Hothfield Parish Council

...in the rustic heart of Kent

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PRESENT: Mrs S Whittington (Chair), Mrs P Warren, Mr J Collins,
Mr P Holloway, Mr L Hughes, Mr L Krause and Mr A Rawlins
PARISH CLERK: Mrs J Batt

BOROUGH COUNCILLOR:

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

1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
An Apology for Absence was received from Mr P Patten, who is away on holiday.

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. DISCUSSION WITH JOH McCALLISTER, KENT WILDLIFE TRUST
Mr McCallister was unable to attend this evening. He will attend the next meeting.

4. PUBLIC INTERVAL
There were no Members of the Public present.

5. ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES
Minutes 60 were accepted and it was unanimously agreed that Mrs Whittington should sign them.
Proposed Mr Krause Seconded Mr Rawlings

6. MATTERS ARISING
KCC Highways telephoned the Clerk to inform her that they did not realise that EDF had not repaired the street lights. They said they had contacted them again and asked them to recheck them.

Ringway look after everything from the pavement up and EDF look after everything underground. To report lights that are not working contact 0787 966 8559.

At the moment all the lights but one are working.

Details of the land that has been offered for sale, for development, will be released at the
workshop to be held in the village.

There was some confusion as to who is to fund the Old School building and concern was
expressed that the community of Hothfield cannot financially support both The Village Hall
and if it should it become available for community use, the Old School Building.

It is hoped that the middle part of the school where the offices were sited will be used by
The Rural Warden, Police, Church, KCC and ABC for their surgeries, but the moment the
exact use of the remainder of the school, not used by the Children’s Centre is not clear. It is
thought that KCC are trying to find a tenant to take it over. If this is the case we cannot
afford to lose the Village Hall.

Mrs Whittington reported that she had been contacted by Carol Tomlinson who is in charge
of the KCC Children’s Centres and who is very keen to ensure that the KCC work with
the community of Hothfield regarding the use of the building.

After considerable discussion it was proposed and unanimously agreed that if the
Parish Council have to support a building it should be the Village Hall.

The Children who have moved to Charing have settled in well. They are being set homework
which they are doing. After half term it is hoped to run a breakfast club and one of the
teachers from Charing is keen to run some after school activities for the children from
Hothfield, in the School Hall. If this is not ready they will use the Village Hall.

7. GENERAL COUNCIL BUSINESS
Newsletter

Mr Twydell has agreed to take over the running of the Village Newsletter for 6 months. He
thinks it should cost about £1000 a year to produce. He has spoken to AwCRK and them
are happy for this to be paid for from the grant they gave us for the Village Appraisal.

After discussion Mr Holloway proposed taking £365 from the Village Appraisal Grant, to add to the remaining £135 of the Parish Council budget for the newsletter, to help pay the set up costs. Unanimous

Crime and Disorder
PC Smith is on leave at the moment. Hothfield is being covered by Ashford Police Station
Ring Ashford 611055.

Traffic Calming
Mrs Whittington reported that she has a meeting planned with Councillor Ferrin to discuss
the installation of gateway features in the village, as we are more likely be successful with a
request for these than with a request for traffic calming.

Tidying of Village
The maintenance of the Recreation Field and verges is also causing concern. When he
visited, Mr Carter expressed concern that Hothfield gave the impression of being down at heel at and needed support and one of the areas that he was looking into was the upkeep of the field. However, until a decision is reached we need to try and tidy the area up and Mrs Warren said she would speak to a resident who owns a strimmer to see if he would be prepared to cut the verges. The Clerk said she would contact Allianz Cornhill re insurance.

After discussion it was agreed that Mr Holloway would contact both KCC and ABC and ask them to decide who owns the land and arrange for the verges to be cut.

Mrs Whittington has a grant form from Mr King for a grant towards tidying the village. She has requested £500.

MUGA
This is almost complete. An opening ceremony still has to be arranged. The Parish Council
offered a vote of thanks to Mr Patten for all his work in obtaining planning permission and
grant funding for the project. It was suggested and unanimously agreed that the area should
be named ‘Patten’s Pitch’.

Village Appraisal
Nothing to report.

8. CORRESPONDENCE AND FINANCE
Correspondence

CPRE – Introducing the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England
Agenda for Standards Board
Agenda for Parish Forum - PH
KAPC Parish News etc
BTCV
ABC re LDF Tenterden and Rural Areas Development Plan Document - PP
ABC re Courtside Netball
Town and Parish Standard
KAPC Minutes of meeting held 26.09.07
KCC re Post Office Closures
Defra – Ways to tackle Climate Change

Mr Warren has prepared a report on the Water for Life document – received last month. It
was agreed to ask him to attend a meeting to present his findings and to ask Pluckley,
Great Chart, Charing and Westwell Parish Councils if they would like to send a representative to the meeting to hear his presentation.

Accounts to be paid 

PAYEE	DETAILS	£  NET	£  VAT	£  GROSS
Clive Stanley	Provision of Webmaster Services	88.00		88.00
Hothfield Village Hall	Rent for Parish Council Meetings	82.50		82.50
Mrs S Whittington	Plants and Planter for Mrs Fields	12.23	2.13	14.36

 
Resolution: Councillors unanimously agreed to pay the above accounts.

Bank Balance
The account balance stands at £16491.96. £1452 of this is earmarked for the Village Appraisal.

Bank Mandate
Nothing to report.

Lettings Policy
Nothing to report.

9. PLANNING
See attached list.

We have asked for the Planning Application submitted by Hollie Homes for the Old Kings Head to go the ABC Planning Committee

i. Alterations to Terms of Reference
It was unanimously agreed to revise the terms of reference as follows:-

Planning Committee Members:-
Mr P Howard
Mrs P Warren
Mr J Collins
Mr P Holloway
Mr L Hughes
Mr L Krause

Ex Officio:-
Mrs S Whittington
Mr P Patten

10. FREEDOM OF INFORMATION/UPDATING OF WEBSITE
Nothing to report.

11. RISK ASSESSMENT/RISK INSPECTION
ROSPA Report
The extra chippings have been laid and Mr Holloway is making enquiries with local firms to try and find some caps for the nuts and bolts.

12. VILLAGE RESPONSIBILITIES
Repairs and Maintenance

The bus shelter in School Road has been vandalised. We are going to look at the cost of replacing the perspex and the clerk was asked to obtain some prices for a replacement vandal proof shelter.

The Clerk was also asked to contact BT and ask them to repair the telephone.

Items to be reported to the County Lengthsmen

Potholes and verges along Goldwyn Lane from the School to Worten, Bears Lane and the subsidence outside no 10 West Street and The Paddocks Bethersden Road.

13. ANY OTHER BUSINESS
Mr Patten asked the Clerk to ask as many councillors as possible to attend the
Chas and Dave Evening on 13 October - £10 per ticket
The Race Night on 10 November - Joint event with the Church
And the Quiz night on 24 November

The Friends of St Margaret’s have asked the Parish Council to decorate a Christmas tree
for the Christmas Tree Festival Event on 8 December. Mr Hughes agreed to take
responsibility for this.

There being no further business the meeting closed at 9.00 pm.





Signed …………………………………………………………. Dated …….............................
Mrs S Whittington, Chairman

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HOTHFIELD PARISH COUNCIL

PLANNING APPLICATION RECORD

10 SEPTEMBER 2007 – 8 OCTOBER 2007

Planning Applications Received

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

07/01631/AS	Cox Restoration, re Home Farm, Water Fall Road, Hothfield, Ashford, Kent TN26 1DR Conversion of redundant agricultural building to B1 use Parish Council: OBJECT on the grounds that the village could not support the added number of vehicles which would require access to the site
07/01657/AS	Mr T Brinkman, Gate Lodge, Park Drive, Hothfield, Ashford, Kent Tn26 1DR Removal of garden wall, replacement of door and side gate Parish Council: Support
The following application has been granted:-
07/01433/AS	Mr and Mrs Richardson, 7 Common Way, Hothfield, Ashford, Kent TN26 1EF Replace existing single storey rear extension

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