MINUTES OF THE ANNUALSTATUTORY PARISH COUNCIL MEETING

HELD ON MONDAY 9th MAY 2016 at 7.30pm

IN THE RACKLIFF CENTRE LOWER GREEN ROAD

Present:

Councillors: Cllrs J. Blackburn, BEdwards, M. Fraser, J. Moore, K Punyer, R. Benoy, M.Simmons, A Britcher and J. Clark

Parish Clerk: S. Denne.

Also present: Cllr Huggett

ELECTION OF CHAIRMAN: RESOLVED to elect Cllr Barry Edwards as Chairman of the Parish Council.

He duly signed the declaration of office which was counter-signed by the proper officer.

ELECTION OF VICE-CHAIRMAN: RESOLVED to elect Cllr Britcher as Vice-Chairman of the Parish Council.

She duly signed the declaration of office which was counter-signed by the proper officer.

Cllr Edwards thanked Cllr Blackburn for all she had done in the past, as Chairman of the Parish Council. He congratulated Cllr Britcher for being nominated Vice Chairman and congratulated Borough Cllr Podbury for retaining her seat. He then went on to thank Kent County Cllr John Davies, in his absence, for his wonderful speech on the parish Council’s open day.

  1. Enquire whether anyone present intends to film, photograph and/or record the meeting- None
  1. Apologies for absence – Cllrs Davies and Podbury
  1. Declaration of Interests – None
  1. Declarations of Lobbying – None
  1. Minutes of the meetings held on 11th April 2016 were agreed, and the Chairman signed them as a true record.
  1. Session for County and Borough Councillors on matters concerning the Parish – Cllr Huggett congratulated Cllr Podbury on her re-election and gave her condolences to Cllr Britcher. She then presented a KALC Community award to Cllr Blackburn, in recognition for all the work she had carried out in Rusthall over the years. Cllr Huggett informed the meeting that she attended an information day about the difference of fracking and drilling. In Britain drilling is favoured over fracking, as due to the very strict safety measures in place, fracking is too expensive.
  1. Committee Reports: Finance – A Committee meeting was held on 5th may 2016 draft minutes have been circulated.
  2. To nominate a Community representative for the Gatwick Airport Noise Management Board (NMB) - Withdrawn
  3. Appointment of Committees including KALC representative- it was confirmed that the Chairman would be the KALC representative and the Vice Chairman deputy. It was agreed to set up a new committee for The Rackliff Centre.

The following are the Committees and the Cllrs on the Committees for 2016/2017:

Finance – Cllr Britcher, Cllr Edwards, Cllr Fraser and Cllr Blackburn.Planning – Cllr Edwards, Cllr Simmons, Cllr Punyer, Cllr Benoy and Cllr Clark. Allotments – Cllr Benoy, Cllr Edwards, Cllr Punyer and Cllr Moore. Rackliff – Cllr Moore, Cllr Fraser, Cllr Simmons, Cllr Britcher and Cllr Blackburn.

  1. Grant Applications – i. Cricket Club - This was agreed ii. St Paul’s Queen’s Celebration- This was agreed.
  1. Quote for servicing of fire alarm– This was agreed
  1. To approve the Annual Governance Statement – This was approved after recommendation from the Finance Committee.
  1. To agree dates of inspection period for accounts – It was agreed that the dates for inspection of the accounts would be from the 6th June 2016 to 15th July 2016.
  1. Clerk to present the Audited Accounts to the Members for acceptance, before submitting to the External Auditor - The Clerk answered questions from the members and it was resolved that the accountscould be sent to the external auditors.
  1. Renewal of SLCC – This was agreed.
  1. Appointment of Trustees to Thomas Smythe's Charity – Cllr Blackburn explained how and when the Trust was formed and how it worked. It was agreed that Rusthall Parish Council would be in favour of reorganising the number of appointments but would prefer that Speldhurst and Bidborough Parish Councils along with RPC would coordinate and agree the representative.
  1. Clerk’s Appraisal and Salary – After discussion it was agreed that Cllr Edwards and Cllr Blackburn would carry out the appraisal. Any salary change would be made after the appraisal.
  1. Chair’s Report – As the Chairman was new to the post there was no report.
  1. Clerk’s Report – The Clerk informed the meeting that a public meeting, for residents who had received letters from the owners of The Commons, had been arranged by TWBC for the 13th May 2016. The Clerk also informed the members that Rusthall Life would like a paragraph from each Cllr, in turn about themselves. Cllr Blackburn to be the first contributor. The Clerk informed the members that she had received a few enquiries with regards to the hiring of the hall. These included Churches, Scouts, Pilates and a Spanish class. Concerns were raised about the type of churches wishing to hire the hall. Clerk to obtain further information and report back to the members. The Clerk confirmed that she would order a wooden shed and the bike shed. She then went on to update the members on the website, stating that training was required on Wordpress for herself and two of the Cllrs. This was agreed. Clerk to arrange.
  1. Diary Dates – 13 May Public meeting with regards to access over Commons, 17th May HWCAAG meeting and 23RD May Planning Meeting.
  1. Accounts for Payment – to authorise the payment of invoices as listed:

ACCOUNTS FOR PAYMENT / MAY 2016 ACCOUNTS
Payee Name / Payment Type / Amount Paid / Transaction Detail
C PATTERSON / BACS / 336.36 / Grass Cutting March 2016
C PATTERSON / BACS / 308.33 / Grass Cutting April 2016
EE / DD / 30.96 / Mobile
WILD AT HART / BACS / 109.44 / Rats
TWBC / BACS / 500.00 / Travellers reserve fund
M HOWDEN / BACS / 160.00 / Blinds
CLERK / SO / 959.73 / Salary April
HMRC / 300287 / 131.10 / Tax/NI
SIMMONDS COURT / 300285 / 50.00 / Donation
BRILLIANT / 300286 / 100.00 / Donation
CLLR EDWARDS / 300288 / 75.08 / Gas for Beacon
TOTAL GAS / DD / 434.05 / Gas
LANE BUSINESS SYSTEMS LTD / BACS / 158.76 / PC Licenses
LANE BUSINESS SYSTEMS LTD / BACS / 5454.50 / Laptops, printer etc
LANGTON LIFE / BACS / 400.00 / Rusthall Life
CAB / BACS / 1000.00 / Donation
SLCC / BACS / 149.00 / Subs
A DENNE / 300290 / 24.00 / Cleaning
D CONSTABLE / 300289 / 25.00 / Window Cleaning
BRIGHT SPARKS / BACS / 303.57 / Fitting of defib
CASH CARD
SAINSBURYS / 43.85 / Food and Drink
M&S / 38.50 / Food and Drink
CASH / 10.00 / Food
CATERING COMPLEMENTS / 10.60 / Ribbon & Tablecloth
Total Payments / 10,812.83
  1. Open session for questions from the public:The members were asked if they liaised with other halls within the village with regards to availability. Clerk informed that she had spoken to the Secretary of the URC but had not yet spoken to St Paul’s Church.
  1. Items for Information:

a)Cllr Fraser informed the members that she had seen green paint on some of the pavements. It was assumed that it was do with markings for works to do with utilities.

b)Cllr Britcher informed the meeting that the next RVA meeting would be on the 18th May 2016. Where the 20/20 project would be discussed, the Rusthall Bonfire and an update on the proposed crossing, on the A264. She also informed the meeting that the Rusthall Arts Fest would be concluding on the weekend of the 28th to 30th May, with live music at the Rusthall Club. Also the film clubs first film to be shown at Sunnyside Hall on Saturday 14th May.

c)Cllr Edwards informed the members that he wrote to TWBC in October about the proposed change in the bus route. He received a reply in April, stating that TWBC had failed to include businesses and passengers in the original consultation and therefore it had been shelved.

d)Cllr Simmons informed the members that she and one other disabled badge holder had received parking tickets, for parking on double yellow lines within 10 metres of a junction. Her concerns are that there is nowhere in Rusthall High Street that badge holders can now park within close proximity to the shops. It was agreed that the yellow lines would be measured and she would write a letter to Rose-Marie Bennett.

The Meeting Closed at 21:00

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