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, G Tripp, R Valentine and I Wescombe
P McGarvey,
District Councillor
D Brazier,
PCSO Peter Hylands
Sgt Peter Smith
10 members of the public
In attendance: C Allart,
Parish Clerk
Apologies for absence: None (though it was noted that Cllr D Snape might not be aware that the meeting, cancelled
earlier in the day, had been reinstated)
Declarations of Interest:
None
162 POLICE MATTERS
There was discussion with the PCSO and his managing officer, Sgt Smith about work schedules and Sgt Smith agreed that PCSO Hylands would provide this information
.
163 MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING
RESOLVED
that the Minutes of the meeting held on
164 MATTERS ARISING
Works at
The clerk reported that no
planning permission was required for the works taking place.
KCC councillor David Brazier
reported that a press statement, released today, explained that the centre
would remain open, run by KCC. He said that the present staff will be
retained and KCC hoped to break even in 3 years.
165 MINUTES OF THE WESTMINSTER FIELD ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Horses being Washed in the River
There was some discussion on
this occurrence which was still taking place regularly in
RESOLVED
that, subject to the proviso on the costs of making the picnic area
horse-proof, the Minutes of the Westminster Field Hall Advisory Committee held
on
166 PCSO PETER HYLANDS’ SUGGESTIONS FOR POSITIVE YOUTH ACTIVITY
PCSO Hylands
attended the meeting with a young person from
RESOLVED that
·
permission be given for this project to go ahead; and
·
up to £200 be made available for equipment.
167 WORKS COMMITTEE
Members considered a list of
items already agreed the clerk had not carried that out due to lack of
time.
RESOLVED that
·
a Works Committee comprising Cllrs Bradley, Burchmore, Payne and Piller be
appointed to take action to progress items already approved by the parish
council; and
·
the Committee will meet monthly and report on progress
to the parish council.
168 SECURITY IN VILLAGE HALL AND PARISH OFFICE
It was reported that urgent discussions need to
take place on security in the hall following a break-in overnight on Wednesday
23 February.
RESOLVED
that the offer from Cllr Valentine to get prices for locks and doors as well as
advice from the Police Crime Protection officer be accepted with thanks.
169 YOUTH CLUB
Members were asked to
consider whether the youth club should be suspended or whether restrictions
should be applied in view of the break-in and the fact that problems and damage
are always found on Thursday mornings after the youth club has met on Wednesday
evenings.
There was some discussion on
this matter because, whilst members did not want to penalise local children who
were not doing any harm, they needed to protect the building and property. Cllr Wescombe
agreed to visit the club at the next opportunity, with the PCSO, and report
back to the next meeting.
170 PUBLIC PHONE BOX, THE STREET, HORTON KIRBY
A request has been made by a
resident of
BT had informed the clerk
that the box was not well used but that it could not be removed as there is no
other payphone nearby and it is needed to serve the needs of the community.
RESOLVED
that BT be asked to remove the box.
171 GRAFFITI
1 Removal
It was reported that the
Westminster Field Advisory Committee had recommended that the graffiti should
be removed from the pavilion by a private firm rather than bother with the
Probation Team which had not been very effective. The Chairman had suggested that this Council
should also pay to have graffiti removed from everywhere in the villages, not
just parish council property, because of the adverse effect on the environment.
RESOLVED
that no action be taken on this suggestion at the present time.
Councillor Valentine
reported that some young people have been caught on CCTV in
RESOLVED that
·
the Parish Council would expect the Police to prosecute if they have
evidence regarding who has done the graffiti; and
·
PC Laidlow and PCSO Hylands
be informed of this.
3 Removal Kit
It was reported that Sevenoaks District Council have supplied a kit of chemicals and brushes to loan to the public when dealing with their own small areas of graffiti. It has been given out on two occasions at no charge. However, the chemicals are expensive (between £16 and £72 for 5 litres) to replenish. The clerk asked whether a small charge be made for the use of the kit.
RESOLVED that
·
no charge be made for borrowing the kit; and
·
a budget of £150 per annum be allocated to buy
replacement chemicals as necessary.
172 PARISH WARDEN
Cllr Valentine suggested
that we should apply for a Parish Warden as well having a PCSO.
RESOLVED
that this be done.
173 SOUTH DARENTH VILLAGE SOCIETY
1
Town Twinning
South Darenth Village Society committee member Nikki Fulford attended the meeting with some details of what was involved in applying for a town twinning partner. She said there was EU funding to pay for many of the costs and asked for the parish council’s support as this was something that SDVS was keen to do.
Some Members wondered
whether this was something that would have to be a combined venture with Horton
Kirby Village Society and it was agreed that it should be approached.
RESOLVED
that support be given to further investigations taking place.
2
Lighting of Village Sign
South Darenth
Village Society committee membes Dave Edmed attended the meeting to ask for permission to
illuminate the South Darenth Village Sign. There would be no cost implications to the
parish council and the sign would be lit at the same time as the nearby street
lamp. The Village Society were reminded that planning permission would be required.
RESOLVED
that no objections be raised to this scheme.
174 PAPER MILL REDEVELOPMENT LATEST PROPOSALS
Cllr Wescombe
reported on the latest developments and reminded Members of the public
exhibition on Friday, 18 and Saturday 19 March in the village hall.
The clerk informed Members
that she would be attending a Sevenoaks District
Council meeting on 10 March when the Paper Mill redevelopment would be
discussed in great detail by representatives of a number of the district
council’s partners such as health and education officials. Cllr Wescombe
stated that elected members had been excluded from this meeting and he wished
to know why.
RESOLVED that a letter be
written to Sevenoaks District Council asking why
elected representatives from
175 LAND AT
Members were aware of many
rumours circulating that this farmland land is up for sale and a figure of
£80,000 has been mentioned. This is well
above the normal rate for agricultural land and there are, of course, fears
that travellers will buy the land and then develop it unlawfully.
RESOLVED
that the owner be approached to find out the exact situation with the land.
176 VILLAGES DESIGN STATEMENT
A print only version (with
no photos because of the large size of the file) had been emailed to all
members for their views. One or two amendments were suggested and Philip McGarvey agreed to finalise photos and text with Cllr Burchmore.
177 INSURANCE
Following
a claim when a tree in the Top Paddock fell on to a neighbouring fence, Allianz Cornhill had asked about
various matters of maintenance and inspection. Initially they wanted all the council’s trees
to have a weekly-recorded inspection.
The Company now want to know if we have had a risk assessment carried
out and what arrangements we have for maintaining the trees and inspecting them
after periods of severe weather, etc.
A year or two ago, Members
did offer to inspect trees but I don’t think anything came of this. Should the Works Committee consider this and
put it on a more formal footing?
David Butt, who is in charge
of such assessments on the trees in Franks Hall grounds, was at the meeting and
explained what he did. He said there
should be a numbering system with each tree tagged and that all trees near the
road should be visually inspected once a week.
He defined a tree as anything with a foot of clear stem. Mr Butt agreed to carry out an initial visit
to each of the parish council-owned areas with members.
RESOLVED that Mr Butt’s
offer be accepted with thanks.
178 SPEEDWATCH – KENT POLICE
The clerk reported that she
had recently received a memo from Kent Police concerning the introduction of Speedwatch in the county.
Speedwatch is to be launched in the spring and
“parish councils will have to assist in funding”.
RESOLVED that the offer to be involved with Speedwatch be declined on the basis that this Council has
no money budgetted for such a scheme.
179 PLANNING
SE/05/00271/FUL and SE/05/00272/LBCALT
Avenue House, Holmesdale Road
Two houses to be built at
the back of Avenue House and demolish an extension to a listed building
The Parish Council objects
to this application on the grounds that
house 1 fills in the gap
between the listed building and the existing modern house in the grounds thus
spoiling the setting of the listed building;
house 2 is an ugly building
and a high addition to the roof that spoils the setting of the listed building;
the loss of the garage for
Avenue House will mean that further building to replace it in the future will
spoil the setting of the listed building;
the setting of the listed
building will be spoiled by the felling of mature trees and their replacement
with non-native eucalyptus; and
the rear boundary as
proposed is strange and unneighbourly in that there
is a lack of privacy between Avenue House and house 2.
SE/05/00345/LBCALT
The Cottage, Horton Road,
Horton Kirby
Repairs to rendering to side
elevation
The Parish Council has no
objections.
SE/00423/FUL
Fairhavens Mussenden
Lane
Retention of replacement
building to be used as an amenity block
The Parish Council objects
to this application on green belt grounds if this new building is larger than
that previously on site as the bathroom (if considered a special purpose)
occupies only a small part of the building.
The following decision
notices have been received:
SE/04/02907/FUL
Mussenden Cottage, Mussenden Lane
Single storey rear extension
GRANTED
SE/05/00045/FUL
The Cottage, Horton Road,
Horton Kirby
New gates to side access
drive
REFUSED
180
REPORTS OF COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVES
Travellers Meeting arranged by Crockenhill PC
Cllr Tripp reported on the joint meeting held recently to discuss the problems of travellers in the area. It was suggested that there would be more frequent meetings betweent he gypsy officers of Sevenoaks District Council, Dartford Borough Council and London Borough of Bromley so that the problem will hopefully become better managed. She said that the best people to get in tough with are NALC, CPRE and MPs but that petitions were a waste of time..
Philip McGarvey
said that a transit site for 8 units / pitches was likely to be provided in the
northern part of the Sevenoaks District but it would
not be in this ward.
David Brazier added a report
on the efforts of the Government to get local authorities to fulfil their
obligations and provide sites. The
report suggests that gypsies are hard done by and should be integrated into
communities. The rural exceptions policy
says that the usual green belt policies do not apply to gypsy caravans and the
KCC think that the report is hugely imbalanced in favour of travellers.
181 SCHEDULE OF ACCOUNTS
RESOLVED that the schedule
of accounts, as submitted, be approved and payments made accordingly.
The meeting ended at 10.05
pm
Chairman
Date