MINUTES OF PARISH COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON Tuesday 15th May 2018 at Village Hall, Lydden

PRESENT: Parish Clerk: Mrs Glynis Farthing. Parish Councillors: Chair Mr. H. Hubbard, Mr. R. Sewell, Mr. P Holt, Mr. R. Andrews, Mr. Peter Bowley, Mr. Phil Seath, Mr. Stuart Taylor.

MEMBERS OF THE PRESS/PUBLIC: 5 members of the public

Clerk read notice regarding the Protocol on the recording and filming of Council and Committee Meetings. This would be displayed at all meetings. Clerk requested that anyone intending to record the meeting declare their intention before the meeting commenced. Two members of the public indicated they would be recording/filming but took issue with the necessity of declaring their intention.

672 Apologies for absence: Cllr. R. Winn, Cllr. Mark Rose, Cllr. Geoff Lymer

673 Election of Officers Cllr. Hubbard announced that he would not be standing for re-election due to his increased hearing problems. He would however be remaining a councillor.

Councillor Mr R Sewell nominated Councillor P. Bowley for the position of Chairman of the Parish Council for 2018/19. This was seconded by Councillor Andrews. There were no other nominations.

Cllr. Hubbard vacated the Chair to Cllr. Bowley.

Councillor Andrews nominated Councillor R. Sewell for the position of Vice-Chairman of the Parish Council for 2018/19. This was seconded by Councillor Mrs J. Woodward

There were no other nominations.

RESOLVED: (a) That Councillor P Bowley be elected Chairman of the Parish Council for the 2018/19 Council Year; (b) That Councillor R. Sewell be elected Vice-Chairman of the Parish Council for the 2018/19 Council Year.

Cllr. Bowley assumed the Chair for the remainder of the meeting.

Cllrs Sewell led the assembled Cllrs and public in thanking Cllr. Hubbard for his many years of dedicated service to the council and wider community. There followed a round of applause.

674 Declarations of Interest Cllr. Hubbard, Cllr. Bowley declared an interest in the Village Hall. Minute No.678 Cllr. Taylor declared an interested in the Lydden Community Group. Minute No. 686 (h)

675 Minutes of the last meeting All Cllrs. had read and agreed that the Minutes were a true and accurate record of the meeting. Acceptance of Minutes proposed by Cllr. Holt seconded by Cllr. Sewell.

RESOLVED: That the Minutes of the Meeting held on 10th April 2018 be accepted and signed by the Chairman.

676 Public Participation No questions from the floor.

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677 Feedback/Matters arising from Council Representatives and Matters arising from previously circulated material. Clerk attended meeting of KALC. Keith Gowland had been re-elected as Chair for 2018/19. These are interesting meetings and Clerk invited others to attend.

678 Village Hall PAT testing and electrical testing has been done. Food hygiene certificate is not required. A monthly Health and Safety check would be undertaken. The internal CCTV will be removed and installed outside. Lighting in the hall is to be improved and the damaged ceiling tiles replaced. A request for all keys to be returned to Mr. Booth or Georgina Howes. Keys would be held by restricted personnel and one retained at The Lydden Bell. An investigation into the drain blockage had been carried out and awaiting a report. Part of the car park may require being dug up to rectify the fault. Clerk and Mrs Howes are liaising about this.

679 District Council Representative -Annual Report Cllr. Rose sent the following report: It has been another productive and extremely busy year to serve and represent the Ward of Lydden and Temple as your elected Councillor for District Council (DDC) I continue to support email and mobile communications from all residents as your direct calls to DDC to action any response or services on behalf of all DDC ratepayers. I must highlight a special thank you to all residents for working and feeding back directly with myself to help raise issues important to you all in both Village Parish areas.

Reporting on the last annual period has seen a very busy 12 months with increased general DDC duties and solid good interaction with residents over many issues including broadband issues, speeding traffic, potholes, resident social issues, verges, road signs, street lighting, Anti-social issues, property boundaries and various crazy planning ideas raised over the last year, as well as the usual ongoing fight to keep the village free from the endless disrespectful foreign HGV EU drivers whom still seem to be entirely ignorant of any UK traffic laws, road skills or road signage! Acting on resident’s demands, several illegally fly parked HGV trucks have been moved this year in the ward, whilst still no EU HGV enforcement has been actioned to clamp or fine illegal activity in your Parish Ward. However, I am very happy to report the former area at the top of Lydden hill (opposite husks) is now a restored wildlife space (with more wildflower seeds sown this year) successfully ceasing endless illegal HGV obstructions after organising the earth top soils to be placed there via KCC Highways. During the year the wider area was also deep cleaned by DDC services, after my intervention, to remove the final dumped littering of chemicals, car parts and alcohol and food waste products. Regarding illegal fly-tipping and fly-parking and environmental services. (Thank you for all your resident pictures this year – it has been very helpful with many proactive people submitting pictures of witnessed fly tipping/fly parking via smart phones) I am delighted to also finally see the road, which had been reported as terrible condition between Temple Ewell London Road and Watersend Farm has finally been repaired after endless defensive denials to the online road repairs reported by myself for any need of repair, it is ironic that VERY same section has now been repaired 2 years since first being raised. In one 2 month period this year DDC saw our busy timetable go into overdrive when previous long term leader Cllr Paul Watkins suddenly resigned and stood down to make way for a sudden DDC election for new leader, we also saw St. James retail regeneration space start to open to the public with a fantastic 6 screen cinema and various restaurants and shops and the Government Electoral Boundary Commission declare its intention to reduce, change and review Dover & Deal Ward boundaries in line with many other areas. I would like to wish our former outstanding Leader Cllr Paul Watkins a very happy retirement after handing over his DDC responsibilities, your new elected leader Cllr Keith Morris will also be very focussed and driven on leading and protecting local investments and the many wider important Dover and Deal infrastructure, housing and health issue projects. Dover is a very exiting lace right now with more locally managed DDC inward investment than anywhere else in East , local house prices are soaring as a result. I can report a very busy year of meetings and regeneration in DDC district is finally paying off, after much work Dover is now seeing the benefits of the St. James development, the car park is full most days and it is still not completely open. As for concerns regarding the Old high street shopping areas of Dover being negatively impacted, we have seen a recent rise in footfall from 60K per week to 110K people per week since St. James opened! This matter is still being monitored as part of the widening focus on Dover under our newly elected DDC Leader Cllr Keith Morris. I do encourage you all to experience the new Dover cinema which is as good as any cinema in the West End, being so new. May I personally put on record and thank the response and support of various DDC services for resolving your local DDC parish ward issues over this last year. with special thanks to all residents for working with myself to help raise issues

2 important to you all in the Village Parish, especially noted the plight of the lighting illumination with a positive and thankful resident response in Whitfield Hill, Temple Ewell, regarding the replacement of a very important located single lamppost for local residents, 1 of 4 successful replacement site requests installed in the entire area Dover Deal area. A big thank you to DDC environment for reacting to all our realistic concerns and addressing these concerns with the new lighting installation. DDC hope to replace all street lights over the next periods with environmentally friendly LED units, these are DDC street improvements I am very keen to support for the Ward. I would like to thank the Highways and Telent area managers for assisting myself and Cllr Mog Ovenden ( Ward) in the swift repairs of Lydden hill and Coldred Junction lights earlier this year, this area is now monitored remotely, so traffic officers can now react and see traffic issues as they occur 24/7. A great road improvement on the traffic management and flow of timed lighting for both the entry/exit in and out of the village area, ahead of imminent A2 repairs and widening lane works being scheduled and completed. I support direct contact with all residents over any DDC issues of concern and I will engage and help protect the overall wider wellbeing of the village, with a particular strong focus on planning applications or environmental issues that do not benefit the village or surrounding areas. I will continue to ensure that all parish residents have received my email, mobile phone and skype address clearly distributed. Any Parish resident can also request a home/business visit if needed or FaceTime/video call myself directly over any DDC matters of concern, at any time. May I express my sincere thanks to all local residents and their informed direct communications and feedback and a huge thanks to the Both the Temple Ewell & Lydden Parish Councils for their ongoing support during the last 12 months within the Parishes and Ward, apologies for not making so many parish meetings this year but busy DDC meetings elsewhere have been busy voting in so many changes for DDC, I hope to attend a few more parish meets next year, however all Parish Councils and residents have my full 24/7 contact details should anything ever need my urgent attention for any Parish Council and resident issues.

Best wishes DDC Councillor Mark Rose

680 County Council Representative – Annual Report Cllr. Lymer sent the following report: KCC Report for period 2017/18

HIGHWAYS A number of key projects have been progressed. Freight Action Plan to reduce the impact drivers of foreign registered HGVs have on the local communities. Measures to support active sustainable modes of travel, to access employment, education and training. £3 million “pot hole blitz” starting now and continuing through out the Summer the works to be commissioned to local suppliers. Conversion of street lighting to LED. To date over 68,000 lamp standards converted already, KCC now working on the more challenging main road network conversions. Programme anticipated to be completed by 2019. I did manage to get the main road of Whitfield converted earlier than scheduled on their works programme, due to shift workers walking to and from their place of work. The LED street lamp standard conversions will save the County Council £5.2 million per annum.

PUBLIC TRANSPORT KCC has delivered 15000 young person passes and new contracts for SEN. pupils. Due to the heavy amount of subsidies KCC is contributing to leading public road transport companies, I have been promoting some charity carriers which operate in the Dover area, for they have the additional benefits of a door to door service, transport to the two main hospitals, travel to main surgeries and shopping centres locally with the ability to convey wheel chair bound customers.

CASUALTY REDUCTION Fatal road crashes have reduced, but minor injury crashes have been reclassified under serious injury crashes, therefore serious injury crashes stats have increased.

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This covers road collisions where: someone is injured on a public highway or footpath at least one road vehicle or a vehicle in collision with a pedestrian is involved police have been notified within 30 days. The personal injury collision data does not include: confirmed suicides, death from natural causes, injuries to pedestrians with no vehicle involvement (e.g. a fall on the pavement), collisions in which no one is injured but a vehicle is damaged, collisions which occur off the highway (e.g. on private roads / carparks. GOV.UK have more information for this area. are responsible for collecting road traffic collision data for Kent. Each collision record contains over 60 items of statistical data. Collisions are categorised by severity: fatal - a collision resulting in a death, serious - detention in hospital, which includes paralysis, fractures and severe lacerations, slight - includes whiplash, sprains and minor lacerations, now being upgraded. Human error is a factor in 95% of road collisions. Based on GOV.UK figures, the cost to the community of a fatal collision is around £1.9 million, a serious collision costs in the region of £218,000 and a slight collision costs £22,000.

Female drivers found using the mobile phone whilst driving and driving whilst under the influence of intoxicants has increased over that of the male drivers and whilst 78% of men were found to exceed the 30mph speed limit compared to 67% of female drivers, considering the ratio of full licence holders by gender of over 22 million male to 18 million female full licence holders, thus certain professional bodies, for example, insurance companies, have consistently claimed the male driver is the greater risk on the road, when one apportions the statistical data to the number of full licence holders per gender, it actually demonstrates this is incorrect, especially in relation to damage only crashes, drink driving and mobile phone use whilst driving. Sources, Brake, DVLA,,DfT and the Police

WASTE MANAGEMENT Over the past 12 months less than 1% of municipal waste has been taken to landfill sites, therefore an improvement on EU targets for 2020. Recycling is on target at 69% and KCC deals with 730,000 tonnes of waste per annum.

ENVIRONMENT The County continues to reduce greenhouse gas emissions though KPIs still slightly behind target. LED lighting has helped to reduce emissions, fleet fuel emissions are down from 7% to 2%. The Heritage Lottery Fund is being used on a four- year project to link up isolated patches of chalk grassland to restore download, covering approximately 10,000 hectares between Kemsing and Detling.

EDUCATION Ofsted has judged 91.7% of all Kent’s primary school as good or outstanding and 89.5% of all secondary schools as good or outstanding. There are currently 1283 children with Child Protection Plans. Kent has just over 200, down from over 400 the previous year, unaccompanied asylum seeking children. Kent carries the financial cost of housing, feeding, caring and educating these children who have stated they have fled persecution in their home land.

ADULT SOCIAL CARE KCC is experiencing still many problems concerning hospital discharges which can then escalate a minor health issue into becoming a major health issue upon release due to muscular, cognitive and similar deterioration. This in turn places a large pressure on Social Services and partners, especially when it comes to independence and supporting independence. KCC has put in place 6352 Telecare packages to support independent living where ever possible and practicable, however, Enablement Services are continually receiving new referrals creating greater pressures on this resource. This problem tends to be greater in this country in comparison to some of our European neighbours, due to having a greater number of fragmented families who rely upon local government to financially support their elder members.

NHS and PUBLIC HEALTH REFORM The Health Visiting Support Service met their targets of supporting 65,000 clients.

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Sexual health clinic sessions fell slightly to 20,000. This number covers sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) of both the young, teenagers to early twenties and those who are aged between 50-60 plus, for many of this age group have separated or divorced and become once more sexually active. As a result cases of certain STDs have increased amongst this age group such as HIV, Gonorrhoea. Substance abuse is still a large problem and cost to the County. Mental Health is also on the increase, predominantly due to the access of social media pressures including bullying, pressures of school achievements, pressure from various issues in the work place, those who served in the armed and “technically” unarmed services and a large causational factor, the regular consumption of alcohol and or substance abuse.

KCC is involved in many more areas of work that the general public never get to hear about such as Economic Growth and Development, to encourage industry to the County to improve local employment possibilities, the working alongside other countries in the battle to reduce pollution which has a detrimental effect on a large swathe of Kent’s population with a view to improving the population’s health and well- being. These I can expand upon if you so wish being areas of speciality in which I am involved.

Kent County Council has a deficit of just over £94 million to find this financial year. This is due in part to the high financial costs of Adult Social Care and Public health, for example diabetes alone, which can often be brought about due to a poor diet of take away foods of poor quality, Cola or supposed highly sugared fruit drinks and a sedentary life style creating unnecessary obesity at an early age is costing the Council in excess of £460 million per annum.

Over the past year, I have ensured the majority of the village has basic broadband, which can be upgraded to superfast broadband by paying BT Openreach a higher tariff. I have had the KCC’s soak away known locally as Lydden pond totally drained, cleared and repaired, new fencing round the north side with protective anti HGV bollard installed, arranged for the Community Car Park by the village hall to be upgraded and resurfaced, arranged new place name signs in Warren Lane and Church Lane, extended the 30 mph limit in Church Lane, installation of village gates in Church Lane and financially assisted to the repair of the church roof, plus much financial support has been given to registered charities and recognised national community groups to assist members of Lydden Community who may need to call upon them.

Geoffrey Lymer

681 The Annual Governance Statement: Approval of the Annual Return The internal audit had been carried out by Mr. Tony Kilbee and the results were that the account are in good order. Cllrs. reviewed the system of internal controls and completed the Annual Governance Statement (Section 1 of the Annual Return).

RESOLVED: a. That the system of internal controls is robust and that members approve the internal audit inspection. b. That the Annual Governance Statement be accepted and signed by the Chairman

682 Accounting Statements The Clerk presented the Accounting Statements to the members. All Cllrs present considered the statements and made checks. RESOLVED: That the Accounting Statements be approved and signed by the Chairman. The Annual Return would be available for public inspection between Monday 4th June and Friday 13th July. This notice would be placed on the village noticeboards and on the website. The Annual Return would also be published on the Parish website.

683 Clerk’s Annual Report Another year has gone by and Lydden has undergone some changes. At our Annual Parish Council meeting in April 2017, Mr. Hubbard was re-elected as Chairman and Mr Sewell as Vice- Chairman. Last year I reported that the next big development was to be the erection of new homes on the site behind the Lydden surgery – formerly known as the ‘Chunnel Site’. This land was acquired by Pentland Homes however no properties have yet been erected and the proposed time scale for the commencement of this development is the end of 2018.

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I’m pleased to report that the churchyard wall is still ‘in-tact’ and there have been no incidents or collisions with it this year. Towards the end of the financial year 2016, the Parish Council applied for a Members Fund Grant to resurface the village hall car park and provide graduated foot access to the upper grassed area. I’m delighted to report that the much- needed improvement to the car park has been completed, the work to the graduated foot access is still to be done. Sadly, this improvement brought with it some controversy regarding access to and use of the car park. Happily, by close negotiation, the Village Hall Committee and the Parish Council were able to achieve a satisfactory resolution and the car park is now open for the use of the whole community. A lockable barrier has been placed at the access road to the upper field – this remains closed unless the recreation area has been booked. A major achievement over the past year has seen the long awaited improved Broadband service to the village. We are hugely grateful to the KCC team for finally getting this in place. It has been an on-going issue for a number of years. The allotments continue to be popular with most being rented. The rent has been maintained at £30 per year. One of the plots has now been adopted by Lydden Primary School and with the support of some volunteers the children are making good use of the facility and learning about the plants, growth and the weather! Cllrs. Paul Holt and Roy Sewell have worked especially hard at having a beautiful village sign erected on the green by the pond/soakaway. This is a wonderful sight and shows all the elements that constitute the village community. I’m sure everyone will enjoy this sight for many years. Additional new name signs have also been placed on Warren Lane and Coldred Hill. Due to increased work commitments Richard Haynes resigned from the Parish Council and after a recent election his vacancy has now been filled by Mr. Stuart Taylor. The Parish Council made charitable donations to Dover Community First Responders, Kent, Surrey, Sussex Air Ambulance Trust and the Lydden Village Community Group. The Parish Council recognize that the movement of HGV’s through the village continues to be a problem and are monitoring the effects whilst working with KCC/Kent Highways to find a satisfactory solution. Jim King and his son James, with the additional help of Phil Seath have continued to maintain the green areas around the village and the village is looking neat and tidy. Thanks to Paul Snook for his continued efforts with the planters spread around the village, they bring welcome colour to the village. The Parish Council is grateful to the continued hard work of County Councillor, Geoff Lymer, for his support, advice and financial help. Minutes, agendas, financial transactions and additional information related to the community are all available on the website, which is regularly updated and the Lydden Newsletter gives a brief overview of monthly activities and concerns.

On a personal note I wish to express my gratitude to the members of the Parish Council and to Cllr. Lymer for their support and understanding following my cancer diagnosis last year, it was a difficult time.

Financial Report

The year started with a balance of £39,132 and finished with a roll-over of £17,440. Our 2016/2017 audit was successfully under taken; the accounts were passed and submitted to the external auditor. These were approved with no issues raised. The 2017/2018 internal audit, took place on 19th April 2018. The subsequent report has been submitted to the council. The completed accounts are to be put up for acceptance and approval at the May meeting of the Parish Council. Monthly bank reconciliations continue to be available for review on the parish website. A list of all expenditure for the year is also published for inspection. In line with the considerations raised in the financial report of 2017 the precept was increased by a small amount to take account of both current and future expenditure. Once again, the Parish Council continue to recognize the need for recreational facilities for children. We continue to look into the possibility of a playground for the Parish and hope to find a suitable and available site to develop.

684 Financial Reports/Accounts/Payments/ Financial Matters Bank reconciliation for March/April and end of year accounts have been finalized and circulated to Cllrs. Insurance premium due – AON has now been acquired by BHIB Insurance brokers but the cover remains the same -the premium has reduced the annual premium from £519.74 to £484.25

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Items for payment:

NatWest (No.001105 J. King (Parish Maintenance) £255.00 NatWest (No.001106) KALC (Annual Sub) £257.83 NatWest (No.001107) Lydden Village Hall (Annual Hire) £200.00 NatWest (No.001108) Lydden Village News £200.00 NatWest (No.001109) BHIB Ltd.(Parish Insurance) £484.25 NatWest (No.001110) G. Farthing – April salary £249.91 +£12 exp,+£46.35 travel exp, +Print cart (shared with Guston PC) £26.87= £335.13 NatWest (No.001111) J. King (Parish Maintenance) £195.00 NatWest (No.001112) Paul Snook (Planter boxes, flowers and maintenance) £400.00 NatWest (No.001113 Peter Bowley (Village Hall gates and materials) £33.76

Total payments £2,360.97

RESOLVED: To approve all payments, cheques signed by Cllrs. Bowley and Sewell.

685 Planning/ Tree Preservation/ License Matters DOV/ 15/00827 -Proposal: Erection of a part two storey, part three storey spectator hospitality building, two grandstands, a two storey building comprising competitor hospitality, administration and scrutineering facilities, 14no. two storey engineering units (Use Class B1 and B2 ), and a single storey site entrance building, formation of access road, together with associated hard and soft landscaping and drainage, retention of motor racing, and proposed use for drifting, driving schools (including beginner, advanced and police driver training), bicycle training and racing, 'track days' (including corporate and experience driving days), use for educational purposes, filming, non-driving based events (including car shows, craft fairs and hot-air ballooning) and ancillary camping | Lydden Hill Race Circuit, Wootton – Clerk provided some additional information and urged residents to look at the revised application. The Parish Council continue to support the development. – No further information

DOV/18/00339-Proposal: Erection of a first floor and single storey side extension and insertion of rooflight to side roof- slope Location: 37 Stonehall Road, Lydden, CT15 7JU – Cllrs. discussed issues raised by neighbours of this property.

686 Roads & Footpaths/Parish Matters. a) Village Sign –Now installed. b) Proposed War Memorial – Cllr. Lymer has ordered the stone and is dealing with the planning. Cleverley and Spencer have been approached regarding the engraving. School has been kept updated. MOD are interested in being present on the commemoration day – Clerk has put TSM Lovett and school in contact with one another. c) Report of tree on the allotment. Clerk will report this to railway. d) Proposed litter bin – Cllr Taylor has been monitoring this -mixed reaction from residents. Monitor for a while longer. Request to reinstate the litter bin by the bus stop on Canterbury Road. e) HGV’s coming through the village continue to be a problem. Email from a resident – Clerk to forward Cllr. Lymer’ response and how this is being handled. f) Service Road at the Lydden Surgery – fencing causing difficulty getting into the path vis dropped kerb. Cllr. Andrews will send photograph to Clerk for further enquiries as to how long this will remain in the same state. g) Signage on Lydden Hill/Husks – issue of number of signs on the road. Cllr. Bowley will call at Husks to dicsuss. h) Email regarding the painting of the poles around the village soakaway/pond. (The Lydden Community Group had previously made this offer). This was fully discussed/explored by the Cllrs but the liability insurance was an issue and it was therefore deemed inappropriate. Kent Highways had already issued directions regarding how this work should be undertaken as it is on a main road. Clerk will email the Lydden Community Group thanking them for the offer but explaining why the Council must decline it. i) Report of leaflets dumped – Domino’s Pizzas, these had been reported to the fast-food outlet concerned..

687 Items Received for Consultation and other correspondence received

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All consultations have been added to the Parish website for public participation and responses.

1. Letter from Kent, Surrey, Sussex Air Ambulance Trust 2. KALC -Event Announcement: An Introduction to Planning For Local Councils, 13 June 2018 3. KRF Community flood warden training - Saturday April 28th 4. National Stalking Awareness Week 5. Don't Ignore it, Share it 6. Kent Police & Crime Commissioner Newsletter March - April 2018 7. KALC- Update - GDPR & Data Protection 8. Block drain village hall 9. Mental Health Awareness Week - 14-20 May 10. KALC - Event Announcement: Annual Councillors' Conference 2018, 10 July 2018

688 Training/Learning & Development /Seminars. All current training and development has been forwarded to Cllrs. There is to be a Councillors Conference in July.

689 Dates and venues for future meetings Parish Council Meeting: Tuesday 12th June – 7.30pm (Apologies from Cllrs. Taylor and Winn) Tuesday 10th July- 7.30pm

This meeting closed at 20.30pm

CHAIRMAN DATE

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