Parish Assembly Minutes for 19th April 2004Minutes of the Annual Parish Assembly held in the Small Hall High Street, Leigh, on Monday 19 April 2004 under the chairmanship of Cllr J Knock, commencing at 8.pm. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE were received from Cllrs L Featherstone, G Marchant and District Cllr Mrs A Cook. PRESENT Councillors: P Croft, C Stratton-Brown, A Johnston, A McCarthy, M Pollard. Parishioners:Mrs Davis, Mr & Mrs E C Batchelor, Mrs Everett, Mrs A Gibbs IN ATTENDANCE, Sp. PC G Eade, County Cllr P Lake and the Clerk Mrs C Phillips. THE MINUTES of the Annual Assembly held on 28 April 2003, which had been previously circulated were agreed by the meeting and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.
Chairman's ReportThe last year has seen the start of a number of new initiatives, and the successful completion of others. The Village Hall improvement plans and a Parish Plan are well under way, the Rural Housing Trust are progressing with the Affordable Housing Scheme and "Jessica's Hall" for the school was opened last summer. A planning application for houses off Hollow trees Drive was dropped, but West Kent Housing Association has obtained approval for work on additional housing in and above Barnetts Road, and may now be looking for two new houses at The Forstall. A programme of major works on the older trees on the green has now been commenced. The Central Railways plans have been refused government backing, but they have not accepted defeat. There may be threats to the frequency of our local passenger service. The Parish Council has an interest in the Village Halls complex as Custodian Trustee, and we are very pleased to see that Architect's plans have been prepared for submission to the District council concerning Large Hall under floor heating, electrics and new flooring, new toilets and a further storeroom extension. Helen Everett and the Management Committee have spent much time and effort on this, and mention should also be made of 'face-lift' immediate decorations carried out by Alan Johnston. Grant applications should be made quite soon to various funding agencies. The Parish Council has counter-signed a new lease between the Village Halls Management Committee and the Royal British Legion Club. Whilst the Village Design Statement concentrated on buildings with a view to future planning, the new Parish Plan relates to facilities within the Parish, and is designed to keep all those which we value and to extend and improve these for the future. Martin Pollard has spearheaded a hard working steering committee including Parish councillors and other parishioners. A public Meeting was held in January, and the results of the survey questionnaire to all households are now being collated. The Action Plan should be published late in the year. Two other initiatives are under way. "Country Eye" is a new scheme introduced by West Kent police to replace and extend the existing Neighbourhood Watch Scheme. LISN is a proposal by Mr Andrew Hemming for a quick reaction plan for parishioners to act immediately in the event of any child, older person, or others who have gone missing in the Parish. This is being considered by the Parish Council, and the West Kent Police in conjunction with " Country Eye." Children and parents should continue to be vigilant, in case of any prowlers, an incident with a child being 'invited' into a car took place recently. The Rural Housing Trust has been looking with the District Council planners at possible sites for the Affordable Housing Scheme for local people, with the field behind The Forstall to the fore. Access to this site is presently undetermined. The Parish Council disputes the opinion that the sites at Lightfoots and Moorden are too remote. We have been concerned to hear that West Kent Housing Association will have a management role in any scheme, and have made it clear that the Parish Council will wish to continue to 'vet' the authenticity of initial applications and subsequent transfers, as this was a pre-requisite of the whole idea. It appears that West Kent Housing may separately be seeking approval for two new semi-detached houses on land on the eastern side of the access to The Forstall, but plans have not yet been received. Progress is being made for a roadside footway at Knotley Hall. A meeting has been held with the Highways Department to ask for a similar path from the Home Farm Estate, though priority has not been promised to us, and we are seeking a similar meeting to discuss the possibility of using the GSK footway at Plough Hill. Parishioners will have seen that one of the old Horse Chestnut Trees on the Green was felled after it dropped a large branch and was declared unsafe. A detailed expert inspection of the other trees on the Green was carried out, and the reduction of the crowns of the two remaining old trees on the north side of the Green has been completed; the Ancient Oak has had similar treatment and a management programme will protect its future. Increased maintenance work on the Green is also being carried out again this year. The opening of " Jessica's Hall" took place on 17 September before a large crowd of children, staff and parishioners on a lovely warm summer's day. The children now have a wonderful new Hall with much improved facilities, and our congratulations must go to the Governors, School and the many who helped in fund raising. In particular thanks are due to David Sellicks who pursued a long and sometimes difficult path to head this successful project. We were pleased to again receive commendations for 'Community Life ' and 'Young People' categories in the "Kent Village of the Year" competition, and have entered again for 2004. Central Railway remained a threat throughout the year but although the Government has withdrawn support for a 'Hybrid Bill' and any financial backing, they have vowed to fight on with private finance. Our thanks are due to Andrew McCarthy for his continued vigilance and hard work in spearheading our opposition. The Tonbridge to Redhill passenger services have now been transferred from the South East to South Central Area. A keen look out will be necessary regarding any proposal to remove off peak services from Leigh when the Strategic Rail Authority's South Central plan is published, as it is noted that the South East plan is to decimate stopping services calling at numerous villages in mid and east Kent. Unfortunately the state of the Leigh Station has become a disgrace, one shelter burnt down and not yet replaced, the other damaged, desecrated, and covered in graffiti. Immediately after this had been repainted graffiti was reapplied and just previously another fire had to be extinguished. It is unlikely that all this is the work of outsiders. The Parish Council has been concerned about the reports of the taking of drugs there, and has alerted the police forces. The new public toilets opened at the same time as Jessica's Hall, were immediately vandalised and were closed by the District Council when warnings were ignored, and have only now been re-opened for the summer. Surely there are better things to do than this mindless violence. On the positive side there are many clubs and organisations providing activities for our young people, and the Church Youth Minister David Bennie and his helpers deserve our thanks for all their efforts. A party form the youth club visited the Gambia early in the year to help with the construction of a new school. The Green and Village Halls are well used for youth sport activities. There have been requests (to the 'Parish Plan') by youngsters for a Junior Football Club on the Green. A new Rugby Football Club ahs been formed and played and been practising on the Green. A number of suggestions have been made for increased use of the Lealands Avenue Playing Field, this belongs to the KCC and further reference is likely to be made in the Parish Plan, when the Action Plan is published. The Parish Precept for 2004/05 has been set at £12,500 an increase over the £9,000 for 2003/04 and other reduced precepts in recent years. This is chiefly due to the increase in budgeted expenditure for the Green and its trees, and the provision of grants towards Village Halls improvements. A number of s137 grants were made to voluntary organisations and the School, although these did not reach anywhere near the maximum permitted. Clubs and organisations are reminded that an application for assistance towards new projects, capital equipment, and improvements may be made to the Parish Council. The annual limit was increased to a total of £6,000 and has now gone up again to approximately £6,600 for 2004/05. We have been saddened to lose a number of parishioners who worked hard for the Parish, and a former Chairman. Jack Lucas was a Leigh British Legion stalwart for over fifty years and at one time kept the associated Club going almost single-handed. Arthur Tansley will be remembered for producing the expert RACHEL Report for an alternative largely tunnelled Channel Rail Link, and for the production from old cine films of a historic record of Leigh Scout camps at Studlands in the 1930's. Jack was one of those featured among other still familiar faces and the Parish Council ahs a treasured copy (c/o the current chairman). Mrs Petra Thompsett was a stalwart member of the Womens Institute and Sort Mat Bowls Club. News has come through of the passing of John Parfitt, who moved away after dedicated service as Councillor and Chairman in the 1970's concentrating particularly on the originally proposed Channel Tunnel Rail Link, signposting of public footpaths, and planning matters. He was also founder member of and an initial driving force of the Leigh Historical Society. Parish council elections took place in May 2003, with the retirement of valued members Alison Gibbs, Mike Nicholson and Virginia Morris. Other Councillors were re-elected with the addition of Colin Stratton-Brown, Peter croft and Martin Pollard. It remains for me to thank the Members of the Parish Council, its Committees and Working Parties, for all their support and hard work during the year. Alan Johnston our Vice Chairman and Village Halls representative, Graham Marchant, Chairman of our Planning Committee, Roger Sykes Chairman of Finance, Martin Pollard, Parish Plan, Andrew McCarthy, Central Railways, Peter Croft Environment and Trees, Colin Stratton-Brown, and Les Featherstone Footpaths and Public Transport to whom we wish improved health. I must thank Eric Batchelor who preformed the required internal audit of our accounts and is with me our Leigh United Charities representative, and Alison Gibbs who has continued to represent the Parish council as a School Governor. The KEC are now disposing of our right to representation, although the school Governors wish the link to be continued. Thanks are also due to Peter Penn as our Tree Warden, to David Purdy and peter Croft for their assistance in the upkeep of the green and elsewhere, Graham Eade for his sterling help and watchful eye as our Parish Constable. Arthur Hill has continued to produce the lively and informative Parish News; the delivery of the six-monthly Directory of village facilities, organisations and public transport times which the Parish Council funds. Thanks are also recorded to Alison Cook, Leader of the District Council and our representative and Peter Lake our Kent County representative for their hard work on our behalf. Last but not least I would like to express thanks from myself, the Parish Council and on behalf of Parishioners to our Clerk, Chloe Phillips, for all her conscientious hard work during the year, including all the various consultation documents that come our way. We reply, but are our comments acted on, or are these just legal formalities?
PARISH COUNCIL ACCOUNTSCllr Sykes introduced the Audited 2002/03 Accounts. As always it is the Council's objective to run a balanced budget. The budget has been increased by £2,400 which includes a grant of £2,500 from the Countryside Agency and GSK towards the establishing of the Parish Plan. Expenditure includes the Council's contributions to the improvements to the Village Halls a budgeted £15,000 plus £2,500 from reserves and a further £2,500 from 2004/05 totalling £20,000. Work to trees on the Green cost £2,650 and there is a rolling maintenance plan in place the cost of which has been included in the precept of £12,000. The Bungalow rents have been increased by 3% from June, the first increase in 4 years. The general upkeep of the Parish has been increased as have the administration costs which include our contribution to local election costs. Since the S137 allowances have not been fully allocated a lesser amount of £3,500 has been earmarked within the budget. This year's external Audit is earlier again this year being in May.
CLLR MRS COOKIn the absence of Mrs Cook the Clerk read her report:The May elections saw an influx of new Councillors; the overall balance of the authority remains virtually the same despite boundary changes. The Council also welcomed a new Chief Executive, Robin Hales. The last twelve months have been both productive and challenging. Significant efforts have been made to identify both potential weaknesses and opportunities. Whilst budget pressures, the Community Plan, the creation of the Leisure Trust, a Vision for the District for the next 10/15 years and the Comprehensive Performance Assessment Inspection have been very much to the fore the Council has also been keen to move the authority forward in terms of initiative, thinking and quality of services. Two outstanding examples of change have been in Development control where the number of applications determined within 8 weeks has more than doubled, and in Environmental Health where 100% of food premises due for inspection have been completed. Other success stories have been in Recycling, where the introduction of the clear sack scheme has seen collection targets rise from 11% to 25% ahead of target and Housing which has been awarded Fit for Purpose status a year in advance and has been commended by Lord Rooker for meeting its obligations on homeless. The Council's improvement in housing benefit has also been recognised. In addition Sevenoaks has also gained Investors in people for the third consecutive time and complimented for its achievements. The Council has been active in helping to reduce actual and perceived levels of crime by a combination of initiatives. The deployment of Community Wardens and Community Support Offices offers a high profile, on the street presence, whilst Operation Cubit and the Voluntary Surrender Scheme get unwanted, untaxed cars off the road. The grime busters machine allows graffiti to be removed quickly and has been a welcome addition in the fight against vandalism. Equally valuable has been the Council's participation in Pub Watch and the Safer Shopping Scheme. These actions together with the successful serving of 4 ASBO's and 10 Behavioural Agreements have sent a clear message that anti-social behaviour will not be tolerated within the Sevenoaks District. Making it Happen, the Community Plan for the District was unanimously endorsed by all political parties at full Council in March. The council places great emphasis on partnership working, whether that is with County colleagues, West Kent Local Strategic Partnership or at District level, addressing the needs and aspirations of the community within the context of the national and local agenda. If the vision for the District is to be realised it must be through effective co-operation and a shared goal. Significant improvements have been made during the year and some outstanding projects are finally underway, Edenbridge Relief Road being the main example. However, improvement is an ongoing process and some key concerns need to be addressed in the coming year. Stabilising the budget remains the top priority given government's squeeze both in terms of minimal grant award and threats of capping. This will put a continued pressure on the Council to make difficult and possibly unpalatable decisions, and tougher controls have already been implemented. Although the Council has been successful in attracting specific grant awards these monies are ring fenced and cannot be used to support ongoing revenue costs. Despite the improvement in Housing Benefit there is an urgent need to replace the current computer system. Also Blighs phase 2 needs to be progressed and the Council's obligations under its new Licensing role established. Within the organisation some departments are being realigned to allow closer working between for instance Planning and Housing to tackle head on the increasing need to provide affordable housing both for rent and private ownership and for this to be identified in the emerging new Local Plan. The next 18 months will be tough politically but the Council is determined to drive the organisation forward and to continue to raise the quality of service delivery. May I take this opportunity to thank John Knock as Chairman, Chloe Philips as the Clerk and all the Members of the Parish Council for the excellent work they do on our behalf and especially for their help and support to me. I would be grateful if this could be recorded.
COUNTY COUNCILLOR LAKEpresented his report: The amount that you pay for Kent County Council services is going up by 5.2% - an extra 72p per week for Band C households. Finance for public services is always limited, but the County Council is determined to make the very best use of taxpayers' money. This is reflected in a continual drive to reduce administration and overheads and move resources to front line service delivery. Our medium-term financial plan unfortunately has to reflect the Government's redistribution of funding away from Kent and the South East, a loss of £54million for Kent alone. Even so our Council Tax increase was the lowest of all county councils in the South East. How do we spend your money? - We are educating 213,000 children in 619 schools - we work with more than11,000 children in need - we provide care for 37,755 adults and help 18,000 older people to live at home - we maintain 5,180 miles of roads. Kent County Council has been classified as an excellent authority.Now to business locally. It seems that Government has killed Central Rail's ambitions to run freight trains down the Redhill/Tonbridge line. As a result the countryside has been saved from total disruption during construction work. On the other had, we must be wary that the situation does not rise again and we must make sure that the Channel Tunnel Rail Link takes freight trains. On other rail matters, KCC has made the strongest protest to the Strategic Rail Authority over its proposals to cut trains to Cannon Street, and indeed to other London termini serving our rail travellers from Kent. I attended a site meeting in connection with the request for a pedestrian footway along the B2027 road from Leigh to Hildenborough. I have the greatest sympathy for the residents of Home Farm and I hope that we can build a footpath, but I am even more concerned about having a footway around the dangerous corners further on towards Hildenborough where cars seem to take great relish in going through the Grade II Listed stone wall. It does infuriate me to see just how short-sighted the various utilities are in working on our roads. For Leigh residents to see the road re-tarred, and then to find the road being dug up so soon afterwards to accommodate new piping is just absurd. It should have been done the other way round. As it is I am angry that the contractors use the side of the road for dumping their spoil and materials when there is a perfectly good Highways depot up the road. I just hope the contractors do a proper job in reinstating the tarmac - so far it's a mess! I will be writing to the Clerk to seek ideas for spending £10,000 in my constituency as a result of funds made available by the new Local Boards. My initial ideas are to provide a rural bus service with the help of all my Parish Councils or to have solar powered speed restriction units in each village. I would like to finish my report by thanking the Chairman and members of the Parish Council for their indulgence over the past year.
LEIGH UNITED CHARITIESMr Batchelor presented the accounts for this charity whose end of year is 31 January. The income for the year amounted to £31,036 with expenditure of £34,389 giving an excess of Expenditure over Income of £3,353. Monies have been spent on property repairs and greater giving. In Leigh there have been 67 families who benefit monthly with 89 families helped at Christmas, whilst in the Hildenborough part of the parish 11 families have received monthly assistance with 15 receiving Christmas help. Mr Batchelor finished his report with his annual appeal for those in need or with knowledge of the needy, to contact any of the Leigh United Charity Trustees who would be delighted to help.
LEIGH CRANDALLS TRUSTCllr Stratton-Brown presented the accounts for the year ended 31 December: The charity contributed to physiotherapy, sixties stretch, Leigh Primary School and St Mary's Youth Work. The opening balance was £444.31 total expenditure for the year was £2,030. Cllr Stratton-Brown reiterated Mr Batchelor's plea for anyone in reduced circumstances to contact the charity, which whilst small would always endeavour to help.
SCHOOL GOVERNORS REPORT:Mrs Gibbs presented the report: The school roll is 135 from 94 families. There are 5 classes with an average size of 28 children with 23 in reception and Year1. the school ahs 6 teachers 4 full time and 2 part time, with 7 teaching assistants.The school goes from strength to strength. A review of the school improvement plan shows that there is a marked improvement in the core subjects. The school had the best results in science for 4 years, which placed them in the top 5% compared with schools both nationally and locally. 9 out of a possible 10 children passed the 11+, which was thrilling. Year 5 led by Mrs Crouch has constructed the school website. On the sports side Mr Sandys has a close partnership with Hayesbrook Sports College. There is a new scheme for PE, wall bars have been installed in Jessica's Hall with staff undergoing training to ensure that they are used safely and to their full potential. Visiting PE specialists have given demonstration lessons. Mr Gubb has transformed the 2 netball teams which outscored the opposition 25-2 in the last 3 games and gained a place in the semi finals of the Edenbridge tournament. The Race Walking Group has done very well and Leigh School is ranked 38th club out of 65 listed in the country. After school clubs are well attended and there is now a choice of Art, Golf, Netball, Grass Roots Soccer, Race Walking and English and Maths. The School Field ahs been surveyed and is in urgent need of draining. This has been reported to the KEC and we await results. The children have begun to devote a little time each week to learning the basics of French and last term during a week devoted to Venice and the study of Venetian culture, they learnt a little Italian, made masks and finished the week with a masked ball, which was a great success. Jessica's Hall is proving a huge asset and is much appreciated by both staff and pupils alike. All in all we have had an excellent year and the Village has a school of which we can all be justly proud.
SPECIAL PARISH CONSTABLE G.EADEP.C Eade reported that his original partner Richard Aylward had cancer. The crimes in Leigh were down, by 2. Burglaries up by 7; Criminal damage down 1; Sexual offences up 1 stop a child; 1 drug offence in Chiddingstone Causeway, which resulted in an arrest; 1 violent offence domestic violence. PC Eade told the meeting that as crime goes, Leigh was considered low crime area, which whilst a good thing, in that the community could feel safe, from a necessary police presence perspective it meant a less visible police presence than perhaps residents would like. The regular community officer for Leigh had sent apologies the area covered by him is enormous, stretching from Hildenborough through to Bidborough and out as far as Underriver and Fordcombe. PC Eade finished his report with thanks to parishioners who continue to keep him informed via the white box and to the Parish Council for their support.
VILLAGE HALLS REPORTMrs Helen Everett presented the report: Over the last year there have been two main areas of work: - ongoing short-term maintenance of the halls and long-term restoration.Short-term maintenance: We set ourselves the objective of making the halls clean and cheerful. The Small Hall is in a reasonably good state of repair both internally and externally, but needed freshening up. The Large Hall whilst in a good condition internally, could be far more cheerful at little expense. Alan Johnston should be thanked for a superb job. Over the last 12 months he has:
As a result of this work we have seen an increased usage of the Small Hall, and comments in the village that it looks as if the community cares about the halls. With regard to the Royal British Legion we have recently amicably agreed terms for a new 21 year lease. Long term restoration: In 2003 we agreed objectives 'endeavouring to keep the existing complex as a key social centre for everyone in Leigh, carrying out improvements over a phased period, funded by grants, money raised and the skills of the people of Leigh.' At all times keeping everyone involved and informed of developments. Since then we have sought the views of the people of Leigh through:
We have set up a fundraising committee, obtained Inland Revenue consent for gift aiding, and sent a flyer to local charities and companies requesting funds. Whilst there is still a lot of work to be done, over the next 12 months we hope to be able to raise the funds necessary to enable us to complete the major refurbishment work in 2005. The first phase of the restoration will be the creation of a secure playground for the children of the pre-school. We hope to obtain planning permission shortly and have volunteers in the village to produce the iron gates and railings needed as well as install them. We need to raise the funds to cover the raw material costs of about £2,000. Mrs Everett finished her report by thanking everyone for their enthusiasm and commitment over the past twelve months.
CENTRAL RAILWAYSCllr A McCarthy presented the report: The whole scheme was relatively quiet until March when the Telegraph reported that Civil Servants thought that the Central Rail scheme would be found acceptable. By the end of March 2004 the government announced that they were unwilling to accept the concept of a Hybrid Bill. In April Central Rail, dismissed this as final, and in the Mail on Sunday pledged to continue with the scheme using private funding. There is a need to continue vigilance to ensure that the scheme is finally buried. Cllr McCarthy felt that there was a need to get MPs to prevent further half-baked schemes from surfacing, causing property blight and uncertainty. There must be legislation to prevent misuse of Parliamentary time, and to ensure that the Hybrid Bill legislation is not misused to try and overturn the democratic decision making powers of Parliament.
PARISH PLAN:the report was presented by Cllr M Pollard. In June 2003 the Parish Council decided that a Parish Plan should be prepared and a sub-committee was formed. This sub- committee was independent of the council and its membership reflected a cross section of village interests. Work started in July to draw up a schedule to develop the plan and apply for funding. By September the schedule had been agreed but funding was not finally in place until December when the following were confirmed:Countryside Agency: £2,365 (full grant) (1st tranche received, remainder once Plan in place) GlaxoSmithKline: £2,000 Parish Council: £700 The Creation of the Parish Plan will be in four stages:
Cllr Pollard detailed the four stages: Consultation: publicity; open meetings; web-site creation; village and youth surveys; outlying area surveys, village school survey and clubs and local firms survey; suggestions box in the post office; photographic competition to find the best and worst views of Leigh; Sevenoaks District Council. Analysis: All the received information will be analysed by the Steering Committee and should be carried out in May/June Action Plan: this will be developed from the analysis, and will hopefully be presented to the Parish Council in September/October. This will identify the range of issues which will need to addressed:
The progress of the Action Plan will be monitored by the Parish Council at their monthly meetings. Report: The full report giving a picture of the Parish, including details of the data, the analysis, and the Action Plan which will be prepared by the end of year and ratified by the Parish Council. Cllr Pollard finished his report with thanks to all the committee and the distributors/collectors who had helped with the survey. The Chairman thanked everyone for their reports and hard work during the past year. ANY OTHER BUSINESSA question regarding the status of County Eye was asked to PC Eade who confirmed that it would cover all the existing separate schemes from Neighbourhood Watch, Farm Watch, Pub Watch Shop Watch etc. PC Eade reminded the meeting that additional Parish Constables were sought if anyone knew of possible volunteers. Mr Batchelor thanked those present, but expressed his disgust in the apparent lack of support for the Parish Council by parishioners. He felt that everyone was very quick to complain, but very slow to support. The Chairman thanked Mr Batchelor for his comment. The Chairman informed everyone that he now held a copy of the Leigh Institute Minute Book from 1908 -1938 which he had received from Mr Lewis. The chairman had also received a letter of congratulations from ex councillor Morgen Witzel, congratulating the Council on their efforts to defeat Central Rail, a fight which he had spearheaded when a member. There being no further business the meeting closed with thanks to the Chair at 9.55pm. Signed........................................ Chairman Date..........................................
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