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At Belle Friday Centre, Lynsted
Present:
Councillors: Baxter, Champion, Darling, Dawes, Disney, Jones
In attendance: Liz Attwood (Clerk)
1 Apologies for Absence
Apologies were received from the following who were unable to attend:
Cllr English, due to holiday.
Cllr Bowling, for family reasons.
Cllr Barnicott and Cllr Bowles had also offered their apologies.
2 Declarations of Interest
The Chairman asked if any Councillors wished to declare an interest in any items on the Agenda.
The Clerk declared an interest under 11.1.4 of the Agenda and it was agreed that this item should be discussed at the end of the meeting when the Clerk was not present. No one else wished to declare an interest.
3 Time Set Aside for Members of the Public to Address Council
There were no members of the public present.
4 Minutes of the Previous Meeting held on 15th May 2007
Cllr Jones requested that under item 4 of the minutes, that “badly handled by both parties” should be replaced with “an appalling process on both sides”.
Cllr Baxter requested text after “looked at” should be deleted in item 17.11 of the minutes.
Cllr Baxter requested that “Lesley” be replaced by “Leslie” in item 19 of the minutes.
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 Champion and unanimously agreed.
5 Minutes of the Previous Meeting held on 23rd May 2007
Cllr Baxter requested that in item 13 of the minutes, text should be amended to read ”Cllr Baxter advised that he had spoken to the Electoral Services Officer”.
Subject to these amendments, it was unanimously agreed that the minutes could be endorsed by the Chairman.
It was agreed that the version of the minutes which appears on the Parish Council website should incorporate any amendments made. The signed minutes with hand marked amendments were sent to Teynham PC and lodged in the library.
6 Minutes of the Extra Ordinary Meeting held on 6th June 2007
It was unanimously agreed that the minutes could be endorsed by the Chairman.
7 Matters Arising from the Previous Meetings
There were no matters arising from the 13th May meeting.
Following the 23rd May meeting, Cllr Disney had taken advice from Mark Radford, the SBC Monitoring Officer with regards to how the Parish Council had dealt with Mr Tamsett’s letter on Affordable Housing. Mr Radford advised that, had he been consulted before, he would have recommended that the letter be discussed as a Planning item and that the 3 Councillors with land bordering Cellar Hill should consider declaring an interest. The decision on whether or not to declare an interest does however rest with the individual Councillor concerned.
Cllr Baxter stated that, could he turn the clock back, the issue would have been dealt with differently; this particular situation was highly unusual and there was the added consideration that had the 3 Councillors in question declared an interest, the item could not have been discussed at the 23rd May due to lack of quorum. Cllr Jones stated that he would not accept the quorum as being the reason for how the matter was dealt with as this had not been mentioned at the time.
Cllr Baxter added that the Parish Council does not normally consider speculative development proposals and usually awaits a proper planning application. Cllr Jones expressed the view that if the Parish Council adopted this approach there was a potential loss of planning gain, whereas the earlier the Parish Council discussed a proposal with potential developers, the more likely it would be able to exercise its influence to gain additional benefit for the community.
After some discussion, Cllr Jones proposed that the Parish Council should consider as an Agenda item at what stage approaches from developers should be considered. This was seconded by Cllr Darling and agreed by the majority.
There were no matters arising from the 6th June Extra Ordinary meeting.
8 Affordable Housing
Cllr Disney advised that he had called Alison Thompson of EHRA. The site at Vigo Farm is progressing well, one survey has been carried out and an ecological survey is underway. It is anticipated that a design for the site will be available within a month. The plans incorporate renewable energy – CEN are acting as advisers. Of the 12 properties for sale, 4 or more will be for rent.
Cllr Disney confirmed that the revised plans will be subject to normal planning application process.
9 Parish Plan – Cllr Disney
9.1 - Update on Funding for Improvements to Greenstreet
Cllr Disney advised that he had drafted the application for a community grant for the balance of the funding required. The contract would be let by Swale Forward and the Parish Council would get to see a copy of the contract. A copy of the proposal from the successful tenderer, including proposed timescale for the study would be circulated to all Parish Councillors. Cllr Disney would also e-mail to all Councillors the Design Brief and Project Description. The study included a public consultation exercise and a public meeting would be held to get residents views. It is currently anticipated that, providing funding is obtained quickly and there are no further hold ups, the work will be completed around December 2007.
Cllr Disney advised that SBC's Transport Strategy would have A2 mitigation measures and could provide a potential source for funding the work which arises out of the report recommendations.
Cllr Disney suggested that a possible model could be Newington High Street, which although funded differently, £200k had been spent on pavements, bollards, speed restrictions after a similar study and community consultation exercise.
9.2 Joint Meeting with Teynham PC
Cllr Disney confirmed that the date had been agreed as 14th August. Attendance would be the Chairman, Vice Chairman and Clerks of both Parish Councils and anyone else who wanted to come. There was some discussion as to whether the proposal was for a joint Committee with Teynham or a Lynsted Committee with Teynham observers. It was agreed that this Parish Council needs to be very clear as to what it wanted from the meeting as it was leading. To this end Cllr Baxter would speak to the Chairman of Teynham Parish Council for his views.
Environmental Working Group (Cllr Baxter)
Cllr Baxter had circulated a paper prior to the meeting. He advised that funding from the AONB Sustainable Development Fund had been declined. Alternative sources of funding were being investigated.
The visit to a Renewable Energy unit operated by John Leigh-Pemberton at Great Higham, Milstead, on Monday 11th June had been very thought provoking and interesting.
10 Phase 2 Footway
Cllr Disney advised that the full costed proposal for this scheme, as promised by Cllr Ferrin by the end of March, had still not been received.
Cllr Disney had spoken to the Subsidiarity Officer about the continuing difficulty in obtaining an estimate for the phase 2 scheme from Kent Highways. SBC were willing to do a design and cost estimate at no cost to the Parish Council (Mike Knowles department). Cllr Disney proposed that SBC be asked to provide a cost estimate and design and dependant on the outcome, the Parish Council could consider progressing the scheme itself, using its own resources. This was seconded by Cllr Dawes and unanimously agreed.
As suggested by Cllr Bowles at a previous meeting, the Clerk had contacted Mr Haratbar to try to arrange a site meeting but Mr Haratbar had been on holiday. It was agreed that this route should not be pursued any further.
11 Finance
11.1 Payments Agreed
11.1.1 - Jubilee pump Insurance Premium at £120.30
It was unanimously agreed that the Clerk should seek confirmation as to the nature of the agreement with Teynham PC and also seek confirmation as to the format of the insurance cover. (Payment requested compares to £114.52 paid last year, this years budgeted allowance was £90). It was suggested that if this was not resolved before then it could be discussed at the joint meeting with Teynham on 14th August.
11.1.2 - EDF invoice @ £51.64 for supply & fit 2x 80W lamps at Vigo Terrace and PB3 past Batteries Terrace
The Parish Council had no knowledge of this work. It was unanimously agreed that Clerk should contact EDF as to why authorisation not obtained, also query that if this was due to vandalism why globe wasn’t also damaged
11.1.3 - Cheque no. 606 - Clerk Salary up to w/c 5th August @ £1834.10
It was proposed by Cllr Jones, seconded by Cllr Disney and unanimously agreed that this should be paid.
11.1.4 - Clerk Expenses
The Clerk was not present which this matter was discussed. It was proposed by Cllr Disney, seconded by Cllr Dawes and unanimously agreed that the Clerks’ expenses as listed, would be paid and that the precise terms for expenses would be agreed with the new Clerk on appointment.
11.2 Payments Received
No payments had been received.
11.3 Report from Finance Committee meeting of 20th June
Cllr Baxter summarised some of the key items arising from the Finance meeting
- Chairman agreed as Cllr Baxter
- Finance Committee would meet quarterly and review all finance, including non precept items
- Cash flow from non precept sources would have increased visibility and be subject to greater monitoring
- Minutes of sub groups to be circulated to all Parish Councillors
- Terms of Insurance Cover to be reviewed, and adjustment made where necessary
- Cheque signatory arrangements to be reviewed
- Risk Assessment Strategy for financial maters to be produced by next Finance Meeting
- KAPC to be asked to clarify section 137 spending allowance
- Budget to be reviewed at greater frequency, all expenditure to be listed at each 6 weekly meeting
11.4 Matters Arising From the Finance Meeting
It was agreed that the next Finance Committee meeting should be held on Monday 10th September. Cllr Jones to confirm availability.
11.5 Subsidiarity/Parish Grant
As agreed at the last meeting the availability of this was being advertised. It would be advertised in both the July and August editions of the Parish newsletter and the website.
12 Report from Standards Committee meeting of 6th June – Cllr Darling
1. Cllr Darling was elected Chairman following agreement that the Chairman should not be the same as for the Parish Council.
2. Clerk’s job description was discussed and is to be reviewed. Clerk to give Cllr Darling book on Clerk’s role.
3. It was agreed that Clerks hours should be increased form 6.5 to 10 hours. This was backdated to 1st June for current Clerk.
4. Clerk’s job to be advertised as 10 hours, with review after 3 months, closing date 31st July.
5. It was noted that the revised hours had implications for finance and possibly for national insurance contributions
6. Agreed that advert cost should not exceed £50. Also to be advertised in Parish Newsletter and the Parish Website including its links. Also, enquire about inclusion in the KAPC Newsletter, and at Lynsted and Norton School.
7. It was agreed to adopt the interviewing techniques as used for existing Clerk’s appointment
8. The Standards Committee had reviewed the quorum for Parish Council and relevant Committees and proposed that this be changed to 1/3rd. or a minimum of 3 members present. This was proposed by Cllr Darling, seconded by Cllrs Jones and unanimously agreed.
9. Next meeting to be held on 23rd July 2007.
13 Review of Clerk’s Workload and Remuneration
Discussed under item 12 above
14 Update on Vacancies
14.1Councillor Vacancy
Cllr Baxter confirmed that there had only been one applicant for the Councillor Vacancy – Bernard Broughton. It was agreed that he should be co-opted to the Parish Council. Referred to under item 12 of the minutes.
15 Planning
15.1Summary of the Planning Meeting of 6th June 2007
In order to avoid duplication of effort, it was unanimously agreed that for the 6th June planning meeting onwards, the minutes of the planning meeting should be distributed by the Clerk to all members of the Parish Council to avoid the need to read out extracts at the next 6 weekly meeting. Thus only matters arising from the Planning meetings should be required on future Agendas. This was proposed by Cllr Jones and seconded by Cllr Disney.
15.2 Matters Arising From Planning Meeting
There were no matters arising from the Planning meeting.
15.3 Other Planning Matters
None
15.4 Planning Applications To Be Considered
None
16 Reports
16.1 Kent Association of Parish Councils (KAPC) – Clr Bowling/Dawes
The minutes of the 3rd June meeting were circulated with Clerk’s correspondence. The Agenda for the 3rd September meeting was passed to Cllr Dawes at the meeting.
16.2 Playing Fields – Cllr Champion
Nothing significant to report.
16.3 Lighting – Cllr Champion
Cllr Champion advised that all existing lighting was currently operational. Cllr Champion noted that foliage outside Fir Tree Cottage opposite Cambridge Lane was obscuring the light. Cllr Jones to try to confirm who owned this land, to enable Clerk to try and get the resident to address the issue. In the event that this could not be done, Clerk to ask EDF to clear foliage.
Cllr Darling reported that one of the lights along Lynsted Lane was permanently on. Coming from Bogle House and turning left into Lynsted Lane, the light is the 1st on the right going towards the school. Clerk to contact EDF.
Clerk to ask EDF for a copy of a lighting map with serial numbers to aid fault reporting.
16.4 Footpaths
The Clerk had received response from Mike Ellis regarding the report from Cllr Dawes. It was noted that even when foliage was addressed by Kent Highways the work done was either insufficiently or done too infrequently to keep footpaths fully accessible all year round. It was agreed that Cllr Dawes should continue to pursue Mike Ellis on these issues.
16.5 Tree Warden – Cllr Baxter
Nothing to report.
16.6 Transport & Highways – Clerk
Clerk had arranged for a site meeting with Cllr Baxter, Liason Oficer and Engineer to visit all Parish Council locations with Highways issues on Tuesday 21st June.
16.7 Police liaison – Clerk
Nothing to report from Clerk. Cllr Champion advised that he had met the new PCSO. Cllr Disney advised that the new PCSO would be attending the Teynham PC meeting, Cllr Disney to get contact details for the Parish Council.
16.8 Standards Committee
Reported above.
16.9 Properties Committee – Cllr Champion
Cllr Champion advised he was still awaiting estimate for works identified as a result of the Properties Inspection of 22nd March.
16.10 Orchard Committee – Cllr Baxter
Cllr Baxter advises that the WEA who had use the Orchard recently had been extremely complimentary about the Orchard Project.
16.11 Website – Cllr Jones
Cllr Jones advised that he had looked at the website with a view to improvement. There were 2 areas to look at, the first to correct those parts which were factually incorrect and out of date and update with latest minutes and meeting dates etc. The second was longer term aspect of layout and content. It was noted that the website required photographs and resumes for Cllr Jones and for Cllr Broughton. Cllr Disney would arrange to photograph both new Councillors at the 7th August meeting which would be held in the Community Room for consistency of backdrop.
18 Clerk’s Correspondence
The following correspondence had been received and was circulated, except where indicated otherwise:
1.CPRE
a.Fieldwork, June 2007
2.SBC
a.Consultation re Proposed Parking Restriction – Opposite Lynsted School – responded to, said we agreed with the proposal
b.Consultation Plan Summary Shoreline Management Plan Medway Estuary & Swale – meeting on 9th July, Council Chamber, Sittingbourne – covering from Medway boundary to Conyer
c.Revised Internal Telephone Directory
d.Letter re Model Code of Conduct, paragraph 7 and advertising – passed to Cllr Darling for Standards Committee
e.SBC Draft Corporate Plan for consultation. Passed to Cllr Baxter. To be placed as an Agenda item for 7th August meeting as response required by 21st September
3.KAPC
a.Notification and Agenda for next Swale Area committee – 3rd June 2007. Copy passed to Cllr Dawes
b.KAPC Training Programme, including Councillors Information Day 1st July, Chairman’s Training Day 14th July and 2x code of Conduct Training Days on 28th July and 4th August
c.Reponses re KAPC charge for Declaration of Acceptance of Office forms
d.Parish News, 19th June 2007, request to respond on White Paper by 17th August. The Parish Council decided it did not have the resources to do this.
4.KCC Kent Minerals Development Framework – Further Consultation period for Church Path Pit Northfleet due to incorrect reference used in previous consultation period
5.NALC notice NLTN 31st March 2003
6.Minutes of Teynham Parish Council, 10th April, Parish Council and Annual Parish meetings
7.Kent Police – Flyer in Neighbourhood Policing
8.Kent Police – Safer Kent Awards – requesting nominations
9.Allianz Cornhill – Revised Insurance Schedule based on revised asset values as per December 2006 – to be passed to the Finance Committee for consideration. The Parish Council agreed to pay premium at lower level.
10.Citizens Advice Bureau - notice of AGM on Monday 2nd July at Borden Grammar School. Cllr Dawes would attend on behalf of the Parish Council
11.Kent Safe Schools – request for £100 donation, discussed at 20th June Finance Committee Meeting, declined
12.Agenda and Flyer for the Meeting in Public of the Eastern and Coastal Kent PPI Forum to be held on Tuesday, 19 June 2007 from 10.30am
13.Kent Highways - new parish service request form
14.Bensted’s Charity – notice re availability of funds – placed on notice board.
15.Vitalise – organisation providing breaks for disable people and carers – request for funding contribution. The Parish Council decided not to make a donation.
16.Publication of Kent Volunteers 2007 Awards for volunteering Excellence
17.Tour De France Publicity Leaflet – for notice boards
18.Leaflet explaining role of South East England Regional Assembly
19 Any Other Business – For Information Only
Cllr Disney requested the use of the Lynsted with Kingsdown Society notice boards for Cherry Day.
Cllr Jones raised the issue of increasing frequency of lorry cabs being parked overnight on rural roads. Clerk to contact SBC’s Graham Thomas on this issue.
There have been reports that what appear to be new stables have been /or are being erected at Four Acres on Ludgate Lane, without any application for a new building or change of use. Clerk to contact SBC’s Graham Thomas on this issue.
There being no further business, the meeting closed at 10.30 pm.
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