A meeting of the SEAL PARISH COUNCIL was held on THURSDAY 11th June 2015 in Seal Pavilion on Seal Recreation Ground beginning at 7.30pm.
Present
Mr E. Oatley MBE (in the chair)
Mr T Bulleid
Mr J. Gilchrist
Mr R Grant
Mr M Harvey
Mrs A M Jordan
Mr S. Kirkaldy
Mrs A. Linley
Mr A Michaelides
Mrs F Weston
The Chairman thanked the Clerk for the efficient way she had handled getting rid of the travellers on the recreation ground and getting the site cleaned up.
Questions
Cllr Thornton said she thought the Annual Assembly new format had worked very well. Perhaps the PC should have provided a skip for the traveller’s rubbish.
Apologies: - Mr P Granville, Mr G. Aldridge and Cllr. R Hogarth
The minutes of the last meeting were agreed and signed.
Declarations of Interest - None
Matters Requiring Discussion
Seal Centre Highway Improvements
Mrs Bull presented the Parish Council with a petition signed by 153 residents to reduce the speed of traffic and rat running in the centre of the village.
KCC Officer’s proposed scheme includes:-
-Making the centre of the village 20mph including School Lane, part of Childsbridge/Church Street, Church Road, Pudding Lane and Zion Street.
-Making Zion Streeteither No Right Turn, Stop up the road completely or leave as it is
Cllr Chard said he was supportive of the scheme and would put some of his Members Allowance towards the work, but it would depend on the Parish contribution how much of the scheme could be achieved.
Following discussion Mrs Linley said that the 20mph and No Right Turn would achieve what the residents had asked for pedestrian safety and to stop the rat running.
Mrs Linley proposed “That the Parish Council pursue the 20mph limit in the centre of the village and No Right Turn out of Zion Street”. Seconded by Mr Harvey. This was agreed unanimously.
Mrs Linley said the total cost of the scheme was £15,000 which included a 50% contingency.
Mrs Linley proposed “That the Parish Council meet 50% of the total cost of the scheme up to £7,500 and that Cllr. Chard be asked to meet the remaining 50% from his Members allowance”. Seconded by Mr Harvey. This was agreed unanimously.
KCC would also be asked to advise the Council well in advance if the centre of the village was going to be resurfaced so they had the opportunity to find out the additional costs of coloured tarmac. They could then consider if they wished to put the additional money to have a colour which should reinforce the 20mph.
Seal Recreation Ground Equipment - 5 Year Plan
Mrs Linleydisplayed ideas she had received for the five year planned scheme, as yet she had heard from four of the six companies so far. Once all the ideas and prices had been received she would start looking for funding. The items most mentioned for older children were the zip wire and team swing, also requested was another cradle swing for the existing play area.
Continued..
Page 2 June 2015 minutes
Seal Recreation Ground – Parking
We have had three prices for white lining the parking bays between £400 and £650 plus Vat. It would require the carpark to be debris free and closed for two nights/one day during the summer school holidays.
Mr Harvey proposed “That we accept the quote from Archway Highway Services for £595.00 plus Vat to carry out the white lining in Seal recreation ground car park”. Seconded by Mrs Linley. This was agreed unanimously.
The Council understood that residents had a lack of parking in the village, but we continue to have problems with lack of parking for regular pavilion users. A large number of commercial vehicles are parking in the car park day and night and many vehicles are not moving for a number of days at a time. We continue to monitor this and have asked SDC to give us some ideas on how to manage the car park in the future. We also had a car transporter in the car park this week unloading cars for Seal Garage, despite there being a clear sign stating not lorries!
Seal Defibrillator outside Seal Village Hall
The defibrillator is now up and running.
Mr Willis has suggested that we run an event in September, for local people where demonstrators can advise on how the defibrillator works. It was agreed we should proceed with this on the 23rd September and see if Mr Willis could do an afternoon and evening session.
Matters Outstanding
Broadband in Stone Street
Mr Oatley said we obviously want to be kept informed of what is happening, but it is better that Mr Penn deals with KCC regarding his queries and future broadband for Stone Street.
He has sent us a number of questions for KCC regarding Gigaclear and the scheme they originally proposed and the exact location of the three cabinets installed by BT. We have forwardedall the questions to KCC and we have asked them to make contact with Mr Penn, as we had nothing to do with the setting up of the Underriver scheme.
Durtnell’s Site
Mr Harvey and the Clerk have met with the solicitor and are waiting for the final documents.
Layby – Outside Seal House
We are still waiting for SDC to deal with this.
Affordable Housing
We have written to ERHA regarding the “new right to buy” legislation and are waiting for an update once they have had time to analyse the new legislation. Cllr. Thornton said that SDC thought the new legislation would exclude exemption sites on which affordable housing was built.
There is no update yet on the High Street site.
St Lawrence Village Design Statement
We have received back suggested changes to the draft from SDC. Once these have been finalised it will need a 6 week consultation, however SDC tend to wait until they have number of documents before doing the consultation.
Greensand Common Partnership Agreement
We hope to hear back inJune if the bid has been successful.
Chairman’s Chain of Office
We still need to obtain a price.
Mobility Scooter access to Seal Rec
Mr Gilchrist is still looking into this.
Vehicles Parking on St Julian’s Road and surrounding common.
The Clerk has written to Knole Estate, but as yet we have received no reply.
Dog Fouling
We will have signs made for all the entrances to the recreation ground, but this has been delayed.
Continued..
Page 3 June 2015 minutes.
Planning
-Ratified applications from the 4th June.
-The new procedure of dealing with planning applications was circulated and will come into immediate effect.
-Mr Michaelides said there is strong feeling against the application by Sev Prep at Stormont Court.
Fitness training on the recreation ground
We have received a request regarding small groups (10) meeting up on the recreation ground early morning about 7am and possibly lunch time for 30 min sessions and have asked if they would need to pay?
Due to the group being run as a business we would normally make a charge.
Mrs Linley proposed “That as long as no signs were erected, no equipment is left on the recreation ground, they train off the sports pitches when possible and a copy of their public liability is received. Permission should be given for them to meet for half hour sessions as proposed on site for 3 months. If no problems are reported for a nominal fee we would consider giving them permission to continue”. Seconded by Mr Oatley. This was unanimously agreed.
Accounts and Cheques
005063 / Sevenoaks District Council / 28.90 / Pavilion - Refuse collection005064 / Mr R Crouch / 1150.00 / KCC grant reimbursement
005065 / Sapphire Security / 818.52 / Annual Fire and alarm contract
005066 / Ms C Farrow Ward / Caretakers salary
005067 / Mrs L Talbot / Clerks salary + accom
005068 / Inland Revenue / Deductions
005069 / KCC / Pension contributions
005070 / Seal Village Assoc / 500.00 / Grant towards Sealfest
005071 / Richard Abel Landscapes / 760.20 / Mowing etc
005072 / Mrs L Talbot / 430.37 / Reimburse sacks, Annual Assembly wine and computer maint.
005073 / SDC / 180.00 / Seal Rec sanitising
005074 / Amec Electrical Ltd / 250.00 / Wiring defibrillator
005075 / KCC / 224.11 / Cleaning materials
005076 / D F Williamson / 60.00 / Internal Audit
Matter for Information Only
-Underriver – Ufest – Saturday 20th June
-Sealfest Saturday 11th July
-Underriver Horticultural Show – Saturday 25th July
-Mrs Linley said people were very pleased we dealt with the travellers so quickly.
-The hedges on the A25 in some places were overgrowing the road signs.
-The ivy on the wall at school Lane was pushing vehicles further into the road.
-At least two road signs in Stone Street were lost in the hedges.
Meeting closed at 8.40pm
Planning meeting followed due to tight deadlines
SE/15/01588/HOUSE
Badgers Brook, Mill Lane, Underriver TN15 0SG
Demolition of conservatory and construction of an orangery.
PC Decision: Objection. There is insufficient information to assess whether the 50% rule for extensions in Green Belt is being observed. We would not object to the application if it were confirmed that the total area of extensions does not exceed 50% of the floor area of the original house.
Conditions should be added if necessary to ensure that light pollution emanating from the orangery is no worse than the existing conservatory
SE/15/01298/HOUSE (Mike)
Larchwood, Woodland Rise, TN15 0HY
Erection of a new detached double garage. Creation of a tarmac driveway leading from existing gate.
PC Decision: Object: This proposal would create additional hard standing on the verges of Woodland Rise which is part of the Wildernesse Conservation Area. The proposed garage is sited closer to the road than the existing house and garage.