AUTUMN UPDATE 2019 Dear residents, CROCKENHILL It has certainly been another busy year for the Parish Council. We have worked hard to ensure that residents have been kept informed of the PARISH COUNCIL latest developments on Sevenoaks District Council’s Local Plan, whilst also working with Dr Susan Pittman in preparing the Parish Council’s Village Hall responses and arguments for the public examination. Speeding in the village continues to be a concern and following a Stones Cross Road consultation with residents, the Parish Council purchased a Portable Speed Indicator Device (SID). With the proposed developments in Crockenhill Swanley on the horizon, it is more important than ever that we do all we can to continue to make our roads safer. We have also purchased a Village Gateway sign for the end of Goldsel Road – and are hopeful that Kent. BR8 8LT the sign will have the visual impact of warning drivers that they are entering a village and should adjust their speed accordingly. 01322 614674 As a Parish Council, we continue to work in the best interests of villagers and we always welcome your feedback and suggestions. We hope many www.crockenhillpc.org.uk of you will take part in our online survey – details on p6 - and we also [email protected] hope to see more of you at our Parish Council meetings and quarterly surgeries. Find us on Facebook Rachel Kite, Chair of the Parish Council CONTENTS 2. Councillors/Planning 3. Our Green Spaces 4. Speeding, Crossings & Road Safety 5. Lorry Watch, Parking Issues & Flytipping 6. Litter! PCSOs 7. Transport Services, Allotments, Orchid news 8. Foot Clinic, Community engagement 9. Youth Club, Community Lunch 10. Village Events 11. Memorial Ball, Crockenhill in Bloom 12. Heritage Room, School, Crockenara 13. So Let’s Go Running, WI, Neighbourhood Watch 14. All Souls Church & Baptist Church 15. Village Hall, RoW Group 16.Cllr Roger Gough’s Report (KCC) 17-18. Cllr Rachel Waterton’s Report (SDC) 19. Village History 20. Useful telephone numbers 1 PARISH COUNCILLORS Parish and District Council elections were held this May and the Parish Council election was uncontested. We welcomed Michael Holmes and Yaci Cook on board and sadly said goodbye to Trevor White in August. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Trevor for his hardwork. Despite not being a resident of the village, Trevor was a very close neighbour and took a keen and active interest in issues affecting Crockenhill and the surrounding areas. We are grateful to have had his input and wish him well in his retirement. The Casual Vacancy was not filled so we are still looking to co-opt a member to the Parish Council. If you’re interested to hear more about the role, please contact Kirsty, our Parish Clerk. We have lots of ideas and plans in the pipeline so it is an exciting time to get involved! We have launched acommunity consultation on some of the things we are considering, so please visit https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/8X7YWW7 to take part. Your views really do matter and we would like to gather your feedback. If you do not have internet access, please contact the Parish Clerk who will be able to send you a paper copy. Warmest congratulations to Rachel Waterton who was elected as District Councillor for Crockenhill and Well Hill. We are delighted that she is continuing as a Parish Councillor too. This regular contact with Sevenoaks District Council will be a huge asset. As I mentioned in my introduction, the Parish Council has been busy with many other projects this year. This Newsletter will give you an insight into the varied and exciting life of a Parish Councillor! I would also like to add that the Parish Council is supported my many wonderful people in this village who are always quick to help – whether it be with maintenance tasks, organising events or helping out with overgrown vegetation! It is impossible to list them all but special thanks to Neil and Sherill Baxter, Dr Susan Pittman, John Mullen, Ruth Fluin-Hardy, Sylvia and Keith Halls, Shirley Abbott and Alan Hayward for your help and support during the year. I, as I hope you all do, feel very lucky to be part of this community. Rachel Kite, Chair PLANNING SEVENOAKS LOCAL PLAN Crockenhill and also the associated policies The Parish Council has continued to monitor and proposals in Swanley which we felt posed and respond to latest developments with an even greater threat to Crockenhill. We regards to Sevenoaks District Council’s Local would like to thank all those villagers who Plan. The plan was produced in response to made representations. We were really central government national housing targets. pleased to see such thorough and considered The Local Plan says what can be built and comments. where up to 2035 and includes proposals for new housing and employment, and In more recent months, Parish Councillors and improvements to retail and infrastructure. Dr Susan Pittman worked together to draft a Once finalised, the new Local Plan will be response to the examination of SDC’s local used to assess planning applications in the plan. A Government planning inspector began Sevenoaks District. the process of conducting a number of public hearing meetings to ascertain whether the Back in January, the Parish Council organised Plan SDC prepared is sound and legally another public meeting to discuss latest compliant. Following the first set of hearing developments in SDC’s proposed submission sessions, the Inspector wrote to SDC version of the Local Plan. Despite it being a informing them that the hearing sessions cold evening we were pleased to welcome scheduled for Weeks 3 and 4 were cancelled. more than 100 local residents. Following the The letter stated ‘In the light of the evidence meeting, we urged residents to make a formal that I have read and heard in the Examination, representation to Sevenoaks District Council including the suggested Main Modifications to to give their views on the proposed sites in the Plan put forward by the Council and others 2 during the Hearings, I have significant concerns about a number of aspects of the We will continue to post updates on our Plan, both in terms of legal compliance and website and on the Parish Council facebook soundness.’ The full letter can be downloaded page so please check regularly. from SDC’s website. It is also available from our website. Full details of the Local Plan examination can be found online at: https://www.sevenoaks.gov.uk/localplanexami nation To view a copy of the Parish Council’s final position statements for the public examination, please see the Planning section of our website. Our special thanks to Dr Pittman who has once again afforded a considerable amount of her time and expertise in helping us More than 100 residents attended the meeting that to prepare our position statements for the the Parish Council convened to discuss the examination process. Submission Version of the Local Plan. ENFORCEMENTS As is often the case with Planning infringements, we (and SDC) often rely on local residents to alert us to any infringements. If you have any concerns about local planning issues, please feel free to contact the Clerk who is happy to raise issues with SDC on your behalf. OUR GREEN SPACES HARVESTFIELD PARK Sadly, we have had a few incidents at Harvestfield this year, including some deliberate damage to one of the bike ramps which has now been fixed. We have also had a few reports of Quad bikes and anti-social behaviour which resulted in glass bottles being smashed in the play area. There was also some theft and damage at the allotments which was both upsetting and unsettling for allotment holders. If you do witness any anti-social behaviour, please immediately report it to the police on 101 or 999 if it is an emergency. Please also alert the Clerk so she can check that the area is safe. We have also received reports of people camping at the park. Camping is not allowed and again, we request that you report any activity to 101 and the Parish Clerk. We have no public conveniences at Harvestfield so the health and safety aspect is a concern. The play area swings were treated last month to prolong their life, and new safety matting will be installed shortly. We are also considering another piece of equipment in the play area so we would welcome your feedback via the online community survey. Other than the relatively few incidents mentioned above, Harvestfield continues to be used by more and more families and we have held a few of our events there this year to encourage families to use it more. It really is a beautiful space and we are very lucky to have it! During one of our regular walkabouts, Parish Councillors identified a number of issues – one being a large amount of rubbish dumped in Harvestfield, at the back of Woodmount. Parish Councillors cleared as much of this as they could on the community clean-up day but there is still work to do here and we will aim to tackle this again at the next community clean-up event. 3 CRICKET MEADOW Since the demolition of the Cricket Pavilion, the Parish Council is continuing to explore options for the future usage of the Cricket Meadow. It is a wonderful space and we want to make sure that residents continue to use it and get the most from it. Some of the suggestions put forward include a cycling track and regular fun runs.