WICKHAMBREAUX PARISH COUNCIL MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 19 APRIL 2016

Present: Parish Cllr Martin Twyman Parish Cllr Robin Treacher Parish Cllr Gary Bradford Parish Cllr Charles Porter Parish Cllr Caroline Rees Parish Cllr Linda Lodge Parish Cllr Faith Wright

Miss Chenice Sparkes, Clerk to the Council 1 Resident

1. CHAIRMAN’S OPENING REMARKS AND APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE Cllr Twyman welcomed everyone to the meeting. There were no apologies for absence.

2. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST Cllr Twyman declared an interest in planning application CA//16/00573/PAJ – Undertrees Farm, – as an immediate neighbour and owner of the adjacent land and access track.

3. MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 16 MARCH 2016 The Minutes were accepted as a true record of the meeting with one minor amendment.

4. INFORMATION FROM MATTERS ARISING 4(6.iv) Cllr Bradford reported that County Council has not actioned the replacement sign to date. 4(6.iii) The Clerk reported that PCSO Pearce had not been in contact regarding the outcome of any sessions where either she or her colleagues had been monitoring the reported issue of cars using the one way system around the Village Green illegally. The Clerk was asked to contact PCSO Pearce for an update 4(6.vi) Cllr Porter suggested that, in the interest of safety for pedestrians being forced to walk into the road as a result of the state of the kerb on the corner of Spicers Place, the Parish Council should seek to obtain an accurate cost estimate for the repositioning work required. Cllr Bradford suggested that Cllr Porter view the list of Kent County Council approved contractors and obtain a free cost estimate for the works from some of them. The Clerk was asked to add this item for discussion on the next agenda. 8. Cllr Twyman reported that he has written to Julie Ovenden who donated the recent mower that unfortunately had to be condemned, to thank her for her generosity and inform her of the current situation with regards to obtaining a new mower. Cllr Twyman also reported that he had been in discussion with Anthony O’Sullivan, Chairman of the Four Villages Post Office and Shop Fund, to establish how the remaining money donated towards a new mower could be used. The Committee decided that the Parish Council is free to spend the difference of £550.00 as it sees fit within the local community. The Parish Council decided that this money should be put towards repainting the bridge, quotations of which have been obtained for this meeting and are detailed separately under item 8. 14 (Tree Warden) Cllr Wright wished to thank Cllr Porter and Cllr Treacher for covering her role as Tree Warden in her absence. 15. The Clerk reported that Richard Barton accepted the role of Internal Auditor again for this year.

5. REPORTS FROM COUNTY AND CITY COUNCILLORS None

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Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at this point to allow the resident to speak. The resident raised concerns at the high percentage increase in the precept for this financial year (2016-2017) to fund a new item of play equipment, particularly as she felt there were not many children in the village who would benefit from the investment. The resident also felt that although the village has been consulted on the new play equipment, there was no mention that the precept would be raised to fund this cost.

Cllr Twyman assured the resident that although the percent increase seems high, this will only equate to approximately £2.50 being added per month to the Council Tax bill. The decision to raise the precept to fund a new piece of play equipment was made in light of the recent RoSPA report which listed all the current play equipment as “Medium” or “High Risk”, resulting in the large swings having to be removed on safety grounds. The rest of the play equipment will be paid for through fundraising of the Playing Field Committee, not the Parish Council. Cllr Twyman assured the resident that the precept is reviewed annually and the high percent increase of the precept this year will not set a precedent.

Cllr Lodge also informed the resident that 39 children who attend the local school live within walking distance of the Playing Field and they would benefit from the play equipment, along with older and younger siblings who would also be able to use the play equipment should they wish.

6. HIGHWAYS (i) Cllr Twyman reported that he spoke with Kevin Able and met with Chris Maw, District Highways Manager, and had met two Highways Stewards to discuss the repair of a number of major potholes within the village, in particular along Grove Road, where a repair crew were on site while the meeting was taking place. Chris Maw promised that a number of potholes raised would be logged on the system for repair in due course, including a number of large potholes near the double bend along Grove Road. Cllr Twyman checked whether this had been logged recently and this appeared to not be the case. The pothole has now been reported and the Clerk was asked to write to Kent Highways to request a swift resolution. (ii) Cllr Lodge reported that there is a large pothole on Grove Road on the left hand side travelling to the village from Frognall Cottages just past the entrance to Paul Kelsey’s Farm. Cllr Twyman reported he was aware of the pothole and spoke to Chris Maw about it at the meeting. (iii) Cllr Wright reported that the quality of road repairs has dropped considerably having witnessed a repair of a pothole in The List with no equipment. Cllr Twyman reported that Chris Maw had informed him at the recent meeting that Kent Highways were having great difficulty with their contractors, both in terms of quality of repairs and cost. (iv) Cllr Twyman reported that at the recent A257 meeting the main concern raised was that of Sat Navs in lorries. Increasingly it is becoming more frequent that lorries are being directed down country lanes or narrow roads not suitable for HGVs. Sandwich has been in the news recently with lorries getting stuck on roads unsuitable and there have been two lorries that have got stuck in the last month near Stodmarsh in the parish. The Thanet MP has been campaigning in the House of Commons for action to be taken. Commercial Sat Navs are available but these are not being distributed to the companies that need them. (v) Cllr Wright reported that a new “lorry watch” sign has been installed on the corner of Nargate Street in . Cllr Twyman confirmed that it is now a legal requirement for lorries not to use Nargate Street as a through road and they can now be prosecuted. (vi) A resident requested that the Clerk remind Kent County Council that footpath CB537 along the mill bank is due to have its first cut of the year in May. The Clerk was also asked to remind Kent County Council that the footpath should be cut to the 2m standards listed on their website.

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(vii) Cllr Twyman reported that three signposts in the parish; one at Sandpits, one in Grove and one at the bottom of Wickham Court Lane are all in a state of disrepair with the one in Grove currently on its side. These were reported to Chris Maw who promised to make enquires and get someone from Kent County Council to call Cllr Twyman to discuss these further. No phone call has been received and the Clerk was asked to write to Kent County Council to request someone in the relevant department contacted Cllr Twyman as soon as possible.

Resurfacing Works to Lane Cllr Twyman reported that he has made strong representations to Kent County Council regarding the state of Bekesbourne Lane requesting that surfacing works are scheduled in as soon as possible. The matter was also raised at the recent meeting with Chris Maw and the Highways Stewards where it was agreed that urgent resurfacing works needed to be carried out. After joint pressure from both Parish Council, Littlebourne Parish Council and County Councillor Michael Northey, Kent County Council have now agreed to fund resurfacing works along Bekesbourne Lane in the summer. The road will be closed for the duration of the works but no date has yet been set for the repairs to be carried out.

7. PLANNING CA//16/00404/OUT – Hoplands Farm, Island Road, Although this application is not within the parish boundary, this outline application for a neighbourhood extension in would create up to 250 houses along with a neighbourhood centre, foodstore, medical centre, dentist, pharmacy, nursery, convenience retail, commercial estate, apprentice centre, community building and parish parkland. This development would be visible from the parish of Wickhambreaux and would have a detrimental impact on the skyline views in the village. Cllr Wright agreed to make a representation on behalf of the Parish Council to request that additional screening be implemented to lessen the impact on the Parish.

CA//16/00573/PAJ – Undertrees Farm, Stodmarsh - The Parish Council has no objections to the prior notification to convert the existing office into residential.

CA//16/00756/FUL – Stable View, Grove Road – The Parish Council has no objections to the single storey side extension.

CA//16/00809/TPO – Old Ballroom House, The Green – The Parish Council has no objections to the trimming and reshaping of a Sycamore Tree by 30%.

8. QUOTATIONS FOR REPAINTING THE BRIDGE Cllr Bradford reported that he received the following two quotations: • Alan Partridge - £1670.00 (no VAT) • Mr Biggin - £2100.00 (no VAT)

The Parish Council decided to accept Alan Partridges quotation as the considerably cheaper of the two options.

9. FUNDRAISING STATIC CAR SHOW Cllr Rees reported that a static classic car show is proposed to be held on Sunday 15 May 2016 from 10am to 4pm to help raise money towards new play equipment. There will be a bar and refreshments provided on the day as well as a number of stalls with all proceeds going towards the play equipment. The local PCSO is being invited to meet the residents and enquires are ongoing with St Johns Ambulance. All residents will receive a leaflet informing them of the event very shortly and posters will be put up around the parish and surrounding villages to advertise the event. Secondary parking arrangements have also been made with neighbouring fields. ~ 3 ~

The Parish Council had no objection to the proposed classic car show on the condition that the relevant licenses are obtained by the Playing Field Committee (e.g. gaming licence to hold a raffle) and that the Parish Council is covered under its insurance for the event. The Clerk was asked to call the insurance company to confirm that this event will be covered by the current policy.

10. KENT COUNTY COUNCIL “FLOOD RISK TO COMMUNITIES” DOCUMENT Kent County Council is currently asking for feedback on its “Flood Risk to Communities” document. The aim of the document is to provide a summary of flood risk and its management for local communities within . It describes the roles and responsibilities of the Risk Management Authorities and provides an overview of the various plans and strategies in place for Flood Risk Management across the district. The purpose of the document is to provide a single reference point for significant flood risk in the area, who manages it and links to documents that contain more details if more information is needed.

Cllr Twyman reported he has analysed the document in detail and has filled out the response form on the Parish Council’s behalf. The Parish Council thanked Cllr Twyman for his efforts and requested that he submit the feedback to Kent County Council.

11. ROSPA TRAINING COURSES The Clerk reported that an email had been received from RoSPA offering training courses to become qualified in taking interim inspections. The annual inspection currently carried out by RoSPA would still continue but any representative sent on the course would be qualified to look for faults in play equipment in the interim period.

There are two courses available: (i) Routine Visual Inspection – suitable for somebody carrying out daily/weekly inspections, training to pick out obvious visual defects such as wear and tear, weather damage and vandalism - £230.00 plus VAT (ii) Operation Inspection – suitable for somebody carrying out monthly/quarterly inspections, more hands on involving checking the components and operation of the play equipment - £410.00 plus VAT

The Parish Council decided not to proceed with these courses at the present time.

12. QUEEN’S BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS AND QUOTATIONS FOR A COMMEMORATIVE BENCH Cllr Bradford requested that an update on the celebrations be deferred until the next meeting where volunteer Daisy Bradford would be able to give a report. Cllr Bradford reported that Stodmarsh is planning its own event to celebrate the occasion.

Cllr Rees reported that she had received three quotations for a commemorative bench: (i) Cyan - £404.44 (ii) Street Master - £443.00 (iii) The Oak and Rope Company - £695.00

The Parish Council decided to accept the quotation from Cyan and Cllr Rees agreed to order the bench with the inscription “To Commemorate Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 90th Birthday 2016”.

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13. ANNUAL PARISH MEETING The APM invitations for Tuesday 26 April 2016 have been distributed to all households within the parish by the Councillors and the last arrangements regarding refreshments and contacting local community groups for reports were finalised.

14. CLLRS’ REPORTS Tree Warden – Cllr Wright reported Mark Jones had carried out a tree survey of all the trees in the village as requested and had produced a report on the condition of the trees. Trees that require attention have been marked into two categories; “Essential” and “Desirable”. The Clerk was asked to put the report on the agenda for discussion at the next meeting once all Councillors have had the opportunity to study the report in detail.

Cllr Treacher reported that a resident had approached him enquiring whether the Parish Council had received notification of a number of trees felled along Wickham Court Lane and their replacement with a barbed wire fencing. Cllr Wright reported that although the new fencing is unsightly and the trees have been cut irregularly along the boundary line, as the trees were not in a Conservation Area no notification had to be made prior to the work being carried out.

Neighbourhood Watch – Cllr Lodge reported that a local farm had power tools and diesel stolen from a shed recently. The owners are however unsure whether the shed was locked at the time of the theft.

KALC – Cllr Lodge reported that she had to give her apologies for tonight’s meeting as she needed to attend the Parish Council meeting instead.

Playing Fields – Detailed in a separate document (Appendix I)

Village Greens – Cllr Bradford reported that Dyno-Rod completed a camera survey of the collapsed drain running through the Village Green and could be a costly repair to collapse the drain and cover over with top soil and grass seed. Cllr Bradford reported he is currently waiting on another quotation to complete the work and the Parish Council agreed to discuss the item at next meeting.

Flood Protection – Cllr Twyman reported that the Environment Agency work on modelling the Nailbourne from Lyminge to Bekesbourne is progressing well. Consultants have been appointed to carry out further survey work on this stretch of the watercourse which has started and will be continuing for the next 10 weeks. The surveying team may need access to riparian land and will be carrying out identifications although it has been stressed no access to dwellings will be required. The outcome of the modelling should be available in September 2016.

The modelling will include work to look particularly a how the medium-term objectives of improving the pinchpoints at the footbridges in and Barham can be achieved. Both require a balancing act to ensure that sending more water downstream does not move the problem down the watercourse. A separate modelling exercise is also underway looking at works from Littlebourne Green to Seaton.

Cllr Twyman also reported that the Government has increased the tax on insurance premiums and the money raised has been ring-fenced for water course flood maintenance work e.g. dredging, with the Environment Agency currently working on how the money can best be spent. The Great Stour, the and the Nailbourne should all benefit.

A take-off point into the Black Hole Dyke at the White Bridge on the road from Littlebourne to Wickhambreaux has been designed and agreed in principle. It is due to be built in August with the Environment Agency running it under a new procedure. A new procedure has also been set

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up for the running of the Stonar Cut following a meeting in February. It should relieve high water levels at and Grove Ferry and should benefit the pumping station at Stourmouth which takes the Little Stour water into the Great Stour.

Cllr Twyman also reported that funding has become available for the development of the Temporary Relief plans for Bridge and Wickhambreaux/Ickham/Seaton. The means that the emergency/instant response plans put together after the 2014 floods will be embedded with equipment purchased and stored for emergency deployment in those places – similar to the temporary barriers deployed in Barham this year. This will free up resources (manpower and hired-in equipment) for all the other villages on the watercourse for which the instant response plans remain in place.

Issues with the sewage system are dealt with by another Multi-Agency Group which is due to meet shortly to receive the outcome of the feasibility study into how to resolve the difficulties with the valley sewer, particularly at .

Cllr Porter reported that the pumps stopped in Mill Close recently resulting in The Stone House having problems with sewage building up. The response group that came out to fix the problem told Cllr Porter that the pumps were not working to their full capacity and would need replacing soon but there was lack of funding at the current time to do so. Cllr Twyman reported he would report the incident at the next meeting with the Environment Agency.

5. FINANCE The expenditure totalling £14,691.40 was authorised, made up of: • Caroline Rees – Reimbursement for thank you voucher to Alan Collins - £39.00 • Dyno-Rod – CCTV survey of brick built drain - £198.00 • KALC – Chairmanship Conference 26 February 2016 (2 delegates) - £144.00 • Open Spaces Society – Annual Subscription - £45.00 • Hayward Design and Print – Printing of APM invitations - £38.50 • KALC – Annual Subscription - £225.22 • Caroline Rees – Reimbursement for Playing Field Fencing - £1437.00 • Mat Mckay – Fencing for the Playing Field (85m stretch) - £1842.31 • Chenice Sparkes – Clerk salary March 2016 - £144.77 • HMRC – Employee and PAYE March 2016 - £31.60 • Stripy Lawns – Mowing recreation ground 26 March and 09 April - £70.00 • Mark Jones Tree Surgery – Tree survey report - £456.00 • Peak Playgrounds – Pirate Ship purchase and installation - £10,020.00

The Clerk reported that the updating of the bank mandate has not been carried out again because the Mandate Team at Natwest did not receive the latest paperwork despite the Clerk dropping the papers into the bank to be sent off by them. The Clerk was advised to get the new signatories to sign again and the new paperwork will be faxed directly across to the Mandate Team to ensure they receive the paperwork and make the necessary amendments as soon as possible.

Auto-enrolment Pensions The law on workplace pensions has changed. Every employer with at least one member of staff now has new duties. Staff who meet certain criteria must be put into a pension scheme and both the employer and employee must make contributions in to the scheme – this is called automatic enrolment. The parish council has been given a staging date of 01 April 2016 to commence the scheme.

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Eligible job holder, non-eligible jobholders and entitled workers An eligible job holder is aged between 22 and state pension age with earnings above £10,000 (£833 per month / £192 per week). A non-eligible jobholder is aged 16-74 with earnings less than £10,000 but greater than £5,824. They can require an employer to enrol them in a qualifying scheme with effect from the enrolment date. An entitled worker is aged 16-74 and earning less than £5,824. They can require the employer to arrange for them to join a pension scheme. The scheme does not have to be a qualifying scheme and the employer does not have to contribute to it. (NB Earnings levels are based on the year 2015-2016. The government may change these figures each year.)

Wickhambreaux Parish Council Clerk, Chenice Sparkes, is therefore an entitled worker, under auto-enrolment. The Clerk may consider joining a scheme but has decided not to proceed with starting a pension with the Parish Council as she will already be part of another pension scheme in 2017 under her main employer Anthony Swaine Architecture Ltd.

The Parish Council must complete its declaration of compliance online. The declaration lets the Pensions Regulator know that the Parish Council has met its workplace pension duties. The Clerk has started the declaration and will make the required declarations at the designated stages of the process.

6. CLERK REPORT AND CORRESPONDENCE (i) Open Spaces Society April Summer 2016 magazine was received (ii) The Clerk reported that a response from Buckingham Palace was received following a letter sent from the Parish Council to wish Her Majesty a happy birthday and to also inform her the Playing Field would be re-opening this summer to commemorate the occasion. The letter will be read out at the re-opening of the Playing Field for all those in attendance. (iii) The Clerk reported she had received a request from a resident asking the Parish Council to look into providing a shelter for those waiting for the bus, especially in poor weather. The Parish Council have looked into the possibility of installing a shelter in the past and unfortunately there is no location suitable that would meet all the strict Highways Standards – all passengers would have to embark and disembark from a kerb, there needs to be a raised kerb for disabled access, buses would need to be able to stop flush to the kerb, drivers would need adequate sight lines approaching the bus stop from both directions to ensure it is safe to stop and a permanent bus stop sign and timetable would need to be installed. The Clerk was asked to respond to the resident and explain the situation. (iv) A Community Resilience and Emergency Planning Workshop is being held on Friday 06 May 2016 at the Kent County Cricket Ground. The workshop is free to attend and Cllr Bradford offered to check whether he would be available to attend with the agreement that Cllr Porter would attend in his stead should it not be possible.

7. ANY OTHER BUSINESS (i) The date of the May meeting was changed from Tuesday 17 May to Tuesday 24 May 2016. (ii) The Clerk reported she was moving house and advised the new address is as follows: 28 Cambridge Way, Canterbury CT1 3QJ

The meeting closed at 10:00pm

Signed………………………...... (Chairman)

Date…………………………...... ~ 7 ~