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Waltham Parish Council Minutes of Meeting Present: Parish Cllrs: Jenny Oram, Sue Browne, Ben Grillet. Meeting started at 19.35 12/13.162 To receive and approve apologies: Apologies were received from City Cllr Rosemary Doyle who was attending another meeting. 12/13.163 To receive declarations of interest: There were no declarations of interest. 12/13.164 To approve the minutes of the Meeting held on 05/03/2013 The minutes of the meeting held on 05/03/2013 were approved as an accurate record. Cllr Oram then signed the minutes. 12/13.165 Matters arising from previous minutes not covered by the agenda. There were no matters arising. 12/13.166 Public Session: To receive questions and comments from the public Two members of the public were present at the meeting. One member of the public raised concern regarding The Old Dairy at Sarness Farm. A sign has been erected in the main driveway, and lights have been noticed during the evening. The Parish Council agreed to write to the City Council regarding the possible change of use of this building. 12/13.167 Parish Council Vacancies The two vacancies for Parish Councillors have not yet been filled, and there were no enquiries following the recent article in Paw News. A member of the public who was present at the meeting expressed an interest in the position, and will be contacted by Cllr Oram for further discussion. The Parish Council would welcome further enquiries. 12/13.168 To receive reports from county and city councillors CCllr Rosemary Doyle has offered to arrange for a presentation on the City Council’s new waste management scheme, which is due to start in June. The offer was gratefully accepted and the presentation will be given at the Annual Parish Meeting on 30 April. 12/13.169 Financial matters: i) To note the parish council’s financial position: Financial statement – The Parish Council’s book and cash balances had been reconciled for the end of February and March 2013 (£8432.77). ii) To authorise any payments The following payments were authorised and cheques raised: £72 to KALC for attendance at Planning and Development Conference. £194.16 to KALC for the annual membership subscription. The Clerk’s salary was approved in principal and will be paid as soon as new reporting arrangements with HMRC have been put in place. iii) The end of year accounts will be prepared later this month. iv) Precept payment of £7010 has been received. 12/13.170 To note planning matters and to authorise responses CA/12/01692 – Chaucer House, Kake Street - extension and alterations to riding school building to provide self-contained holiday letting unit. Following the meeting of the Development Management Committee on 5 March, this proposal was agreed, subject to the completion of a Section 106 Agreement: to ensure the retention of the holiday letting unit in perpetuity, planning permission be granted for the development described in the above application subject to conditions relating to details of external materials, joinery details to be submitted and restriction of occupation for use as a holiday-let only. CA/13/00563/FUL - Windgates, Church Lane – proposed log cabin for residential use. The Parish Council had no objections to the proposal, but would like the CC to note that if this application be approved a condition is added that the building remains an annexe to the existing property, and does not become a separate dwelling without further appropriate permission being sought. CA/13/00555/FUL - 4 Church Lane, - erection of rear two storey extension. There were no objections. Clapper Hill – it was noted that a tree that had fallen on to the highway was to be removed. 12/13.170 To consider / approve attendance at training and other events Clerk’s Conference 22 May – the Clerk is planning to attend. The following opportunities were noted: · Kent’s First Speed Watch Mini- Conference – Saturday 20 April · ACRK / KRCC 90th Anniversary Conference – East Malling - 19 April · KALC – The Dynamic Councillor – Hythe 25 April · Senior Volunteering in Romania Project - 25 May. 12/13.171 To note current consultations that might be of interest and organise any responses KALC Quality Parish and Town Council Scheme – online survey (2 April) – past. DCLG Supporting Communities in Neighbourhood Planning 2013 -2015 (15 April) – noted, but not considered to be particularly relevant to Waltham. Kent Broadband Contract signing – the PC will continue to monitor this scheme. KALC Community Awards Scheme – this is a new scheme inviting parishes to implement their own award scheme. Cllr Oram asked the councillors to read the information for discussion at a future meeting. KALC Street Lighting – details had been circulated regarding KCC proposals for street lighting, particularly the switching off of some lights and part time night lighting. The Clerk will submit this information to PawNews. Parish / Town Council Community events – the Clerk will complete this survey noting community events and possible sources of funding. DCLG – Localism – following the resignation of two councillors as a result of new requirements under the Localism Act to disclose personal/spouses’ information, the parish council wish to participate in this online consultation. Cllr Oram will draft a response and circulate to other councillors for comments. Standards Board – the vacancy for a Parish Councillor has been filled. Polytunnels and Parish Charter – will be discussed at the next meeting of CALC. CPRE proposed changes to membership – does not apply as Waltham is not a member. The Kent Environment & Community Network have suggested the need for an environmental resource centre for Kent to provide communities with easily accessible environmental information and affordable legal advice, to help them to properly address the ever increasing planning and environmental pressures on the county. The Clerk will write a letter of support for this scheme. 12/13/172 To receive updates on ongoing parish council or village initiatives i) Village Map – Cllr Browne has sent a further letter to Neil Barnes (the KCC officer responsible for producing the map), requesting a progress report in time for the Annual Parish Meeting on 30 April. ii)WSRA – Cllr Grillet reported that the meeting of the WSRA has been postponed. Topics to be discussed at this meeting include the summer fair, ongoing maintenance work at the recreation ground and a proposal that an area of ground near the Jubilee Oak be set aside as a wild flower meadow iii) The Village Hall – a grant has been received from KCC for the electrical work and grants from the City Council are being processed. Les Leslie is working on quotations for further maintenance work. The Village Hall Committee next meet on 24 April. 12/13/173 Highways The post box at Waltham Court junction, Anvil Green has been reinstated. Fire hydrants - the majority of the fire hydrants in the village have been located and painted yellow. A member of the public with good local knowledge offered to assist Cllr Browne with identifying the locations of the remaining hydrants. Once this work is completed, Cllr Browne will suggest that the hydrant map is updated. The Parish Council are pleased that this important survey has been undertaken. Forthcoming works on the A2 Horselees Underbridge (between Brenley Corner and Canterbury) are proposed to start in June 2013. The following traffic management will be in place for the works: * Weekend overnight full closures of A2 in both London bound and Coast bound directions (between Brenley Corner and Thanington). These closures will be in place Fri (8pm to 6am), Sat (8pm to 6am) and Sun (8pm to 5am). The diversion route will be in place. * During the day on Sat and Sun (6am to 8pm) there will be single lane running on the A2. * TM will be on the network for on weekend of 22nd June, 29th June, 6th July, 13th July and 20th July. * There will be a 50 mph speed limit in place during the works. Further information: Lorraine O'Farrell Structures Design Engineer Balfour Beatty Mott MacDonald Direct Dial: 0203 433 2218 | Switchboard: 0203 433 2000 | Fax: 0203 433 2001 | Email: mailto:lorraine.o'farrell@bbmmjv.co.uk 12/13/174 AOB Stoneway Park – a resident had contacted the Parish Council to express concern that a field within the park was being cleared by bulldozers. Cllr Oram visited the park and took photographs, and then contacted the City Council. The CC Planning department had not received any planning application for work and have asked to be informed if there are any further concerns. Kent County Council floating support services in Kent that support vulnerable people with their housing problems - the service is free and covers every district and borough in Kent. Floating support can help for up to a year those people whose housing situation is vulnerable. RAMP Opportunities Fund- previously funded the Jubilee grant, but this year funding is not split amongst the parishes, but open to competitive application processes. The PC will consider whether any local scheme could benefit from this funding. Annual Parish Meeting 30 April at 7.30. The Clerk will send letters to local groups inviting them to attend and present a report. Annual Audit – the annual return will be completed next week and presented at a future meeting. The following information had been circulated: Manston report, minutes of Canterbury Area Committee of KALC, Parish Newsletter. Dates of next Parish Council meeting: Tuesday 7 May 2013 at 7.30 pm. The Annual Parish Meeting will be held on Tuesday 30 April. The meeting closed at 20.55. |
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