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At St Peter & St Paul’s Community Room, Lynsted
Present:
Councillors: English, Bowling, Baxter, Champion, Dawes, Jones (Mark)
In attendance: Liz Attwood (Clerk)
1 Welcome to Newly Elected Members
Cllr English welcomed the Members, all of whom were effectively newly elected post the election and congratulated Cllr Mark Jones on his election to the Parish Council.
All Councillors were asked to sign and complete a Declaration of Acceptance of Office ASAP - to be returned to the Clerk by Friday 25th May.
Cllr Jones noted that the Declaration of Acceptance of Office required members to abide by the Model Code of conduct and requested clarification. The new Model Code of Conduct comes into effect from 3rd May; the draft had been previously circulated. Clerk to send individual copy to each Councillor.
2 Apologies for Absence
Apologies were received from the following who were unable to attend:
- Cllr Disney, due to holiday.
- Cllr Darling, due to holiday.
- Cllr Barrett, for personal reasons.
3 Declarations of Interest
The Chairman asked if any Councillors wished to declare an interest in any items on the Agenda.
No one wished to declare an interest.
All Councillors were asked to complete a Register of Member’s interests – to be returned to the Clerk by Friday 25th May.
4 Letter of Resignation from Cllr Julie Barrett
Cllr English read out a letter he had received from Cllr Barrett offering her resignation as of 14th May. Cllr Barrett stated that she felt that she was unable to continue working as a member of the Parish Council post the election, for personal reasons. Cllr English stated that he felt very sad and angry that Cllr Barrett felt she had no option but to offer her resignation.
Cllr Champion queried whether Mrs Barrett was likely to continue with her involvement in the Orchard Group. Cllr Baxter advised that this was not clear at the moment, but the Orchard Group is already comprised of both Councillors and non Councillors.
Cllr Baxter proposed a vote of thanks to Cllr Barrett for all her work, particularly as a key member of the Orchard Group and all the work done on the Standards and Complaint Committee. This was seconded and agreed by all the other Councillors, with the exception of Cllr Jones, who abstained.
Cllr Jones commented that he wished to draw a line under the issues raised around the Complaint which he felt had been badly handled by both parties and that any further actions concerning the Complaint would be taken outside of the Parish Council forum. He stated he felt that it provided a number of lessons learnt which could be adopted by the Parish Council.
Cllr English advised that, since Cllr Barrett had not actually taken up her post following the election, he was seeking advice from SBC and KAPC as to whether the vacancy was a casual vacancy which would have to be advertised or whether it could be considered arising from the election in which case the Parish Council could co-opt the unsuccessful election candidate.
5 Election of Officers
5.1 Chairman
Cllr English confirmed that in the light of events leading up to the resignation of Cllr Barrett that he would not be offering himself for re-election as Chairman.
Cllr English proposed Cllr Baxter for the post of Chairman. Following Cllr Baxter’s agreement to stand, this was seconded by Cllr Bowling and unanimously agreed.
5.2 Vice Chairman
Cllr Champion proposed Cllr English for the post of Vice-Chairman. Following Cllr English’s agreement to stand, this was seconded by Cllr Bowling and agreed by the majority, Cllr Jones abstained.
From this point forward in the meeting, Cllr Baxter assumed the Chair.
6 Committee and Working Group Representatives
All Cllrs were asked to complete a form expressing their personal preferences for sitting on Committees and Working Groups, taking into account their areas of experience and expertise. Form to be completed and returned to the Clerk by Friday 25th May.
Following completion of the forms, the Clerk, Chairman and Vice Chairman will meet and, guided by information on each Councilor’s form, will agree upon Committee and Working Group membership for the coming year. Whilst the Councilors preferences would be taken into account, the Chairman would make the final decision.
7 Time Set Aside for Members of the Public to Address Council
There were no members of the public present.
8 Minutes of the Previous Meeting held on 10th April 2007
Cllr Jones requested that under item 14 of the minutes, Chairman’s end of term report, the following text should be added for balance :
“The Complaints Committee [found] that the complaint about the meeting of the 30th May 2006 and the subsequent letter to the Borough Council [was] justified.”
In addition, a number of minor typographical errors were noted.
Subject to these amendments, it was agreed that the minutes could be endorsed by the Chairman. This was proposed by Cllr Baxter and seconded by Cllr Bowling.
9 Matters Arising from the Previous Meeting held on 10th April 2007
There were no matters arising which were not covered by an Agenda item.
10 Affordable Housing
Cllr Disney was not present and there was no report. It was noted that, following the open day in March, the St Paul’s Court Units had all been allocated to people with connections to Lynsted or Teynham; this had been done in consultation with the Parish Council.
The Clerk advised that a letter had been received from a Mr Tamsett identifying some land off Cellar Hill as a possible location as a site for affordable housing. It was agreed that this would be discussed as an Agenda item at the next meeting.
11 Local Plan Review – Cllr Baxter
Nothing to report.
12 Parish Plan – Cllr Disney
- 12.1 Update on Funding for Improvements to Greenstreet. Cllr Disney was not present but it was noted that £2,000 had now been paid into the Parish Council bank account.
- 12.2 Proposal to setup meeting with Teynham PC to discuss Greenstreet. As agreed at the 10th April meeting, on the basis of an apparent reluctance of Teynham PC to be wholly involved in Greenstreet, the Clerk had written to Teynham PC advising of the Parish Council’s proposal to lead the initiative and asking Teynham to nominate two observers.
Following receipt of this letter, Teynham PC Clerk had spoken to Mrs Attwood and Cllr English and as a result of this discussion; it was proposed that a joint meeting of the Parish Councils should be held to decide which was the best option to take forward. The Parish Council welcomed this suggestion. It was agreed that Cllr Disney should be asked to set this up this meeting on return from holiday.
- 12.3 Environmental Working Group (Cllr Baxter). Funding for the pond restoration continues to be sought. Advice had been sought from the SBC Tree Officer on removal of trees to facilitate de-silting of the pond. SBC had no objection, though formal permission was required.
Two EWG events were planned in the near future, which were open to all.
A Bat identification ‘walk’ around Lynsted village on Tuesday 22nd May. Led by Shirley Thompson, starting from the porch at Lynsted Church at 8pm.
A visit to a Renewable Energy unit operated by John Leigh-Pemberton at Great Higham, Milstead, on the evening of Monday 11th June, at 7pm.
Litter – The anti-litter poster competition has yet to be completed by the children of Lynsted and Norton School.
13 Phase 2 Footway
No further correspondence had been received on this item. As suggested by Cllr Bowles, Clerk will request a site meeting from Mr Haratbar, now that elections are out of the way.
14 Finance
- 14.1 Payments Agreed. The following payments were agreed :
Cheque no. 596 - Julia Kitt (Internal audit) @ £ 60.00
Cheque no. 597 - EDF Energy (Vallence lighting) @ £ 689.14
Cheque no. 598 - Lynsted PCC (meeting room costs) @ £ 50.00
Cheque no. 599 - Age Concern (Belle Friday room costs)@ £ 68.00
Cheque no. 600 – KAPC ( Acceptance of Office costs) @ £ 4.41
Cheque no. 601 - R Bailey (Millennium hedge cutting) @ £ 50.00
Cheque no. 602 - Allianz Cornhill (Insurance) @ £ 646.04
Cheque no. 603 - Liz Attwood (Clerk’s expenses) @ £ 60.86
Cheque no. 604 - Teynham & Lynsted Playing Fields @ £1,753.00
Two cheques had been spoiled : cheque no. 592 & 593
Cllr Baxter advised for information only that an invoice was shortly to be expected for Interpretation Panels & leaflets for the Orchard, value circa £4,000 to be paid from the no.2 account. The full Parish Council was advised as the amount was significant.
Clerk advised that the following had been received into main account:
£2,000 (Greenstreet), to be transferred into separate account when opened.
£5,391 (Half yearly precept at £2,750, plus lighting costs)
14.3.1 - 2007/8 Subsidiarity Allocation
The Parish Council had been advised of the 2007/8 figure. This was about half what it had been led to expect, at £1,650, rather than the same as last year at £3,500. It was noted that the basis of Subsidiarity allocation had changed from a mixture of highways length and headcount basis, to a headcount basis alone. Cllr Jones pointed out that this revised allocation would effectively disadvantage all rural Parish Councils.
It was noted that revised guidelines for operation of the grant system had been issued, of particular note was the stated aim to move the scheme away from Highways type works.
14.3.2 - Advertisement of 2007/8 Subsidiarity
It was agreed that availability of the 2007/8 Subsidiarity should now be advertised in the Parish Magazine. It was agreed that at some later stage a decision would need to be made on allocation of the £1,000 which had originally been ring fenced for the Parish Plan.
14.3.3 - Request for Subsidiarity Funding
Clerk advised that Lynsted PCC had been requested to provide additional cost estimates for the proposed church footpath work but these were still outstanding. These would be required before the Finance Committee meets in July to discuss this and any other requests.
- 14.4 2006/7 Year End Accounts
The final end of year accounts, which have been internally audited, were presented at meeting.
Cllr Jones raised a number of queries, some of which could be looked at by the new Finance Committee, when appointed.
Query whether the Parish Council were happy to continue to operate at a deficit (ignoring the Orchard Group Grant which was a one-off), which was increasing and thereby reducing the cash in hand. To be considered by the Finance Committee.
Query whether a fund was being built up for replacement of ageing assets. It was confirmed that currently no such fund was available. To be considered by the Finance Committee.
Query where Subsidiarity figure appeared in the Accounts – Clarification that this did not and should not appear as it was held in SBC bank account, but ring fenced for Parish Council use.
Cllr English proposed a vote of thanks to the Clerk for work done in preparation of the accounts; this was seconded by Cllr Dawes and unanimously agreed.
15 Review of Clerk’s Workload and Remuneration
Cllr English advised that Cllrs English, Baxter and Barrett had started work on this item. A number of Councillors thought this review was long overdue, and it was agreed that the review should continue and a proposal would be put to the Standards Committee. It was hoped that a revised job description and specification would be produced. It was noted that the Clerk was producing a log to record hours worked and that this should continue to assist this exercise.
This was proposed by Cllr English and seconded by Cllr Bowling and unanimously agreed.
16 Planning
- 16.1 Summary of the Planning Meeting of the 1st May 2007
The following planning applications had been received.
- SW/07/0280 Redevelopment of site to provide 5 new flats, The Fox. Although there was no objection in principle, the Parish Council objected to the proposed scheme as the design and materials appear to be out of keeping with the other traditional buildings along the London Road. It was felt that that the building line would create an additional traffic hazard on egress from Frognal Lane onto London Road.
- SW/07/&0395&6 Extract Ventilation and indoor alterations at George Inn. The Parish Council had no objection to the proposed scheme.
- SW/07/&0160 Revised Layout and drawings 67 London Road, Teynham. The revised layout and drawings did not affect the Parish Council’s previous objection to this application.
The following planning decisions had been received :
- SW/07/0154 Refusal - Extension to Detached Garage, Tickham Cottage. “Extension not considered modest and fails to preserve the setting of the adjacent listed building, extension … projects beyond the lawful residential cartilage of the dwelling and implies a change of use ... undesirable encroachment onto agricultural land...”
- SW/07/0134 Refusal – Dormer Windows Moonshine Cottage, Kingsdown
“Dormer windows would dominate the roof slope of this small bungalow in the countryside….”
- SW/07/0177 Allowed - New Access Road, Kingsdown Farm, Kingsdown
The Parish Council also considered :
- SW/05/3755 colour of weatherboarding for extension, Dadmans Cottage,
The Parish Council agreed to applicants request to change colour of weatherboarding on new extension to match a previous extension, rather than the original building.
The Clerk had received a response from Millwood Homes re provision of parking for patrons of St Peter & St Paul’s church and since then a sign had been installed. At the meeting it was noted that, despite the new sign, the car park was nearly always full with local resident sand thus still not available for church patrons.
16.2 Matters Arising From Planning Meeting
There were no matters arising from the Planning meeting.
16.3 Other Planning Matters
It was noted that a resident had objected to application SW/07/0280 (The Fox). This was read out for interest. Objection to be acknowledged.
16.4 Planning Applications To Be Considered
It was noted that 3 planning applications had been received since the last planning meeting, one of these needed to be considered by Friday 25th May:
- SW/07/0496 Storage of workers caravans when seasonal workers have left, Green Acres
- SW/07/0448 Change of use from retail to residential use, 90 London Road
- SW/07/0526 2 storey side extension, 1 Sandown Cottages, London Road
Cllr Bowling advised that it was likely that she would be unable to attend planning meetings over the next few weeks due to the imminent arrival of her grandchild. This, in conjunction with the departure of Cllrs Barrett and Jones (Fiona), meant that it was unlikely that the existing Planning Committee would be able to consistute a quorum to consider the applications within the SBC deadline.
Cllr Jones proposed a way forward would be for the full Parish Council to meet to consider the applications. This was seconded by Cllr Dawes. Meeting arranged for Wednesday 23rd May. There was also some discussion as to whether Cllr Disney might also have to declare an interest if he also sat on the SBC Planning Committee. This would need to be clarified.
17 Reports
17.1 Kent Association of Parish Councils (KAPC) – Clr Bowling/Dawes
As the Swale Area Committee meetings were held quarterly, there had been no meetings since the last Parish Council meeting. Cllr Dawes had not yet attended any meetings. It was noted that Agenda was normally only sent to Clerk. Cllr Bowling advises that next meeting would be held on the 2nd Monday in June. Clerk to pass on Agenda.
17.2 Playing Fields – Cllr Champion
Cllr Champion advised that work had been completed as planned to fell the rotten trees and construct the new fence. Since the new fence had been installed there had been several instances when the fence had been cut. The police had been informed on these occasions. The police had advised that they would shortly have sufficient manpower to concentrate on this issue and it was hoped to get the landowner to plant crops to make any future trespass into a criminal, rather than civil, action so that the perpetrators could be prosecuted.
Cllr Champion advised that the Playing Fields Committee would wait on police action before effecting a full repair.
17.3 Lighting – Cllr Champion
Cllr Champion advised that all existing lighting was currently operational as of the 11th May.
17.4 Footpaths
Report received from Cllr Dawes which listed a number of problem footpaths.
17.5 Tree Warden – Cllr Baxter
Nothing to report.
17.6 Transport & Highways – Clerk
Nothing to report. Cllr Jones advised that he had also been trying unsuccessfully to get the flooding outside Jeffries, Claxfield Lane addressed with no success. Now that elections were out of the way the Clerk would attempt to get the KCC liaison Officer, Hayley Bass to attend with engineer to address some of these issues.
Alleged Abandoned Vehicle at Cellar Hill
This vehicle had now been removed. It was not clear whether removal had been done by the owner or SBC, SBC had put a 15 day removal notice and a 7 day notice on the car.
17.7 Police liaison – Clerk
A press release of shed crime had been received. It was suggested that this be passed to the Nigel Heriz Smith for website.
17.8 Standards Committee
Nothing to report.
It was noted that after the election the Standards Committee would need meet to consider a number of items. These included review of standing orders to look at quorum, items from KAPC Progressive Council Course and Clerk’s hours of working.
17.9 Properties Committee – Cllr Champion
Cllr Champion advised he was awaiting estimate for works identified as a result of the properties inspection of 22nd March.
17.10 Orchard Committee – Cllr Baxter
The interpretation boards and a ‘welcome/map’ board had arrived in time for Blossom Day. Despite the weather, Blossom Day was a big success, attended by about eighty people. The day featured the Sittingbourne Wind Ensemble, maypole dancing and cherry heritage tours of the Orchard. Orchard Project booklets and bookmarks were on sale, and leaflets were distributed.
Members of the Lynsted Youth Club who had completed the Video-Filming and Editing Course were presented with certificates by Cllr English. Illustrated articles subsequently appeared in both local newspapers.
An article on the Orchard appeared in the Daily Telegraph of 28th April.
17.11 Website – Cllr Baxter
Nigel Heriz Smith had produced an updated report on the Parish website. The report remains positive, with the number of hits increasing. There had been increased activity in the past month on Parish Councillor profiles, presumably in preparation for the election. It was noted that the future meeting dates were not accurate. Clerk to advise new dates when these have been agreed.
Cllr Jones commented that although the website was very good, it could perhaps do with some updating as it was falling behind some of the other Parish Council websites. Cllr Baxter stated that this could be looked at by the publicity working group when this was in place.
18 Clerk’s Correspondence
The following correspondance had been received and was circulated, except where indicated otherwise:
- 1.CPRE
a.E-mail newsletter dated 2nd May 2007
b.Summer 2007 CPRE Kent Outings
c.Kent Voice Spring 2007
- 2.SBC
a.Revenue Budget and Capital Programme 2007/8
b.Notification of Parish Grant for 2007/8 – not circulated, discussed as Agenda item
c.Notice of Gardening for Wildlife Award Scheme, closing date 31st May
d.Need to complete Register of Members Interests– Agenda item
e.Car mileage allowances
f.Designation of Mike Browning to other duties until September 2007 and cessation of Funding Advice newsletter
g.Confirmation of receipt of Parish precept £5,391 for 6 months not circulated, Agenda item
h.Call for Evidence – Strengthening the Role of Rural Councillors - not circulated, passed to Cllr English to deal with
- 3.KAPC
a.Parish news, April edition
b.Councillors Information Day, 16th June, Harrietsham – highlighted for Cllr Jones attention, but he did not think he would be able to attend.
c.Letter from Teynham PC re Greenstreet, now superseded, Agenda item
- 4.Model Code of Conduct Order 2007 – not circulated– Clerk to give each Councillor a copy
- 5.Clerks and Councils direct March & May 2007 Issue
- 6.New Faversham Area Guide 2007
- 7.Letter From Mr Tamsett proposing land off Cellar Hill for Affordable Homes - not circulated, discussed as Agenda item
- 8.KCC Kent Minerals Development Framework, consultation document, consultation from 26th April – 7th June
- 9.Minutes of Teynham Parish Council, 6 March, Parish Council and Annual Parish meetings
- 10.Kent Design – Notice of Free Seminar on Renewables - not circulated, passed to Cllr Baxter for interest
- 11.Kent Police – Press Release on Reducing Shed Crime - not circulated, Agenda item
- 12.Notification of St Nicholas- at Wade Open Gardens , 8th/10th June 2007
- 13.Ground work Kent & Medway Publicity Flyer
- 14.e-mail from Roy Gosling, resident re litter outside the Co -Op
19 Any Other Business – For Information Only
Cllr Jones reported that he had had a problem near his house with off-road bikes in Lesley French’s orchards. Previously the police had not seemed interested. Cllr Bowling advised that it was hoped that the new Teynham PCSO would be in place and Cllr Champion added that the PCSO had been successful in dealing with nuisances such as this at other locations.
Cllr Jones queried what risk management scheme was in place, as referred to in the Good Councillor Guide. Cllr Baxter advised that there was no formal scheme in place, though risks were assessed on an individual basis. It was agreed that Clerk should clarify requirements for this in consultation with the KAPC.
The next meeting would be a special meeting, held primarily to discuss planning applications would be held on Wednesday 23rd May at the Belle Friday at 8pm. At that meeting the date of the next “6 weekly” Council meeting would be known where full Agenda would be discussed.
There being no further business, the meeting closed at 9.55 pm.
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