MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE RECREATION AND OPEN SPACES COMMITTEE held on Thursday, 14 June 2007 in the Parish Room, Village Hall, South Darenth at 7.30 pm.

PRESENT: Cllr R Valentine (Chairman)

Cllrs P Bradley, R Eagles, M Oram, and C Page

Mr I Blackamore and Mr D Chambers

IN ATTENDANCE: C Allart, Parish Clerk

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE: Cllrs D Mitchell and J Stevenson

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST: None

1 ELECTION OF CHAIRMAN 2007/8

RESOLVED that Cllr R Valentine be elected Chairman.

2 ELECTION OF VICE-CHAIRMAN 2007/8

RESOLVED that Cllr M Oram be elected Vice-Chairman.

3 MINUTES OF LAST MEETING

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the last meeting held on 12 April be approved and signed as a correct record.

4 MATTERS ARISING

Removal of Concrete Slab Shrubbery Road

Members considered various points raised by Mr Smith of Montgomery Road.

RESOLVED that Mr Smith be informed that the matter had been dealt with as a matter of urgency in January because of health and safety issues arising from the frequent breaking of glass bottles on the concrete slab. Other delays had arisen because of the time delay between committee meetings and unforeseen problems.

Mr Smith would be further informed of the action that the committee has decided to take to remedy the unsightly nature of the area (see below).

The committee then considered future action on this area as the rotavation had not been successful because of the hardness of the ground.

RESOLVED that

1. ten tonnes of top quality topsoil to raise the level of the dipped ground by 2 inches be purchased and spread;
2. the area be seeded;
3. a temporary tape fence be erected around the site;
4. neighbours be informed that it would be appreciated if they would keep an eye on the area to minimise interference with the site; and
5. a sum of up to £500 be made available for this work.

Heathside Painting over Graffiti on Stand

Members discussed how to tackle the job of graffiti removal from the Stand.

Cllr Valentine reported that the South Darenth Village Society was hoping to start up the youth rewards scheme again and this might be one of the jobs they carried out. Otherwise volunteers of the organisations using the field for their events could do the task. The bus shelter was also painted with the same paint and was often in need of painting. The litter collection question was on the agenda but was not discussed.

RESOLVED that

1. payment of up to £60 per time will be paid for painting the Stand and bus shelter to cover graffiti before each of the 3 main events plus 1 further paint over (as required); and
2. paint and rollers will be supplied by the Parish Council.

Heathside Encampment

The clerk reported that PCSO Peter Hylands had spoken to the youngsters who had made the camp and told them to clear the debris though this has not yet been done. Ian Blackamore offered to collect up the rubbish and charge what he is charged for disposing of it at the tip.

RESOLVED that Mr Blackamore’s offer be accepted with thanks.

Top Paddock

Members discussed the works to the bank at eastern end of the Paddock next to the fence between the Paddock and the Montgomery Road garages. Ian Blackamore suggested that the use of a JCB for clearing the ground of the bank in the Top Paddock could be used in conjunction with works in Shrubbery Road as the amount of work in the Top Paddock is not a day’s work for a JCB. However Members were not ready to go ahead with this work whereas the Shrubbery Road work was urgent so it was decided to keep the operations separate.

Quotes for palisade fencing had been requested but needed to be chased up. As the fencing and the bank clearance work were interconnected, a decision on how to proceed needed to be considered at a future meeting.

5 INFORMATION FOR NEW MEMBERS

Terms of Reference

Members received terms of reference for the committee for information.

Budget

The Chairman went through the budget for this committee to give new members an idea of what areas and items are covered and how much is available to spend.

Site Visits

Members decided to make their own visits to areas under the control of this committee.

6 WESTMINSTER FIELD

Litter Picking

Members considered the litter issue in the field and agreed that there was not much of a problem as locals were often seen picking it up although there were occasions when the bins overflowed.

RESOLVED that Keith Philips be offered an additional £96 per year to deal with minor incidents of litter in the vicinity of the pavilion and in the picnic area as and when necessary.

Football Club - Pavilion Rent

Derek Chambers asked the committee to re-visit the decision made in April 06 regarding the rent for the use of the pavilion as he felt that the rent should not have been increased if he is carrying out the graffiti removal.

RESOLVED that, Derek Chambers be re-imbursed for cost of the receipted materials to keep the graffiti covered, to a maximum of £60 per annum.

7 HEATHSIDE

Heathside Entrance Sign

The clerk asked members to consider the details of this sign and agree what was wanted.

She told new members that in April 2006 the committee had agreed wording and size for a sign but had also asked about the costs of putting the parish council emblem on it. The committee had also asked for a price for using the village sign with “Heathside” on the scroll of paper.

RESOLVED that

1. The use of the village sign style, at a cost of over £2000, be not further pursued;
2. The parish council logo was not needed on the sign;
3. The original wording as agreed be used with the addition of the words “Horton Kirby and South Darenth Parish Council” at the top; and
4. Cllr Eagles will do a sample layout, circulate to all members and, if no one objects, the order will go ahead in 2mm thick aluminium at a cost of approximately £90 plus installation costs.

NB The position of the sign was on the agenda but not discussed.

8 LOWER PADDOCK

Wild Flowers Grown by SDVS in Western Section by Holmesdale Road

The planting of wild flowers by SDVS was causing some problems for the grass cutter as it was difficult for him to know which had been specially planted and which were unwanted weeds. Cllr Valentine agreed to meet Mr Blackamore on site to agree a cutting regime but he was of the general opinion that the whole area could just be cut.

9 SHRUBBERY ROAD

Survey

The Parish Council Chairman told the committee that the results of the survey of the Shrubbery Road Play Area should be considered by the Parish Council and not this committee.

Play Facilities

New members were informed that £12,000 is available from a previous insurance claim for play equipment provision.

Cllr Eagles suggested that it was important to start looking at various options for play equipment and she and Cllr Valentine agreed to put some ideas together to put forward to the Parish Council as soon as possible.

10 CALENDAR OF MEETING

It was agreed to change the December 2007 meeting to Thursday 6 December.

11 FREQUENCY OF MEETINGS

Members considered whether bi-monthly meetings for this committee were sufficient and agreed that, rather than trying to schedule another regular meeting, extra meetings would be called when needed.

12 THEFT OF GATES – PICNIC AREA , WESTMINSTER FIELD

The clerk reported the recent theft of the 2 gates to the picnic area. Mr Blackamore said that he could often buy new gates very cheaply at a weekly auction in Essex but members wanted the gates replaced quickly so agreed that the purchase and installation of the replacement gates should not be put off. Members did suggest that some identification (“property of HKSDPC”) should be burnt into the gates.

RESOLVED that the gates be purchased and installed as soon as possible.

13 HEATHSIDE

The entrance pathways (each side of the entrance roadway) at Heathside have been strimmed and now need weedkilling to enable them to be mowed. This would be done on a fortnightly basis as necessary and the Village Society would be asked if it would like to plant daffodils along the edges to the roadway.

14 ANY OTHER BUSINESS

Starting Time of Meeting

Members felt that the 8pm start time agreed at the Annual Meeting of the Parish Council was too late as these meeting tended to be long and it was agreed to put the matter on the next agenda for a decision to be made.

The meeting ended at 9.28 pm.

Chairman

Date