WITH KINGSDOWN PARISH COUNCIL CHAIRMAN’S NEWSLETTER

As part of the Parish Council's intentions to keep parishioners informed of our activities this is our second annual newsletter,which I hope you will find informative.

2011-12 was an election year. Disappointingly the election was uncontested as there were insufficient candidates to hold an election and, in order to create a full Council, the Parish Council advertised and after interviews and a selection process co-opted 3 additional members. It has however been a very positive year with benefit from new members and new ideas.

Planning issues have been a major feature of this year’s Parish Council business. We welcome feedback from all residents and this year have begun advertising applications on the Parish Council website and in the East Mercury, Village News column, in order to widen awareness around the community

The Parish Council is taking action to improve its own technical knowledge and also develop closer relationships with professional advisers. In April, councillors will be undertaking training being run by Navigus Planning Consultancy, together with Parish Councillors from other local Parishes. This will also provide a much greater depth of understanding of the localism act and its implications on planning. Some initial work has started on developing a set of guiding policies for the planning committee and this event will enable the completion of this work.

The Parish Council has discussed use of professional advisers and will utilise Parish Council reserves where this is deemed to be appropriate . The Parish Council is however very conscious of the potential for legal costs to quickly escalate and therefore will initially use the free legal advice provided by National Associations. One recent application, Greenleaves, received a high level of attention and the Parish Council has now made two representations to District Council on this matter and has already prepared for any representation required at site meetings or Planning Committee should these be necessary. This application raised a number of concerns about adverse possession, which is a standard legal process, the Parish Council has received a briefing on this and is now seeking further legal advice on this topic

During 2011-12 the Parish Council has been considering development of a Parish Plan and latterly the newer device of a neighbourhood plan. It has had contact with neighbouring Parishes and, in addition, councillors attended briefings held in January. Neighbourhood Plans are both costly and resource hungry and Councillors are anxious to understand the experience of those currently undertaking this exercise and the longer term benefits. At the January meeting of the Parish Council it was therefore agreed to defer any immediate development of a plan. Once the legislation underpinning Localism is fully defined, then the Parish Council will be in a better position to understand and move forward, but this will require a significant financial investment and the involvement of residents from across the Parish. The Parish Council supports the current position of Council which is not to extend the development envelope of either Ringwould or Kingsdown.

Following feedback from the Localism briefings in January 2012, the Parish Council agreed it was important to start to gather local views about the Parish. To this end a drop in event was held in February in Kingsdown which was visited by approximately 20 local residents and a number of local issues were raised. A similar event in Ringwould will be held later in the year.

Traffic Management is an on going issue, particularly within Kingsdown. Following consultations with Kent Highways a revised traffic management scheme has been under development. The Parish Council commented on the proposals during 2011-12 and is meeting with Kent Highways in April when it hopes to get agreement to the introduction of the final scheme. The Parish Council is anxious to keep new signs to a minimum in order to protect the character of the villages. Any new traffic management scheme will involve more signs on the outskirts of Kingsdown and a balance has to be struck between the number of signs and the benefits to be gained.

During the last two years the Parish Council has supported both Village Halls with grants to make improvements. For Kingsdown Village Hall a considerable fund had been set aside over a number years and a grant of £75,000 was awarded and has now been paid to the trustees, The hall has under gone significant repairs to its structure as well as improvements. During the project the Parish Council maintained close contact with the Trustees and visited the site to check progress mid way through the works. The Parish Council is now using the hall again for its meetings and other public gatherings. Ringwould Village Hall is also making improvements and the Parish Council has made grants to assist with improved insulation which has been of great benefit to hall users.

The precept in 2011-12 was set at over £34,000 and this represented a significant increase on the previous year. This was primarily because of specific financial provision for Localism (£2k) and also the potential costs of a local election (£2k). As the election was uncontested the remaining budget and the £2k for localism have been carried forward. This has allowed the Parish Council to meet its commitment to reduce the precept for 2012-13. We are very aware that the Council is funded by the residents and have made a conscious effort to only budget for the essential expenditure. Other items are funded from reserves.

2012-13 promises to be a busy year; marking the jubilee with some new village signs and support for village celebrations, the impact of Localism will start to be felt, and more drop in sessions will be organised and ,in addition, land management issues around care of trees and the recreation and play areas will be important areas for the Parish Council to address.

Please do come along to Parish Council meetings and events, and you can keep up to date with Parish Council news via the website:- www.ringwouldwithkingsdownpc.kentparishes.gov.uk