40 Minutes of a meeting of LYDD TOWN COUNCIL held in the Council Chamber at the Guild Hall on Monday 8th April 2013 at 7pm

Present: The Town Mayor Cllr. G. F. A. Snell (Chairman), Deputy Town Mayor Cllr. T. A. Dawes and Councillors, C. E. Albrow, T. Allen, C. Goddard, Ms. V. M. Dawson, A. R. J. Hills, R. S. Jones, E. H. Last, Mrs. M. R. Masters, M. F. Sweeney, M. J. Walsh F. Wood-Brignall.

Town Clerk, Angela Alexander Deputy Town Clerk, Mrs. M. Weaver Town Clerk’s Assistant, Mrs. J. Mathews 2 members of the public, 1 press officer, County Cllr. Mrs. C. Waters. The Town Mayor’ Chaplain, Revd. Miss. L. Terry led the Council in prayer. Absent: Apologies for absence were received from Cllrs. D. Chapman (work commitments) Cllr. B. T. A. Hart (unwell), J. R. Jones (personal).

At this juncture the meeting adjourned to allow a presentation to be made by County Cllr. Mrs. Carole Waters, about the Pride in Lydd project. Cllr. Mrs. Waters confirmed that this project had been started last year with a Community Grant of £1,900 allocated by her to try and improve the appearance of the Town. £500 had been used to provide hanging baskets for the Jubilee celebrations and she was now hoping to progress to the next stage. The area at Romney Road is to be improved by removing the old bus shelter and providing a new one. Old advertising boards were also to be removed and two gateways provided, but this would be from a different budget. It was proposed that the triangle of land between Station Road and Harden Road would be planted with a flower bed. Site visits had been held with Cllrs. Snell and Ms. Dawson and the suggestion is to bring in soil to make a circular bed to be planted with some permanent plants and annual bedding, hopefully in time for Club Day. The land is owned by KCC and managed under contract by SDC who at the moment only cut the grass but the contract would be changed to cutting the grass and flower bed maintenance. The Town Council would need to obtain a licence from KCC for this work to be done and the flower bed would need to comply with highway safety and she thought maybe there would be local people and possibly allotment holders who would like to be involved in the planting. The Mayor had agreed to speak to Brett’s about soil and there would need to be consideration of on-going costs and removal of the bed if no longer required. There were no questions and the Mayor thanked Cllr. Mrs. Waters for attending. The matter would be discussed at Item 13 of the agenda. Cllr. Mrs. Waters left the meeting and it was reconvened. 114 COUNCIL MINUTES RESOLVED: The minutes of the last meeting on 4th March 2013 were adopted and signed as an accurate record. Proposed Cllr. Goddard, seconded Cllr. Sweeney. Unanimous. 115 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST Councillors agreed to declare any interests as matters arose. Cllrs. C. Goddard, A. R. J. Hills and Ms. V. M. Dawson declared an interest in any matter relating to Shepway District Council. Cllr. Ms. Dawson also declared an interest in Pride in Lydd.

116 LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOUNDARY REVIEW (Appendix A – page 45) The meeting again, by resolution, adjourned to allow a presentation to be made by Cllr. Last on the Local Government Boundary Review. The proposal is that the number of District Councillors is to be reduced from 46 to 30, which would result in there being only one representing the Parish on the District Council, rather than 3. Currently there are 3,283 electors in the Parish. There are 2 possible options; either accept the proposal or find additional electors to give enough to have 2 Councillors. Councillor Last had made copies of the proposed response to LGBC available to all Councillors and it was agreed that this should be submitted with additional comments from the meeting added.

Town Council, 8th April 2013 41

At this juncture the meeting re-convened and proceeded in accordance with the agenda.

117 CORRESPONDENCE Details of correspondence received were noted. The Clerk reported additional items as follows: (a) Community Warden, Paul Croft had asked if he could place the sum of £600 which was earmarked for funding a dog fouling project within our community in the Council’s bank account, which was agreed. (b) A letter of thanks from Lydd Methodist Church for the attendance at the 137th Anniversary Service on the 3rd March. (c) Introduction from Paul Wilkinson who has recently taken over from Ray Jepps as the Site Director at Dungeness A. (d) Mrs. Sylvia Oiller thanking the Town Council for the rapid response to her recent request for a letter of support to accompany funding applications for the Allotments. (e) Mr. Clark expressing the view that Lydd on Sea is unrepresented in the work of Lydd Town Council and enquiring if a Neighbourhood Plan would be prepared.

118 QUESTIONS FROM THE PUBLIC Questions were taken from Ms. R. G. Saunders and Mr. D. J. Kersey on the Local Government Boundary Review at Item 5. 119 COMMITTEE MINUTES The following minutes were put forward for adoption: (a) Staffing Committee held on 28th January 2013. Proposed Cllr. Wood-Brignall, seconded Cllr. Dawes. (b) Planning and Environment held on 18th February and 4th March 2013. Proposed Cllr. R. Jones, seconded Cllr. Goddard. RESOLVED: That the minutes be adopted.

120 TOWN CLERK’S REPORT (Appendix B – page 46) The Clerk’s report had been circulated to all Councillors. RBL Site Cllr. Walsh declared an interest in item 1 (Royal British Legion) and thanked the Town Clerk for the work she had done and the progress made in a short space of time and suggested that she contact Mr. Bacon who has a lot of documentation which would be useful. He went on to say that the RBL had wrongly claimed the land. The Banks It was suggested that the Council look into the re-cladding of The Banks pavilion. The Clerk reported further as follows: - CCTV The new proposals had been sent to and discussed with Alison Cummings, Listed Building Officer at Shepway DC who would be sending her comments in writing to be included in the proposal prior to going out to tender. Dogs on the Rype Several enquiries had been made by residents regarding the new dog control signs. The Town Clerk had looked through minutes and correspondence between Shepway DC and the former clerk which was contradictory in parts and therefore contacted the Legal Services Manager at Shepway District Council for clarification. The reply stated that the schedule on the dog control order states the dog ban as applying to the Rype Open Space but the Cabinet minutes refer to the Rype Play Area which is the area that Lydd Town Council had asked to be included in the dog ban. The rest of the open space is not subject to the dogs on leads order and the signs were put up in error and subsequently removed leaving only those which relate to the play area.

121 FINANCIAL MATTERS (Appendix C – Page 47) (a) Cllr. Mrs. Masters queried the sum of the cheques for salaries which the Town Clerk explained were a balance payment and that an interim payment had been made to all staff as the HMRC tool used by Mrs. Matthews to calculate salaries had not been

Town Council, 8th April 2013 42

121 FINANCIAL MATTERS (Appendix C – Page 47) cont’d backed up on the click free system and was therefore lost in the transfer to the new computer system. Mrs. Matthews had been working hard to re-enter the past financial year’s salaries to bring things up to date. (b) The member’s internal audit for the month of March up to the close of the financial year had been carried out by Cllrs. Last and Snell. RESOLVED: To authorise the payment of accounts presented at the meeting and to note the cash book extracts showing accounts already paid and current balances. Proposed Cllr. Dawes seconded, Cllr. R. Jones. Unanimous.

122 ALLOTMENT SELF-MANAGEMENT Recommendation from the Allotment Committee meeting held on 18th March 2013 that the Allotments Association be granted self-management of the Lydd Allotments in accordance with the draft proposed operating agreement (previously circulated). The Deputy Town Clerk reported that following a meeting with Mr. B. Arter and Mr. R. Hooper of the Allotment Association on the 27th March, apart from the changes to the main operating agreement, changes to the wording of the tenancy from “the Council” to the “Allotment Association” have not yet been discussed with the Association, which both the Town Clerk and her needed to clarify. If the Council is minded at this stage to agree, in principle, so that this detail can be gone through with the Association, but more important, is that the allotment holders are consulted and asked to determine more specifically, if possible in writing, whether or not they wish to be part of the Association. It was felt that because of the complexity of two separate parties being involved in the administration, i.e. those tenants not wishing to be part of the Association, legal or other advice (i.e. KALC or SLCC) needs to be sought to ensure that everything is done legally and above board and all aspects of administration and management is covered on both sides. Following discussion Cllr. Allen commented that this was a historic decision and everything must be right and proposed that self-management be agreed in principle, the Town Clerk and Deputy Town Clerk to meet with Mr. Arter and Mr Hooper to go through the details of the tenancy agreement. The Town Clerk commented that the current tenancy agreement refers to the plot holder as coming under the Town Council and does not refer to the Association, whereas the Association will be acting on behalf of the Council. There is a legal obligation to keep allotment holders informed of what the various responsibilities are and we need to know that we have gone through the correct procedures. RESOLVED: That self-management be agreed in principle, the Town Clerk and Deputy Town Clerk to discuss the details with the Association. Proposed Cllr. Snell seconded, Cllr. Goddard. 12 for, 0 against, 1 abstention (Cllr. A. R. J. Hills)

123 GLOBAL AIRPORT FOR KENT Cllr. Sweeney reported that he had attended the meeting in Maidstone to discuss the proposal for a global airport for Kent. It had been a high profile meeting which talked about where we go with a major airport and how much we are behind other countries on capacity, lack of air space and delays. There had been an increase of 2% but this could increase from 60-65% by 2030. There was a need to improve and talk about infrastructure as the UK has not got the infrastructure to cope with another airport. The Manston representative briefly mentioned Lydd in relation to freight trade and explained that Manston had recently secured a contract with Amsterdam. Cllr. Paul Carter, KCC Leader spoke about ‘Bold Steps’ and the Vision for Kent. RESOLVED: That the report be received and Cllr. Sweeney was thanked for attending.

Cllr. Albrow apologised and left the meeting at this stage.

124 PRIDE IN LYDD The Town Mayor referred to the presentation made by Cllr. Mrs. Waters and said he wanted to see the Town looking nice but was concerned about the costs involved. He had been in touch with Brett’s about donating the soil; they were not able to use soil from the quarries but were looking into it coming from another source. Cllr. Ms. Dawson expressed her concern that there was no written indication of what costs would be involved at this stage had been provided by Shepway DC. Town Council, 8th April 2013 43 124 PRIDE IN LYDD cont’d RESOLVED: That consideration be deferred until more is known about costs. Proposed Cllr. Last, seconded Cllr. Sweeney. Unanimous.

125 HIGH STREET INNOVATION FUND Details of this fund had been circulated to all Councillors. RESOLVED: That this be considered by the Mayor’s Working Party Group. Proposed Cllr. Goddard seconded Cllr. Last. Unanimous.

126 WEBSITE Consideration was given to Lydd Parish being included in the website initiative of www.thecinqueports.com set up by Paul King, Chairman of Rye Bay Marketing, to raise the profile of the Cinque Ports and Limbs as a destination. There is no charge for being included in the website and the links would be controlled by the Town Council or alternatively by a local Business/Traders Association. RESOLVED: To seek advice from the Registrar to the Confederation of the Cinque Ports before any decision is made. Proposed Cllr. Goddard seconded, Cllr. Walsh. Unanimous.

127 PURCHASE OF TRAILER Quotations for replacement of the Groundsman’s trailer had been circulated to all Councillors. RESOLVED: That the quotation by John Page Trailers Ltd., in the sum of £710.00 plus VAT £142.00, be accepted. Proposed Cllr. Wood-Brignall seconded, Cllr. Hills. Unanimous.

128 MAYOR, DEPUTY MAYOR AND CIVIC REPRESENTATIVE-ELECT for 2013-14 The Town Mayor vacated the Chair and Cllr. Wood-Brignall was elected temporary Chairman for this item. Town Mayor-Elect Nominations Cllr. T. A. Dawes, proposed by Cllr. Mrs. V. M. Dawson, seconded by Cllr. E. H. Last. Cllr. G. F. A. Snell, proposed by Cllr. C. E. Albrow, seconded by Cllr. F. Wood-Brignall. Voting was done by paper ballot: Cllr. Dawes – 8 votes. Cllr. Snell – 4 votes. Cllr. Dawes was duly elected Town Mayor-Elect for the ensuing year.

Deputy Town Mayor Nominations Cllr. T. Allen, proposed by Cllr. C. Goddard, seconded by Cllr. G. F. A. Snell. Cllr. R. S. Jones, proposed by Cllr. M. J. Walsh, seconded Cllr. M. F. Sweeney. Voting was done by paper ballot: Cllr. Allen – 6 votes. Cllr. R. Jones – 6 votes. The Chairman gave a casting vote in favour of Cllr. Allen. Cllr. Allen was duly elected Deputy Town Mayor-Elect for the ensuing year. There we no nominations for Civic Representative. RESOLVED: That Cllr. Dawes be elected Town Mayor-Elect and Cllr. Allen Deputy Town Mayor-Elect for the ensuing year.

129 CIVIC ENGAGEMENTS The Town Mayor apologised that the list of engagements was not available and it would be distributed as soon as possible.

130 EXCLUSION OF PRESS AND PUBLIC RESOLVED: Under Paragraph 4, Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972, that the following two items be discussed in private session. Proposed Cllr. Allen seconded, Cllr. Dawes. Unanimous.

131 GUILD HALL WINDOWS Quotations received for replacement of the Guild Hall window frames had been circulated to all Councillors. RESOLVED: That the quotations be referred to the Mayor’s Business Working Group. Proposed, Cllr. Snell seconded, Cllr. Hills. Unanimous.

Town Council, 8th April 2013 44

132 STAFFING COMMITTEE Recommendations from the Staffing Committee meeting held on the 25th March 2013 were put forward for consideration as follows:- (a) Website – That the Town Clerk work an additional day to update the website further to attending a training course. Agreed. Proposed Cllr. Last, seconded Cllr. Dawes. Unanimous. (b) Employment Tribunal Review of Hearing – Report received from the Town Mayor that Mrs. J. Reed’s appeal had been turned down. A press statement had been drawn up by the Barrister and Solicitors and circulated to the newspapers -nothing further was required of the Town Council. The case was still open to further appeal but it would be between the Tribunal and Mrs. Reed. Agreed to receive report. (c) Role of Deputy Town Clerk – That the Deputy Town Clerk contract be extended for a further 6 months until the end of October 2013. Cllr. Last expressed concern that the Council was spending an increasing amount of money on administration and not achieving anything. Cllr. Walsh proposed, seconded Cllr. Hills, that the recommendation be accepted. Voting 11 for, 1 against (Cllr. E. H. Last). Agreed. (d) Grass Cutting – That the quotation submitted by Gibbs & Son of Appledore, in the sum of £3,660 be accepted. Proposed Cllr. Mrs. Masters, seconded Cllr. Goddard. Voting 10 for, 2 against (Cllr. E. H. Last and Cllr. M. J. Walsh). (e) Personnel Committee – that the Staffing Committee be restructured to become the Personnel Committee with effect from the Annual Statutory Meeting and the Terms of Reference be updated accordingly (circulated with agenda). Proposed Cllr. Mrs. Masters, seconded Cllr. Goddard that the recommendation be accepted. By way of amendment Cllr. Last proposed that item 5 be deleted, it to be up to the Personnel Committee whether to exclude the press and public. Cllr. Hills commented that staff and councillors must be protected. The proposal by Cllr. Mrs. Masters, seconded by Cllr. Goddard was put. By way of further amendment Cllr. Last proposed, seconded by Cllr. Walsh that a decision be deferred until new Terms of Reference are decided, and to be discussed with the new Town Mayor. Resolved: The substantive motion that the draft Terms of Reference be adopted in full. For – 10 Against – Cllrs. E. H. Last and M. J. Walsh

Chairman______

Date______

45 Town Council, 8th April 2013 Appendix A to the minutes of the Town Council meeting on 8 th April 2013

Denge and Walland Marsh This area is locally considered the western end of the Romney Marsh and is composed of six parishes and communities.

Lydd Town, Dungeness and Lydd-on-Sea

Lydd Town is an established community which traditionally included Dungeness and Lydd-on- Sea. As a corporate member of the Cinque Ports it acted as a source of wealth through both legal and illegal activities derived from its proximity to the coast, as did the requirement to provide ships for the sovereign’s military excursions. Today it acts as a “hub for the community” in Shepway District Council’s core strategy, i.e. it provides daily shopping facilities, a medical centre, two dental practices and has various commercial and industrial undertakings that provide local employment. To the east of the town is Lydd Airport which is presently subject to planning application for extension of its services. Should a positive decision be reached Lydd Town Council believes that the Lydd Airport expansion proposals will create the catalyst for economic regeneration: this in turn will provide a positive platform for improvements to public transport, the local infrastructure and create an increase in local employment thus increasing the population level. The outcome of this may well mean that the variance will positively increase in future years.

The number 11 bus service operates from Lydd Town to Lydd-on-Sea and Dungeness before serving the Marsh villages on its route to Ashford. The parishes of Snargate, Brookland and Brenzett are being organised as a living together with All Saints’ Church (Lydd) and St.Peter’s at Greatstone.

The parish and town councils of the designated area of Denge Marsh and Walland Marsh have regular consultative meetings and undertaken some activities together and have made common cause with the higher local government tiers.

2013 2018 Lydd Town, Lydd-on-Sea, 4780 4979 Dungeness and Greatstone

Old Romney 175 175 Brookland 367 395 Brenzett 281 302 Snargate 103 103 Ivychurch 214 214 Total (b) 1140 1189 Grand total 5920 6168

Should the area be considered as a viable unit then it would allow for two councillors serving a ward of 6,168, a 3.9% variance.

Addendum: At the meeting of Lydd Town Council held on 08/04/13, Councillors expressed their concerns regarding the impact that the reduction in the number of District Councillors from 3 to 2 would have on the effective representation due to the increased travel times to reach all their constituents.

46

Town Council, 8th April 2013 Appendix B to the minutes of the Town Council meeting on 8 th April 2013

AGENDA ITEM: 9

Town Clerk’s report to the Town Council on 8 th April 2013

1. ROYAL BRITISH LEGION PROPERTY –The Land Registry Search documents (Title number K942615) shows the proprietor as being The Royal British Legion, Haig House, 199 Borough High Street London SE1 1AA. The Town Clerk has made contact with Tony West, Kent County Secretary who stated that “The Lydd RBL Club closed in 2005 and the Branch, which continued to use the premises, closed in 2007. The property is under Corporate Trusteeship and is being managed by the Property Department of the Royal British Legion” He provided information from the Welfare team who said there are 14 cases on their databases from the TN29 9 postcode area, but asked that we bear in mind that they do not just assist the ex- service personnel themselves but their widows/widowers, families and dependants. The Town Clerk has also contacted David Arnold, Regional Team Leader and Property Manager- South East and London who stated that- “The property is held in Corporate Trusteeship. As such the Board of Trustees of The Royal British Legion have the overall responsibility of the terms of the trust. Just to clarify these terms please see an extract from our trust overview report from our solicitors, Farrers: “We will hold the proceeds of such sale or sales whether pursuant to the trust in that behalf contained in the recited Conveyance or in this deed or any statutory or other power after payment thereout of the expenses incident thereto Upon trust to apply the same in purchase of other property to be used for the like purposes or in the improvement of any property used or to be used for the purposes aforesaid or to apply the same as capital or income for such charitable purposes and objects and in such manner for the benefit of ex-Service men from time to time resident in the said Parish of Lydd as the Committee shall in its absolute discretion think fit with power to the Committee to settle any scheme or schemes for such last-mentioned application.

PROVIDED ALWAYS that if the trusts last aforesaid shall fail by reason of their ceasing to be any ex-Service men resident in the said Parishes or if the Committee shall in the exercise of its absolute discretion determine that owing to the small number of ex-Service men for the time being resident in the said Parish as aforesaid or for other proper reason the trusts last aforesaid ought not to be given effect to then and in that case we will hold such proceeds as capital or income in trust for the Corporation of Lydd primarily for the use of ex-Service men generally.”

In plain English it means that any sale proceeds will be held in a separate trust account to be applied to the purposes of the trust i.e. “charitable purposes and objects and in such manner for the benefit of ex-Service men from time to time resident in the said Parish of Lydd”. I will however re-iterate that The Royal British Legion does reserve the right to review these types of trusts from time to time.

The Legion is currently reviewing their options in light of the property’s failure to sell at auction. A decision will be taken as how to proceed by the middle of May, but it is possible that they will resubmit a planning application.

2. INSTALLATION OF BENCHES DENNES LANE AND REPAIR TO POTHOLES DERING FARM LANE – works almost complete, a few potholes remain as the Contractor ran out of materials to complete this job. The benches are in place and taped off. When the contractors return to site they will put soil around the base of the benches, remove rubble and leave the site tidy and complete the pothole repairs.

3. ROOF REPAIRS TO THE BANKS PAVILION- work carried out prior to Easter some snagging to complete.

4. REPLACEMENT GOAL POSTS FOR THE RYPE – these are scheduled for delivery on 9th April 2013.

5. NOTICEBOARD- awaiting an update from the manufacturers on delivery date.

6. CCTV - A meeting was held with Robyn Sones, CCTV consultant and Julian French KCC Street lighting on 26th March 2013 to discuss options for the siting of CCTV cameras. A new proposal has been drawn up and circulated to members of the CCTV working group for their comments. Once approved this will be sent out for quotations. (Councillor Goddard to update) 47 Appendix C to the minutes of the Town Council meeting on 8 th April 2013 Town Council, 8th April 2013 Town Council, 8th April 2013