The Chairman
opened the meeting and welcomed everyone. There were 40 Members
of the Public
present, 8 Parish Councillors County Councillor Richard King and
Borough Councillor Neil Wallace.
1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE:
Were received from Mrs V Piggott.
2. TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING
These were unanimously approved and signed by Mr Patten.
Proposed Mr Howard Seconded Mr Wallace
3. CHAIRMAN’S REPORT ON THE WORK OF THE PARISH COUNCIL
Report by Mr Peter Patten.
Welcome, it is very pleasing to see so many of you here this evening.
Also a very special welcome
to our County Councillor, Richard King and our Borough Councillor
Neil Wallace.
My report is brief. It has been another busy year with many matters
being considered and dealt with
by the Parish Council.
Our influence is not great but we keep trying on behalf of the Village.
We are still bombarded with rules and regulations – very time
consuming and frankly not very
rewarding.
For many years we have been trying to improve road safety in the
village – new speed signs
and so on -initially with the KCC and then with Ashford Borough
Council and now back with
KCC. Movement is nil and promises made are not to be relied upon.
In fact we are still no further forward than we were last year or
6 years ago – all very depressing especially when one sees
traffic
signs etc in villages such as Little Chart where only a handful
of houses are affected. Maybe we will succeed in 2006/2007.
In the meantime we will be trying out Speedwatch. A number of volunteers
will be checking the
speed of motorists through the village – hopefully this will
help to slow traffic down – especially
outside the school.
Law and order and anti-social behaviour continues to be a problem.
We have lost Keith Dowling
and I was told this afternoon that we have a replacement –
PC Paul Smith.
Lynn Marshall, our Rural Warden, is far more proactive and effective
than her predecessor. Sadly
Lynn can’t be everywhere all the time, but if you see anything
untoward do let me know.
The really bad news is two fold. Firstly the Common and I know some
of you will let us have your
views later on.
Secondly, the uncertain future of the School. We have written to
the KCC Committee considering
its future. They met this afternoon and no doubt Richard King, our
County Councillor will bring
us up to date. Incidentally he is giving his wholehearted support
for the retention of the school.
This is greatly appreciated.
On a positive note we have, through the Hothfield Parents Support
Group and the Parish Council
made some progress albeit slow towards building a MUGA on the playing
field. You may
remember this was one of the facilities the youth of the village
wanted. We still have some way to
go but every effort is being made to speed things up – not
easy when dealing with Ashford Borough
Council.
Financially the Parish Council has again worked within its budget
during 2005/2006 and we have
maintained the precept at the same level as last year.
During this year we are planning to undertake a Village Appraisal.
This exercise will be the
Villagers property and I hope everyone will have their say. Chris
Twydell has volunteered to help
with this exercise.
Finally, I would like to thank the Parish Councillors who give and
I repeat give of their valuable
time for the benefit of the Village. Also my thanks to Judith Batt
our Clerk who helps us as well as
keeping us in order. I greatly appreciate the support and help she
and the Parish Councillors have given
me over the last year.
On a sad note our Vice Chairman, Marianne Highwood, is retiring
as of this meeting. Her experience
and wise council will be sadly missed.
Incidentally, we are still looking for Parish Counillors, any volunteer?
In conclusion, I hope that if we, the Parish Council, can help any
one in the village we would
willingly do so, given our limited authority and resources.
4. REPORTS FROM VILLAGE ORGANISATIONS
Copies of written report, where submitted, are only attached to
the file copy of the minutes.
They are all available for inspection if requested. Please contact
the Parish Clerk.
Village Hall
The AGM is to be held next Monday. New members are needed for the
committee and anyone who
is interested was invited to attend.
Short Mat Bowls
Mr Collins reported that the club could do with a few more members.
Darts Club
Please see attached.
Friends of St Margaret’s
Please see attached.
Hothfield Common
Mr Wallace reported that he was aware of the issues and he had spoken
to a number of people
working on implementing the plans for the Common.
He asked whether we have enough control through the Borough Council
in terms of the document
which was signed 2 years ago as part of funding arrangements. We
need to come up with
constructive issues and pass them back to ABC rather than Kent Wildlife
Trust. The Borough
Council has to take their share of the responsibility. The Partnership
needs to be monitored.
A lively discussion took place and Mr Wallace asked those present
with specific issues to speak
to him after the meeting so that he could collate them and he said
he would list them all in a letter
to ABC.
The general consensus of opinion was that a meeting should be arranged
to allow villagers to
meet with KWT and ABC and discuss their concerns. Mr Wallace said
he would arrange a meeting.
Hothfield Education Foundation
The Education Foundation had an income of £7,500 last year,
and they gave about half of this to
The School, but Mr Oliver reported that as people do not apply to
the foundation the remainder is
still available. He stressed that people of any age group can apply
to the Foundation for financial
help to undertake training, as long as they attended Hothfield School.
Hothfield History Society
Two books on the History of Hothfield have been reprinted. A meting
was held for people
interested in researching the history of their house. Another meeting
is due to be held this month.
Anybody who is interested in attending should contact Mr Oliver.
The Rector of Hothfield in 1900 spent 10 years researching and writing
a book on Hothfield covering
the years 670 to 1900. The contents are not in a logical sequence,
so Mr Rivers is transcribing it.
once it completed the 3 volumes will be printed and will be available
for lending out to residents
interested in history.
Hothfield School
Please see attached.
Ladies Club
Please see attached.
Parochial Church Council
Please see attached.
Rural Warden
Mrs Marshall said that Hothfield is a lovely village and it does
not deserve the reputation that it has.
The main problem at the moment is minor damage, caused by the children
being silly. Mrs Marshall a
asked residents to pass on the names of any children who they see
causing the damage so that the
the problem can be dealt with before it gets out of hand. Any information
given will be treated
as confidential.
The residents of the village need to work together and challenge
the behavioural problems.
Mr Patten reiterated everything Mrs Marshall had said.
Short Mat Bowls
Mr Collins reported that the club could do with a few more members.
Tree Warden
Please see attached.
Village Fair
Please see attached.
Village Hall
The AGM is to be held next Monday. New members are needed for the
committee and anyone who
is interested was invited to attend.
Borough Councillor’s Report
Mr Wallace reported that we are very grateful to Sally-Ann Logan
for her help with progressing
the MUGA.
He urged people to attend the meetings regarding Ashford’s
Future and put their views. The new
one way system is being fast tracked and he feels it is one of the
most important developments.
The first draft of the LDF is out in September. A paragraph in this
related to the development of
villages in the Borough. It has been a very difficult paragraph
to write as every village has
different issues regarding development which need to be addressed.
The Policy has to be applicable
to every village.
Mr Patten thanked Mr Wallace for attending the meeting and for fielding
the many question on the
development of Hothfield Common
County Councillor’s Report
Mr King thanked members of the electorate for re-electing him to
the County Council.
He reported that he had attended a meeting this afternoon regarding
the proposed closure of the
School and the plans to bus the children to Charing. The plans have
come about because there
are between 1200 and 1400 surplus primary school places in the Borough.
He said the view of the KCC is that the school should be closed
because, although it has capacity
For 84 pupils there are only has 33 pupils on the roll of which
only 6 live in Hothfield.
Councillor King reiterated everything Mr Ford said in his report
and said that it was important
that individuals write letters rather than just sign a petition.
It is important that the village is seen
to show an interest in the school and to want it to remain open.
Letters should be sent to the elected
members of the KCC and to Damian Green.
Mr Ford said he felt it was important to involve children in the
campaign and asked everyone to
contact the school if they were keen to get involved so that everyone’s
efforts can be co-ordinated.
The names of the people to write to and other data will be available
at the school from 10 May.
A Public Meeting is to be held in Charing, but Councillor King suggested
that Hothfield should press
to have their own.
Mr King thanked the Chairman of Governors, the Headmaster and Mr
Patten for providing the
information he required to take to the meeting he attended earlier
today.
Mr Patten proposed a resolution that the villagers of Hothfield
wish the school to be retained.
A vote was taken and the result was unanimously in favour of retaining
the school.
Councillor King told those present that he had £10,000 to
share between a number of villages from his
Member Community Grant Fund.
5. VILLAGE APPRAISAL
This will be started after the Village Fair.
6. ANY OTHER MATTER RAISED BY AN ELECTOR THAT IS OF INTEREST OF
CONCERN TO THE PARISH
Many residents were concerned with the siting of the MUGA and were
unaware as to exactly what
it was going to comprise of. A meeting was held earlier in the year
when brochures were available
showing exactly what a MUGA is like. One resident said that he felt
there had been a lack of
communication regarding this.
A resident asked whether there had been any progress with the BMX
track. The Parish Council
had not agreed to progress this any further.
There being no further business the meeting closed at 8.50 pm.
