WICKHAMBREAUX PARISH COUNCIL MINUTES of the MEETING HELD on 22 FEBRUARY 2016 Present: Parish Cllr Martin Twyman Parish Cllr
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WICKHAMBREAUX PARISH COUNCIL MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 22 FEBRUARY 2016 Present: Parish Cllr Martin Twyman Parish Cllr Robin Treacher Parish Cllr Gary Bradford Parish Cllr Charles Porter Parish Cllr Caroline Rees Parish Cllr Linda Lodge Parish Cllr Faith Wright Miss Chenice Sparkes, Clerk to the Council 1 Resident 1. CHAIRMAN’S OPENING REMARKS AND APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE Cllr Twyman welcomed everyone to the meeting and thanked Cllr Treacher for taking the Chairman post in his absence at the last meeting. Apologies for absence were received and accepted from City Cllr Stuart Walker, County Cllr Michael Northey and PCSO Kerry-Anne Pearce. 2. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST Cllr Porter and Cllr Treacher declared an interest in planning application CA//16/00176/ELE 3. MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 19 JANUARY 2016 The Minutes were accepted as a true record of the meeting. 4. INFORMATION FROM MATTERS ARISING 4(6.iv) Cllr Bradford reported that Roger Bodimeade has repaired the sign since the last meeting but Kent County Council has not actioned its replacement yet. 5. The Clerk contacted County Cllr Michael Northey to request more information on the proposed mobile library changes and Cllr Northey confirmed that both the Wickhambreaux and Ickham stops are to be retained under the proposals. However, the mobile library is proposed to change from a weekly stop to fortnightly and is proposed to change from Monday 14:40-15:25 (45 minutes) to Thursday 10:45-11:15 (30 minutes). The Clerk was asked to make an official representation on behalf of the Parish Council commenting that Thursday would clash with the refuse and recycling collections so another day may be better to consider and also that the change in time now means school children cannot attend the library after school like they do currently. 6(ii) Cllr Wright reported she attended the A257 meeting in Cllr Twyman’s absence on Saturday 23 January 2016. The meeting received a report back from a meeting held with Kent County Council regarding road improvements and traffic calming measures. Although the members’ suggestions were listened to, no progress on what was discussed seems forthcoming. Cllr Twyman thanked Cllr Wright for attending in his stead. 11. The Clerk reported she contacted EiS to accept an offer of more formal training for four Councillors. Unfortunately the dates suggested for March are unsuitable for all Councillors so the Clerk was asked to respond and request some dates for April. 16(Tree Warden). Cllr Wright reported she had tried to make contact with a resident in the village who may have contact details for the owner of a potentially unsafe tree in The List who is currently in America. Although no response has been received to date, the property now appears to be up for sale with contact details of the Estate Agents. Cllr Wright agreed to contact the Estate Agents to try and establish contact with the owner. 16(Tree Warden). Cllr Wright reported that she contacted Mark Jones to ensure he had received the Parish Council’s acceptance of the annual inspection of trees back in October. ~ 1 ~ Mark Jones confirmed that he had received the confirmation of acceptance and would be carrying out the inspection two weeks ago. To date no inspection has taken place and Cllr Wright agreed to chase. 16(Playing Fields).The Clerk reported she had sent an apology letter to the resident who donated the oak tree that went missing. The resident responded positively and has kindly volunteered to donate some further trees for the proposed wildlife area for the Playing Field and also requested that they be involved in the design and implementation of the wildlife area. 17. Cllr Rees reported that the two cheques for Mat Mackay had to be rewritten because his bank account is in his personal name, not the name of his company detailed on his invoice. In future any invoices from Mat Mackay are to have the correct addressee details for the purposes of payment. 19. Cllr Twyman requested that the Clerk produce a spreadsheet to enclose with planning applications sent round prior to meetings for Councillors to make their comments on. It was agreed that planning applications should be sent to Cllr Porter first as he is one of the planning Councillors on the Parish Council. 5. REPORTS FROM COUNTY AND CITY COUNCILLORS PCSO Kerry-Anne Pearce PCSO Pearce provided the Parish Council with the following report in her absence: There were 67 police related incidents for the Little Stour area between 01 January 2016 and 19 February 2016. For Wickhambreaux there was concern for the welfare of an elderly resident where reassurance was provided and SECAS called for a follow up visit, an alarm was set off in error and the key holder was contacted and a push bike was recovered and placed into Canterbury Lost Property. A case of fraud on ebay was reported where the caller had sold an item but the money sent was claimed to have been done in error and returned. The item had already been posted and the buyer’s ebay account has been deactivated. Cones were reported to be left outside Wickhambreaux Primary School, the caller was advised the cones were not police related but to call Kent County Council and Kent Highways. There has been a number of nuisance telephone calls from a company calling residents who are allegedly having problems with their computer. Residents are advised to call their service provider and block the number (0203 2907141). There was also a report of hare coursing on farmland but no registration was obtained and area searches revealed no trace. A suspicious male has been seen offering services for tree cutting and landscaping, supposedly choosing specific houses to ask. Area search found no trace of the male. Another suspicious male was reported for knocking on doors in Littlebourne, the car index was noted but no offences have been committed. 6. HIGHWAYS (i) Cllr Twyman reported that Bekesbourne Road is to be closed for a second time from 29 February for four weeks. Cllr Porter reported he has spoken to City Cllr Walker suggesting this would be an ideal time to carry out road repairs to a number of pot holes along this stretch. This email has since been sent to Cllr Northey who has said that unfortunately due to budget restrictions it will not be possible to carry out road repairs. The Clerk was asked to contact Michael Northey regarding the pot holes and request he reconsider Kent Highways stance. (ii) Cllr Twyman reported he has had numerous phone calls with Kevin Able, a manager at Kent Highways, regarding the state of the roads in the parish. There are five major pot holes in the parish that need urgent attention, some dating back from July 2015, that have not been fixed. Kevin Able apologised for the lack of repairs due to staff and contractor ~ 2 ~ problems and promised that action would be taken by week beginning 15 February 2016. To date no repairs have been undertaken. The Clerk was asked to write an official complaint to Chris Maw, District Highways Manager, to request urgent action be undertaken to repair the major pot holes throughout the parish. (iii) Cllr Twyman reported that a resident has contacted him to complain about cars using the one way system around the Village Green illegally, in particular during school run hours. The Parish Council have no powers in this area but the Clerk was asked to contact the local PCSO to inform them of the situation and request some patrols around school run hours to monitor the situation and take any necessary action. Cllr Twyman was asked to contact the resident and thank them for bringing the matter to the Parish Council’s attention and inform them the Parish Council will be contacting the local PCSO. (iv) Cllr Wright reported that on 24 February 2016 the Black Hole Dyke will be dredged to see if the drainage problems being experienced in The List can be alleviated. Brian Maxted has kindly given permission for Kent County Council contractors to access his garden for the dredging. The drainage problems in The List have been ongoing for two years and it has taken an official complaint to be lodged by Cllr Wright before any action has been taken. (v) Cllr Wright reported that the railings on the bridge are in need of repainting. Cllr Bradford agreed to obtain some quotations for the works to be considered at the next Parish Council meeting. (vi) Cllr Porter reported that he had a meeting with County Cllr Northey on 22 January 2016 regarding the kerb on the corner of Spicers Place. Although Cllr Northey sympathised with the situation, there is not enough funding available to carry out the work. He did however suggest that partnership funding may be available if other parties can be found to contribute towards the cost. Cllr Porter contacted Canterbury City Council regarding this suggestion but they needed to know how much the works are likely to cost. Cllr Porter then contacted Michelle Matthews at Kent County Council who took on-board all the comments made and agreed that the relocation of the electricity substation would be a good time for any works to be carried out. Michelle agreed to try and find out how much the works are likely to cost and run a consultation on the proposal. 7. PLANNING CA//16/00176/ELE – Land at Grove Road and Mill Close – The Parish Council has no objections to the proposed relocation of the electricity substation by UK Power Networks.