Sevenoaks Local Board Annual Report 9 9 9 9

/0 /0 Ü Introduction /0 /0 8 8 8 8 The Local Board is pleased to present its fifth annual report 0 0 0 0 covering the period from 1st April 2008 to 31st March 2009.

20 20 20 20 The seven Members (County Councillors) who make up the Local Board, and the respective areas they represented were:-

Sevenoaks North East David Brazier (Chairman) Darent Valley Roger Gough Mark Fittock Sevenoaks East Nick Chard Sevenoaks South Peter Lake Sevenoaks Central John London Sevenoaks West Richard Parry

David Brazier was Chairman and John London was Vice Chairman of the Local Board for the whole year.

No additional members were co-opted to the Local Board during the year.

Ü Meetings

The Sevenoaks Local Board met on 23 June 2008. This was its only public meeting during the 2008/9 year. In June 2008, County Council approved a report recommending that different structures for local community engagement should be explored, including joint arrangements involving District, Town and Parish Councils. Such arrangements for the arrangement remain under discussion. No model to take the place of the existing Sevenoaks Local Board has yet been put in place. There will be full publicity for future arrangements, when these have been agreed.

The Local Board also held a briefing meeting for Sevenoaks District Council Members on 26 November 2008, regarding the proposed Sevenoaks Sevenoaks SevenoaksLocal Board ReportAnnual Local Board ReportAnnual Academy. Sevenoaks SevenoaksLocal Board ReportAnnual Local Board ReportAnnual

Sevenoaks Local Board Annual Report 2002008/98/9 111 Ü Sevenoaks Local Board Meetings 2008/09

The public meeting of the Local Board was held in Edenbridge in June 2008. This continued the Board’s practice of holding some of its meetings in the main population centres of the Sevenoaks District, rather than, say, holding all meetings in Sevenoaks itself.

Date of Venue Main Topics Attendees KCC Meeting Members (of 7) 23 June Edenbridge • Edenbridge Children’s 15 plus 7 2008 Leisure Centre Centre officers • KCC Care Strategy presenting • The National Year of etc Reading 26 Sevenoaks • “Towards and Members of 7 November Town Council Academy for the Local 2008 Offices Sevenoaks” – a Board and briefing at the request Sevenoaks of Sevenoaks District District Council Members Council

Future meeting dates and venues will be advertised on the KCC web site. See: www.kent.gov.uk/localboards

Ü Small Community Capital Grants

As in successive financial years since Local Boards began in 2004/05, KCC allocated £500,000 across Kent in its Capital Budget for the Small Community Capital Projects Fund. This was aimed at supporting small capital projects originating in local communities. The Sevenoaks Local Board was allocated £40,100 of the £500,000, to recommend grants to projects in the Sevenoaks District.

Applicants for projects were given guidance about how to submit their bid, and the criteria by which the Fund operates. The principal requirements for projects are that they must be for capital works, and must be able to demonstrate how they will bring benefit to the local community.

Grants could only be given to organisations that were properly constituted. This includes organisations such as district, parish and town councils, voluntary and community groups, churches, societies, charities, etc.

Sevenoaks Local Board Annual Report 2002008/98/9 222 Grants could only be provided to a maximum value of £20,000 to any one project, and could only be provided to projects that enhance local communities or the provision of services to the public of Kent.

These grants could not be provided as replacement funding for the loss of any other form of funding from KCC.

Via the Community Liaison Manager, the Local Board received five applications to the Fund, and recommended five grants. The list of recommended projects then went forward to KCC’s Cabinet, for approval. All were approved. These are listed below.

The Small Community Capital Grant requests received by the Sevenoaks Local Board in 2008/9 were as follows:

Project Title Applicant Grant Grant given requested Replacement boiler for Sevenoaks Citizens Advice £3,000 £3,000 heating system Bureau 2158 (Sevenoaks) Contribution to purchase of £7,000 £7,000 Squadron Air Training a minibus Cadets Store Extension at Hall £8,000 £8,000 Memorial Hall Committee Vine Lodge Baptist Refurbished toilets (Part of £20,000 £16,190 Church, Sevenoaks redevelopment of building for community use) Shoreham Village Internet Café on school £5,910 £5,910 School premises Total £40,100 allocated

Application forms for Small Community Capital grants in the 2009/10 financial year will be available from June 2009. Local Board Members will consider applications received in the autumn of 2009.

Ü Local Schemes Grants

Since 2006/07, KCC has allocated £400,000 across Kent to a grant scheme called “Local Schemes Grant”. This is available for a range of types of project. The money derives from the income from Council Tax for second homes, and is allocated each year to Local Boards pro rata to their District’s share of that income. There are relatively few second homes in

Sevenoaks Local Board Annual Report 2002008/98/9 333 the Sevenoaks District compared, for example, to Districts in the east of Kent, and the Sevenoaks Local Board’s allocation under Local Schemes Grant was only £12,000. Rather than spread this thinly across a range of small projects, the Local Board decided to invite applications for projects that could use the whole sum on a significant local initiative.

Two applications were received, one from Edenbridge Town Council for support towards the cost of redeveloping local play facilities in the area, and one from West Kent Extra, for their “Active Lifestyles” scheme. The £12,000 grant was awarded to West Kent Extra.

Ü Member Community Grants

Each KCC elected Member on the Sevenoaks Local Board can recommend grants for local community projects up to a total value of £10,000 in the financial year. The Member Community Grant Scheme was first introduced in the 2004/05 financial year. All recommendations by individual Members of the Local Board are submitted for ratification by a Member of KCC’s Cabinet before a grant is agreed.

The principal criterion for a project seeking a Member Community Grant is that it must be able to demonstrate clear benefit to the local community.

A summary of the grants agreed from each Local Board Member’s allowance is shown in Appendix 1.

Ü Conclusion

The Local Board is now considering its future structure, scope, and frequency of meetings. Decisions on these issues will be taken some time after the County Council elections in June 2009.

Grants from the Local Board in 2008/09 were worth more than £118,000 and have supported a very wide variety of community activities and local facilities, many of which would not have had access to grant assistance through other means. These grant schemes remain in place for 2009/10.

Sevenoaks Local Board Annual Report 2002008/98/9 444 Appendix 1

Kent County Council Member Community Grant 2008/09

The total grant of £10,000 available to each Member of the Sevenoaks Local Board was allocated as follows in the 2008/09 financial year (1 April 2008 to 31 March 2009):

Projects £

Ü David Brazier

Bike and scooter racks, Primary School 1,798 Insulation work, Hodsoll Street Village Hall 2,176 Parish Council Trim Trail 2,130 NWK Carers Information and Communication Project 750 Improvements at Hartley Library 840 New PA system for North Kent Community Church 1,500 Publication of the Hartley Parish Plan 400 £9,594

Ü Roger Gough

Replacement artificial nets, Shoreham Cricket Club 2,000 Refurbishment of ancient cattle screen, 2,000 New cooker/oven for Shoreham Village Hall 1,500 Upgrade to toilets, British Legion Hall 1,700 Fencing, Shrubbery Row Play Area, Horton Kirby 2,000 New local play equipment, Swanley 503 Mobility kissing gate, Harvestfield Park, 297 £10,000

Ü Nick Chard

Hardelot Centre Visit by Primary School 700 Youth work in Seal, Kemsing and (Innov8) 4,885 Bike Racks, Sevenoaks Wildlife Park 745 Replacement window for Otford Memorial Hall 1,231 Portage service toys, Kent Portage Service 935 Noah’s Ark Village Sign 548 £9,044

Ü Mark Fittock

Short Mat Bowls ( Active Retirement Association) 1,000 New and replacement equipment, Hextable Boy’s Brigade 1,050

Sevenoaks Local Board Annual Report 2002008/98/9 555 Volunteer Training, Swanley Volunteer Centre 2,000 Extending local allotments in Swanley (Town Council) 930 Model boating floating jetty 950 Tree planting and environmental work, Swanley 1,400 £7,330

Ü Peter Lake

Rental fees for pitch used by Causeway Stoolball Club 500 Support for Edenbridge Trade Fair (Chamber of Commerce) 1,500 Community Sports Network website (Sencio Leisure) 750 West Kent Energy Savers (seven local primary schools) 3,670 “Edenbridge Friendz Club” (Mencap) 1,000 Pontoon and hoist, Bough Beech Sailability 500 Sevenoaks Reachout Group (TW Mental Health Resource) 400 Celebrating Volunteering in Edenbridge (VAWK) 500 Skatepark development (Edenbridge Town Council) 1,180 £10,000

Ü John London

Improved play area, St Thomas RC Primary School 1,000 Bike Racks, Sevenoaks Wildlife Park 745 Heating Improvements, The Drive Methodist Church 2,000 Tree planting by Riverhead Parish Council 2,500 Automatic door mechanism, The Stag Theatre 1,500 Creation of additional volunteer bureaux (VAWK) 2,000 £10,000

Ü Richard Parry

New regalia for Sevenoaks Air Training Corps 836 Creative DVD Programme (Innov8) 2,088 Westerham Parish “Healthcheck” 1,000 Automatic door mechanism, The Stag Theatre 1,500 Self-closing play area gate, Halstead 955 IT equipment for Parish Council use, 1,000 Workd at Sundridge Village Hall 1,500 “Faithworks”, bowling trip by young people 300 New benches, Chevening 821 £10,000

Sevenoaks Local Board Annual Report 2002008/98/9 666 Appendix 1 continued Overall position:

7 KCC Members, each with £10,000 to allocate as grants = £70,000 Total allocated = £65,968 or 94.2 % of total. 50 grants made. Average grant = £1,319

See pie charts below for further analysis.

Value of MCG Funded Projects by Recipient 2008-9 year - Sevenoaks Local Board

£2,525

£3,500 £3,438

£7,168 Youth Org Parish/Town £24,742 Vol Org/Local Org School Church/Faith Other £24,595

Value of MCG Funded Projects by type of activity 2008-9 year - Sevenoaks Local Board

Youth Activities

£8,985 £13,792 Local Facilities/Environment £6,880 Community Safety

£2,700 Education related £1,798 Sport £31,813 Other

Sevenoaks Local Board Annual Report 2002008/98/9 777 This Annual Report has been compiled by:

Tom Phillips KCC Community Liaison Manager for Sevenoaks & Tunbridge Wells who can be contacted at:

Room 1-98 Sessions House County Hall Maidstone Kent ME16 8ER or by telephone on 01622 696897 and e-mail to [email protected]

Further information about Kent County Council’s Local Boards initiative can be found on the Kent County Council web site at: http://www.kent.gov.uk/localboards

Sevenoaks Local Board Annual Report 2002008/98/9 888