Parish Council Minutes for 1st March 2010Minutes of the monthly Parish Council meeting held in the Small Hall, High Street, Leigh, Monday 1st March 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 Cllrs. Bennie and Croft. PRESENT: Cllrs. C. Stratton-Brown (Chairman), R. Sykes, A. Johnston, R. Dyton, G. Marchant, H. Powell, J. Knock and Mrs. J. Butler (Clerk). 2. DECLARATIONS OF PERSONAL AND PREJUDICIAL INTEREST None. 3. MINUTES of the monthly Parish Council meeting held on 1st February were approved by Cllrs. Marchant and Johnston after the word 'pay' was corrected to 'play' in item 5, and a copy signed by the Chairman. 4. MATTERS ARISING FROM PARISH COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON 1st February. Cllr. Dyton observed that the path at Powdermills that he had reported upon at the last meeting had now been efficiently surfaced with hardcore. 5. PLAYGROUND The Clerk noted the article from residents around The Green that had appeared in the Parish Magazine, and commented that apart from comments about CCTV, lighting, high fencing and funding, it seemed to be a fair representation of the situation. The School were still considering the second draft of the questionnaire and the Clerk suggested that meanwhile she circulate a copy to the representatives of the community so that all comments could be considered in time for the next meeting. The only drawback was that this might create two versions, but the Clerk was hopeful that this would be avoided. The Clerk noted Chris Rowley's letter (previously circulated) about his research into a possible playground at the Large Village Hall - for pre-schoolers by the cherry trees, and for 5-8 year olds by the surgery. Although Councillors had considered and rejected this site previously, they appreciated Mr Rowley's input. However, they doubted that this site could be often accessed by the public due to the daily morning playgroup use, and also noted the Tree Preservation Orders on the cherry trees and yew, but stated that any discussions should be with the Village Hall Committee. 6. PLANNING i.) Planning applications: SE/10/00293/FUL 33, Well Close, Leigh TN11 8RQ. Single storey rear conservatory extension. Councillors were concerned that the ground floor window of no. 32 may suffer from significant light reduction due to the proximity of this extension, and noted that the application appears to be more of a brick extension rather than a conservatory. SE/10/00291/FUL 3 Lower Green, Leigh TN11 8RU. Replace flat roof canopy with larger canopy with sloping tiled roof. Replace north side flat roof wooden lean-to with similar with sloping tiles roof and extend to 1.5m forward so roof can join front canopy roof. SE/10/00324/FUL Pantiles, Penshurst Road, Leigh, TN11 8HN. Single storey extension, demolition of garage. Councillors voted no objection to all three applications. .ii.) Planning dec.isions by Sevenoaks District Council: Grant of permission: SE/09/02492/FUL & 02493/CAC Podium House, The Green, Leigh, TN11 8QN. Demolition of existing dwelling and garage. Construction of replacement dwelling and garage. (Amended plans received 10/12/09). The planning minutes of 15th February were approved, and proposed by Cllrs. Sykes and Marchant. 8. ENVIRONMENTAL MATTERS The Chairman requested that this item be brought forward for the convenience of the member of the public. Cllrs. discussed the points raised by Jonathan Cook in the Open Session as well as his letter previously circulated concerning the severe pruning of the old oak which had been authorised by SDC. Cllrs. agreed for the Clerk to request a list of trees that had Tree Preservation Orders placed upon them, and acknowledged that the Parish Council are consulted on works to trees in a Conservation Area, apart from when they pose an immediate danger. With regard to the reliability of reports recommending the felling of trees, and Bartletts in particular, Councillors agreed after some discussion that they were not qualified to question the conclusion of reputable experts at the District Council's office or at a commercial company who are using methods widely recognised in the industry. They disagreed that Bartletts would recommend the felling of a tree for its own interests, and Cllr. Sykes stated that in this particular example the Parish Council were in danger of being embroiled in a private issue that had been dealt with through the proper channels. With regard to the Yew trees by the Pump, the Clerk had received the following reply from SDC regarding her request for permission to prune the Yews on an annual basis rather than leaving them for 5 years and carrying out drastic pruning works: "consent could be given to allow works to be carried out on an annual basis, this would last for a period of five years. After this period has elapsed, another Conservation Area notification would have to be submitted. I suggest a formal notification be submitted by you detailing the works you wish to carry out to these Yew trees....that this would remain for a period not exceeding five years." The Clerk was asked to obtain an explanation of how to prune these trees from the Chairman, and include this in an application to be submitted to SDC. Local Development Framework Consultations (see Correspondence, item 12.): Cllrs. agreed that we had submitted comments already and there was nothing more to add. The Chairman observed that the land to the rear of Garden Cottages was classified with a density of 13 units (25 per hectare), 30% of which have to be low cost housing. There was a discussion about whether to try and preserve the green space/allotments. Cllrs. agreed that it had not been used as green space for a long time, and its close proximity to The Green would dilute that requirement. Also there was a need in the village for affordable housing. Cllr. Knock stated that if a planning application came forward, it should be considered on its own merits. 7. CURRENT ISSUES i.) Speedwatch The Clerk noted that the new police contact was PC Aaron Mitchell. ii.) Neighbourhood Watch. No response yet to requests for volunteers via the Parish Magazine and shop. iii.) PlayPlace. The Clerk was trying to arrange a meeting with Chris Hennis. Cllr. Powell gave her apologies and left the meeting at 9.05pm. 9. VILLAGE HALLS No report. 10. AGED PERSONS DWELLING Cllrs. Marchant and Johnston will review the maintenance report when the weather improves. 11. TRANSPORT No report other than there will be a new rail timetable from 23rd May. 12. CORRESPONDENCE for information only had already been circulated.
13. FINANCIAL MATTERS i. to consider membership renewal of Action with Communities in Rural Kent at £35. Councillors agreed. ii. The payment of the following cheques was approved, proposed by Cllrs. Knock and Marchant.
14. ANY FURTHER MATTERS FOR CONSIDERATION Cllr. Marchant commented that the amount of money that KHS had to spend on potholes was extremely small. The Clerk requested from Councillors a list of speakers to invite to the Annual Parish Assembly on 19th April, and reminded Council that she would be on holiday from 1st - 18th April. She also informed Council that she would be attending a free website design workshop specifically targeted at Parish and Town Councils, run by KCC in Maidstone on 22nd March. The meeting closed at 9.30pm. Signed................................................. Chairman................................................... Date.....................................................
|
| Please contact us with any updates or comments on this web site. | Page last updated: Thu 1st April 2010 |