Ordinary Meeting of Ringwould with Kingsdown Parish Council s1

Ordinary Meeting of Ringwould with Kingsdown Parish Council 13 th February 2012

Attending The Chairman Cllr P Macwilliam, Clerk Sarah Spanner, Cllrs: N Jackaman, D Clark, C Price, R Broadley, D Bucknell , Rev Sigrist.

1. Record of members present Members as listed above attended. PCSO Lisa White and Community Warden Malcolm Wells and 2 members of the public also attended . Apologies received and accepted from Cllr H Paice who also advised that Cllr Shepherd sent his apologies as he was unable to attend (personal commitments

2. Declaration of interest with regard to items on the agenda, None declared

3. Public Participation, There were no questions.

4. Read and confirm minutes of the previous meeting Cllr Bucknell requested that where it was stated that, in relation to The Zetland Arms, that use of the PC owned land by the public house “should either be formalised or withdrawn” that it should also include the statement that this formal use would be via a licence. Subject to this amendment, Cllr Price proposed and Cllr Broadley seconded that the minutes be accepted as an accurate record and all voted in favour

5. Community Warden / Partners and Community Together initiative. The Community Warden reported that he had raised fading white road markings and repair of street lamps with KCC. Youths on motor bikes were still a problem and, as confirmed by the PCSO, a local Ringwould youth was causing problems throwing ice and snowballs at house windows. The Community Warden has a DVD on digital switch over which he is very willing to show to any local group

The PCSO advised that off road bikes continued to be reported, but that the off road police motor bike team is now a county wide resource.

6 Matters arising (not covered elsewhere on the agenda) Cllr Price had attended the Dover Area KALC meeting and supplied Council members with information packs on digital switchover.

Cllr Macwilliam advised that Kingsdown Village Hall is undertaking the annual election of trustees, but that as the Parish Council elections for user group representatives would not be until May, as usual, the current rep. Cllr Paice would continue. The clerk advised the Parish Council that the trustees had requested that use group representatives are committed to the organisation and should attend as many meetings as possible. 19

Cllr Clark advised Councillors that it has been suggested that Kingsdown might apply for village of the year. Having studied the application form (circulated to Councillors) it was not felt to be something that the village was yet ready for. Councillors agreed that it could be something for the future, perhaps to also include Ringwould, but this did not have to be a Parish Council initiative any local group could take the lead on this.

The Clerk advised that no response had been received from The Zetland Arms with regard to the management of waste. This matter will now be referred to the owners of the property. ACTION CLERK TO CONTACT ENTERPRISE INNS

The issue of waste and general care of the local environment by residents of the seafront conservation area in Kingsdown (was discussed and councillors encouraged homeowners in this area to maintain a pride in their local environment. With regard to waste collection, the roadusers association had proposed a communal collection area and a meeting had also been arranged with the local MP. No further action was felt to be appropriate at this stage.

The clerk advised that Kent Highways had been delayed in commencing work on the proposed revisions to the traffic management scheme but that the officer wished to visit the village and meet with councillors to discuss the issues associated with signage. ACTION CLERK TO CONTACT KENT HIGHWAYS OFFICER TO ARRANGE MEETING.

7. Planning 7.1 The following responses made by the Planning Committee were noted 11/01098, Misc tree works, Coppice Lodge, Church Cliff, No objections TC/120008 Misc Tree works, Laundry Cottage Ringwould. No objections 11/01147 Erection of a detached dwelling and widening of existing vehicular access. Local residents in adjoining properties were consulted and no current concerns were raised. The Parish Council made no objections but confirmed that this proves the importance of monitoring existing granted applications to ensure no changes are made without appropriate approval

Cllr Bucknell asked that rather than just stating the overall view more detail be added to the record of the response on Mer Vista, to indicate the comments made to Dover DC ( as now shown in minutes)

7.2 Planning application at Greenleaves, Kingsdown Rd Cllr Macwilliam summarised the meeting of an earlier planning meeting at which a number of objections had been raised including; over density, impact on the environment, drainage, concerns over the boundary position. A full response will be submitted and will be available for pubic view on the Dover DC planning website ACTION CLERK TO PREPARE PLANNING RESPONSE ON GREENLEAVES

The Chair adjourned the meeting to ask whether Kingsdown Conservation Group were preparing a response. The local member present confirmed that 20 members would be advised of the application and he would also advise them of Parish Council views. The meeting was re convened

7.3 The following recent decision of Dover District Council was noted 11/00984, Clock Tower, Kingsdown Park, Misc tree works to tree with TPO; granted permission

7.4 Feedback from Localism Conference Cllrs Macwilliam & Price summarised their views and experience at the recent conference on Localism. Cllr Price expressed concern that the creation of a neighbourhood plan was a very lengthy and costly process and he had doubt that it would have any real impact . He felt that it would be of benefit to wait until the current trials had concluded and there were more robust processes in place to judge what benefit the Parish would get.

Cllr Macwilliam felt that, whilst it probably was inappropriate to commence work on a formal plan, he suggested that the Parish Council would get benefit from starting to collect information and that this might also improve community engagement. Cllr Bucknell agreed that starting to capture issues would be useful but that it was important for the Parish Council to define clearly the outcomes required in any associated initiatives.

The meeting was adjourned to allow a comment from a local resident who agreed that the neighbourhood plan may not give the power to local communities expected. He agreed it was important to enthuse local residents but that setting expectations and following up on ideas was important so that action was seen to result. He reported that KCG was active in campaigning for the village, including support to local shops. The meeting was reconvened.

A number of ideas were discussed, Cllr Jackaman said maintaining a focus on what could be achieved was important and that issues like the areas of Kingsdown near the beach might be improved via a community led project. The clerk reminded members that the Annual Parish Meeting on 16th April was a public meeting and would be a useful form to discuss issues with local residents . It was agreed that a drop in session would be held on Saturday 17th March and all local residents would be invited to attend. ACTION CLERK

Cllr Bucknell felt that it would be useful for the Planning Committee to set up a working group to develop a short written strategy. It was agreed that this might be useful after any site meeting at Greenleaves

8. Finance 8.1 proposed and seconded that the following schedule be approved for payment, all voted in favour 800 KALC Localism Day Training £216 (signed before mtg) 801 Open Spaces Society membership £40 802 Addelam Tree care £120 803 Vurley fencing (approved fence maint) £504 804 Kingsdown Village Hall (hall hire) £48 21

805 S Spanner – February salary £387.68 806 Post office Ltd (PAYE feb) £97 807 ACRK 2012_13 (joint with Kingsdown & 808 Ringwould Village Halls) £85 808 A&M Lyon – flail cutting £48 809 Veolia Water allotment water £48.21

The clerk submitted one further invoice for payment which related to litter picking. The Chair reminded councillors that minimum wages had recently been increase and although the litter pickers were contractors and not employees he felt it was appropriate to increase the hourly rate offered to them and proposed that this rate be increased to £6.10 per hour. Cllr Clark seconded this and all voted in favour for the January payment to be made £91.50, chq 810 ACTION CLERK TO NOTIFY CONTRACTORS. The clerk stated her intention to raise with the Finance and Admin. Committee her concerns that the contractors were not adopting safe working practices and that she believed that they were not wearing the high vis. tabards supplied to them. This was agreed as being an essential requirement for carrying out this activity and action will be taken by the Finance and Administration Committee at its March meeting.

9. KCC Proposal on Street Lighting and response to KALC KCC proposals to reduce some street lighting were discussion. The Parish Council supported the cost saving exercise but also wished to encourage KCC to improve speed of repair and looking at areas where really needed and where in some cases there were too many lights. ACTION CLERK TO RESPOND TO KCC AND KALC

10. Jubilee Cllr Price had developed some proposals for new street signs which he was discussing with KCC in order to identify most appropriate locations and costs. (He was disappointed not to have received a response from councillors when proposals had been circulated). Cllr Jackaman proposed and Cllr Broadley seconded that the proposals be developed and final costings and location details be submitted to the Council as soon as possible ready for a vote in march. Cllr Price agreed also to ask KCC views on planters to be associated with the signs. (If agreed Cllr Broadley agreed that he would then speak to a local business about whether they would maintain these, Cllr Sigrist suggested that local schools might also be interested)

Cllr Price put forward some suggestions for marking the jubilee, including a local bonfire or beacon and Cllr Bucknell also suggested that there might be other ways to more permanently mark the jubilee. It was confirmed that applications for grants towards a street party in Kingsdown, and a picnic on the green in Ringwould would be favourably considered by the Parish Council.

Cllr Price also suggested that planting a tree in both villages might be appropriate and he would also gather information on this for discussion. 22

The area of land adjacent to Kingsdown Recreation Ground was suggested as being a possible location for a sign and Cllr Price stated that he was anxious to start marking arrangements to clear this site. The clerk and the chair reminded the Parish Council that this land was not owned by them. ACTION CLERK TO SEEK LEGAL ADVICE FROM KALC IN RELATION TO ADVERSE POSSESSION

11. Information Exchange Cllr Macwilliam adjourned the meeting to allow a comment from the public with regard to an issue associated with the Holiday Park in Kingsdown. Conditions being applied in relation to longer opening are causing difficulties with parking and it is being suggested that there would only be 1 car allowed per chalet which would cause congestion in the village. The chalet owners association is now in discussion with the planning officer, Sarah Platts.

Cllr Price stated that it might be useful to look into a grit bin at the top of Upper Street. ACTION CLERK TO INVESTIGATE COSTS OF A NEW GRIT BIN

Progress in chasing up opportunities for faster broadband connections were noted, as a result of contact from a local resident, the local MP is to meet with mangers of BT Infinity.

There being no other business the meeting ended at 9.35pm. The next meeting of the Parish Council is on Monday 12th March at Learning Opportunities Centre Ringwould