Parish

Council

Minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on Thursday, 17th January 2019, 19.15 Small Village Hall, Bridge Street, Wye

16/19 Present: Cllr Reece (Vice Chairman), Cllr Bartley, Cllr Bouverie, Cllr Vousden, two members of the public. In attendance - D.Baines (Clerk - minutes), A. Dewhirst (Responsible Finance Officer) Apologies: Cllr Dod (family reasons) Cllr Ovenden (work reasons), Cllr Shoults (health reasons)

17/19 To receive declarations of the existence and nature of any Disclosable Pecuniary Interest (DPI) and any Other Significant Interest (OSI) from members concerning items on the agenda Cllr Bartley made a voluntary declaration as member of the Village Design Group and Wye Historical Society.

18/19 Public Open Session Margaret Williams, Chair of Governors at Wye Free School gave a report regarding a request received by the school from County Council, to increase the number of places for the year 7 intake in September 2019, and take an extra 30 children. The request had arisen as the result of a shortfall of 150 school places for year 7 students, within the Ashford Borough as it experienced a “bulge” year. In previous years many pupils had been able to attend schools outside of the borough; however with pupil numbers increasing across the county, this was not a possibility for the intake due to start year 7 in the autumn. The new secondary school at Chilmington Green was planned to open in 2018, but unfortunately, it is not now expected to be take its first admissions until 2022.

A condition of the planning application of the school was to cap pupil numbers at 600, with a maximum permitted intake of 90 students in any one year. Currently the school has 488 pupils, including 35 enrolled to the sixth form. Ms. Williams explained that they school was not looking to increase numbers beyond the agreed 600, but was considering submitting a non-material amendment to the planning application to ABC, to remove the cap to 30 students being admitted to any one year group. Removal of this restriction would enable the school to expand its intake to 120 pupils in September 2019. This extra class of 30 pupils could be accommodated within the new building. At the current growth rate, Ms. Williams anticipated that Wye School would reach its capacity of 600 pupils in 2024.

Councillors thanked Ms. Williams for briefing the council on this matter, and agreed that it would be added as a future agenda item for full consideration.

On other matters relating to the school, the council heard that temporary classrooms were due to be removed over two weekends (19th/20th and 26th/27th January) and that damage to the verge in Olantigh Road had been noted and that the school were addressing this issue with the contractors, who had not completed the school car park. Ms Williams acknowledged that school related traffic was causing chaos for residents.

19/19 To approve the Minutes of the previous meeting (10th January 2019) Minutes were agreed as an accurate record (proposed by Cllr Bouverie and seconded by Cllr Vousden).

20/19 To review the draft Budget for 2019-2020 a) To note the Council Tax base in Wye with Hinxhill – that is 1,038 Band D properties Councillors noted the number of Band D properties. b) To note the Council Tax Support Grant: £2,077 Councillors noted the Council tax support grant; this grant is intended to reduce the impact of Council Tax Support discounts. c) To note the Concurrent functions grant claim: £300 Councillors noted the Concurrent Functions Grant claim; this remains the same as for the last two years. d) To consider and review the draft Budget for 2019-2020 e) To consider the sub total - the cash precept for the Council f) To consider the Precept required from Items d), e) and f) were deferred pending a meeting of the Budget Working Group, expected to take place on Tuesday 22nd January. A task list would be circulated prior to the meeting, listing projects and items agreed to be considered during the next financial year. g) To consider any urgent financial matters There were no urgent items to discuss.

21/19 To consider any urgent planning matters There were no urgent items in need of discussion.

22/19 Community Transport Scheme To approve a joint position statement with Lady Joanna Thornhill Primary School regarding the operational details of possible community transport scheme To authorise attendance at a meeting with ABC regarding a possible community transport scheme for Wye To approve any further actions Councillors heard a verbal report of a meeting held on 16th January 2019, attended by Cllr Bartley, Cllr Vousden and Richard Pomfrett, Deputy Head of the Lady Joanna School and the Clerk, to consider a proposal for a joint community bus scheme was considered. The outline of the proposal was for the lease of two minibuses by the Parish Council and Lady Joanna School in partnership, and under the Ashford Borough Council Community Transport pilot scheme. Councillors heard that the ABC scheme, a wellbeing initiative, was intended to connect communities and reduce isolation by providing access to a minibus, which would be used as best fits the needs of that community. It was noted that the Transport Act 1985, specified under Section 19 the scheme must operate on a not-for-profit basis, the drivers of any such scheme must be unpaid volunteers and that in addition, drivers must hold a D1 licence, and will be required by ABC to undertake a Blue Lamp driving test. It was agreed that further information was needed, both from Ashford Borough Council concerning the practicalities and requirements of the scheme and importantly from local residents to ascertain which groups in the community would be interested in using the buses and for what purpose; as well as identifying a pool of potential volunteer drivers.

It was agreed: 1) to explore options with Wealden Wheels as had been previously agreed; 2) to use notes from meeting of 16th January to inform the Council’s position statement;

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3) to authorise continued exploratory discussions with Lady Joanna Primary school and attendance at a joint meeting with Ashford Borough Council; 4) to authorise Cllr Bartley to continue to consult with organisers of the Rocket

23/19 To receive any correspondence, and authorise any action i) Correspondence had been received from Michelle Byrne, Funding & Partnerships Officer at Ashford Borough Council regarding grounds maintenance for Wye, and the possibility of the Parish Council taking over responsibility for these works. The ideal time for the Council to take on responsibility for the works would be 1st April, however feedback from ABC suggested that this could be difficult to achieve in the time remaining. The Clerk was waiting for Ashford Borough Council to schedule a meeting to discuss proposals in detail. ii) Correspondence had been received from the National Flood Forum, to which the Parish Council was now affiliated, suggesting a number of dates to visit the village and give a talk to residents on issues around flooding and community resilience. It was agreed to suggest that this take place as part of the Parish Social event arranged for Saturday 9th February.

24/19 Date of next meeting o Thursday 24th January at 19.15 Extraordinary Parish Council (venue tbc) o Thursday 7th February at 19.15 Parish Council meeting in the Small Village Hall

25/19 Close of meeting The meeting closed at 20:55

These minutes are signed as an accurate record.

Signature

Name

Date

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ACTIONS

Agenda no. Item Action required Person to action

20/19f Council task/ To circulate draft list to all Councillors Clerk project list /Budget To prepare Draft Budget papers Cllr Ovenden 22/19 Community 1) To contact Wealden Wheels Clerk Transport Scheme 2) To circulate minutes of 16th January 3) To arrange a meeting with Ashford Borough Council To liaise with Rolvenden Parish Cllr Bartley Council 23/19 Grounds works and To arrange a meeting with Ashford Borough Clerk maintenance Council 23/19 National Flood 1. To invite a speaker from the Forum to Clerk Forum attend give a presentation at the Parish Social Event on Saturday 9th February 2. To make arrangements for the Social Clerk and Event, book rooms and prepare food Cllr Vousden

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