Minutes of Adisham Parish Council, 6th September 2010

A Meeting of the Parish Council was held on Monday 6th September at Adisham Village Hall.

Present:Councillors Mrs M. Maxted (Chairman), Mr K.Terrett (Vice-chairman),Mrs S. Mellowship, Mr P. Ray, Mr K. Chidgey, Dr E. Collins, Kent County Councillor Mr. M. Northey , Mrs S. Back (Clerk) and 8 members of the public.

1. Apologies: Councillor Salt..

2.Minutes of previous meeting: The minutes of the meeting held on 5th Julywere agreed as a true record and were signed by the chairman.

3.Matters arising:

Coucillor Terrett expressed concern over the damaged hoarding at 94 The Street. The clerk was instructed to chase this up with Canterbury City Council. The man hole cover outside of the village hall has now been sealed.

4. Declarations of Interests by Councillors:

Cllr Terrett – Village Hall.

Cllr Maxted – Village Hall

5. Matters raised by the public: The meeting was adjourned for public questions and comments.

6. Reports:

School. Councillor Terrett attended the last School Governors’ meeting on 14th July. Mr. Tony Holt resigned as a teacher at the school and hence from the Board as a Teacher Governor. His replacement could not be elected until he new term in September. The Board received a long report from the Advisory Headteacher concerning the initial stages of the school’s progress following the ofsted report. The results showed that pupils were not yet making sufficient progress, especially in key stage 2. However, it was early days and more time was required for the measures introduced into the school to take significant effect. Nevertheless the report indicated that the children’s behaviour etc was good. A Parent’s forum was arranged for Wednesday 22nd September in the Village hall. At this and subsequent meetings, parents will be given reports on the progress the school is making towards obtaining its release from special measures. The next meeting of the full governing Board will be on Thursday 23rd September at 4.30pm.

Aylesham & Community Development Partnership (Cllr Mrs Maxted) – Nothing to report

KALC Canterbury Area Committee: The KALC Canterbury area meeting was attended by Councillor Terrett and Maxted on 14th July. The meeting was addressed by Councillor John Gilbey, leader of Canterbury City Council. He spoke about the so called ‘Localist Revolution’. This is the intention of the new Coalition Government to increase the powers of local authorities and reducing the control from central government. This is designed to reduce bureaucracy and will affect much of the present legislation on planning and other matters. This increase of power will come down to Parish Councillors who are likely to have more responsibilities and will require greater competances. The Governments green papers will detail the new proposals.

Councillor Gilber referred to the present financial restrictions stating there would need to be a 25% to 33% reduction in Council funding over the next four years. Councillor Gilbey also spoke of Canterbury City Council’s plans to combine with neighbouring authorities in a shared services scheme, This will include an enlarged recycling scheme, and within a year or two, glass, paper and kitchen waste will also have door-step collections. After John Gilbey’s talk there was an election of Officers and representatives. The following appointments were confirmed; Chairman, Ray Evison; Vice-chairman, Peter Topley; Secretary, William Leetham; Manston Airport Committee, Len Claisse and Rodney Chew; Blean Initiative, William Leetham; Joint Transport Board, Janet Larkinsin; Standards Committee, Ray Evison and Ken Terrett. The next meeting will be held at TylerHill at 7.30pm on Wednesday 13th October which is hoped will include a speaker from Kent Highways

Village Hall: (Cllr Terrett) – Councillor Terrett and Councillor Maxted attended the first meeting after the summer on Thursday 2nd September. The main topic was that of the financial concern over financing the renovations to the kitchen and toilets. Of the three funding applications only two were granted leaving a shortfall. Most of the major work has been completed but the toilets still need painting. Funding is being sought through other Bodies but is proving to be difficult as the work has already been carried out and retrospective applications will not be considered. However, ACRK are working on finding alternative funding and new information has been received that B&Q the diy specialist do give free end of line paint/wallpaper etc to charities. The Village Hall treasurer has confirmed if unsuccessful their reserves would finance this but would delay work being planned for the other end of the Village Hall and also make it difficult to match fund any other grant applications. Councillor Maxted added there were volunteers to work in the evenings and at weekends to paint the toilets.

KCC representative Councillor Micheal Northey: Councillor Northey began with the news that KCC must cut their budget by a minimum of 25% (£320m) in the next four years. Councillor Northey said they will endeavour to keep cuts to frontline services to a minimum. The Government will announce indicative figures on 20th Oct and the actual figures in December. Councillor Northey assured members that Kent Highways had put in place a maintenance plan for this coming winter. Roads will be prioritised in order of hierarchy so access to hospitals and doctors etc will be dealt with first. He went on to say how £2.5m from the previous Government and a further £7m from KCC will be allocated to finding and fixing potholes through the winter. Councillor Northey reported that at it’s height up to seventy crew were working seven days a week during the last severe winter fixing nearly six times as many potholes as last year. He assured the parish council that all potholes not yet filled will be done by the end of September. Finally Councillor Northey reported that due to funding cuts by the Government the speed limit review initiated by the last Government has been stopped. These cuts make policing these speed limits impossible therefore KCC feel money is better spent on the roads. Councillor Maxted asked whether a flashing speed limit sign could be erected in The Street to deter drivers speeding especially during the school run. Councillor Northey said he had a small amount of funding and it was agreed the clerk would make a formal request by email to Councillor Northey.

7. KAPC / NALC /ARCK: The correspondence received from these organisations as listed on the agenda and on the supplementary list of items received since the publication of the agenda was noted.

8. Correspondence: The correspondence received as listed on the agenda and on the supplementary list of items received since the publication of the agenda was noted.

It was noted that a new PCSO had been appointed. His name is Gavin Dodwell. It is hoped he will attend the next meeting in October.

9. Accounts:

Outgoing: Clerk’s salary and expenses £1012.02

Bounty Pest Control £ 117.50

Strutt & Parker £ 68.00

Viking Direct £ 51.05

Donation to Village Hall £5000.00

Income: Photocopier Income £ 51.10

VAT Return £3174.08

Photocopier Income £ 23.30

The Council confirmed payments of the above outgoings and noted the monthly Budget Monitoring Report distributed with the Agenda.

10. Planning: The Chairman read a response from Canterbury City Council to our request for a health and safety officer to assess the Bulls Head Public House. The City Council felt after looking at the site it did not warrant any further attention. Councillor Collins asked who put the bollards around the cellar. Councillor Terrett said it was the Police. The Chairman informed members that she had received a computer generated image of proposed plans to change the Bulls Head into a café/shop with living accommodation above and a pair of semi detached houses to the side. Formal planning application has not yet been submitted.

11: Highways and Footpaths:Councillor Collins gave handouts of Kent highways portal. It showed all issues raised about lighting, footpaths and roads. A new ‘no through sign’ will be erected o the corner of The Street and Woodlands road by 15th September. The overhanging trees along Pond Lane have been cut back at parish council’s expense. The potholes outside of the Bulls Head are still to be filled Councillor Collins has chased highways about this. The manhole cover depressed in footpath outside of the village hall has been sealed now and the white markings on the road approaching the school to be refreshed by end of November. We are still awaiting the results of the enquiry about local footpaths around Adisham and Councillor Terrett reported bad rutting on CB199 which he said looked to be caused by timer lorries.Councillor Collins gave KCC Councillor Northey a list of outstanding signs to be erected which he promised he would bring up in a meeting he was attending with Kent Highways the next evening.

12. Recreation Ground:Councillor Chidgey was unable to obtain any more information than what he presented in July’s meeting. It was agreed for the clerk to collate the quotes together for re painting the playground equipment and for the ground covering and send them to Kent County Council requesting funding. Councillor Collins also suggested seeking some funding for exercise equipment similar to those in Bridge and Littlebourne. She also mentioned looking into funding for a bench to be fixed inside of the fencing area.

13. Tribute to former Chairman Henry Hodding. Councillor Terrett relayed the sad news that Henry Hodding had dies in Mid August. He said the news of his death and the funeral were very close together which meant Councillor Terrett and Harry Amson missed the deadline for the gazette and could only include the news in the September newsletter. Henry Hodding was an active member on the parish council between June 1999 until April 2007. He will be sadly missed.

!4. Southern Housing. Councillor Maxted raised the issue that Southern Housing seem not to be prioritising local housing in the village for local people as was previously agreed under the lease agreement before the houses were built. Councillor Maxted contacted Southeen Housing on behalf of a local woman who needs to be rehoused in the village of Adisham. Southern Housing advised Canterbury City Council recommend people to them from their own waiting list. Councillor Maxted questioned why when initially it was agreed local people should be given first refusal but Southern Housing failed to give a satisfactory response. All agreed a letter should be sent to Southern Housing asking for clarity. If the reply is not satisfactory then it was suggested by Councillor Terrett to contact Councillor Martin Vye and John Gilbey.

15. Donation to Village Hall. Due to the third grant applied for towards the renovation of the village hall being turned down there is difficulty raising money to complete the work. As the parish council are trustees of the village hall it was felt a donation should be made towards the costs. It is money held in reserves and not part of the precept. Councillor Terrett checked the legalities of such a donation being made and is clear it is within the remit of the parish council. All agreed a cheque be raised for £5000.00.

16. Date to be set for concurrent function funding. Due to the resignation of Amanda Sparkes the date of the applications for concurrent function funding has been brought forward to allow more time for the new staff to process them. It was agreed to meet at Councillor Collin’s house on Wednesday 13th September. The deadline for applications is 24th September.

17. Photocopier paper ordering. Harry Amson who houses the village photocopier has asked whether the parish clerk could add ordering the photocopier paper to her duties. This was agreed and the clerk will contact Harry to set out a system.

18:.Any other business:Adisham Bookmarks held a literary festival in the village hall on Saturday. They made a request to theparish council for funding this event. The Councillors felt it was not possible to donate money to one organisation without having sufficient funds available to assist all local groups. It was felt all groups should take responsibility for fund raising such events themselves. However, it was agreed to add this as an item for discussion at the next meeting to consider ways in which the parish council may be able to assist in funding local groups in future.Councillor Collins will be requesting a new salt bin for the village and checking on the whereabouts of the newly installed dog bin.

19: Next meeting: Monday 4th October2010 at 7.30 p.m in the Village Hall.

The Chairman declared the meeting closed at 9.20pm.