AND PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of the Ordinary Council Meeting held remotely on Monday 11 January at 19:30 hours by video conference

Present: Cllr Emma Richardson (Chair), Cllr Janet Larkinson, Cllr Roger Perham, Cllr Simon Docherty, Cllr Christine Hughes, Cllr Jan Edis, Cllr Penny Entwistle, Cllr Tania Salvatori, Cllr David Salvatori, Wendy Gregory, (Clerk), Ward Cllr Robert Thomas, Ward Cllr Matthew Jones- Roberts, Ward Cllr Dan Smith, Ward Cllr Alex Ricketts and 4 members of the public.

01/21 Welcome and apologies for absence The Chairman welcomed everyone and no apologies were received

02/21 Declarations of interests and dispensations A discussion took place about whether Cllrs who are on the UHA Committee should declare a conflict of interest. The Clerk advised that there is no legal requirement to declare an interest because there is no personal financial gain to be had in any decision and it was agreed that members should declare membership of the UHA committee but continue to speak on the matter.

03/21 Items to be taken in a private session No items were required to be taken in a private session

04/21 Confirmation of the Minutes of the Ordinary Meeting Resolved: The Minutes of the Ordinary Parish Council meeting held on 30th November 2020 were approved

05/21 The Clerk’s Report The Clerk’s report was received.

06/21 Matters arising (for information only) No matters arising

07/21 Open Forum A member of the public asked if there had been any update on the appeal of the planning decision of CA/19/02047 for the development of land at the rear of 51 Rough Common Road. No one had any updates. The resident also reported that footpath CB517 from Ross Gardens leading into the woods, the first 100 yards, is in a shockingly bad condition. The lane appears to be being used by contractors for the RSPB who have heavy vehicles harvesting wood that has destroyed the surface of the lane. A request was made that the contractors should be asked to repair the road. Cllr Richardson will take this matter up with the RSPB. Cllr Tania Salvatori said that this path may have drainage problems as it is rarely dry. Ward Cllr Rob Thomas circulated his report prior to the meeting and highlighted a couple of points; a positive response had been received from Persimmon Homes about the tennis court and that a request had been made to include a new street light under the City Council budget consultation.

08/21 Matters resolved under the scheme of temporary delegation It was resolved that the quotation from Ellis Agricultural Services at £940 + VAT be accepted and the contractor notified to undertake the work of clearing the ditch at Neal’s Place.

09/21 Financial matters resolved under the scheme of temporary delegation None

10/21 Financial matters a) Bank Account Balances and Reconciliations Treasurer’s Account Opening Balance as at the last statement £ 5,005.67 Transfer from Business Instant Account £ 5,000.00 Less payments made £ 6,410.15 Closing balance to match the bank statement £ 3,595.52

Business Bank Instant savings Opening Balance as 6th Nov £ 28,682.93 Plus receipt 9th Nov interest £ .28 Less above transfer - £ 5,000.00 Closing Balance £ 23,683.21

NS&I Opening Balance £ 79,462.71 Plus a receipt 1st June interest £ 635.70 Closing Balance £ 80,098.41

Total as of 01 December 2020 £ 107,377.14

Resolved: The account balances and reconciliation were approved.

b) Accounts for payment i) Clerk’s salary and expenses for October £894.19 ii) Landscape Services £1,586.39 + VAT iii) LW Treecare £1,650 Resolved: The accounts were approved for payment Action: The Clerk to pay the accounts

c) Application for a grant request An application for financial assistance from the Association was discussed lead by Cllr Perham. It was noted that the Parish Council as the leaseholder for St Mary’s hall should have been informed of the damage to the property. Resolved: To reimburse the cost of the repair of the handrail at £215.76 and to reimburse the cost of the invoice for the damage to the guttering and the repaired handrail £617.49 Action: The Clerk to pay monies (£833.25) into the UHA bank account. Action: The Clerk to look into the matter of the insurance of St Mary’s Hall

11/21 Planning Applications i) CA/20/02820 application for Land adjacent to The Retreat, London Road, Upper Harbledown CT2 9AY. Erection of facilities building, installation of external copper

shredder machine and stationing of a welfare and office cabin associated with the scrapyard/metal works. Resolved: There is no objection to this application

ii) Appeal against the Canterbury City Council refusal of change of use from a shop to residential dwellings at Rough Common Road. Cllr Richardson gave an update to advise that the appeal had failed to overturn the decision of Canterbury City Council to refuse change of use.

iii) Ward Cllr Ricketts advised that an application had been made by the Tavern in Blean to build 6 houses on the car park. Blean Parish Council have opposed this application on the grounds that a good car park is essential in that position for the pub to be a viable business. Also, to be considered, although not from a planning viewpoint, parents use the car park for dropping off and picking up their children. If the car park is lost, parents will be parking around the Oaks Park areas at drop off and pick-up times. A resident suggested that members might wish to comment on this application.

12/21 Committee reports Cllr Docherty gave an update following the Open Spaces Working Party meeting. Signage is required for Cheyney Field. Problems are still being experienced in getting the bin emptied in Pine Meadow. Cllr Docherty is planning to repair the bin lid. The goal post will be put into position when the ground dries out in Dukes Meadow. A quotation has been requested for quarterly inspections for the play areas. The tree survey has been completed and quotes will be sought for the trees requiring immediate work. The RSPB will be contacted to ask if they can increase the size of the car park to stop the surrounding roads becoming blocked with visitor parking. The entrance to the site, opposite the concrete bus shelter, has rubbish dumped there. This land owner is being sought to ask for permission to plant this area with wild flowers or similar. Ground maintenance quotes are to be sought as the current contract runs out in April this year.

13/21 Awarding Community Grants The updated criteria and application form is approved. Action: The Clerk to upload to the website.

14/21 Building on Community Spirit Cllr Tania Salvatori advised the meeting that the supermarket trolley had been removed from the concrete bus shelter. The Clerk was asked to obtain permission for the painting of the rusting bollards at this site and to have the metal pole which used to support the bus stop sign removed. It was agreed to wait until after the installation of the planters before deciding how the summer planting will take place. The next step is to extend the scheme to the other villages.

15/21 Role descriptions for councillors with portfolios A discussion took place about the role description that Cllr Entwistle has drafted for the ‘trees’ portfolio. The Clerk was asked to co-ordinate the information for each of the portfolios. Action: Cllrs for trees, footpaths and highways to draft a description for their role and send to The Clerk

16/21 Reports of Councillors with Portfolios

i) Open Spaces and Allotments Allotments: Cllr Docherty advised that the invoices and new tenant’s agreements have been sent out and payments are being made. The three vacancies at Hillside have been filled and Cllr Docherty has met two of the new tenants to show them their plots. A Health and Safety policy and a risk assessment has been undertaken. Open Spaces: The last few weeks a great deal of time has been taken up with flooding issues at Neal’s Place Meadow. Cllr Docherty presented an appraisal of the situation for councillors, especially those newer ones with not much knowledge of the history of this site.

“The issues we are experiencing are due to excess rain water runoff after extreme rainfall events. These manifest as two separate and very loosely linked problems. Firstly, to the west of the meadow where, after heavy rainfall, gardens and property along Hillview Road can occasionally experience rainfall runoff from the meadow. There is no other water draining into the meadow in this area to add to the rain that falls on it. There is a ditch at the boundary of the meadow and the gardens of Hillview Road, which has been there for a number of years. It is cleared every few years and when ground conditions allow plans are in place for it to be cleared again. This work was last completed by the Parish Council in January 2017. This ditch will run with water when the ground in the meadow is saturated and it also diverts any surface water down the meadow to the large ditch at the Meadow Road entrance. Water in this ditch leaves via an underground pipe through the front gardens of the properties in Meadow Road.

Secondly, the eastern half of the meadow. This part of the meadow, receives, as well as its own rainfall, run-off from 5 other sources, namely from field drainage at College and St. Edmunds school, a pond on the north side of Neal’s Place Road, via drains from Neal’s Place farm (under the road) and from Neal’s Place Road itself. This results in the north east upper corner of the meadow being very wet under normal conditions. These sources are currently flowing on to the meadow. When the meadow is saturated during the winter, and we experience a severe rainfall event, the extra volume of runoff water generated by the means described cannot be absorbed by the meadow and runs in a temporary water course following the footpath down through the centre of the meadow. Some of the water runs into the large ditch at the Meadow Road entrance (the one mentioned previously) but the majority drains into a ditch that runs around the last house in Meadow Road and the Hillside allotments. If the volume of water is too great for the large ditch to cope with, that too will overflow into the ditch around the end house and the allotments. On occasion, the excess water runs through the allotments and pools in the lower corner where the electricity substation is sited. Once the water leaves the ditch surrounding the allotments which are the limits of our responsibilities, the issue is then dealt with by Southern Water and Canterbury City Council. Under riparian rights, it is acknowledged that we must let water flow through our land without any obstruction, pollution or diversion which affects the rights of others.

In the scope of our responsibility, we do nothing to add to, impede or alter the quality or volume of the water we receive and pass on. This is by no means a new problem. For instance, the Harbledown Parish Council (as it was then) was instructed by the City Council in 1991 to dig the ditch which runs between the meadow and the allotments to prevent flooding in Meadow Road, this was after they had ensured that the capacity to accept the flow had been increased. Canterbury City Council also highlighted the issue in their Strategic Flood Risk Assessment of 2011 that within Canterbury, the main potential

area for flooding from surface water runoff and overland flow is the area north of the City from Harbledown round to Broad Oak. It stated that the problem is exacerbated by non- functioning land drains, poorly maintained ditches and unchecked water flow across grassed hillsides. It also points out that particular areas experiencing flooding as a result of overland flow occur in the Dukes meadow area downhill towards the cemetery.

Meetings are being arranged with the other interested parties in order to try and deal with this problem. “

Duke’s Meadow is also experiencing saturation levels, particularly at the top of the meadow by the bench which results in that area becoming very boggy. Cllr Docherty believes this is due to run off from Neal’s Place farm and needs to be investigated. The Chairman thanked Cllr Docherty for all of the work he is doing on this. Cllr Perham suggested that Canterbury City Council should be kept informed at all time. ii) Footpaths Cllr Tania Salvatori reported that after the last meeting, Ward Cllr Thomas promptly provided details of the person to contact at Canterbury City Council to get contact details for the tenant farmer. Following that, the matter of clearing the footpath at Neal’s Place Farm was quickly dealt with. Ward Cllr Ricketts raised a query received by a resident about the installation of a barbed wire fence on the path from Dukes Meadow and Neal’s Place Meadow. Cllr Larkinson advised that this type of fence was a standard Kent County Council fence and it was thought that the footpath was wide enough to allow safe passage past the fence. iii) Tree Matters Cllr Entwistle reported that following the Open Spaces Working Committee meeting, members of that group are going to identify areas within the parish suitable for tree planting so that when she is contacted by organisations offering trees, the Parish Council will be in a ready state to accept them. iv) Highways Cllr Larkinson, picked up some rubbish in Harbledown and the bag has the resident’s name and postal address on it and it is local person. Cllr Larkinson was advised that she could report it to Serco as fly tipping or return it to the resident. Cllr Hughes said that when she heard that there was an opportunity to rally support for Ward Cllr Thomas’s request to the Canterbury City Council budget review to allow a provision for a new street light, she contacted residents and councillors to ask them to support this request. Cllr Hughes advised that there is a problem at Limes Place with rats which it is believed is caused by food left in the bins and surrounding areas of the layby on the A2. Residents have been advised that this is a matter for Highways . Ward Cllr Thomas agreed to respond to Cllr Hughes comments by email due to a very slow internet connection. Ward Cllr Smith advised the meeting that he had seen police monitoring traffic on Rough Common Road on Monday 11thJanuary. Ward Cllr Ricketts advised that there was no Speedwatch activity taking place at the moment due to Covid-19 restrictions. v) Public Communications Cllr Richardson advised that the next resident’s communication is likely to be in the spring when the planters had been installed and the bulbs will be flowering. Cllr Hughes, thanked

Cllr Richardson for organising the last letter that was delivered to every house within the parish.

17/21 Reports of Councillor Representatives i) No Man’s Orchard Cllr Larkinson advised that there is a shortage of trees for sponsorship. Cllr Docherty has done some pruning of the cider trees to the east of the orchard.

ii) Police Liaison Cllr Edis reported that there had been a series of parcels stolen from door steps in the Canterbury area and reports of diesel stolen from lorries parked on the A2. iii) Rough Common Village Hall Ward Cllr Ricketts asked whether there were any plans to add play equipment for younger children. Cllr David Salvatori advised that advice had been sought from Wickstead play equipment about the existing young children’s play area and the equipment has a lifetime guarantee of 25 years and Wickstead has confirmed that the play equipment is still safe and needs refurbishment. Quotations have been received for this and a small number of additional items and the cost is likely to be around £3,000. The village Hall Committee are hoping to complete this work to open the play area in the spring. The play group is still operating from the village hall but at reduced capacity with only the children of key-workers. iv) KALC Cllrs Larkinson and Richardson are attending a training course on Planning on Tuesday, 12th and the KALC AGM is on Thursday, 14th.

18/21 Correspondence Nothing of note. Ward Cllr Jones-Roberts asked whether there were any questions in relation to the report he had sent to the Clerk to circulate to councillors. There weren’t any questions. Ward Cllr Jones-Roberts spoke about the helpful service he had received from the Fire Service.

19/21 Items to be placed on the next Agenda TBA Any further items to be considered should be emailed to: [email protected] by Thursday, 12th February 2020.

20/21 The next meeting will be held by video conference on Monday, 22nd February 2021 at 19:30 hours.

The meeting ended at 21:22 hours

Signed……………………………………………………………….. Date ………………