MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE PARISH COUNCIL HELD IN THE

COUNCIL CHAMBER, VESTRY HALL ON THURSDAY 14TH NOVEMBER 2013

PRESENT: Cllrs. Bancroft, Bunyan, Cook, Goodchild, Hemsted, Holdom, Holmes, Rook, Swann and Veitch. Borough Cllr. Linda Hall.

APOLOGIES: Cllrs. Fermor, Fletcher, Hazlewood and Marley. Borough Cllr. John Smith.

The Vice Chairman read out the following statement.

Members who had a personal or prejudicial interest, whether direct or indirect within the meaning of Section 51 of the Local Government Act 2000, or a personal or prejudicial interest defined by the Cranbrook & Sissinghurst Parish Council’s Code of Conduct, in any of the matters appearing on the agenda were invited to declare that interest at this stage. Alternatively, personal interests can be declared at the time when the specific item is being discussed, if a member wishes to speak on an item in which they have a personal interest.

Cllr. macLachlan declared a prejudicial interest in the planning application for Hoppers Barn, Sissinghurst as he was a near neighbour.

MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING:

121: The Chairman, Cllr. F. Rook proposed that the Minutes of the Meeting held on the 10th October be adopted as a true record. This was seconded by Cllr. Cook and agreed.

VISIT BY STEPHEN WHITEHEAD – CSU MANAGER, TWBC:

122: The Chairman welcomed Mr Whitehead, Community Safety Manager, Tunbridge Wells Borough Council to the meeting. Stephen Whitehead informed Members that he was attending this evening to remind us of what is available to parishioners. He also has to prepare a strategic assessment and he would welcome feedback from the Parish Council. The CSU is based on the top floor of the Town Hall and are a small team made up of an anti-social behaviour officer, a CSU Assistant, the CCTV department, two police sargeants, two police constables, a police community support officer, youth works and people from other agencies. The ASBO only deals with anti-social behaviour. The Assistant has a degree in criminology and interacts with the public. With regard to the CCTV department, this is situated in the Town Hall basement. There are 37 cameras and one is based in Cranbrook. The cameras help greatly with convictions at court. As part of the CSU they also cover pub watch and the safer town partnership. Retailers pay a monthly fee and get a radio; everyone is connected. Pub watch is a similar scheme with radios. These schemes could extend out to Cranbrook at some time in the future. The CSU has a briefing every morning which is attended by various departments and agencies i.e. CCTV, Street Scene, housing associations etc where patterns of behaviour are assessed, especially with regard to vulnerable people. Three priorities for this year have been anti-social behaviour, burglary and domestic violence. The data collected will determine what the priority is for next year – this could be road safety and alcohol awareness. The unit works with the Kenward Trust with regard to drug and alcohol abuse. They also work with Charlton Football Club regarding engagement with young people. The Unit has recently undertaken “clean sweep” in Southborough which was very successful and reassures the public. This should also be rolled out to Cranbrook shortly. The Unit also have certain products for members of the public and also produce useful leaflets covering such things as fuel theft etc. He tabled a selection of the products available which help with crime prevention. He stressed that any crimes needed to be recorded; urgent crimes via 999 and other crime via 101. Mr. Whitehead invited questions.

Cllr. Swann stated that he was not even aware that the CSU existed. Mr. Whitehead confirmed that CSU’s were put in place by statute; the Borough had no choice than to accept this.

Responding to a further question from Cllr. Swann regarding Community Wardens, he confirmed that they were there to have a visual presence. They deal not only with crime but welfare. There will shortly be three new wardens in place, they were a valuable resource. They will be working on the “passport to safety” which involved school children being shown how to cross the road safely and all about e-safety etc, it is all about education.

Cllr. Holmes suggested that there was a feeling that the Cranbrook CCTV was not always effective. He asked Mr. Whitehead how often it was on and how efficient it was. Mr. Whitehead informed Members that there were stringent regulations relating to CCTV, it can only be used for crime and disorder and traffic management. He did confirm that due to cutbacks the cameras are not always on for 24/7 they are taken off line for 2 – 3 hours per day.

Cllr. macLachlan referred to a rash of petty crime such as fuel theft from farms and asked whether Mr. Whitehead was aware of Country Eye. Mr. Whitehead confirmed that he was aware of this and would make enquiries. Cllr. Veitch asked the same question of Park Mark. Mr Whitehead stated that he had no knowledge of this but would make enquiries.

Responding to Cllr. Bunyan regarding budgets, Mr Whitehead stated that he had lost some of his funding and he gave comparisons on how much it cost to deal with each anti-social behaviour incident and how much it costs to keep someone in the penal system. Responding to a question from Cllr. Rook regarding E Watch, the CSU Manager confirmed that this was a very useful tool to keep us up to date and also Neighbourhood Watch is very good. He has personally set up 33 Neighbourhood Watch schemes and hopes this could be rolled out to our area.

Cllr. Swann stated that there were several road safety issues relating to the highways and he enquired whether this was anything that the CSU could help with. The CSU Manager confirmed that if there is a road safety issue he would be quite happy to get someone to inspect. With regard to “clean sweep” Cllr. Holmes suggested that Mr. Whitehead should contact the Clerk with the timetable. The CSU Manager agreed stating that he wished to promote communication between parishes and the CSU.

CRANBROOK MUSEUM REPRESENTATIVE:

123: The Clerk read out an e-mail from the Curator, Mr. Rodney Dann inviting the Parish Council to send a representative to the Committee Meetings. They were due for re-accreditation and felt that this could be beneficial. Cllr. Holdom agreed to be the Parish Council representative on the Museum Committee.

COMMON ROAD, SISSINGHURST: NAME FOR DEVELOPMENT:

124: The Chairman informed Members that Golding Homes had invited the Parish Council to name the new development in Common Road. Peter Mellor, who is a Member of CCAAC had put forward some ideas which had been circulated to Members. He had suggested association with certain hops and the Chairman read out a list of UK hops. The Chairman invited suggestions. Cllr. Bunyan suggestions growing varieties rather than hops. Borough Cllr. Hall suggested Boadicea, another name of hop. Cllr. Bancroft suggested Carpenters after Carpenters Corner. A shortlist was presented by the Chairman – Fuggles, Goldings, - hop varieties – as suggested by Peter Mellor, Cob Nuts or Pilgrims – as suggested by Cllr. Bunyan, Carpenters – as suggested by Cllr. Bancroft and Boadicea – as suggested by Cllr. Hall. After a discussion Fuggles, Cob Nut and Carpenters was shortlisted and a vote then took place. Cllr. Hemsted proposed Fuggles, this was seconded by Cllr. Cook and four votes were cast. Cllr. Bancroft proposed Carpenters, this was seconded by Cllr. Holdom and two votes were cast. Cllr. Veitch proposed Cob Nuts, this was seconded by Cllr. Bunyan and four votes were cast. Cllr. Rook took advantage of his casting vote and therefore the proposal of Cob Nut Close was carried. Cllr. macLachlan abstained from all the voting.

COMMUNITY HUB: UPDATE:

125: Cllr. Goodchild informed Members that a pre-application submission had been put before Tunbridge Wells Borough Council but a e-mail had recently been received by Steven Baughan that due to pressure of work he had not yet been able to evaluate the information. Guy Johnson is now willing to uncouple the Hub from the housing development on Wilkes Field and has agreed to write into the agreement that there is a guarantee that the remainder of the Field will be set aside for a community hub. He invited questions. Responding to a question from Cllr. Bunyan he confirmed that the pre-application submission related only to the Hub. The development of Cranbrook Engineering needs to commence and this would go hand in hand with the housing. Cllr. Bunyan suggested that the Borough Members present might like to chivvy the Planning Department.

Cllr. Swann suggested that a future discussion needed to take place. The Hub would like to use the “orange” land which is in Parish ownership. He also queried whether any progress had been made by the working party on the issue of whether the Parish Council would be moving into the Hub. The Chairman informed Members that the Clerk had undertaken some work on this already and now that his health had improved, he would be making this a priority.

CHAIRMANS REPORT:

126: The Chairman reported that he had met with Robert Jackson the Head of The Weald Academy. He had made Mr. Jackson aware that the Parish Council had in the past not been invited to awards ceremonies. Councillors are now more than welcome to attend and he felt this was an important step forward in making a two way communication between the town and the school. The Academy needs to promote itself to the community. Cllr. Cook stated that it was good to see Robert Jackson at the Remembrance Service on Sunday. The Chairman stated that he was due to meet Mr. Jackson again on the 28th November.

He had taken part in the recently held litter pick and was pleased that there was only one item of drug paraphernalia, it was mainly litter related to smoking or sweet wrappers. He had attended the Armistice Day Parade and laid the wreath in St. Dunstan’s. Cllr. Veitch laid the wreath at the War Memorial and Cllr. macLachlan laid the wreath in the Trinity Church. He informed Members that he had attended the induction of the new vicar for Sissinghurst and Frittenden both at St. Mary’s, Frittenden and Trinity Church, Sissinghurst.

He reported that there was a casino evening being held at the High Weald Academy on Saturday 16th November.

POLICY & RESOURCES COMMITTEE REPORT:

127: Cllr. Swann brought forward the report of the meeting held on the 10th October which had been previously verbally reported. He proposed adoption. This was seconded by Cllr. Bunyan and agreed. Cllr. Swann pointed out a minor amendment to the Minutes in that it was noticed that there was a duplicate invoice and therefore the figure for payments for the Environmental Management Committee had been decreased to reflect this.

He then referred to the Minutes of the Meeting held on the 12th November and highlighted certain issues. It was agreed by Members to revert back to Tuesday evenings for Committee Meetings and also to reintroduce the July Full Council and Policy & Resources meetings. He had carried out the monthly audit and we had received a good report from our Kent County Council auditors. Due to time constraints a Section 137 application had been considered to help the Citizens Advice Bureaux with their move into the Library. An amount of £1,500 had been awarded to the CAB. He informed Members that HSBC is closing in January and we would need to look at moving our banking arrangements. The issue of whether to change the photocopier was discussed, there had been problems with repairs and consideration had been given to a lease agreement with the quote including a sum to take our existing copier in part exchange.

It was felt that this was a good deal. £2,000 a year had already been put aside towards a new photocopier and there will be no implication on the budget. Quotes had been considered for essential repairs to the Jockey Lane and Regal Car Parks. Cllrs. Veitch, Rook and himself had gone through all the quotes very carefully before the meeting and after consideration Dukes were awarded the contract.

The Budget was considered and there was an increase of £1,500 on the precept for Policy & Resources. The Burials & Properties precept had decreased.

Salting and gritting of the car parks was considered and two quotes had been received. The quote from Hurstway was accepted. Cllr. Rook reiterated the information in the Minutes regarding the policy of salting/gritting We either have to do all or nothing and Members had decided that to help our parishioners that we would carry out salting and gritting and post our policy on the website. Cllr. Veitch informed Members of how the criteria is set on whether to carry out salting/gritting. Cllr. Swann then proposed adoption of the report. This was seconded by Cllr. Holmes and agreed.

PLANNING COMMITTEE REPORT:

128: Cllr. Bunyan stated that there had been two meetings. With regard to the application for Hoppers Barn there had been a previous consent for a live/work unit and there is now a resubmission for purely residential. Members recommended Refusal as it was felt that consent would not have been given originally without the work element.

Cllr. macLachlan queried whether there had been any feedback on the Staplehurst Neighbourhood Plan and Cllr. Bunyan reminded Members that she had attended one of the workshops where it was stated that Staplehurst wanted to be as vibrant as Cranbrook.

Cllr. Holmes queried whether there was anything further which could be explored on the appeal decision for 6 Carriers Road. Cllr. Bunyan stated that the appeal decision was very disappointing but there was nothing more that could be done.

BURIAL GROUNDS COMMITTEE:

129: Cllr. Hemsted referred to the report of the meeting held on the 15th October and he drew Member’s attention to item 15/13(b) where consent had been given for a period of fifteen years to reduce the lime trees by 30%. Under 19/13 Members will note that all the fees were reviewed but it was agreed that there would be no increase. Cllr. Hemsted then proposed adoption of the report, this was seconded by Cllr. Cook and agreed.