WESTBERE PARISH COUNCIL
PARISH COUNCIL MEETING
HELD TUESDAY 18 FEBRUARY 2014
Present:
Parish Councillors Jeanette Dawson (Chairman), Sylvia Harlow (vice-chairman), Maria Morcom, Georgina Glover, Mike Prince and Karen Williams.
5 x residents (for part of the meeting).
Clerk to the Council, Amanda Sparkes
127. Chairman’s Opening remarks and Apologies for absence
Cllr Dawson welcomed everyone to the meeting. Apologies for absence were received and accepted from Parish Cllr Kathy Wilson (family emergency) and KCC Cllr Alan Marsh.
128. Declarations of Cllrs’ Interest and requests for Dispensations
There were no declarations of interest or requests for a dispensation.
129 Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting dated 21 January 2014
Cllrs resolved that the Minutes were a true record of the meeting and the Chairman signed them.
130. Cllrs reports
Cllr Dawson
Cllr Dawson advised she had attended a WVPS meeting. They have set their next social event to be held in the Village Hall on 25 April 2014 “A Fiesta of Flavours”. Cllr Dawson commented that the refurbished phone box by the convent looks very smart.
Cllr Harlow report
Cllr Harlow explained she is collating bird sightings from some regular households. Collating the KMBR spreadsheets with the Latin names is time consuming.
Cllr Harlow has kindly gone through the CPRE response to the Canterbury district draft Local Plan. Their response was 80 pages long, concluding that the strategy is not sound. They went through the different sites and alternatives. One impact for Westbere in their comments is that they don’t like the proposed Hillread site at Hersden, preferring development on the other side of the A28 such as the Murray Preston site. Cllr Harlow agreed to circulate her summary findings.
Cllr Prince report
Cllr Prince advised he had nothing to report.
Cllr Morcom report
Cllr Morcom advised she was putting the next newsletter together.
Cllr Williams report
Cllr Williams explained she was shadowing Lyn Peters as the hall booking Clerk. She now has the diary and her contact details have been published. She will let Cllr Morcom have her details for publication in the next newsletter. Cllr Williams advised she has some interested groups considering regular bookings although parking restrictions are a consideration.
Conversely parking can be a problem for residents living by the hall – the parish councillors have suggested residents could put up signage. Cllr Williams explained she has been telling hirers that there is a need for access for ambulance etc. She will also do a street plan of where parking spaces do exist in the village.
Cllr Glover explained she still monitors parking by the play group parents twice a week and no problems have been found.
Cllr Glover report
Cllr Glover advised she did not have much to report. There is some debris on the roads but Canterbury City Council is dealing with emergency flooding elsewhere.
As city councillor she has been busy with museums and planning. She explained that Canterbury City Council has set their budget and the council tax will increase by 1.9% - equivalent to 33 pence per week on a band D property.
131. Adjournment of the Meeting
Five residents from Pennington Close explained that they wished to make a complaint about nuisance bonfires from a household at Pennington Close. Diary logs had been kept since 2008 by more than one household. The bonfires have been set with no regard or concern for the neighbours. Complaints had been received by the Clerk and to Cllr Morcom prior to the meeting so the Clerk had been able to make some enquiries with the city council as to the situation with bonfire lighting. Contrary to common belief in the Canterbury district it is not against the law to light a bonfire at any time.
The latest incident occurred on Sunday 16 February 2014. Very dense smoke caused smells to permeate houses, cars were covered in white ash, and some residents with chronic medical conditions and pets were badly affected. There were also serious safety concerns on Island Road as the smoke restricted visibility and caused a distraction, as some drivers felt that an actual house was on fire.
The problem was made worse as it involved the burning of wet material. Residents felt that accelerants must have been used to get the fire alight.
The fire goes against all of Canterbury City Council’s advice around bonfires. Their advice is to burn only dry material and not to use accelerants.
The city council’s advice is also not to light fires at weekends when people want to enjoy their gardens and they also suggest that neighbours be warned in advance. This is not happening.
The neighbours advised they had approached the resident setting the fires and their complaints met with verbal and on one occasion physical abuse. They said they have experienced severe distress and stress.
Ideally, the resident should find an alternative way to get rid of the waste. For example, he could pay for a second green bin for garden waste or ask for a red lidded bin for paper – this would be provided free of charge.
It was agreed that the Clerk would write a letter to the household concerned.
Cllr Morcom would also run the city council’s advice in the next newsletter to advise and remind all residents of best practice and neighbourly concern for any bonfires.
There is a history of reports to the city council’s environmental health department over the last four years. Cllr Glover agreed to take the issue up on the residents’ behalf and speak to the officers there.
Westbere Parish Council has no powers to stop any resident from lighting a fire, but Canterbury City Council has a responsibility to investigate every complaint. Residents were reminded to continue to log each occasion and they were also signposted to the 101 police telephone number and the KCC Community wardens if there were any future incidents causing health or safety concerns.
The meeting continued. The residents thanked the council and left the meeting at this point.
132. Phone box refurbishment
The refurbishment of the Phone Box by the convent has now been completed. Cllrs commented that it looks very nice. Cllr Williams said she had a photo taken before the work and she would take another ‘after’ photo and Cllr Morcom will add these to the next newsletter.
The contractors have given a quote for the one at Shrubbery Corner which the Clerk will add to the next meeting Agenda for consideration once year end estimated balances may be clearer.
133. Planning Matters - Planning items are recorded on appendix two, previously circulated to Cllrs, and attached to these minutes.
134. FINANCIAL MATTERS
RECEIVED the bank statements for January 2014, and RESOLVED the signature of the Chairman thereon;
CONFIRMATION from Canterbury City Council of the precept requirement £10,305.61 plus cushioning grant of £394.39 giving a total budget for 2014-15 of £10,700
RECEIVED a Financial Briefing from the National Association of Local Councils regarding the draft Legislation Order for the repeal of s.150 (5) of the LGA 1972 that requires all cheques or other payable orders to be signed by two Councillors. The Clerk will keep a watching brief on this. It may be that to retain the current system would be best anyway.
NOTED from KALC a notification that Sevenoaks Town Council have a proposal for a return of a system to provide a percentage of the Business (Non-Domestic) Rates to Town/ Parish Councils to be used for the benefit of economic growth in the locality. A number of Town and Parish Councils around England have already supported the Sevenoaks proposal..
NOTED a direct debit payment of £29.00 will be taken in March for the annual subscription to CPRE (Campaign to Protect Rural England).
Referendum principles
NOTED confirmation received on 5 February from KALC, that the DCLG has published the referendum principles relating to Council Tax Increases for 2014/2015 and there are no principles for local precepting authorities (e.g. Parish and Town Councils) for 2014/2015. The referendum principle for billing authorities and major precepting authorities is 2%.
135. AUTHORISATION OF ACCOUNTS
The expenditure list previously circulated to Cllrs as Appendix 3 totalling £636.07, together with a supplementary sheet totalling £1,536.398, was authorised for payment.
136. CHANGE OF APRIL MEETING DATE
NOTED change of April parish council meeting from 15 to 22 April to allow for outside space works to complete
137. CLERK REPORT
Correspondance
(a) UK Power network’s quarterly stakeholder engagement newsletter. The newsletter provides information on some of the key areas of stakeholder engagement across UK Power Networks as well as providing information on their response to the power cuts over the Christmas period.
(b) KCC Minerals and Waste Local Plan 2013-2030. Cllr Harlow kindly agreed to take the CD received and have a look at this.
Church Lane Road Closure
Southern Water will carry out essential new water connection works outside Newlands,4,Church Lane, from 17 February. The work will take 3-5 days. Church Lane will be closed and traffic will be diverted via Westbere Lane to Bushy Hill Road & through to Staines Hill(A28).Access only will be available to residents in Church Lane.
Active ageing survey
Canterbury City Councilis carrying out a survey to understand what people need from their local community in order to live fulfilled, active lives as they grow older. The survey is aimed at residents aged 55 plus and has been developed in partnership with a number of statutory and voluntary organisations- including the school of psychology at UKC, Canterbury and district pensioner’s forum, Age UK, Kent Fire and Rescue , KCC and others. Find the survey at www.canterbury.gov.uk/active-ageing Respondents have the chance to win £100 of M&S vouchers donated byKent Fire and Rescue. The closing date for the survey is 7 March 2014. Hard copies are also available at council offices, libraries, community centres, leisure centres and Age UK centres across the district and can be requested on 01227 862166 or via
Canterbury District Local Plan 2013 – Processing of representations
Canterbury City Council has processed just under 7,000 comments from around 1,300 individuals and organisations. Copies of all the representations are available in council offices, and also at http://canterbury-consult.objective.co.uk/portal.
The comments addressed a range of issues, including the overall strategy of the draft Plan; the amount and location of development; related delivery and infrastructure issues; social and environmental considerations; and detailed comments on individual policies and the strategic development sites and other development sites in the draft Plan. A number of new development sites have been proposed for consideration. Some proposals have also been put forward for sites to be assessed for possible inclusion under the new Local Green Space designation.
The Council now has to decide what changes to make to the draft Plan in relation to those main issues. Changes to the draft Plan will be considered by Council committees in March, and publication of the final formal draft (the pre-Submission draft) is likely in April or May. This will be a final opportunity for people to comment on the technical and legal “soundness” of the Plan before it is considered by an independent Planning Inspector.
New dog bin entrance to footpath CB91
The Clerk would like to thank Cllr Williams for her help to install the new dog bin at the entrance to CB91 on 26 January 2013.
The Clerk has asked CCC to add it to the Serco schedule for emptying.
The Clerk and Cllr Williams will now look to see if they are able to move the existing dog bin at the village green to the other corner by the electrical cupboard.
138. A Comments, Complaints and Compliments Policy
When the city council’s Charter was considered at the January meeting to be fully compliant one of the actions was for the Clerk to devise a Comments, Complaints and Compliments Policy. This had been previously circulated as Appendix 5. Cllr Dawson commented that she thought it was excellent. Cllr Morcom will add it to the next newsletter. The Clerk will upload it to the parish council’s website.
139 PARISH PLAN
Cllr Dawson advised some residents had asked if the achievements from the parish plan could be publicised. A previous document had done this. The Clerk and Cllr Harlow agreed to look at this and update it.
140. ENVIRONMENT
Streetlight in Church Lane
A street lighting column in Church Lane was knocked down by a lorry. As there was exposed wiring the Clerk reported this as an emergency to Kent Highways who removed it. It is now very dark in that area. The Clerk was asked to make enquiries about whether it could be replaced and when. She was also asked to enquire if the parish council may be consulted on the unit type for any replacement.
New salt bin
RESOLVED the purchase of a new red salt bin as a replacement for the one by the convent
The Clerk will order one and the Clerk and Cllr Williams will install it and remove the old one.
The Richborough Connection Project
In 2013 National Grid proposed a new energy infrastructure project, called the Richborough Connection. This will join Nemo Link®, an electricity link between Zeebrugge in Belgium and Richborough, to the existing electricity transmission network at Canterbury. The project manager has offered to meet with the Parish Council to discuss the project further, and to learn more about National Grid’s role in the UK energy market, provide information on the progress of the Richborough Connection project to date, and what the next steps are for the project.