HAWKINGE ANNUAL TOWN MEETING – 10th April 2018

Minutes of the Annual Town Meeting held on 10th April 2018, at Hawkinge Community Centre, Heron Forstal Avenue, Hawkinge.

Councillor J Heasman, Town Mayor, was in the Chair.

Present: Councillors J Heasman, G Hibbert, D Pascoe, G Ward, A Csiszar, L Palliser, P Martin, G Ward, D Godfrey, D Callahan.

In attendance: Mrs T Wiles, Town Clerk; Mrs J Abbott, Financial & Project Officer and Miss L Cook, Administrative Assistant.

There were 47 members of the public present.

The Chairman opened the meeting and welcomed the guests and members of the local community.

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE Cllr S Manion, Cllr S Peall.

MINUTES The Minutes of the Annual Town Meeting held on 11 April 2017, were submitted and approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

REPORT OF THE TOWN MAYOR OF HAWKINGE The Town Mayor Councillor John Heasman presented his report, copy attached at APPENDIX 1.

REPORT OF COUNTY COUNCILLOR Kent County Councillor Susan Carey delivered her annual report, and copies were distributed to those present. Copy attached at APPENDIX 2.

REPORT OF AND HYTHE DISTRICT COUNCILLORS The Report of the District Councillors was presented by District Councillor David Godfrey, copies were distributed to those present. Copy attached at APPENDIX 3.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS Questions raised to Susan Carey, Kent County Councillor:

Q. The HGVS are making to road unsafe to use, would it be possible to have a restriction on high and weight of the A260? A. Unfortunately, this a main route that HGVS are directed to use therefore restrictions would not be approved.

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Questions raised to David Godfrey, Folkestone and Hythe District Councillor:

Q. Had consideration been given to the infrastructure changes required in respect of the Otterpool Development? A. The published masterplan can be found on the Folkestone and Hythe Website, which shows the details of the proposal.

Q. Who is responsible for the land the travellers are currently on at the bottom of White Horse Hill, Hawkinge? A. During the next week an inspection is to be carried out regarding the location. The land belongs to the highways, Folkestone and Hythe Council are liaising with the Police.

Q. The parking in Hawkinge has got worse, what can be done regarding this. Especially by the church along road?

A. With the increase within the population, it has meant that the average number of cars per household has increased. The parking by the church is being investigated, to find a suitable outcome.

Q. The flowerbeds along Canterbury Road, Hawkinge are not particularly well looked after, what is going to be done to change this? A. This is being investigated, the flowerbeds all have plants and greenery planted in them. It is being looked to improve the flowerbeds, however the financial is not always available.

Q. Are there yellow lines to go along ‘Page Road’? A. There are plans for yellow lines along ‘Page Road’. Currently it is difficult it move in and out of ‘Page Road’ due to the way people are parking and leaving vehicles. This is making it unsafe to move around the road.

Q. Will there be a bus service along Pannell Drive? A. There will be a service running along to Atkinson Road, the funding for the bus stops will be assisted with a 50/50 by KCC. Stagecoach are running the service therefore when the service starts is under their control and discussion with them are taking place.

Note: The Chairman presented awards in respect of Hawkinge Hero Award Scheme and the Town Mayor’s Charity funds. After the meeting the Chairman opened the meeting to the networking session. The list below shows the local Hawkinge Organisations which were present at the networking.

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ORGANISATIONS listed below were represented at the meeting to talk to residents and promote the work they do as well as encourage new membership:

• Hawkinge Baptist Church • Hawkinge Community Centre • Hawkinge Allotment Society • Kent Community Wardens – Andy Hawkins • Hawkinge Village Hall Management Committee

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Appendix ONE

Town Mayor Councillor John Heasman’s report to the Hawkinge Annual Town Meeting

I was elected as Mayor in May 2017; the past eleven months have been a productive and busy time. I have attended many functions, these were both here in Hawkinge and within the local area. We have been able to promote Hawkinge and all the wonderful things the town has to offer.

We have held numerous charity fundraising events during the past year and I would like to thank all those who have supported me. I would also like to thank the Village Hall Committee for their assistance with such a successful quiz night.

The land behind Hawkinge Community Centre belongs to the Town Town Mayor Councillor Council, the Council has a master planning working group, which is John Heasman and considering use for developing the land. The Town Council Mayoress Pat Heasman. continues to support Hawkinge Community Centre, who are making fully use of the new reception and bar area. Hawkinge Community Centre has recently started a café during the day offering a menu with many choices. We would like to welcome the new Community Centre Manager Donna, who is working successfully with the Community Centre team.

The Town Council continues to work closely with it’s different partners, the Hawkinge Allotment Society, Hawkinge Community Centre, Hawkinge Baptist Church, Hawkinge Village Hall and many others. These provide recreational facilities for the residents of Hawkinge.

The outdoor gym equipment which was installed last year, which is located near the Community Centre. Has been well used by different members of the community, especially during the warmer weather.

We are still working closely with Andy Hawkins, who is our Community Warden, he is here with us tonight. Dan Mills who is our local PCSO.

The Annual Carol Concert organised with the Hawkinge Baptist Church and supported by the Harvey Grammar was a great success and the support from our three local primary schools. The event was well supported by the local community. Our thanks to Reverend Ali Boddington and Ann Usher for working with us to the organise of the concert event and we are looking forward to this year’s concert. I would also like to thank Reverend Ali Boddington and Ann Usher for their assistant with the Christmas Tree lighting.

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The Town Council currently employs three officers to undertake the work of the Council. The Council has said goodbye to Marian, they have recently welcomed both Julie and Laura to the team.

I would like to thank the Mayoress Pat Heasman, my fellow Town Councillors, our County Councillor Susan Carey and our District Councillors: David Godfrey, Stuart Peall and Phillip Martin for all the hard work on behalf of the Council over the past twelve months. This is much appreciated.

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Town Clerk, Tina Wiles and her Assistants Julie Abbots and Laura Cook for their support during the year.

Thank You

Councillor John Heasman

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Appendix TWO

Dear Resident, Susan Carey, Member for , Kent County Council

Kent is a great county and my Elham Valley division is one of the very best parts of Kent for beauty, heritage and of course the people. Last year you re-elected me to Kent County Council with the largest vote, biggest majority and the highest share of vote among the KCC candidates in our district. Thank you for your support.

‘What do I get for my council tax?’ is a question I’m often asked and inside this report you will see some of what KCC does on your behalf. Most of you will be concerned about speeding, dog mess and litter. Speed enforcement is the job of but I am a big supporter of Speedwatch which helps the Police identify persistent speeders and trouble spots. Last year, I invited Kent’s Police and Crime Commissioner, Matthew Scott to meet the Speedwatch volunteers in Parish and press the case for more action. Please respond to Matthew’s regular consultations on Matthewpriorities Scott, for Kent Kent Police Police and Crime and Commissioner think about giving some time to one of our local withSpeedwatch Susan Carey and Groups. Speedwatch volunteers

Both tackling dog mess and litter are District Council matters which I support through grants for litterpicking equipment for community clean ups (both adult and child size kits) and the Keep Kent Clean campaign. Community litterpicks and stream cleans in both Elham and Lyminge make a real difference to our environment thanks again to volunteers.

The cold and snowy weather has left many potholes so I am very pleased with the news that the Government has allocated Kent an extra £3m to help fix these. Together with our own resources we now have £11m for the pothole programme. Please

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report them at www.kent.gov.uk (search for ‘potholes’) or ring 03000 41 81 81 in office hours or 03000 41 91 91 for emergencies.

Improving access to broadband and better mobile service for our rural areas is dear to my heart. At a time of great financial pressure KCC has invested £16m to matchfund the Government’s funding to extend broadband to rural Kent. 94.6% of Kent households now have access to superfast broadband. KCC is working on a subsidy scheme to help the remaining households either individually or as community groups improve their access. Our MP Damian Collins has also been of great help in getting the mobile phone companies to look at solutions for the ‘not spots’ in this area.

A message from Paul Carter, Leader of Kent County Council

Kent County Council has three clear ambitions for Kent which were agreed in 2015 and remain our priorities. We want –

- children and young people in Kent get the best start in life - Kent communities to feel the benefits of economic growth by being in- work, healthy and enjoying a good quality of life - older and vulnerable residents to be safe and supported with choices to live independently Each of these aims has measurable targets and for the majority of measures I am pleased to report our performance is maintained or improved.

The welfare of children and young people is the Council’s top priority and our ‘good’ Ofsted judgement of our children’s services is the result of a 7 year journey and recognition of the hard work of all our staff. This puts Kent’s children’s services among the top 30% in the country. I was particularly delighted to see Ofsted acknowledge that the vast majority of young people enjoy strong and constructive relationships with our staff and that senior and political leaders are proud to be the corporate parents of Kent’s looked after children and care leavers. We will work hard in the coming year to build on these positives and address those areas for improvement highlighted in Ofsted’s report. Other good news is that 92% of pupils in Kent are attending schools rated as ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted.

We remain committed to encouraging independence through enablement and advice to ensure older and vulnerable people are confidently equipped to live independently for longer. We have worked to advance the integration of health and social care across Kent, as we seek more effective and efficient use of both our own and health partners’ resources. We recognise the national challenges which health and social care face but also the local opportunities to redesign our health and social care system around the needs of our people and deliver much more integrated ways of working wherever possible. We have played an important role in Kent and ’s Sustainability and Transformation Partnership which will further advance service integration.

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These successes have been achieved against a backdrop of unprecedented budget pressures. We face considerable and increasing challenges including growing demand, rising costs and reductions in government funding. Over the last year we have prioritised those services which will achieve our strategic outcomes and matter most to Kent’s residents and businesses. We have a strong track record of good financial management and are in a strong position to further improve services, address the challenges we face and deliver our ambitions for Kent.

Paul Carter, Leader, Kent County Council

PS You can see the full report – Increasing Opportunities, Improving Outcomes – on the KCC website and see both where performance has improved and where we need to do more.

Susan Carey - My work for you and for Kent

At Kent County Council I am Cabinet Member for Customers, Communications and Performance which includes responsibility for our call centre, website, consultations, internal audit, risk and performance management. www.kent.gov.uk has over 3,000 webpages covering over 300 KCC services. It receives over 900,000 page views a month from over 200,000 people. Our Contact Point deals with phone calls, correspondence and email and receives over 700,000 calls a year. Both the website and Contact Point are highly rated and we benchmark our services against the best in the public and private sector.

As well as the Cabinet meetings I am involved with Policy & Resources Cabinet Committee, Governance & Audit Committee and the full County Council meetings which are all webcast. I also chair the Youth Advisory Group for the Folkestone & Hythe district area and am a member of the Joint Transportation Board. As the County Member for Elham Valley I am a trustee of both the Sir John Williams charity in Elham and the Robert Thompson Charity in .

I write a monthly report for several village newsletters and post stories on the excellent online Hawkinge Gazette. I opened a twitter account (susanjcarey) and am tweeting about my work as a councillor. I attend as many of the local parish and town council meetings in my division as I am able as well as the annual meetings. I love joining with the round of village fetes and events where our community comes together to raise money for good causes and to enjoy themselves.

One of the most important parts of my role is helping residents with individual problems and I am easily contactable by emails or phone. I am also pleased to help many local projects through my KCC Member Grant. Each Kent County Councillor had £22,000 to allocate to projects for 2017/18. Here is how I’ve allocated mine.

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The largest grant is £5,000 to Hawkinge Town Council towards the conversion of the Community Centre lights to LED. Switching to LED will save energy, carbon emissions and cost which in turn helps everyone who uses the Community Centre.

£4,000 for a new bus shelter at Yew Tree Cross in Lyminge. There’s never been a shelter at this bus stop but a villager pointed out how well used it is and the Parish Council has agreed to meet the remaining cost and the ongoing maintenance. Yew Tree Cross in Lyminge £2,000 to Parish Council for the renovation of a red telephone kiosk and the installation of a defibrillator in a case inside.

£2,000 to install reflective road studs (cat’s eyes) on the B2068 Stone Street along the stretch that’s prone to fog near Farthing Common. This work will be done at the same time as planned maintenance in the summer to minimise disruption and cost.

£1,500 to St Mary’s church in for the car park and fencing,

£1,000 to Elham Village Hall towards a new dishwasher for the kitchen.

£1,000 to St Mary and St Radegund’s church in for tables and chairs.

£1,000 to Shepway Sports Trust towards the cost of a minibus fleet to get people across the district to sports facilities.

£665 to the KM Charity for their school road safety project in all the primary schools in Elham Valley.

£650 to Parish Council for a defibrillator.

£635 towards the Keep Kent Clean campaign – extra cleaning and repair of signs.

£500 to the Shepway Brass Academy for instruments.

£500 to Schools Trust towards the cost of fencing their new playing field.

£500 to Folkestone Youth Project which also does youth work in Hawkinge and Lyminge for computer equipment.

£500 to St Nicholas church Newington for urgent repairs to their stone boundary wall.

£300 to Hawkinge Hurricanes for high visibility tabards for keep fit runners.

£250 to Swingfield Parish Council towards new Speedwatch Equipment for use in and Hawkinge.

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The KCC Member grant for 2018/19 will be £20,000 and I already have a queue of worthy projects but do please let me know if you have a local project which I may be able to support.

Susan Carey Kent County Councillor - [email protected] 01303 670561

Part of the wall at St Nicholas church, The defibrillator in a phone box in Swingfield similar Newington to the Sellindge project

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Appendix THREE

Report for Hawkinge Town meeting from District Councillor David Godfrey

Let’s start with matters that vex us all - Potholes and Litter

One unfortunate legacy from the snow and ice is the unwelcome appearance of potholes in our roads, KCC have been awarded additional funding to repair these so please do report any at http://www.kent.gov.uk/roads-and-travel/report-a-problem.

Dog fouling, litter and Fly tipping come up time and again with residents and we ask that you continue to report these via the Report a Problem link on our website www.folkestone-hythe.gov.uk .

I would like to thank the large band of Hawkinge residents who turned out for the litter pick on 24th March. We shall be having more of these over the coming months and as one young eager Beaver put it we need to lead by example.

My fellow District Councillors and I will have further Ward budgets available for the 2018/19 year therefore please contact us if your group or organisation is seeking funding for projects and we may be able to assist.

As of April first the District became known as Folkestone and Hythe District Council. This will not cost the sort of sums that some have been reporting and will more than pay for itself by increased inward investment from outside the District simply because interested parties know where Folkestone and Hythe are whereas few have any idea where Shepway is.

In addition to the name change Our Chief Executive Officer, Alistair Stuart, has stepped down after 13 years of invaluable service during which he was instrumental in turning the Council from one rated as underperforming to a successful one by working closely with a stable and strong administration. We will no longer have a CEO but have promoted one of our Corporate Directors, Dr Susan Priest to Head of Paid Services.

A recent high note was our Revenue and Benefits, Customer Service and Business Support teams clinching first place in a national awards scheme.

They took the Gold award in the Public Sector Transformation Awards ceremony on Tuesday evening, organised by iESE, which works with public sector organisations to help them answer the biggest challenge facing Britain’s public services today - delivering better outcomes, at a lower cost to the public.

The Council recently approved a continuing Transformation program which will enable us to maintain services whist reducing costs despite further cuts in government funding.

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We continue to produce a balanced budget and unlike many Councils, were able to keep the District share of Council Tax within inflation at 2.88% which includes parish and Town precepts. I would remind residents that although the District Council is the collection body for Council tax the largest proportions of your overall Council tax go to KCC and the Police.

The Council is quite clear that it strongly supports government policy to provide much needed new homes for all levels of our local populations through further acquisitions by opportunities, the Council owned company enabling such commercial activities, and by continuing to pursue ambitious plans for Princess Parade and Otterpool. All of these developments will provide a mix of homes and only by pressing on with these will we be able to meet the demand and help future generations to share in the benefits of home ownership which many of our population of so called “baby boomers” have enjoyed

Cllr David Godfrey

Cabinet Member for Special Projects

Folkestone & Hythe District Council

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