Hothfield Parish Council

...in the rustic heart of Kent

JUNE 2007 PARISH COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES

Minutes of the Ordinary Parish Council Meeting

held at The Village Hall, Hothfield, on Monday 11 June 2007

at 7.00pm

PRESENT:            Mrs S Whittington (Chair), Mrs P Warren, Mr P Holloway, Mr P Howard, Mr L Hughes, Mr L Krause, Mr P Patten and Mr A Rawlins

                        

PARISH CLERK:              Mrs J Batt

 

BOROUGH COUNCILLOR:      Mr N Wallace

 

ABC REPRESENTATIVES:     Mrs S Logan and Mr I Bailey   

MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC:    There were no Members of the Public present

 

1.  APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

An Apology for Absence was received from Mr Collins due to a prior commitment.

 

2.    DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

There were no Declarations of Interest

 
i Updating of Declarations of Interest for the Code of Conduct

     The Clerk reminded Councillors that they should update their Declarations of Interest

    with the Monitoring Officer if necessary.

 

3.    PUBLIC INTERVAL

      There were no Members of the Public present.

 

Hothfield Discussion Paper – for consideration at Hothfield Parish Council on 11.6.07

At this point in the meeting Mrs Whittington welcomed Mrs Logan, Cultural and Youth Projects Leader and Mr Bailey, Deputy Head of Cultural Services, who presented a Discussion Paper on possible, future projects to be undertaken in Hothfield. The eventual aim is for all the projects undertaken to have the full support of our villagers and to be community led.

 

A question and answer session followed after which Mr Krause proposed, Mr Patten seconded and Councillors unanimously agreed the following:-

 

That the Parish Council should support the proposals put forward by Ashford Borough Council so far.                           

 

Mrs Whittington thanked Mrs Logan and Mr Bailey for their work on this document.

Mrs Logan was also thanked for all her work in helping to progress the MUGA.

 

4. CRIME AND DISORDER
We have been experiencing problems with motorcyclists riding unlicensed, unroadworthy

quad bikes around the village recently. The riders do not wear any form of safety clothing

or helmets.

 
Mr Holloway and Mr Hughes expressed concern that they had both telephoned the police during the course of the last week, over separate issues and had not received any response at all. One of the calls made was a 999 call.
 After discussion it was agreed that the Clerk should write to the Chief Constable regarding the lack of response to telephone calls and asking for advice as to how we should deal with the motorcyclists.
 

5.    ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES

Minutes 56 were accepted and it was unanimously agreed that Mrs Whittington should sign them.

      Proposed Mr Krause      Seconded Mr Hughes

 

6.    MATTERS ARISING

There were no Matters Arising

 

7.    CORRESPONDENCE, ACCOUNTS AND OTHER COUNCIL BUSINESS

     Correspondence

It was agreed that all correspondence should be directed to Mr Krause, who will read it and decide which items should be reported to the full council meeting. All correspondence received will continue to be listed in the minutes.

 

    AwCRK Funding for New Parish Plans – To Mr Patten

    ABC Report of the Chairman of the Parish Forum – To Mr Holloway

    ABC re New Code of Conduct

    ABC re Lettings Policy – Mrs Whittington to reply

    Standards Board for England – Distributed to Councillors Present

    Kent Police – Safer Kent Awards

    

     By email

    Rural Housing Scheme Newsletter

    Forward Plan of Key Decisions

    ABC Draft Street naming and numbering policy

    Rural Housing Enabler     

    

     Accounts to be paid 

PAYEE DETAILS
£  NET
£  VAT
£  GROSS

Mrs J Batt

Salary and Expenses

£554.53

3.77

558.30

Resolution : Councillors unanimously agreed to pay the above accounts.

   Bank Balance

  The account balance stands at £10959.81. £1452 of this is earmarked for the Village

  Appraisal.

 

   Bank Mandate

  Not shown as an agenda item but it was agreed to include it at this point.

  We have been experiencing problems with the NatWest Bank regarding signing mandates.

  Councillors are very dissatisfied with the service received and it was agreed that

  Mr Patten should go to the bank and discuss this issue with them.

 

   MUGA

  Nothing to Report

 

   Village Appraisal

  Nothing to Report.

 

8.    ADOPTION OF STANDING ORDERS AND OF FINANCIAL REGULATIONS

  The Clerk reported that she had been through these documents with the Internal Auditor

  and that they were both satisfied that they reflected the workings of Hothfield Parish

  Council. Councillors had all been given copies of both documents to read following their

  election or re-election to the Council.

 

  Mr Patten proposed adoption of the Standing Orders for the term of this council, to be

  reviewed and adjusted as necessary on an annual basis. Seconded by Mr Krause.

 

9. NEW CODE OF CONDUCT
This was discussed and the Clerk was asked to write to Mr Mortimer and ask for clarification

of No 10:1, as it appears to be rather open ended.

10.    PLANNING

     See attached list.   

 

Mr Patten was asked to make representation on behalf of the Parish Council regarding the proposed Beechbrook development.

 

11.    TIDYING OF VILLAGE

     i.    Quote from Biffa for Tidying the Village   

        The Clerk was asked to arrange a site meeting with Biffa.

 

12.    FREEDOM OF INFORMATION/WEB SITE

  Mr Rawlins asked whether Councillors were happy for the picture that appeared in the

    Kentish Express last week to be published on the website. All were in agreement.

 

   Councillor List

  Councillors were asked to check their details on the list.

  It was agreed to put Councillors names and telephone numbers only on the web site.   

  

13.    RISK ASSESSMENT/RISK INSPECTIONS

    The Clerk clarified that the regular checks of the play area were still taking place.

    Mr Hughes confirmed that they were and he had nothing to report.

 

14. VILLAGE RESPONSIBILITIES

       Traffic Calming

      It was agreed to include this item at this point although it had not been included on the agenda.

      

      Correspondence regarding this issue was read out.

 

Mrs Whittington felt that we should mount a sustained campaign to try and get traffic calming in the village, as villagers are concerned that no progress has been made at all so far.
 

This suggestion was unanimously agreed with and the following possibilities were suggested

 

1. A vehicle count in Hothfield and Egerton at the same time on one evening, to show the amount of traffic passing through the village compared to Egerton.

 

2. All incidents regarding traffic must be recorded, i.e. lorries undertaking U-turns outside the school.

 

3. Photographs of incidents should be taken whenever possible.

4.   Mr Holloway offered to let everyone interested have the email addresses of
KCC Members involved with traffic issues so that they can email them and leave them
in no doubt of the feeling in the village regarding this issue.

 

5.   Mrs Whittington said she would arrange for the Leader of the KCC, Paul Carter to attend a future Parish Council meeting.

 

       Repairs and Maintenance

      The fence behind the bus shelter is in need of repair. Mrs Warren has arranged for this to

      be done.     

 

     Items to be reported the the County Lengthsmen

    Verges along Bethersden Road and Bear Lane need trimming.

  

15. ANY OTHER BUSINESS

THE CLERK SHOULD BE NOTIFIED OF ITEMS TO BE INCLUDED ON THE JULY AGENDA BY FRIDAY 5 JULY 2007.

        

There being no further business the meeting closed at 9.10 pm .

 

 

 

Signed …………………………………………………………. Dated …….............................

      Mrs S Whittington, Chairman

 

HOTHFIELD PARISH COUNCIL                                 

 

PLANNING APPLICATION RECORD
 

14 MAY 2007 – 11 JUNE 2007
 

Planning Applications Received
 

Full Planning Permission requested – Delegated to Officers unless otherwise stated :-

 

07/00867/AS   O2 UK Ltd, re Land at Britton Farm, Maidstone Road, Hothfield, Ashford, Kent

          The replacement of the existing 15m monopole supporting 3no 2G antennas and

          2no 3G (18m to top of antenna) with a 20m monopole (22.7m to top of antennas)

           Parish Council: No Comment

 

The Council is content for the development prescribed as follows to proceed :-

 

07/00769/AS   Mr W Cole, home Farm, Park Drive, Hothfield, Ashford , Kent TN26 1DR

          New general purpose farm building new access track


Last Update  25.06.2007
© 2007 Hothfield Parish Council