WATERINGBURY PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of Parish Council Meeting held on 6th June 2017
7.30pm Wateringbury Village Hall
Present:
Cllr R Tripp (Chairman) Cllr L Simons
Cllr M Wells Cllr K Fisher
Cllr C Talbert Cllr F Fielding
Cllr M Daly Cllr D Marks
Cllr M Cayzer
In attendance:
Mrs S Cockburn – Clerk to the Council
Cllr M Balfour – Kent County Councillor
Cllr S Jessel – Tonbridge & Malling Borough Councillor
Mrs C Byron – Rostrum Correspondent
11 members of the public
The Chairman opened the meeting by reminding everyone in attendance the meeting may be filmed, recorded, photographed or otherwise reported and asked if any person present intends to make a video or audio recording of the proceedings. None
17/015 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
None
17/016 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST/DISPENSATIONS
None
17/017 ANNOUNCEMENTS
None
17/018 REPORT FROM COUNTY COUNCILLOR
Cllr Balfour reiterated that funds had been made available from the Local Enterprise Partnership, via central Government, to look at the problems at Wateringbury crossroads as he had stated at the last meeting.
Cllr Balfour stated an issue had been raised by residents living at the top of Red Hill on the speed of vehicles approaching the bend at the North Pole pub and the risk of accidents with vehicles turning out of Malling Road. Cllr Balfour had tried to get the police to use cameras at that point. No signs warning of vehicles turning out of Malling Road
Mrs Christine Byron asked Cllr Balfour if he knew anything about the building previously occupied by Mcintyre Care (now K.C.C.) in Pelican Court, which it was understood was due to be revamped but which was now empty. Cllr Balfour said he was not aware of this.
The Chairman thanked Cllr Balfour who left the meeting at approximately 7.45pm
17/019 REPORT FROM BOROUGH COUNCILLOR
Cllr Jessel stated he had been attending a number of Area 2 Planning Committee meetings. There was nothing further to report other than finances were tight. It was confirmed that Council would be discussing a possible meeting with Chris Luche of Tonbridge & Malling Borough Council later in the meeting. The Chairman thanked Cllr Jessel who left the meeting at approximately 7.55pm
17/020 CRIME REPORT
Crime report attached which had been taken from Kent Police website and ewatch.com
17/021 MINUTES OF ANNUAL PARISH COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON 2ND MAY 2017 TO BE APPROVED FOR ACCURACY
The Minutes having been read were approved by Cllr Wells and seconded by Cllr Fielding.
17/022 MATTERS ARISING FROM MINUTES OF MEETING HELD ON 2nd MAY 2017
Matters Arising attached.
17/008 – Possible meeting with Chris Luche of Tonbridge & Malling Borough Council re pollution at the crossroad. Cllrs Talbert, Wells, Marks, Simons & Tripp agreed to meet with Mr Luche at the village hall. It was agreed to contact Mr Luche to make arrangements
17/011 – iCloud/Drop Box – still ongoing
17/011 – A26 Pizien Well Road – nothing further had been done to rectify signs.
17/011 – Possible survey on roads – Cllr Wells had made comes enquiries on traffic counts with some possible costs of around £400 for 4 people doing around 4-6 hours. Further enquiries would be made.
17/011 – CCTV – Village Hall – Councillors had seen a report and quote from Chroma Vision for work on the village hall cameras at a cost of £634 excl of VAT.
Three suggestions were put forward:
- The Parish Council to carry out repairs then transfer ownership to the village hall. 2 votes in favour 5 against
- Village Hall to cover the cost of repairs – 5 voted in favour 4 against
- Village Hall to pay 50% of the cost of repairs – 2 voted in favour -there was no further vote. It was then agreed that Council’s representative on the village hall, Cllr Simons, first speak to the village hall committee to discuss these options and report back to Council.
17/011 – Car Park/letter – a letter sent – no reply – Clerk would write again.
16/139 – Cemetery car park hedge – Council had seen an email form BTF p/ship on behalf of William English who agreed Council could go ahead and look at removing the hedge altogether and replace with open fencing, suggesting they consider the fencing contractor they use, Mark Fisher. The Chairman and Clerk had since met on site with Mark Fisher and he had agreed to let council have a quote. Cllr Fielding suggested asking York’s of East Farleigh to quote. Cllr Wells also suggested contacting Three Counties Contracting.
16/142 – Iron fencing/ Bow Road – Mr Mike Pursey of Wateringbury Pear Orchards had agreed to remove the fencing but had found it was in a Conservation Area and recently a sign had appeared on the fencing warning about the dangers but he had been unable to establish who had put the sign there. Mr Pursey had contacted Tonbridge & Malling Borough Council who appeared not to know anything about it.
17/011 – Quote for work on the trees at the village hall had been received from Wildwood Tree Care at a cost of £250. All councillors agreed to proceed
17/011 – Cleaning of Village Signs – Cllr Fisher agreed to inspect signs to see what was needed and report back to Council.
17/023 MINUTES OF ANNUAL PARISH MEETING HELD ON 9TH MAY 2017 TO BE APPROVED FOR ACCURACY AND ANY MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES
The Chairman stated additional information was needed on the Minutes. Amended Minutes would be agreed at next meeting
Matters Arising from the Minutes – Item 7 Unmapped village culverts – nothing further to report.
17/024 REPORTS FROM COMMITTEES AND REPRESENTATIVES ON OTHER BODIES
Finance & General Purposes – No meeting. An internal audit was carried on by Mr Colin Hanley on the 20th May. Councillors studied the Annual Return and after discussion agreed on answers in the Annual Governance Statement and the Annual Return was signed by the Chairman.
It had been reported that the lock on the gate to the top play area was broken. This lock had already been replaced three times. The Chairman said he would inspect the lock. One of the picnic tables had been put on the wet pour surface was now embedded and could not be removed. It was agreed that as the table did not interfere with the play equipment it could stay. There was another picnic table in the playing fields that needed repairing.
Planning – meeting to follow
Wateringbury Sports & Recreational Association – no representative
Mr Mike Witts of the Village Fete Committee was present and the Chairman said the fete had been very successful. Mr Witts said there had been 36 stalls on the day and he thanked the Parish Council for their financial support and that in future fetes should be self funded. Mr Witts thanked Cllr Wells for his help on the day.
Village Hall – nothing to further to report
Tonbridge & Malling Area Committee of KALC_– Notes on Meeting 4th May attached
Parish Partnership Panel – nothing to report.
Kent Community Rail Partnership – Cllr Talbert said the public consultation on the Rail Franchise had been extended to 30th June. There would be a Teddy Bear’s Picnic to celebrate National Meadows Day 1st July 11.30am -3.00pm start at James Whatman Way Maidstone. This is run by The Medway Valley Countryside Partnership.
Highways & Transportation-Speedwatch – Speedwatch report attached. Mr Charles Stroud addressed the meeting on the new system for Speedwatch to report their findings. This report now went direct to the DVLA and not the police. The volunteers on Speedwatch number 5 and it was felt that the requirement that new volunteers have to register with the police may put some off volunteering. In the following discussion Mr Stroud stated the Council’s Speedwatch did not get the support from the Parish Council and he was retiring as co-ordinator with immediate effect.
Allotments – At present there were three vacancies.
Cemetery – nothing further to report
Village Warden – nothing to report
Joint Parishes Flood Group – Cllr Fielding’s report on update on the Middle Medway Resilience Scheme and the Joint Parishes Flood Group attached
17/025 FINANCIAL STATEMENT AND ACCOUNTS FOR PAYMENT
Agreement of the Financial Statement was proposed by Cllr Cayzer and seconded by Cllr Talbert. All cheques were signed.
`17/026 PUBLIC DISCUSSION
Mr Michael Williams referred to the fencing in Bow Road which he said was reported some five years ago. With respect to the cleaning of the village signs Mr Williams suggested that perhaps Tonbridge & Malling Borough Council could help with a risk assessment.
A resident felt that Mr Stroud should have been given additional time to make all the points he wanted. Another resident thanked Mr Stroud for his work and efforts on the Speedwatch team.
There being no further business the Chairman thanked everyone for coming and closed the meeting at 9.40pm