CHESTFIELD PARISH COUNCIL MINUTES OF THE VIRTUAL PARISH COUNCIL MEETING HELD AT 2.30PM ON 17 January 2021 Background to this “virtual” meeting: Regulations enabling town and parish councils to lawfully conduct virtual meetings by video and telephone conferencing until May 2021 have been published. The Local Authorities and Police and Crime Panels (Coronavirus) (Flexibility of Local Authority and Police and Crime Panel Meetings) (England and Wales) Regulations 2020 came into force on 4 April. The legislation allows for virtual meetings if required up to May 2021. This meeting was held using Zoom as a virtual hosting platform. Agendas were posted on the village noticeboards as usual and also to the parish council’s website. This clearly explained that members of the public are still able “attend” a parish council meeting either online or by telephone and advised anyone wishing to do so to contact the Clerk for details of the meeting link or phone number and the PIN code for access to enter. Present: Parish Cllr Steve Bailey (Chairman) Parish Cllr Chris Brealy (Vice Chairman) Parish Cllr Chris Ellis Parish Cllr Bob Todd Parish Cllr Pat Gibson Parish Cllr Tricia Chapman Parish Cllr Anne Loder KCC Cllr Robert Thomas CCC Cllr Pat Todd Amanda Sparkes, Clerk to the Council 3 x residents 91. Chairman’s Welcome Cllr Bailey welcomed everyone to the meeting. Apologies for absence were received from Parish Cllr Lorraine East (family member unwell). CCC Cllr Todd gave apologies from CCC Cllr Ben Fitter- Harding and explained he had asked for a zoom catch-up with the Clerk to be set up. Parish Cllr David Fitzpatrick was not present. 92. Members’ Interests Cllr Brealy declared an interest in the Vattenfall application as part of the proposal covers Hollamby Estates land. Cllr Chapman declared an interest in the Grasmere Pasture development due to the proximity of her home. 93. Minutes of the meeting held on 06 December 2020 Cllr Bailey proposed, Cllr Todd seconded and all Cllrs were happy that the Minutes be accepted as a true record of the meeting and the Chairman will sign them by post after the meeting. 94. Adjournment of the meeting A resident thanked the Clerk and parish council for their feedback on the Vattenfall Solar Farm recent planning application (reported later in these Minutes). He explained he is broadly supportive as there is a need for renewable energy. However, he was made angry about the application statement about the number of HGVs being negligible, as 4 a day is significant on Molehill Road. He explained that he would have made a representation to CCC but was not made aware of the application, and only learned of it after the deadline. He was concerned about the impact of HGVs on the services under Molehill Road. The Clerk explained that the resident had had email conversations with her and CCC Cllr Ben Fitter-Harding and Cllr Fitter-Harding had advised he understood the underground services would be included in the pre-condition and after-condition checks. The Clerk confirmed she would raise this again when she had a zoom call with Cllr Fitter-Harding. The meeting continued. 90 95. CCC Cllr Pat Todd report Canterbury City Councillor Cllr Pat Todd explained that he had little to report. CCC is hoping to make arrangements for face-to-face meetings from May 2021. Cllr Bailey advised the current arrangements allow for virtual meetings until 2021. The Clerk confirmed that an extension to this will require primary legislation and her understanding is that this is already being looked at. 96. KCC Cllr Robert Thomas report KCC Cllr Robert Thomas wished everyone a Happy New Year. His monthly update report had been circulated prior to the meeting. Key elements are: Kent Travel Saver Card and its 16+ equivalent cancelled Direct Debit payments for the Kent Travel Saver Card and its 16+ equivalent is cancelled in January and February due to the national lockdown. Vulnerable children and those of critical workers will still be able to use their pass to travel to school. A refund for those that have paid upfront will be made once a decision is made by Government on when all children may return to school. KCC Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport Michael Payne said: “We appreciate how hard another lockdown is for parents and the impact it is having on families, businesses and livelihoods, particularly after it follows some of the harshest tier restrictions. “This situation has created another very complex problem and KCC officers have been working behind the scenes on the best way to help those that purchased a Kent Travel Saver but are now not currently able to use it because of the lockdown restrictions. “Although the Kent Travel Saver cards are normally non-refundable, KCC believes it is only right not to collect the January and February Direct Debit payments. “Furthermore, we will make a decision about the March payment when we are hopefully better informed about the timetable for the return to school. “We will also review the level of refund for those who have paid upfront in full once we know the timescale for all pupils to be allowed to return.” The KCC Travel Saver and KCC 16+ Travel Saver are subsidised by the council and offer parents the opportunity to reduce the cost of bus travel rather than buying a ticket direct from operators. BREXIT With the exit from the European Union transition arrangements and the importance of flows on the Highway and possible deployment of Operation Brock Kent County Council had a final reminder for preparation arrangements https://kccmediahub.net/eu-transition-period-comes-to-an-end745 EDUCATION Prior to the lockdown, and closure of schools for children from non key worker families from 5th January, Roger Gough outlined the challenges for schools in Kent to the Secretary of State for Education https://kccmediahub.net/kcc-leader-writes-to-education-secretary-over-school-reopening- plans745 HEALTH & WELLBEING Free School Meals – more than 31,000 vouchers provided for the Christmas holidays https://kccmediahub.net/kent-county-council-gives-more-than-31000-food-vouchers-tovulnerable- families-ahead-of-christmas745 Homeless support working with Porchlight and Catching Lives https://news.canterbury.gov.uk/news/article/187/charities-and-council-work-together-to-helprough- sleepers-through-winter LIBRARIES & REGISTRATIONS Due to coronavirus restrictions, bookshelf browsing and use of computers and WiFi is currently unavailable. You can still request books through the Kent County Council Select and Collect service https://www.kent.gov.uk/leisure-and-community/libraries/visiting-a-library/select-and-collect KCC Cllr Robert Thomas explained that the footpath improvements programme for Cherry Orchard has just been completed. Cllr Bailey recorded thanks to KCC for the dropped kerbs on footpath 91 CW67 in Primrose Way that have now been installed. Cllr Brealy offered thanks to KCC for cutting the big Poplar tree down on the highways’ boundary at the entrance to The Drive. Cllr Thomas confirmed that the current pharmacy application for the Chestfield medical centre is for land that is KCC owned and leased to the medical centre. 97. Planning Current planning matters and planning applications are contained in Appendix 2 of Cllrs meeting paperwork - that had been previously circulated to all cllrs. Decisions reached and latest information is now attached as an appendix to these minutes. The Clerk asked to record thanks to Cllr Fitzpatrick for all his assistance with planning recently, as there has again been a lot to consider. CDLP: Our Future District 2040 – update from CCC for Parish Councils received 09 December 2020: Despite the pandemic, progress has continued towards preparing a new Canterbury District Local Plan. Local Plan Issues Consultation (June 2020-October 2020) The consultation provided the opportunity for individuals, groups and organisations to say what issues they think the new Local Plan should address. There were over 9,000 individual comments made by 445 individuals and organisations. A series of online conferences were also attended by hundreds of local people, businesses, national organisations, developers, parish councils, secondary schools and university students. A summary of the key issues raised during the Issues consultation and conferences can be found at Local Plan consultations | New Local Plan (2040) | Canterbury City Council Update on progress of the new Local Plan CCC has begun to analyse the sites that have been submitted to date through the “Call for Sites”. This is an ongoing process which will continue throughout next year. The landscape character assessment and biodiversity appraisal, along with the local facilities audit and playing pitch strategy and indoor built facilities audit, are nearing completion and will be published on the website early in the new year. CCC expects the next formal consultation on the emerging options for the new Local Plan to start during May 2021. Following the adoption of the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) across the District, CCC has arranged a meeting with Parish Councils on 01 February 2021 to talk to about the Levy and what it means for parish councils. CA/20/02204 - Land To The South Of Thanet Way (A299) And West Of Thornden Wood Road, Herne Bay, Kent, CT6 7NU Installation of a ground mounted photovoltaic (PV) solar energy generation system, associated infrastructure, security measures (including CCTV) and landscaping. A revised Construction Traffic Management Plan has now been produced by Corun Transport and Highway Engineering consultants. The three key changes are: i) The proposed construction traffic route has been altered following the Highways Authority feedback and no longer proposes South Street: The principal route for all traffic generated by the site during the construction phase, including solar panel component parts arriving in the UK from Dover, will likely be to/from the west via the A2 - A299 – A2990 Thanet Way - Chestfield Road – Molehill Road.