non-voting members can be appointed to the
committee. The advantage of this is
twofold: decisions can be actioned immediately; and village hall matters do not
have to be discussed twice.
Any change should be made
from May 2005.
Should the Westminster Field
Committee be altered as well?
RESOLVED that from May 2005
1. Village Hall matters be
decided by a Village Hall Committee comprising the Chairman and Vice-Chairman
of the Parish Council and other councillors as appointed by the Annual Meeting
of the Parish Council;
2. all regular hirers of the
village hall be invited to send one named representative to sit on the
committee in a non-voting capacity; and
3. no action be taken on
changing the status of the Westminster Field Advisory Committee at this time.
The fencing requirements of
the Top Paddock need to be addressed.
There are 3 separate problem areas:
The gateway from Coopers
Close
It was reported that the Coopers Close management committee has offered £100 - £150 towards the cost of repairing the gateway from their estate. There was discussion on whether it would be better to erect a new fence without a gate.
RESOLVED that the Management
Committee of the housing estate be contacted for its views on this.
The stretch by Mrs Dawes,
It was agreed not to spend
any money on this fencing at the moment.
The hole by Paddock Close
flats
It was agreed to leave the
situation as it is but to ask the PCSO to monitor if there is still a problem
here.
At a meeting with
development control and local plans officers at SDC, it was suggested by them
that it would be a good idea to have a Housing Needs Survey undertaken in the
parish. Members will recall that Jennifer
Shaw of KRCC attended a meeting last February to explain what is involved. A sample survey form is enclosed for
information.
A Parish Plan was also put
forward by the officers as a good idea.
The housing survey will be
done mainly by ACRK (formerly KRCC) but the Plan will involve a lot of work by
the community (in much the same way as the Design Statement did). Sevenoaks officers thought that the Mill
Economic Steering Group could act as the steering committee for the parish plan
so they will have to be asked if they are interested in taking this on.
RESOLVED that
1. ACRK be informed that this
parish council will assist in carrying out a housing needs survey in this
parish; and
2. the Paper Mill Economic
Steering Group be asked if it wishes to be involved in compiling a Parish Plan.
The recommendations of the
Welfare Working Group allocating £1845 in grants to voluntary organisations
were received.
It was mentioned that some
groups had not received letters asking for applications and this should be
rectified in future years.
RESOLVED that grants be made
in accordance with the list as attached.
133 SALT BINS AT SOUTHDOWNS
To consider the request from
Southdowns for one or more salt bins.
The Chairman pointed out
that it was less than 6 months since this matter was considered (on 5 July
2004) so, according to the provisions of Standing Orders, it could not be
reconsidered until the next meeting.
134 PLANNING
SE/04/02296/FUL
Point Pleasant, Dartford
Road
New crossover to form in and
out drive required for double storey side extension
The Parish Council has no
observations on this application.
The following decision
notices have been received:
SE/04/02592/FUL
2 Churchill Road
Single storey side extension
GRANTED
SE/04/02615/ful
63 East Hill
Two storey side extension
GRANTED
SE/04/02629/FUL
6 New Road
Two storey side extension
GRANTED
The following notice of
appeal has been received:
SE/04/01417/FUL
Riseley Hall, Eglantine Lane
Reduction of Front Entrance
Walls and Gates
Freedom of Information Act
Cllr McGarvey gave details
of this Act which came into force on 1 January 2005.
RESOLVED that the schedule
of accounts, as submitted, be approved and payments made accordingly.
Rubbish Collection over
Christmas Holiday Period
Cllr Snape found it totally
unacceptable for this parish, which has normal collections on Mondays and
Tuesdays, not to have any rubbish picked up for 15 days whilst others suffered
no disruption to their service. She
wanted SDC to re-jig the Christmas schedule so that residents in this parish do
not suffer next year when there will again be bank holidays on 26 and 27
December and 2 January. Other Members
agreed and asked that this observation be passed to Sevenoaks District Council.
The meeting ended at 9.15 pm
Chairman
Date