Leigh in Kent - Parish Council Main

Parish Council Minutes for 1st February 2010

Minutes of the monthly Parish Council meeting held in the Small Hall, High Street, Leigh, Monday 1^st February 2010 commencing at 8pm under the chairmanship of Cllr. Stratton-Brown.

An Open Session was held prior to the Parish Council meeting for questions from the public and reports from District and County Councillors. Please refer to separate report.

1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE were received from Cllr. Powell.

PRESENT: Cllrs. C. Stratton-Brown (Chairman), R. Sykes, A. Johnston, R. Dyton, D. Bennie, G. Marchant, P. Croft, J. Knock and Mrs. J. Butler (Clerk).

2. DECLARATIONS OF PERSONAL AND PREJUDICIAL INTEREST Cllr. Knock declared a prejudicial interest as School Governor with respect to the school's comments about the playground draft questionnaire.

3. MINUTES of the monthly Parish Council meeting held on 4^th January were corrected as follows. They were thereafter approved, proposed and seconded by Cllrs. Sykes and Knock, and a copy will be signed next month.

4. MATTERS ARISING FROM PARISH COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON 4^th January. None.

5. PLAYGROUND

The Clerk had previously circulated a copy of the response to the draft questionnaire from the Chair of School Governors. Each point was then discussed and some amendments and deletions were made. There was a discussion over whether the word pay area or playground should be used, and it was agreed to include a general definition of a playground at the beginning, and also to include a summary of the implications of each location that was to be considered. Questions about travel were decided to be irrelevant, and those concerning frequency of use would be too hypothetical and difficult to meaningfully answer. In response to a query concerning other locations, Councillors agreed that they had made sufficient enquiries over the past few years, and the two locations of The Green and Lealands Avenue playing fields were the only sites that could be currently considered. Councillors agreed that it was crucial to establish whether or not there was a need for a playground.

The Clerk would redraft the questionnaire, and send copies to Councillors for their approval within one week. She would then forward to the Chair of School Governors, and onto the representatives in the community.

The Clerk had previously circulated a letter to Cllrs. from Mr Smith of The Green objecting to wording on the draft playground questionnaire, along with her reply.

6. PLANNING

i.) Planning applications: SE/10/00013/FUL Moat Farm Granary, Powder Mill Lane, Leigh TN11 8PY. Installation of a wood burner in lounge requiring external flue extending above the roof ridge tiles. No objection.

ii.) Planning decisions by Sevenoaks District Council:

Grant of permission: SE/09/02443/FUL Orchard Cottage, Home Farm, Hildenborough Road, Leigh. Single Storey extension to front.

Refusal of planning permission: SE/09/02529/FUL & LBCALT Little Keepers, Charcott, TN11 8LG Removal of existing domestic outbuildings and erection of rear extension. SE/09/02605/FUL Hale Oak Cottage, Hale Oak Road, Weald, Sevenoaks TN14 6NQ. Demolition of existing barn, erection of 2 storey extension to rear of dwelling & detached double garage.

Approval to cut down, prune or uproot trees within a conservation area: The Pump House, High Street, Leigh. Works to 3 yew trees.

Appeal dismissed: SE/09/01237/FUL APP/G2245/D/09/2116576 The Cottage, Southwood, Scabharbour Road, Hildenborough Tonbridge Kent Two storey rear extension.

With regard to the application SE/09/02492/FUL, Podium House, The Green, Leigh, a letter from a resident to the Parish Council wondered if it were aware of the "overwhelming concern represented by over 20 letters of objection, including the cricket club". They also want to know whether SDC Planners will acknowledge the Parish Council's comments on their planning response form, despite a vote of no objection.

The response to the Clerk from Emma Gregson, SDC Planner, was as follows "The comments of the Parish Council, including the detailed reference to various areas of Local Policy have been on the public file for anyone, including District Councillors to view at anytime. This is also available online. The issues raised have all been referred to within my Committee report which is available to Members of the public 5 days before the committee meeting. At present this is scheduled to be held on the 11th of February. As I understood the Parish views, they had no objection to the scheme and their conclusion was based on the various aspects of policy which you referred to in your additional comments."

7. CURRENT ISSUES

i.) Speedwatch No report.

ii.) Neighbourhood Watch. No response yet to requests for volunteers via the Parish Magazine and shop.

iii.) PlayPlace. The Clerk had given Chris Hennis the information he needed to progress the project, and would be in touch in the next couple of weeks.

8. ENVIRONMENTAL MATTERS The Yew Trees by the Pump had been approved as per the permission granted by Sevenoaks District Council.

9. VILLAGE HALLS Although permission had been granted for the removal of the cherry trees, Cllr. Johnson reported that they had decided to retain the healthy tree until after blossoming this year.

10. AGED PERSONS DWELLING

Cllr. Marchant will report at the next meeting on his evaluation of the 2006 maintenance survey on the APDs. The Clerk reported there was a couple of minor problems with the windows which she was looking into, and that the security light had still not been installed at no. 2 despite her reminder. Cllr. Johnson said that he would remind Peter Fullbrook.

11. TRANSPORT No report other than the Chairman noted that the buses had been fairly reliable during the bad weather.

12. CORRESPONDENCE for information only had already been circulated.

Correspondence for Action up to 1^st February Action/Copy

KCC Prohibition and Restriction of Waiting, Loading & Unloading and on Street Parking Places Order 2009. Letter from Mr. Bracey, Traffic and Parking at Sevenoaks District Council proposing that where there are existing school yellow zig-zag markings there should be a supporting Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) to enable enforcement. To ensure this, SDC are proposing to make a new TRO that covers every public highway road frontage of every school in the district, whether there are markings or not. No new markings are proposed as part of this process. Comments by 30^th January.

Kent County Playing Field Association Winter Newsletter Cllr. Knock

Sevenoaks District Council Chairman, Cllr John Lankester invites all Parish Chairmen and Clerks to lunch at 12.30 on Wednesday 28 April, at the Darenth Valley Golf Course, Station Road, Shoreham TN14 7SA.

Email sent on behalf of Nick Chard, KCC Cabinet Member, Environment, Highways & Waste, re. law surrounding clearance of snow and ice from public highways and pavements. The local highway authority is responsible for clearing ice and snow from the public highway and pavement and must ensure that safe passage along the highway is not endangered by snow or ice. Duty to maintain the fabric of the road does not encompass duty to prevent or remove ice and snow. The local authority can prioritise and this is a defence in law to a claim that personal injury occurred due to lack of gritting. Private landowners are not obliged to clear snow or ice from the highway even if it passes over their land. Moving snow could create a danger in another area or melting of the snow using water could create black ice. If someone is injured the individual would be liable in negligence or nuisance. Snow should not be brushed onto the public pavement as it is a public nuisance to block the pavement or the road. Businesses carry public liability insurance and have a duty of care to their employees. It is in their interests for them to help clear snow and ice from outside shops and businesses, although the principles of liability outlined above still apply.

List of proposed Parish Council meetings from May 2010 until May 2011. Cllrs, noticeboards and website

13. FINANCIAL MATTERS

i. to consider the estimate of £423 for restoration works to Leigh War Memorial by Burslem Stonemasons. Cllrs. agreed that this was acceptable and hopefully it would make the engraving more legible. Proposed by Cllr. Marchant and seconded by Cllr. Sykes

There was an application after the distribution of the agendas from the Chair of School Governors, Beverley Doherty, for a donation for three computers for the new ICT suite. Cllrs. agreed to support this application, and Cllr. Sykes asked the Clerk to check whether the school wished the Parish Council to purchase the computers direct. Proposed by Cllr. Marchant and seconded by Cllr. Sykes.

ii. The payment of the following cheques was approved, proposed by Cllrs. Sykes and Marchant.

chq. no. List of Cheques Amount VAT

1057 Clerk's expenses £224.76 £23.44

1058 Clerk's salary (January £465.45 £0.00

1059 Clerk's pension (January) £119.21 £0.00

direct debit APD no.2 B. Gas Homecare 200 Service Agreement 20/1/10 - 19/1/11 £204.00 £0.00

1060 Civil Protection telephone £10.85 £1.61

1061 Clerk's telephone £62.50 £8.46

1062 Supply 3 bags rock salt £13.80 £1.80

1063 P.Croft snow clearance/pruning yew trees £145.00 £0.00

Total: £1,245.57 £35.31

Clerks expenses (January)

mileage @ .40p pm £32.40

working from home allowance £35.00

Fasthosts Internet Ltd: website annual hosting account £64.50 £9.61

Viking stationery/ink cartridge £92.86 £13.83

Total £224.76 £23.44

14. ANY FURTHER MATTERS FOR CONSIDERATION

Cllr. Dyton mentioned that Dartford Angling Club had purchased some land at Barden Lake at Powdermills, and that they might be accepting if part of the land became part of the cycle path. This might be worth pursuing with Glaxo at the Transport meeting on 5^th March. The advantage would be that it would link the Sevenoaks and Tonbridge paths.

The meeting closed at 10pm.

Signed.................................................

Chairman...................................................

Date.....................................................

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