Horton Kirby and South Darenth Parish Council
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HORTON KIRBY AND SOUTH DARENTH PARISH COUNCIL MINUTES of the ANNUAL PARISH MEETING of the PARISH COUNCIL held on 1st June 2015 in the Village Hall, South Darenth at 7.30 pm Present: Cllr D Mitchell (Chairman) Cllrs I Blackamore, T Moyle, C Page, J Stewart, M Stead, P Rushbrook, and C Wilson P McGarvey, District Councillor and Chairman of SDC R Gough, County Councillor PCSO Dylan Crawford PCSO Sarah Douse 13 members of the Public In attendance: H Rohard, Parish Clerk 1 WELCOME FROM CHAIRMAN Cllr Mitchell welcomed everyone to the meeting and explaining that this is a chance to celebrate all that is good in the Parish and celebrate residents and other volunteers hard work in making the Parish a place where people can take pride in their community and their surroundings. A number of local organisations had been invited to take part and report on their year and plans for the future. 2 REPORTS St Mary’s the Virgin Church of England Ann Williams explained that whilst there may be a small number of worshippers the church has found that the people of the parish are very supportive. A number of events have been enjoyed: Lent Course, Womens Day of Prayer, Sunrise Service, Monthly messy Church which had a recent Fire Service visit, weekly tea and cake drop in to provide a place for people to meet and chat. Looking later on in the year there will be the continued efforts for the Electrical Appeal, a Flower Festival in September with the theme of Weddings, a service for families of those brought up in the South Darenth Homes for Boys, Remembrance Service, and the installation of the restored West Window. Ann invited everyone to come along to the St Mary’s Fete in June held at Court Lodge and reiterated thanks to the wider community for all their help and support. Local History Society Terry Moyle reported that the LHS has now been running for 20 years and whilst it has 50 members and average of 40 will be at their bi-monthly meetings. Local speakers are always welcome and looking forward to welcoming Rod Shelton who has written ‘Darent; the history and stories of a River and its communities’. Terry warmly invited everyone to try a Local History Society evening. Local History books and pamphlets are available in the Parish Office to buy. Darent River Preservation Society Malcolm Dunn told how the Society was formed in 1985 when there were great concerns about the state of the river following drought and water extraction by the Thames Water pumping station in Horton Kirby. He had brought along a display of photos showing the dry river bed in those years. Recently underground ‘reservoirs’ have been drilled to utilise a technique called aquifier storage and recovery (ASR) where surplus water can be pumped to and stored ready for drier times when water supplies are then pumped back again. This has been a huge operation but has been conducted with very little disruption to the villages. Malcolm said the river is now fully restored and is the best it has ever been in terms of wild life and water quality. DRiPS are in the process of opposing the EU recommendations to remove weirs along the river; these structures help keep any diseased or non-native species contained and serve a purpose. Royal British Legion Christine Page reported on the many activities enjoyed by the RBL members including a talk by Audrey Whitmore aged 98 about the 1920’s, a HASARA Panto and a number of professional speakers. Last November the branch raised £21,000 for the Poppy Appeal. This year the organiser will be Kenny Wilkinson. St Mary’s Church hosts the RBL Remembrance Service which was taken by David Bartlett who honours branch members by wearing the RBL scarf for the service. Remembrance Day at 11am at the Village Hall was well attended by villagers plus 160 children from Horton Kirby School who were beautifully behaved. Refreshments were served after the service in the Jubilee Hall to everyone. £8500 have been given to the RBL Benevolent Fund, however the upkeep of the hall is down to the local Branch. The pre-school which was running there has closed and advertising to hire the hall has increased. In celebration of VE Day members enjoyed a cream tea and a publicity team from head office was sent to interview members. The Plant Sale was well supported and stall at St George’s day both raising £600 for the charity. A fundraising fashion show will be held in June. With the members getting on in years Christine is hoping that younger people will come to carry on the Legion’s work in this Parish. There are 67 members and the combined ages are 4456 years!! There are 17 who are aged 80+ years, 8 over 90 years and the rest are youngsters between 55 and 79 years. South Darenth Football Club Mick Burroughs explained how the club has been steadily building and now has 80 youngsters involved in football across Heathside and Westminster Field. It is a positive environment for them to be in and keeps them occupied. More people have been helping the committee and the club has been working well with the Parish Council. The coaches are hardworking and all the volunteers who help run the matches and training and look after the pitches. A presentation evening to award those who have worked hard over the year is arranged and always a good night. CXK Youth Services Lindsay Williams thanked the Parish Council for the opportunity for CXK to deliver sessions in the Jubilee Hall having transferred from Shrubbery Road play area as it’s a more central location for both Villages. The team have been delivering a range of activities during sessions recently for example an assault course where young people had to beat each other’s time for competing it and as well a movie session where there were snacks available and comfy bean bags to suit on in the hall. Other activities have focussed on planning the Summer Programme with young people. For this the team have facilitated mind-mapping idea sessions where all young people have been able to contribute their ideas for the talent show. Young people have been signing up to take responsibility for certain roles needed to organise the project and are excited about the idea of inviting the community to watch it. Sessions have also been issues based and have included topics such as bullying. For this topic young people engaged in a Bullying Quiz: the team and young people took it in turn to read out statements for others to agree or disagree with indicated by standing on agree and disagree signs on the floor. This facilitated the chance to discuss the concept of bullying and how young people’s behaviour can affect others. One young person has recently been experiencing difficulties at home due to a death in the family, so the team have been supporting this young person with this and talking through their feeling. Promotional activities carried out in previous months, including the St Georges day event, the disco (that had up to 25 young people attend) and the piece in the local parish magazine are to encourage more young people to participate The team have been keeping in touch with all young people each week letting them know plans in advance but feedback is that some are finding it difficult to get down to the hall. The team will investigate the feedback further to look in to what the key issues are. Management and the youth work team are also trying to build staffing capacity and availability to be able to deliver a second session during the summer months to engage those that have struggled to get the hall. Becca and Lindsay will keep the parish clerk informed of these plans as they develop. The older members of the group are really developing their skills in leading activities and supporting youth workers with delivery. District Councillor, Philip McGarvey Cllr McGarvey was pleased to report that having completed a year as Deputy Chairman last year he was now Chairman of Sevenoaks District Council and looking forward to a busy year. Quite often our villages will feel that they are being neglected however HKSD Parish is active and he is always at its meetings and in contact with its members to help wherever he can. Cllr McGarvey was pleased to have been voted for at the General Election, together with Cllr Ingrid Tennessee, and to continue serving his ward of Farningham, Horton Kirby and South Darenth. Works in progress are the parking issues around the East Hill/Horton Road/Esparto Way being looked at. Saxon Place also has parking issues which are being looked at following a positive meeting with residents and agencies. Cllr Roger House from the Parish Council did a great job of facilitating this at the Jubilee Hall. County Councillor, Roger Gough ‘As usual, I will start my report by covering Highways issues, since they provide the bulk of the concerns that residents raise with me. In terms of potholes, Kent has in the last year secured a disproportionate share of the government’s March 2014 Weather Repair Fund and of the government’s pothole fund; taken together, these amount to some £15 million. In awarding this, the government noted that Kent is considerably more efficient than many other councils, with it costing some £37 to fill a pothole, compared with a national average of £53.