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 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 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.

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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 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 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 , the car index was noted but no offences have been committed.

6. HIGHWAYS (i) Cllr Twyman reported that 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.

Cllr Porter reported that The Little Stour Management Group were concerned with UK Power Networks proposals to lay a cable underneath the Black Hole Dyke but after a meeting with Cllr Porter and UK Power Networks, they have been reassured that the cable will be installed at a suitable depth to avoid any negative consequences.

Despite numerous attempts from Cllr Porter and Cllr Treacher to arrange a meeting with UK Power Networks and the Parish Council, UK Power Networks have so far refused to provide any additional information on likely timescales or anticipated disruption for residents. The Clerk was asked to write an official letter to UK Power Networks requesting additional information on the proposals.

CA//16/00249/FUL and CA//16/00250/LB – Cherry Lodge, Lambkin Wall, – The Parish Council has no objections to the proposed two storey rear and single storey side extension. It was noted however that the views of the St Marys Church may be affected.

The Clerk reported she had received a letter and a memory stick from the National Grid regarding the proposed Richborough Connection Project. An application has been submitted to the Planning Inspectorate with a deadline for comments of 01 April 2016. The memory stick containing all the documentation submitted as part of the application will be circulated outside of the meeting.

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Cllr Wright reported that a consultation had been received on proposed changes to the planning system. The changes would include speeding up and simplifying neighbourhood planning, enabling planning bodies to grant permission in principle for housing development on sites allocated in plans or identified as brownfield sites and introducing a statutory register of brownfield land suitable for housing development. The deadline for comments is Friday 15 April 2016 and Cllr Wright and Cllr Porter will look into this in more detail after the meeting.

Cllr Wright reported that a consultation has been received asking if Wickhambreaux Parish Council still wants to remain a statutory consultee on applications from District Council. Cllr Wright recommended that the current arrangement remains the same.

8. VILLAGE MOWER Cllr Twyman reported he has spoken to Peter Terrill, Anthony O’Sullivan, Gary Bradford and Liz Jones regarding the current arrangement with the village mower and to get opinions on how best to proceed. The mower generously donated to the village to replace the broken mower is now having problems and has been sent away by Liz Jones to obtain a quotation for any repairs that are necessary. Once this quotation has been received the Parish Council will be in a better position to decide whether purchasing a new mower is necessary. It was agreed to postpone discussions until the next meeting when the quotation should be received.

9. QUEEN’S BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS Cllr Porter reported he had attended the latest RAMP meeting where is was reported that any parishes who wish to apply for funding under the Opportunity Fund will be awarded an equal share of the funding available. If all 26 parishes request funding this means approximately £166.00 will be awarded to each parish towards the cost of the event.

Cllr Bradford reported he has been approached by the owners of The Rose Inn to ask what the Parish Council is proposing to do for the event on Sunday 12 June 2016. A resident in attendance at the meeting reported that the bellringers are proposing to ring the bells on that day but no firm plans have been made.

The Parish Council discussed possible events that could be arranged for the Queen’s Birthday and decided that a small event on the Playing Field may be the best option. This could possibly coincide with new fencing and play equipment on the Playing Field and could involve a picnic style event with refreshment vans on site and party games for the children. It was also decided that the duration of the party shouldn’t be too long, roughly in the region of 2-3 hours.

With this in mind Cllr Treacher was asked to apply for funding from RAMP for the event and Cllr Twyman generously donated £200.00 to start the project off. Councillors were also asked to speak to residents to see if anybody would be willing to help organise and coordinate the event.

10. CLLRS’ REPORTS Village Hall – Cllr Lodge reported that the committee was in the process of obtaining six prints of Brian Maxted’s views of the village to hang on the walls in the Village Hall. Two portraits and four landscape prints will be obtained consisting of various seasons of the year. A letter written to the children of the village for their parent’s contribution for fighting in the war may also be displayed.

Cllr Lodge reported that Kent County Council have changed the way is will grant funding for Wickhambreaux Primary School to use the Village Hall. Currently the funding is ring-fenced and awarded to the school to book the Village Hall for various uses but this has now changed to being awarded as part of the entire budget, not ring-fenced, opening up the possibility to future cuts.

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Cllr Lodge reported that the aim for providing a disabled toilet is still on-going. There is some money in the budget but more money will need to be obtained to see the project through to completion. The next stage will be to instruct an architect to draw up plans for the new toilet.

Playing Fields – Cllr Rees presented the Parish Council with a summary report from the Playing Field Committee following the village consultation held on Tuesday 19 January 2016. From the representations received it is currently proposed to keep the play equipment in its current location on the playing field and to instruct Peak Playgrounds as the company of choice. Peak Playgrounds have been booked in to carry out a survey of the site where the current play equipment stands on Wednesday 24 February 2016.

In the report the need for replacement fencing for the 85m stretch was highlighted for safety reasons along with the lack of current play equipment for children to enjoy. With this in mind the Parish Council agreed to fund the cost to complete the fencing of the 85m stretch and to allocate funding for a new pirate ship play piece. In the meantime one of the cradle swings will be replaced with a flat swing to allow children of all ages to enjoy the swings. Cllr Rees agreed to bring quotations for the fencing to the next meeting for the Parish Council’s approval. Other points raised in the report will be discussed at the next meeting.

The Clerk was asked to write a letter to all the residents who took part in the consultation to thank them for their comments and to update them as to the current situation.

Cllr Rees reported that two new dog signs have been installed at the road side entrance but one needs to be moved to the footpath entrance. Cllr Rees also reported that the latest Bag to School collection raised £184.00 with the next one scheduled for Wednesday 20 April 2016.

Village Greens – Cllr Bradford reported he had obtained a quotation to carry out a camera survey of the collapsed drain which came in at £184.00. The Parish Council agreed to commence with the survey to fully understand how best to proceed.

Flood Protection – Cllr Twyman reported that there has been problems with sewage infiltration in . Tankers are currently in place and the situation is being closely monitored. Cllr Twyman also reported that the Little Stour started flowing 4-5 weeks ago and the springs are currently very active. Despite this there are no cause for concerns at the current time.

Cllr Twyman reported that the Government are finalising a national scheme to help residents obtain affordable flood insurance, especially for properties that have been flooded before. The new scheme is due to be implemented in April 2016.

Cllr Twyman attended a meeting with the Environment Agency in an attempt to get an agreement on the proposed way forward for the Stonar Cut. Roy Newing has put forward a number of proposals which the Environment Agency have now taken on-board and have agreed a trial period for implementation. However this agreement does cover the problems with the mouth of the Stonar Cut being silted up. The Environment Agency has said there is not enough money in the budget to carry out the work at this current time but Cllr Twyman reported he would be keeping the pressure on.

Cllr Twyman reported that two boards in the bypass channel in Littlebourne were stolen approximately two weeks ago during the night which started water flowing down the relief channel. One board has now been replaced and water is still flowing down the relief channel but there have been no problems. The Police are involved in the matter.

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11. FINANCE The expenditure totalling £176.37 was authorised, made up of: • Chenice Sparkes – Clerk salary February 2016 - £144.77 • HMRC – Employee and PAYE February 2016 - £31.60

It was agreed that an invoice from Liz Jones to reimburse money spent on petrol to run the mower received today should be paid at the meeting. A cheque for the sum of £62.23 was signed at the meeting.

The Clerk reported that Natwest Bank have lost the updated bank mandate and have requested another one be submitted. The new bank mandate was signed at the meeting and forms were handed out to the new Councillors to bring into branch with their ID.

12. CLERK REPORT AND CORRESPONDENCE (i) The final recommendations from the Local Boundary Review for Kent County Council election boundaries was received.

13. ANY OTHER BUSINESS (i) Cllr Porter reported he had attended the latest RAAC meeting where a Serco Liaison Officer was appointed, Cllr Fisher Hardy, who is the Chairman of the RAAC. Cllr Baker has been appointed liaison officer in charge of bus problems. Cllr Porter reported he has made contacted with both Councillors.

The meeting closed at 10:00pm

Signed………………………...... (Chairman)

Date…………………………......

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