HORTON KIRBY AND
MINUTES of the MEETING of the PARISH COUNCIL held on
2 October 2006 in the Village Hall,
Present: Cllr P Bradley (Chairman)
Cllrs, 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
T Searles, District
councillor
Apologies for Absence: Cllr A Burchmore (holiday)
R Gough, County councillor
Declarations of Interests: Cllr D Payne
declared a personal and prejudicial interest in Minute 87.
77 POLICE MATTERS
The PCSO’s September
report was circulated for Members’ information.
78 REPORTS OF DISTRICT COUNCILLORS
District councillors gave information about
the results of the recent consultation on the future of the Sevenoaks
Playhouse and the Local Development Framework consultation.
There was also discussion on the Government
directives for new housing. Tony Searles reported that needs surveys were already a planning
requirement in the Sevenoaks district for new
multi-unit sites and had implications for levels of affordable housing
provision. It was noted that the Paper
Mill and the Dunton Green cold storage sites were not
included in the new quotas as they were before the new regulations.
On the subject of the Paper Mill site, it was
noted that the chimney was not being maintained as there were trees growing on
the structure. It was agreed to write to
79 MINUTES
RESOLVED that the
Minutes of the meeting held on 4 September 2006 be approved and signed as a
correct record.
80 MATTERS ARISING
Village Hall Extension
Feasibility Study
Cllr Valentine reported that he would be meeting with the youth club on
4 October to discuss this matter.
The clerk reported that
.
81 VILLAGE HALL COMMITTEE
RESOLVED that the
Minutes of the last meeting be received for information.
SE/06/02235/FUL
137 New Road
Single storey rear extension
This Parish Council has no comments to make
on this application.
SE/06/02300/FUL
Horton Kirby Bowls Club,
Proposed extension to bowls club pavilion
This Parish Council has no comments to make
on this application.
SE/06/02302/LBCALT
Old School Cottage,
Repair of peg tile roof
The Parish Council welcomes this application.
SE/06/02371/FUL
4
Single storey rear extension
The Parish Council is concerned that this is
an over development of this plot.
SE/06/02385/AGRNOT
2 Beeches Farm Cottages,
Erection of a hay barn
The Parish Council had concerns about this
application and agreed to repeat the comments made when a similar application
had been considered at this site.
06/02499/WTCA
Crispins, The Street
Fell 3 trees
It was decided that this should be left to
the tree officer to decide.
SE/06/01274/FUL
Treejumpers, Horton Wood,
Change of use for outdoor pursuits
REFUSED
It was noted that the planning officer has
said that with a more robust woodland management and travel plans, the
objections may well be overcome.
SE/06/01621/FUL
Ivy Cottage, The
Street
Retention of outbuilding
GRANTED
SE/05/01714/FUL
96 East Hill
Loft conversion with front and rear dormers
REFUSED
SE/06/01823/FUL
Two rooflights to
rear pitch of main roof
GRANTED
SE/06/01981/FUL
Boyneswood,
New single storey cottage
GRANTED
Appeal
Fairhavens,
It was reported that the Hearing was to be held on 19
December 2006.
Horton
Kirby Paper Mill Site Redevelopment
The clerk gave the following information on the
administration of the affordable housing units.
14 of the 42 units
will be available to rent for
These won’t be
available until March 2008.
Applicants must be
on the Sevenoaks District Housing Register.
It doesn’t matter
how long an applicant has been on the list, as it all depends on need and is
points based.
This isn’t only
for locals. Local villagers will not get
priority as this is not a rural exception site and has not been included in the
planning consent as one.
28 of the 42 will
be shared ownership properties for first time buyers (some will be for key
workers) administered by Moat Housing which is the “zone agent”.
These will not be
ready until late 2008.
Whilst the homes
are not exclusively for residents of the parish, Moat will try to give priority
to local people when it comes to allocations.
There was
discussion on this and Cllr Wescombe said he would
look at all correspondence with the District Council
to find out exactly what had been said about giving locals some priority. He asked Tony Searles
to find out how many local villagers were already on the housing list and
suggested a proactive campaign via the next newsletter to make sure that those
villagers who wanted to be considered for these dwellings had all the facts at
their disposal.
83 PARISH COUNCILS CONSORTIUM
There was much discussion on the usefulness of the Consortium and
whether trying to debate subjects offered for consideration such as the SE Regional Plan was
appropriate. Members wondered whether to
pull out in view of the fact that nothing much had been achieved over the years
other than the opportunities to meet with councillors
of neighbouring parishes.
Cllr
Tripp said she found the meetings interesting and would have attended if she
had not had a prior engagement.
84 RIVER DARENT ENHANCEMENTS
Tom Cook of the Environment Agency offered to
meet members of this Parish Council to show enhancements to the river which had
been carried out at Hawley and which could be done at
RESOLVED that a
meeting be arranged for a Saturday morning.
The poor condition of this hedge and the
danger from the numerous gaps in it were discussed and Members considered whether
the Parish Council wished to be involved in its enhancement.
Cllr Valentine voiced a concern which had
been raised with him by women who found the height of the hedge made the path
dark and scary so they would not use it.
As a first step it was suggested that the
whole length of the hedge needed to be surveyed to see what action was needed
and the costs involved.
The clerk mentioned that she had raised the
matter with Roger Gough as a possible project that could be funded by his local
member’s fund. Councillors agreed that
if necessary, the cost of a survey would be met by this parish council.
RESOLVED that a
professional survey on the hedge be carried out by an expert.
86 PARISH COUNCIL MEETING MAY 2007
Members were informed for information that
the date for the first Parish Council meeting after the election next May will
be Tuesday 8 May 2007.
87 SCHEDULE OF ACCOUNTS AND BUDGET UPDATE
RESOLVED that
1. the schedule of accounts, as submitted, be approved and payments made accordingly; and
2. the budget update be received, with note taken that the village hall gas bill would be considerably over budget by the end of the financial year.
88 REFRESHMENTS
Members considered that refreshments should not
be provided during parish council meetings but agreed that drinks after the
December meeting would be provided. Cllrs Piller and Tripp offered to
arrange this.
89 ANY OTHER BUSINESS
Crime
Figures
It was noted that the figures for September
for both villages were very low. The
cannabis cultivation referred to a raid in
Church
Fence
Cllr Tripp reported that the new fence
between
The meeting ended at 8.48 pm
Chairman
Date