HORTON KIRBY AND SOUTH DARENTH PARISH COUNCIL

 

 

 

MINUTES of the MEETING of the PARISH COUNCIL held on 19 June 2002 in the Parish Room, Village Hall, South Darenth at 7 pm.

 

Present: Clr D Snape (In the Chair),

             Clrs A Burchmore, M Busfield , M Cockrill,  H Goody and  E Hughes

 

       T Searles, District Councillor,

12 members of the public

PC Laidlow

 

In attendance: C Allart, Parish Clerk

 

Apologies for absence: Clrs P Bradley (on holiday), D Payne (family illness) and G Tripp (on holiday)

D Brazier, County Councillor,

 

Declarations of Interest: None

 

 

19      MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING

 

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the meeting held on 15 May 2002 be approved and signed as a correct record.

 

20      MATTERS ARISING

 

Village Hall Chairs

 

The clerk reported that only one offer had been received following an ad in “Loot”.  An offer of £2 per chair for the 100 had been made.

 

RESOLVED that the chairs be sold for £2 each.

 

 

21      MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL PARISH MEETING

 

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting held on 15 May 2002 be approved and signed as a correct record.

 

 

22      MINUTES OF THE WESTMINSTER FIELD ADVISORY COMMITTEE

 

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the Westminster Field Advisory Committee held on 12 June 2002 be approved and adopted.

23        CRIME AND DISORDER

 

A deputation from Lombard Street attended the meeting to see what could be done about criminal damage to parked cars and a wide-ranging discussion was held on crime and youth problems.  A folder of crime forms was handed to the parish council which would be copied to PC Laidlow.

 

Among the matters discussed were damage to cars parked beyond the houses in Lombard Street where there is no light, speeding vehicles and traffic calming, groups of young people hanging around very late into the night, the need for youth workers, drug dealing, and the need to report all crime.  It was suggested that a Community Safety meeting should be held with the District Council, the Police and the general public and the parish council was asked to put the subject of Crime and Disorder on the agenda of every meeting.

 

 

24           SEVENAOKS DISTRICT COUNCIL CHAIRMAN - TOUR OF PARISH WITH COUNCILLORS

 

Report

This meeting has been arranged for Thursday 10 October.  Please start making a list of places you think he should go, people he should meet, issues that should be raised, etc and I shall organise an itinerary nearer the time.  For information and action.

 

It was agreed to ask Nigel Archer at The Fighting Cocks to supply lunch for representatives from Farningham and this parish council which would be paid for by Sevenoaks District Council.

 

 

25        SEVENOAKS DISTRICT COMMUNITY PLAN

 

Report

Sevenoaks District Council is consulting on a Community Plan to be produced in 2004 and are meeting town and parish representatives on Friday 28 June from 10 am to 1 pm in the Council Chamber.  One representative, who would need to give a written report back to this council, needs to be nominated.  I can go if no one else is available.

 

Discussion

It was suggested that Sevenoaks District Council should be holding meetings at various times of the day and evening in order to get views from as wide a variety of people as possible and to take account of those who work.

 

RESOLVED that the clerk would attend the meeting and report back.

 

 

 

 

 

26      ANNUAL MEETING 2003

 

Report

With the election next year falling on 1 May, it will not be possible to have the May meetings on the third Wednesday because the Annual Meeting has to be within 2 weeks of an election.  Reported to consider a suitable alternative date.

 

RESOLVED that the Annual Meeting of the Parish Council and the Annual Parish Meeting be held after the village hall committee on Wednesday 14 May 2003.

 

 

27      CODE OF CONDUCT

 

A consultation paper sent by the DTLR regarding the local investigation and determination of misconduct allegations was received for information.

 

 

28        FENCE ON GRAZING PLOT 5

 

Report

Planning permission for this fence is not needed but it is possible that it could be removed by the planning authority making an Article 4 Direction.  A special case would have to be made out and cover various aspects such as:

·        the need to preserve the countryside;

·        it is out of character with the openness of this part of the parish,

·        it would set a precedent – if all plots did it, it would look very urban;

·        it looks like a house has been there with just the garden left – not appropriate to this Green Belt location.

 

RESOLVED that Sevenoaks District Council be asked to consider making an Article 4 Direction in respect of the grazing plots in Horton Road with the above reasons being put in the strongest possible terms to them.

 

 

29      A225 ROAD SAFETY

 

Report

Requests from this parish and Farningham to reduce the speed limit to 40 mph and to get no overtaking white lines painted have produced an initial offer from KCC to set up a speed indicator display (SID - a more official looking version of the device we briefly had) for 24 hours.  This SID does not have to be nursed – it will stay on the roadside all by itself so we just have to specify a location.

 

Discussion

Various locations were suggested which will be put to the highway authority for them to make the final decision.

 

 

30        HIGHWAYS MAINTENANCE

 

Report

We have been asked to identify 2 locations (road or footway) which are deemed to be in need of greatest repair so that they can be considered for the 2003/4 programme.  This needs to be done by the end of June so Members would have to have a look very soon to see which ones need to be done.

 

RESOLVED that Franks lane carriageway and the footway / kerb area in Horton Road in front of the Paper Mill green be identified as areas of priority.

 

 

31      ROAD CLOSURE ORDER – THE STREET

 

Report

Notification has been given to us for information that The Street will be closed to traffic (except for access to premises) for approximately 4 weeks from 24 June to allow carriageway re-alignment to take place.  There is some local opposition to this closure.

 

Discussion

David Brazier sent a written report stating that, following strong representations from Nigel Archer of The Fighting Cocks, the road closure would start on 26 August.  Members were pleased to support this change if it helped local business.

 

 

32      BUSINESS SUPPORT GRANTS

 

Sevenoaks District Council have a fund for parishes and towns to receive grants to support events which benefit local businesses and the local economy.  The information is quite vague but is there anyone interested in looking into this further?

 

Discussion

It was suggested that The Fighting Cocks should be encouraged to sell newspapers each morning to help all those Horton Kirby residents who had to travel to South Darenth because of the withdrawal of the delivery service.  It was felt that if he started this, a grant could help with publicity costs.

 

 

33      ORBIT – TRANSPORT SOLUTIONS AROUND LONDON

 

Report

A provisional strategy produced by this group which is looking at the existing and future problems of the M25 has been sent to us for comment.  If anyone would like to read it or would like a copy please let me know.  Reported for Information.

 

 

 

 

34        PLANNING

 

SE/02/01001/FUL

Gemmas Field, School Lane, Fawkham

Retention of Land for Use for Team Building and Paintball Games and Retention of Ancillary Buildings and Structures

 

The Parish Council objects to this use as it is inappropriate in the Green Belt.

 

SE/02/00879/OUT

Land North of 2 The Bungalows, School Lane

2/3 bed Detached House and Garage

 

The Parish Council is concerned that the proposed building projects forward of the building line as defined by the neighbouring property 37 School Lane.

 

The following decision notices have been received:

 

SE/02/00578/FUL

Bluebell Cottage, Mussenden Lane

Reposition of Garage permitted under SE98/02567

GRANTED

 

SE/01/01930/FUL

Riseley Hall, Eglantine Lane,

Retention of Front Entrance Walls and Gates

REFUSED

 

The following notice of Appeal has been received:

 

SE/01/01777/LDCPR

Hill Farm, Franks Lane, Horton Kirby

Lawful Development Certificate for Proposed Use – Erection of Feed & Machinery Store

 

Hearing & Site Inspection to be held on Wednesday 16 October 2002 at Sevenoaks.

 

 

Pre-Planning Consultation

 

Julia Stevenson will be attending the meeting to ask the parish council its views on her proposals to develop the land adjacent to her house at 11 Coopers Close prior to submitting a planning application.  There is a building on the land already and Members may wish to go and have a look before the meeting.

 

Members felt that there was enough room on the plot for another house and would probably have no objection if the design was in keeping with the others on the estate.  Official observations would be made when the planning application is received.

 

 

 

35        REPORTS OF COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVES

 

Villages Design Statement

 

Clr Burchmore reported that the text had been approved by the team, it would be circulated to all local organisations and parish councillors and a public meeting would be held on 4 September.

 

 

36        REPORT OF COUNTY COUNCILLOR

 

David Brazier submitted a written report on the gypsy problem.  He said that the greatest problem for those experiencing trouble was that there were no hard and fast rules for dealing with them.  The reaction of the Police can be variable.  He added that he was attempting to get the KCC to provide a publicised advice and information service for the public.

 

 

37           SCHEDULE OF ACCOUNTS

 

RESOLVED that the schedule of accounts, as submitted, be approved and payments made accordingly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The meeting ended at 8.15 pm