HORTON
KIRBY AND SOUTH DARENTH PARISH COUNCIL
MINUTES
of the MEETING of the PARISH COUNCIL held on 22 April 2004 in the Parish Room,
Village Hall, South Darenth at 7 pm.
Present: Cllr P
Bradley (Chairman),
Cllrs A Burchmore, D Payne,
G Piller, M Powsey, D Snape, G Tripp,
R Valentine and I Wescombe
T Searles, District
Councillor,
P McGarvey, District Councillor
3 members of the
public
In attendance: C
Allart, Parish Clerk
Apologies for
absence: None
Declarations of
Interest: None
Safety Devices
Kits comprising a
time switch, a shed alarm and a uv property marking
pen, were available free of charge from the beat officer.
Music at The Bull
The Police are
working on getting music stopped at The Bull pub has it has no music licence.
Antisocial
Behaviour Order
Cllr Valentine
wanted an ASBO for a boy in South Darenth whose name
is mentioned all the time in connection with antisocial behaviour in the
village.
Police Community
Support Officer
PC Laidlow told members that the PCSO would have to have a
secure office, probably in Meopham or Swanley, from which to operate and start and end every
shift. The PCSO would also have to deal
with a lot of paperwork in the same way as all regular police officers do. He/she will drive a normal police car and
look like a police officer as the uniforms are very similar.
RESOLVED that the
Minutes of the meeting held on 25 March 2004 be approved and signed as a
correct record.
RESOLVED that the
Minutes of the Westminster Field Advisory Committee held on 8 April 2004 be approved and adopted.
Report
A draft document
on the countryside character, to be used in determining planning applications,
has been published for consultation.
Comments are required by 30 April 04.
The countryside
in this parish has been divided into 3 sections (“Darent
Valley Horton Kirby”; “Horton Kirby Plateau”; and “Horton Kirby Downs”). Enclosed are copies of the relevant
pages. If you wish to see the whole
document, it is in the office.
Discussion
Members felt that
the document would be a good thing for protecting the countryside. Cllr McGarvey
reported that he had asked for a map showing clearer boundaries of the
different areas to be included.
Report
Zurich Municipal
is holding another of its annual seminars covering Accident and Claims Review,
Skateboard and BMX Track Facilities, Contractors Agreements and Disability
Discrimination. Cost is £60 for first
delegate, £30 for further guests. Zurich
also offer advisory service membership at £245 for the first year; £135 for
second year.
Discussion
The clerk read
out the benefits of membership.
RESOLVED that no
action be taken to become members of the Zurich Advisory Service.
114 RIVERSIDE KINDERGARTEN PRE-SCHOOL FEES FROM 1 APRIL 2004
Report
The current
situation is that an invitation to a meeting proposed by the Parish Council
between Mr and Mrs Reynolds and Cllrs Bradley and Wescombe was initially accepted by Mr Reynolds, then
declined following a letter from Howard Stoate. Dr Stoate had
offered to act as a mediator and Mrs Reynolds had wanted him to be present at
any meeting.
A letter was then
sent by Dr Stoate to Cllr Wescombe
asking him to attend a meeting on 17 April.
This was declined on the grounds that the Parish Council would first
have to agree the offer of mediation.
Riverside has
already used the hall for 6 days since 1 April when the new fees came into
effect. They will be returning on Monday
26 April for the new term.
Discussion
Cllr Wescombe reported verbally on his meeting with Howard Stoate, when Dr Stoate came down
very heavily on the side of the playgroup.
Members agreed that he could not be a mediator as he had shown himself
to be anything but impartial in the whole business.
RESOLVED that
1.
the offer of mediation by Dr Stoate
be declined; and
2.
Riverside Kindergarten Pre-School be invoiced
monthly in advance, at the rate already agreed, on terms of strictly 30 days.
Report
Cllr Wescombe has put forward the following motion:
"That parish council begins a consultative process towards the replacement of the village hall advisory committee with a board of trustees charged with the structural, decorative, maintenance and financial management of the village hall."
Discussion
Cllr Wescombe
briefly explained his reasons for making the suggestion. He said that the board could comprise regular
users and parish councillors in a non-executive role and could be phased in
over 5 years.
Other members strongly
disagreed as they felt that the hall was generally run very well and that the
parish council is objective, which users would not be. The question of what would happen if the hall
wasn’t looked after properly was raised.
How would the Council take it back?
RESOLVED that no action be
taken on the above motion.
Report
Cllrs Bradley, Piller, Tripp and Valentine met with 2 club officials on
Friday 9 April. The club secretary
repeated his claim that the fence had been built on the correct line of the
boundary but this was refuted. He
suggested that an independent chartered surveyor be employed to decide on the
boundary but this was rejected on the grounds that he would have no more
information than that supplied by the title deeds which state that the plan
does not show the exact line of the boundaries.
Moreover, legal advice says that it is impossible to interpret the
physical position of the boundary from the filed plan.
The club
representatives were told that the Parish Council required that the fence be
removed from parish land and that if it wasn’t consideration would have to be
given to further action being taken through the courts. The Club next meets early in May and has
asked to be informed if legal action is going to be taken.
Discussion
There was
discussion on the height of the fence which, if over 2 metres high, requires
planning permission. It was suggested
that compensation for the loss of the land was an alternative to requiring the
fence to be moved but this was not agreed as a possibility.
RESOLVED that the
Dartford & District Angling and Preservation Society be informed that legal
proceedings against it will be started.
Report
Concerned
residents of South Darenth invited Environment Agency
officers to a meeting on 15 April 2004.
EA officers representing flooding, fisheries and conservation and
enhancement attended. The essence of
their response to the worryingly low flows which have had, and will continue to
have, an adverse effect on wildlife was that it was solely the responsibility
of the Mill site owners. Their other
response was that the development of the Mill site should be looked at as a
positive opportunity to improve the flows by various methods which did not
involve manual intervention as at present and that the EA officers were
currently making suggestions to achieve this.
In the meantime,
it would seem that the Mill owners may co-operate with the suggestion that a
local person takes responsibility of operating the sluices but it sounded as if
there may be health and safety issues involved with this.
Discussion
Residents of Kingfisher
Place told the meeting of the problems with the low flows. They were in contact with the Mill owners but
had as yet received no reply. Cllr Wescombe, who was in contact with the Managing Director
because of the site development, offered to speak to him about the problem.
RESOLVED that Sevenoaks District Council and the Environment Agency be
asked to make sure that any re-development plans for the site ensured the
maintenance of both stretches of the river through South Darenth.
Members who had
been at the meeting on Tuesday 20 April reported that everything was being very
well organised by Michael Humphreys of Team Darenth and there was every confidence that the event would
be a great success.
119 STRATEGIC
RAIL AUTHORITY PROPOSALS TO REDUCE SERVICE AT FARNINGHAM ROAD
The Farningham Road Action Group had been working hard to alert
locals to the issues and to encourage everyone to respond to the SRA by the
closing date of Friday 23 April.
Hundreds of letters would be delivered to the offices of the SRA on 23
April and media attention had been drawn to this so that TV, Radio and Press
were expected at Farningham Road station. A travel survey had been undertaken, the
results of which would be circulated widely and included with the Action
Group’s response. The Parish Council has
also sent a detailed letter of objection.
Howard Stoate had received hundreds of letters
in support of his campaign to get the service re-instated.
RESOLVED that the
Action Group members be congratulated and thanked for their hard work in doing
an excellent job so far.
Report
Members will have
seen that the bus shelter needs repainting following the removal of the
graffiti (more has since been added).
Cllr Valentine has located some special paint which allows graffiti to
be easily wiped off. Unfortunately it
comes at a special price (see attached email with prices – on pink). Reported for consideration.
RESOLVED that up
to £200 be spent on specialist anti-graffiti paint.
SE/04/00725/FUL
2 The Bungalows,
School Lane
Alterations to
Bungalow, New Roof/First Floor and Side Porch and Conservatory (revised scheme)
The Parish
Council are concerned that the porch extension will finish almost on the
boundary of 1 The Bungalows which is an unneighbourly
development.
SE/04/00793/FUL
80 School Lane
Front and Rear
Single Storey Extensions and Construction of Pitched Roof on Front and Rear
Dormers
The Parish
Council has no comments.
Bus Services
Cllr McGarvey reported that, following the cut back in services,
a taxi-bus service had been arranged to go from West Kingsdown,
Eynsford and Farningham to Bluewater starting in July or August.
RESOLVED that the
schedule of accounts, as submitted, be approved and payments made accordingly.
Parking Notices
in Shrubbery Road
Some unofficial
looking signs restricting parking to Shrubbery Road residents had appeared in
Shrubbery Road. Cllr Payne asked that
these be investigated.
Travellers
Cllr Powsey reported that travellers were on the move from Powdermill Lane.
Hedges
Cllr Tripp asked what could be done to stop hedges being flail
mowed at bird nesting time, something that seemed to happen every year.
The meeting ended
at 9.15 pm.
Chairman
Date