Parish Council Minutes for 7th July 2008Minutes of the Parish Council meeting held in the Small Hall, High Street, Leigh, Monday 7th July 2008 commencing at 8.00pm under the chairmanship of Cllr. R. Sykes. 1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE Cllrs. C. Stratton-Brown, P. Croft, and H. Powell. PRESENT: J. Knock, A. Johnston, D. Bennie, G. Marchant, R. Sykes, R. Dyton and Mrs. J. Butler (Clerk). 2. DECLARATIONS OF PERSONAL AND PREJUDICIAL INTEREST. None. 3. MINUTES of the Parish Council meeting held on 2nd June were approved and signed, proposed by Cllr. Knock and seconded by Cllr. Johnston. Cllr. Knock wanted to ensure that the £200 cheque granted to the RBL Leigh Table Tennis Club was in the minutes, as the cheque was despatched at a slightly later date than authorised at the meeting on 2nd June. 4. MATTERS ARISING FROM PARISH COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON 2nd June. None 5. REPORTS i.) Sevenoaks District Cllr. Cook reported the surprising and disappointing news that Kino Holdings Ltd have announced that the Stag Theatre and Cinema in Sevenoaks would be closing on 7th July, due to serious and unsustainable financial difficulties. Hopefully an alternative can be found and the establishment will soon open again. Three reports have been presented to the Environment Select Committee with regards to the Local Development Framework (LDF). Cllr. Cook voiced concern about the minimum quotas of new homes set for the district, both in terms of available infrastructure and targets for housing associations. The Open Spaces Report has been revised but as lot of the information is still inaccurate, members have asked for it to go back to Town and Parish Councils for consultation. The Strategic Flood Risk produced by external consultants does not mention Leigh or the flood barrier. Cllr. Cook has received objections with regard to the affordable housing proposal for Charcott, and the planning officer will be meeting on site with representatives of these objectors. ii.) Kent County Cllr. Peter Lake reported that with regard to the unfinished footway from Home Farm to the village, the recent meeting of the Joint Transport Board was told that the disputed land was still under negotiation. The footway from Hildenborough Road to the Forstal is due to be resurfaced. The Clerk knew nothing of this, although it would be welcome as she has received a number of complaints. The Clerk wondered if it has been confused with the long standing problems experienced with the pavement on Powdermill Lane, which has most recently been scheduled for 23rd June and yet nothing has happened. The Clerk will clarify. Southern Water turned off the water supply recently and did not properly inform the school, who were advised to use stored tank water for drinking purposes. In addition they still have yet to restore the signage to the roads . Cllr. Knock complained about the pot holes on the Green and Green View Avenue. Cllr. Lake advised the Clerk that they should be urgently reported as such, as these were treated as immediate priority, rather than waiting for the resurfacing programme scheduled initially for June 2008, and moved to November. Clerk will report these issues again to the newly established KHS call centre. District Cllr. Cook asked whether the unsightly water company base on Hildenborough Road can be cleared as it may cause a problem by precedent in the future. The Chairman commented that this may be difficult as it lay on private land. 6. PLANNING i.) Planning applications: SE/08/01540/FUL 2 Engineers Cottage, High Street, Leigh TN11 8RN. Erection of porch, internal alterations and addition of wall & fence to boundary. The Parish Council are still concerned about the proposed new entrance which will imbalance the appearance of the 2 attached cottages, which is especially a factor to consider in a conservation area. SE/08/01303/FUL Laundry Cottage, Hildenborough Road, Leigh TN11 8NA. Proposed ground and first floor extension and alterations. The Parish Council have already responded to this application as part of the Listed Building application in June, and its response remains the same. ii.) Planning decisions: SE/08/01349/FUL 6 Knotley Hall Cottages, Chiddingstone Causeway TN11 8JH. Amendment to previously approved SE/07/03440/FUL. SE/08/01188/FUL. Coppings Farm, Coppings Road, Leigh, TN11 8PN. Change of use of existing building to agricultural dwelling. SE/08/01303/LBCALT. Laundry Cottage, Hildenborough Road, Leigh TN11 8NA. Proposed ground and first floor extension and alterations. SE/08/01322/FUL 49 Penshurst Road, Leigh, TN11 8HN. Two storey rear extension. All were granted permission. SE/08/00994/FUL Cedar Court, Leigh TN118HP. Detached garage/store underneath existing tennis court. Refusal of planning permission. Approval of details: Old Kennards, Hildenborough Road, Leigh TN11 8RE. Details pursuant to condition 3 (windows) of SE/07/03372/FUL. Breach of planning: SE08/00527/FUL Hollow Trees, Hollow Trees Drive, Leigh - Refusal of application for retention of garden shed. The owner has been persuaded to take down his shed, so there has been no requirement to issue an enforcement notice. 7. CURRENT ISSUES i.) Speedwatch - the Clerk has arranged the borrowing of the Speed Indicator Device (SID) from Bidborough Parish Council for operating by volunteers for the first time on 14th and 18th July. ii.) Surgery - The plan for the short term is still to use the Small Hall, and the long term plan is to sub-divide the storeroom in the Large Hall to convert into a surgery, instead of an extension. Brian Ball will estimate costs, but providing wheelchair access will be just as expensive as the rest of the conversion. It is hoped that the Primary Care Trust will finance this. 8. ENVIRONMENT Footpath Working Party: the Clerk is about to post letters to the volunteers suggesting a meeting on the 15th September in the Small Hall. She will send a copy to Cllr. Dyton who hopes to be present. The Clerk notes that although the vegetation at the end of Crandalls has been attended to, it has not been executed very well. The Clerk will mention this to Sevenoaks District Council Landscape services. The Clerk reported that there has been a request by the daughter of Harry Lucas for permission to make a provision for a bench on the Green in his memory. The Parish Council accepted the proposal and the Clerk will respond accordingly. 9. PLAYGROUND The Clerk found it impossible to organise a meeting with David Boorman of SDC and all council members during normal working hours. There may be another representative who can attend an evening meeting. If not, the Clerk will try and arrange a meeting with the majority of council after the summer holiday period is over. 10. VILLAGE HALLS Cllr. Johnston reported that the kitchen was finished and the floor should be fitted at the beginning of August, and will take around 3 weeks. The next project is to replace the cupboards in the Small Hall. 11. AGED PERSONS DWELLING The fireplaces have been finished by Peter Fulbrook. The Gas Board have carried out a service on the boilers and apparently have stated that they should be 'condemned'. The Clerk will speak with them as there has been no communication from them to the Parish Council. 12. TRANSPORT The Chairman read out part of Sir John Stanley's letter and passed the letters to Cllr. Knock to evaluate. 13. YOUTH FORUM Cllr. Bennie informed Council that he has received a cheque from West Kent Housing Associatioin for a gazebo. Hildenborough Church and KCC have asked him to help with the youth club which will remove his Wednesday evening availability and clash with the Youth Zone. 14. CORRESPONDENCE for information only has already been circulated
15. FINANCIAL MATTERS The Chairman informed Council that the audit had now been despatched, and all Councillors agreed for the Clerk to arrange a token of thanks to be given to Colin Stevens for acting as our new internal auditor. The Clerk was asked to issue a reference number to all invoices for auditing purposes. The Chairman handed the Clerk the 2007-8 Accounts to type for Council records. The following cheques were approved for payment, proposed by Cllr. Marchant and seconded by Cllr. Knock.
16. ANY FURTHER MATTERS FOR CONSIDERATION. None. Meeting closed at 9.30pm. Signed..................................... Chairman Date........................................
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