Chestfield Parish Council, Minutes 8 November October 2010 CHESTFIELD PARISH COUNCIL MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 8 NOVEMBER 2010 Present: Parish Cllr Bob Brown (Acting Chairman) Parish Cllr Len Claisse Parish Cllr Peter Goldsack Parish Cllr, Patricia Chapman Parish Cllr Steven Bailey Ms Amanda Sparkes, Clerk to the Council Cllr Jenny Samper* 3 residents * * for the whole meeting until excluded for confidential items 183 CHAIRMAN VACANCY - ELECTION OF CHAIRMAN the Clerk opened the meeting and explained that Malcolm Bailey had resigned as both Chairman and a parish councillor on 19 October 2010. Additionally Katherine Caloudis had resigned on 12 October 2010 and Graham Cooper on 8 November 2010. The first item of business therefore was to elect a new Chairman. Cllr Brown had explained he prefers to retain his position of vice-chairman but will act as acting Chairman until a new one is elected. The Clerk explained if the Council is unable to elect a Cllr into the position of Chairman then Cllrs need to elect a Chairman at each meeting in order to chair that meeting. Cllr Claisse proposed and Cllr Goldsack seconded that Cllr Brown should chair the meeting until a decision on a permanent Chairman can be made. 184 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE The Chairman offered a warm welcome to all those present. Apologies for absence were received and accepted from Cllr Mick Shorter (working away) 185 MEMBERS’ INTERESTS There were no Declarations, and no changes to the Register of Interests. 186 MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 11 OCTOBER 2010 Amendment required to Minute 152: 152 ANNUAL BUDGET PREPARATION NOTED: The Clerk will need to receive any project requests from Cllrs, with costings, for inclusion, by the end of October. The Clerk asked for a working party of 2-3 councillors to produce a draft budget for the financial year 2011-2012, for consideration at the November meeting. Cllrs Shorter, Claisse and Chapman agreed to liaise to formalise a budget to present to full council. The Clerk will send out the draft budget to all Cllrs though so as not to exclude any. This should have read Cllrs Goldsack, Claisse and Chapman. 521 Chestfield Parish Council, Minutes 8 November October 2010 It was proposed by Cllr Goldsack, seconded by Cllr Claisse and RESOLVED that with the above amendment the Minutes were a true record of the meeting, and they were duly signed by the Chairman. 187 Information matters arising Cars for Sale at the lay by opposite Maydowns Road: Cllr Bailey suggested that as an alternative to introducing yellow lines, the two existing collapsible and lockable bollards could be utilised instead with appropriate signage deterring parking – perhaps to the effect of “Council maintenance/access route – keep clear”. Cllr Bailey agreed to find out who the padlocks belong to – it was suggested they are city council owned to get in to cut the grass and for clearance, and to liase with Ruth Goudie of Kent Highways for a solution, although Cllr Brown advised the PCSO has previously said the entrance is not an emergency entrance. 188 ACTION LIST APPENDIX 1a The list was talked through and deletions and progress noted. 189 POLICING, SECURITY AND NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH There was no Police representation at the meeting, nor had a report been received for this meeting or last month. The Clerk was asked to find out why. A similar situation at the October meeting had later been explained that PCSO Pedwell had been off sick and PC Pope had been involved on another crime matter. NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH MEETING Cllr Claisse explained that an annual event for all neighbourhood watch schemes to meet is organised by the Police co-ordinator – usually in March. At the last meeting there had been a suggestion for a further networking and information sharing meeting. Cllr Claisse has set a date for this of 29 November at the Chestfield barn from 7.30pm. Invitations have had to be sent out by the co-ordinator at Kent Police as names and addresses are not shareable – although representatives can if they wish share their contact information at the meeting for future networking. 190 Cllrs Responsibilities Following the recent resignations the Cllrs needed to revisit these. They were discussed and resolved. 191 The meeting was adjourned for parishioners‟ questions. There was discussion around the meeting structures and involvement of residents. Cllr Samper also confirmed she is chasing for pigeon proofing measures under the railway bridge, and also that the city council has just won three planning appeals. The meeting continued. 192 PLANNING Councillors considered Appendix 2 previously circulated, together with new verbal additions. Cllr Goldsack proposed and Cllr Claisse seconded to accept these applications and tree works recommendations also. Decisions reached are attached as Appendix 2 to these minutes. Appendix 2 also details new information for actions previously raised around enforcement and other correspondence. 522 Chestfield Parish Council, Minutes 8 November October 2010 193 Herne and Broomfield Shared Training Course initiative At the October meeting it was explained that Herne and Broomfield parish council had started an initiative to share the costs of CPRE training courses around the subjects of planning by sharing a date and venue (of up to 20 delegates). Cllr Brown had suggested courses 1 and 3 were of relevance for planning councillors. The Clerk went on to extend this invitation to all 26 parishes in the Canterbury district with a deadline to collate responses of 31 October. These are now being collated. The Clerk will liase with the Herne and Broomfield Clerk and finalise numbers and costs. 194 FINANCIAL MATTERS (a) RECEIVED the bank statements for October 2010, and bank reconciliation, and RESOLVED signature of the Vice-Chairman thereon; (b) NOTED a payment of £15.99, for the Plusnet Internet account was taken by direct debit on 15/10/2010 AUTHORISATION OF ACCOUNTS The Clerk circulated a supplementary finance sheet, with the following additional cheques to be authorised (964) Canterbury Business Equipment Ltd – stationary, office supplies £26.30 (965) Cheque authorised on the night to Christine Cady, the caterer for the Christmas dinner, as final ticket numbers became known at the meeting. £600.00 The total of cheques to be authorised is therefore revised, now totalling £2,412.78 It was proposed by Cllr Claisse, seconded by Cllr Chapman, and RESOLVED that the financial matters and accounts, as previously set out in Appendix 3, with those above, now totalling £2,412.78 be authorised for payment. 195 INTERNAL QUARTERLY AUDIT NOTED the next Internal Audit for end of quarter to 30 September was carried out on 19 October 2010. The Internal Auditor‟s report was circulated to all Cllrs. Nothing of concern was identified. 196 CLERK’S REPORT Councillors considered the following items of correspondence requiring action: (a) Letter from the Planning Applications Group at KCC regarding proposed changes to planning application validation process. Validation is the name given to the process whereby the Planning Authority has to decide whether it has appropriate and adequate supporting information to properly understand and fairly decide a planning application . The Government sought to standardise the information requirements for different types of applications by producing a general requirement but also local information requirements. All Planning Authorities then undertook consultation to adopt a local list to supplement the national list. KCC has now published revised validation documents viewable at http://www.kent.gov.uk/environment_and_planning/planning_in_kent/planning_ applications/validation_of_applications.aspx Comments should be made by 13 December. Cllrs Claisse and Brown agreed to have a look at this. 523 Chestfield Parish Council, Minutes 8 November October 2010 (b) C/FWD: TO CONSIDER a request for a donation to Victim Support. (Letter previously copied and circulated to all Cllrs). They have now provided details of numbers helped in Chestfield: From 1st April 2009 to 31st March 2010, 28 victims of crime in the Chestfield area were supported by Victim Support volunteers. The breakdown is as follows: 4 burglaries, 3 criminal damage, 1 fraud, 10 thefts and 10 assaults. Cllrs considered the request and the figures and whilst thought the numbers probably included Swalecliffe Cllr Brown proposed and Cllr Goldsack seconded and it was RESOLVED to offer a donation of £50. (c) Prospective Councillor Event – 6.30pm, 30 November 2010 In advance of the forthcoming local elections in May 2011, Canterbury City Council is inviting interested persons to a „prospective councillor‟ event at the Guildhall, Canterbury at 6.30pm on the 30 November 2010. The event will appeal to those who might be thinking of standing as a candidate in the local elections and those who might be involved with Parish Councils and Voluntary organisations and take an interest in the role and activities of local councillors. Speakers at the event will include the Chief Executive and local Councillors, who will be able to offer an insight into the work involved and what it is like to represent your local constituents. The evening will consist of brief presentations, followed by an opportunity to ask questions (d) Invite and Agenda received to Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) (now known as Protect Kent) Annual General Meeting and Lunch on Friday 19 November at Lenham Community Centre from 12.30pm. Charge for lunch of £8 per head. For items (c) and (d) above and also (e) below, the Clerk was asked to ask Cllr Shorter to promoter these on the parish council website. 197 The following correspondence was NOTED: (e) As a result of the Government‟s Spending Review, Kent County Council is currently reviewing the services they provide to identify where savings can be made. There is the opportunity to voice opinion on their services through a consultation "Your voice, your service" to make comment and influence the difficult decisions going to be made over the next few months.