ACTION

1

APOLOGIES

Apologies were received from Cllrs Craib and Parris. 

2

MINUTES

The minutes of the Parish Council monthly meeting held on the 6^th September 2011 were proposed by Cllr Stone and seconded by Cllr Adams to be a true record of proceedings. It was agreed that the Chairman should therefore sign the minutes. 

3

MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES

Members agreed that any matters arising from the minutes would be dealt with under the appropriate heading, as the meeting progressed through the agenda. 

4

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

There were no declarations of interest.

5

POLICE & COMMUNITY WARDEN’S REPORT

The police report had been circulated to Councillors prior to the meeting. There had only been 2 crimes on the report this month. Cllr Adams asked for an update on the fraud case at the school and PCSO Stoner agreed to get an update from colleagues.

Community Warden Leipnik reported on: -

·         Valley of Visions Strategic Meeting – the project finishes in March 2012. Part of the project involved working with the Police and as a result there had been a decline in the amount of illegal off-road vehicles.

·         Proposed meeting with Jill Harris (VOV) regarding the ‘Back to the future’ project with school, starting in November.

·         ‘Love where you live project’, starting with a litter pick on 7 November at Wouldham Common.

·         There has been a small amount of flytipping along Common Road on the tarmac side, which has been reported.

·         CW Leipnik has regularly checked Hall Road for flytipping and cutting of the fence. He also had a meeting with the Trenport Conservation Officer, Terry Venn, regarding village issues on their land.

It was noted that Pilgrims Way had been litter picked this morning and tyres had been picked up off a farmer’s field.

Cllr Dalton advised that at the Parish Partnership meeting last month, it was suggested that CW Leipnik would be the lead person in this area for various projects in the pipeline. CW Leipnik confirmed that this would come under ‘Love where you live’, with such projects as looking at the recycling area. It was agreed that CW Leipnik would consult with the Parish Council with any plans for the recycling area in light of the recent new village hall plans, which could include relocating the current recycling area.

PCSO Stoner, PC Beresford and CW Leipnik left the meeting at 7.50 pm.

PCSO Stoner

6

BOROUGH COUNCILLORS REPORT

Cllr Davis reported that a successful ASB meeting had been held last month although there were not any Wouldham concerns. A flooding meeting has been arranged for tomorrow which the Chairman will be attending.

Cllr Dalton reported that he had received confirmation from Gill Fox at TMBC that the Parish Council’s Community Enhancement Fund application for the Village Hall gate had been received and he had endorsed the application. MP Tracey Crouch has received numerous letters from constituents concerned about the local broadband situation and has written to KCC to find out about the funding allocated to the Kent and Medway area for an upgrade. Wouldham and Burham are out of scope for the Broadband Delivery UK funding but may get FTTC (fibre to the cabinet) in December 2011.

7

COUNTY COUNCILLORS REPORT

Cllr Homewood reported that recommendations from the Boundary Commission will not become law until Spring 2012 and this is still in the consultation period. This will be looked at in future every 4/5 years.

KCC has produced a document on legal guidance for Councils for its transparency regarding all data, including declaring invoices over £500. Parish Councils may have to look to follow suit with this.

The Clerk asked Cllr Homewood for an update on the 2 Highway fund applications for the Engineers report for the access road and the railing along Wouldham Common, Hill Road. Cllr Homewood confirmed that the fund will be repeated for next year but these 2 applications were unsuccessful this time round. He requested the applications to be resubmitted with new dates to try again for funding this year. It was agreed that the Clerk would forward the information again to Cllr Homewood.

Clerk

8

MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC

No members of public present.

9

PLANNING:

Planning applications considered and commented upon, by Planning Committee:

TM/11/02442/FL – single storey extension to rear at 7 Ravens Knowle. The application had been submitted under no. TM/11/01653/FL but had then been withdrawn. The application has not changed, therefore there were no objections to the application.

Planning consents issued: None to report.

Planning applications refused: None to report

Other Planning Issues: None to report.

10

STREET LIGHTING:

No new lights to report apart from the on-going problems with the Russet Home light outside 23 Hall Road. The Chairman requested that Cllr Adams, as well as the Clerk, are copied into all streetlight faults that are reported.

11

HIGHWAYS & VERGES

The Chairman advised that the potholes at the far end of Hall Road had not been marked up by KHS. It was agreed that the Clerk would add these to the portal.

Clerk

12

FOOTPATHS/PROW

Cllr Stone reported that PROW has indicated that there might be money available for 2/3 additional footpath cuts. So far MR1 and MR9 had been suggested. It was agreed that the Clerk would add MR179 to the list. Cllr Head requested to be copied into all footpath correspondence.

Cllr Head asked if MR15 was being cut and it was agreed that the Clerk would look at the cutting schedule for this path.

The Chairman advised that Cllr Adams and Stone would be installing 2 way-markers on the permissive footpath to the rear of Oldfield Drive, supplied by PROW, but the arrow markers would have to the be white and not yellow to indicate it is a permissive footpath. Also the maintenance would need to be looked at by the Parish Council although the farmer had recently cut the field including the path. The only problem area is the start of the path, on the land next to 1 Oldfield Drive, which Trenport had agreed to maintain.

The missing railing by the kissing gate at the top of MR9 was discussed. PROW has agreed that they installed the railings but will only replace the missing railing if the quad bikes are still a problem here. It was agreed the Parish Council would monitor the situation. Any new railings would be concreted in place this time.

Clerk

Clerk

All

13

ALLOTMENTS

Anne Marr had advised the Chairman that an allotment holder had given up an allotment plot but had kept a copy of the key and had asked for the Parish Councils what could be done. It was agreed that there was not anything that the Parish Council could do about this.

There still hadn’t been a response from Trenport regarding the request for a rent reduction for the allotments. The Chairman agreed to look into this.

Chairman

14

WOULDHAM COMMON

Cllr Head suggested that an end of year cut on the Common is carried out now and it was agreed to advise the Parish Council’s Contractor of this as it has already been budgeted for in the maintenance schedule. It was also agreed to ask the contractor to remove the bottles from the fire pit area.

Cllr Head reported that a repair had been made to the bench with a metal plate screwed onto the sawn area. The Chairman confirmed that the Parish Council had not organised a temporary repair. The new slats have now arrived and we were waiting for the contractor to replace the top slat only, keeping the second slat as a spare.

Clerk/

Chairman

15

VILLAGE HALL

Cllr Stone reported on the Village Hall Committee meeting held last month along with the users. The rent had been looked at and a slight increase had been agreed to Jellybeans rent, although not for Brownies/Guides due to dwindling numbers. Cllr Stone had made a temporary repair to the Village Hall gate and a grant had been applied for a new gate. This would include a self closer. A Zumba fitness class had a month trial in September and had confirmed it wished to continue with a block booking arrangement.

The Chairman advised that the next New Village Hall Steering Group meeting would take place on 14^th October.

16

RECREATION GROUND

The Chairman reported that the toddler swing seat had been repaired. One of the old railings on the far side of the recreation ground had been repaired as it was lying across the footpath. The gate on this fence line had also been taken of its hinges and was left laying in the hedge so a decision had been made to remove it as it is always left open.

The gate in the Knowle Road side of the railings needs adjusting and the Chairman advised that the fencing contractor would look at this small job when installing the railings on the common as the cost to the Parish Council would then be minimal.

17

FINANCE

General: The Chairman informed the Council that as the minimum wage had increased from 1/10/2011, the Clerk would inform Ms Harmer, the litter picker, that it had been agreed that she could invoice the Parish Council at the new rate.

Financial Statement – September 2011 : This had been circulated to councillors prior to the meeting. The Chairman verified and signed the bank statements.

Bank Position as at 30/09/11

Current Account £100.00

Reserve Account £28,337.56

Building Society £10,290.50

Income for September 2011

Cheques signed at the meeting

The following cheques were signed for the Village Hall Management Committee.

Clerk

18

SPECIAL ITEMS

Items for the Church Newsletter – In Cllr Craib’s absence, it was agreed that the Clerk would write the newsletter for this month. It was agreed to mention the Vicar retiring in November.

Queen’s Diamond Jubilee – The Chairman advised that 2 donation requests for jubilee coins had been received from Jellybeans and Wouldham School. Jellybeans had been looking at coins at a cost of £1.99 for 40 children. The school were looking for £300 or a contribution towards this. The Chairman suggested that the Parish Council makes a donation of £80 to Jellybeans and £220 to the School. Councillors all agreed to this.

Cllr Parris had circulated an email prior to the meeting regarding potential jubilee celebrations in the village. The Chairman asked Councillors to look at the following:-

·         Come up with ideas for the celebration

·         Look at what it might cost

·         Who might organise this

All ideas are to be emailed to the clerk so we can look at the ideas next month. Cllr Adams suggested we put something in the Parish Magazine asking residents how they want to celebrate the jubilee. Councillor agreed to this and it was also agreed that all residents’ suggestions should be emailed to the Clerk.

The Chairman also confirmed that the cost of any celebration would have to be looked at in the precept for next year at the December precept meeting.

The Jubilee beacons were discussed and the Chairman reported that he had approached the Church to see if they would be interested in having a beacon in the Church tower. The cost for this would be £310 and the TMBC Community Enhancement Grant could be applied for to fund this cost. Several Councillors expressed a preference for a basket type beacon on Wouldham Common. The feasibilities of this were discussed:- manning the site, accessibility, cost. It was agreed that the Clerk would circulate the website details on the information for both types of beacons to all councillors to look at. The beacon would have to be ordered and registered by March 2012 and the grant applied for by February 2012.

Clerk

Clerk

All/Clerk

Clerk

19

CORRESPONDENCE LIST: The list of correspondence received and letters sent during the last 2 months had been circulated to all councillors prior to the meeting.

20

DATE OF THE NEXT MEETING: The next meeting will be held on Tuesday 1st November 2011 at 7.30 pm.

21

COUNCILLORS/CHAIRMAN/CLERK

The Clerk asked Councillors who would be available to attend the Church on Remembrance Sunday – 13^th November, to represent the Parish Council and lay the wreath. Cllr Head volunteered to attend, also suggesting that Cllr Parris might like to attend with her. The Chairman advised that he would be able to attend the service. The Clerk would pass on the details for the collection of the wreath.

The Chairman reported on a meeting he had with Richard Hall of Trenport last week to express to him that both Burham and Wouldham Parish Council’s want to get involved in the Peters Pit development and to have an input. He also mentioned about the plans for the building of the new village hall and the possibility of looking to Trenport for a donation towards this. Richard Hall indicated that Trenport would be delighted to work with both the Parish Councils, as this would have mutual benefits to both parties. The Chairman advised that the next stage would be to get Trenport together with Burham and Wouldham Parish Council representatives so both Councils are aware of what is happening here.

There being no further business to discuss the meeting closed at 9.10 pm.

Cllrs Head & Parris, Chairman and Clerk