Hothfield Parish Council

...in the rustic heart of Kent

NOVEMBER 2008 PARISH COUNCIL
MEETING MINUTES

Minutes of the Ordinary Parish Council Meeting

held at The Village Hall, Hothfield,

on Monday 10 November 2008

[ Draft Minutes - to be approved at next meeting ]

PRESENT: Mrs S Whittington (Chair), Mrs K Pender, Mrs P Warren, Mr J Collins, Mr P Howard, Mr L Hughes, Mr L Krause and Mr P Patten

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 A Rawlins (work 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.

4. VILLAGE APPRAISAL
Mrs Highwood gave all councillors present a copy of the analysis of the Village Appraisal
Questionnaire and talked them through the first few pages. She asked councillors
to read through the rest of the document and send any comments they may have to the
Clerk by the end of November. It was agreed that a Parish Council meeting will be held in December to discuss this item and any other urgent matters. Mrs Highwood will attend, to discuss the feedback from councillors and the updated analysis

5. ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES OF LAST MEETING

The Corporate Bond with the NatWest was renewed at the beginning of November.

Minutes 71 were accepted and it was unanimously agreed that Mrs Whittington

should sign them.

Proposed Mr Patten Seconded Mr Hughes

6. MATTERS ARISING
There were no Matters for Report that were not on the agenda.

7. FINANCE
Bank Balance

The balance stands at £9898.74 in the Reserve Account, £100 in the Current Account and
£ 10256.10 in the Corporate Bond. Of this 5150.47 (totals included in 2008/20029 budget
noted) is reserved as follows:-

Village Appraisal - 1134.32 – 100 – 550 – 118.93 = 365.39
Road Sweeping - 1633.95 – 45.40 = 1588.55
ESA - 1515.00
Newsletter - 548.91 – 67.38 = 481.53
Bus Shelter - 1200.00
Churchyard - NIL
Total reserved monies £5150.47

Accounts to be paid

PAYEE	DETAILS	£ NET	£ VAT	£ GROSS
Mrs J Batt	Salary	332.08		332.08
Mrs S Whittington	Payment to Litter Picker	45.40	0.59	45.99
CASE	Printing newsletter	67.38		67.38
Mr P Patten	Prize for Village Appraisal	100.00		100.00
Interviewing Services	Village Appraisal analysis	550.00	96.25	646.25
Mr P Patten	Village Appraisal expenses	118.93	20.80	139.73

Resolution: Councillors unanimously agreed to pay the above accounts.

8. GENERAL COUNCIL BUSINESS

8.1 Bus Shelter

Mrs Whittington reported that she had received an email quote for repairs to the bus shelter. Following discussion Mr Krause proposed and it was unanimously agreed that we should request a formal quote and make a decision at the next meeting.

Action: Mrs Whittington to request formal quote from Autocross

8.2 Village Hall Trees

Following discussion it was agreed to consider this item in the New Year, as any funding will have to be included in next year’s budget.

In order to try and address the problems of noise when the hall is in use the Village Hall Committee have repaired the limiter and there is now a designated smoking area at the rear of the hall for use during functions.

Action: Include as an agenda item on January agenda when budget is discussed

8.3 Christmas Tree Lights

It was suggested that we should ask the Manager of the Children’s Centre whether they would be prepared to pay for the installation of the cable and the electricity for the lights and the Parish Council will provide the tree.

Action: Mrs Whittington to speak with the Manager of the Children’s Centre

8.4 Maintenance of Playing Field

We have received a letter from Mr Mortimer at ABC asking whether we would like to take on responsibility for the field under licence at a nominal fee of £1.00. Councillors were not generally in favour of this suggestion.

Mrs Whittington reported that the Internal Auditor had suggested that we consider applying for Village Green status for the field.

Action: The Clerk to research

8.5 Telephone Box

Nothing to report.

Action: Clerk to contact BT again

9. MEETING WITH INTERNAL AUDITOR
Mrs Whittington and Mr Patten met with Mr Funnell, who suggested that the Council should allocate an amount from S137 to pay for the publication of the newsletter and associated costs. As the publisher, Mr Tywdell needs to write a letter giving the Parish Council permission to pay the printer direct. The Parish Council’s name must not appear on the invoice and we cannot reclaim any VAT.

Resolution: Councillors unanimously agreed to allocate £1000 per year from the

S137 grant to pay for the publication of the newsletter and associated

costs. Pro rata for the remainder of this financial year.

Action: Mrs Whittington will ask Mr Twydell for a letter giving the Parish Council

permission to pay the printer direct.

10. RISK ASSESSMENT
Mr Hughes will contact the Clerk if he wishes to put forward any alterations to the Risk Assessment. He will undertake a Risk Inspection in the New Year.

11. PLANNING
Please see attached list.

11. CORRESPONDENCE

Southern Water
Ringway
Forestry Commission
Konica Minolta
KPA Minutes of Police Forum held 24 September 2008
ABC Agenda for Parish Forum
KALC Minutes of meeting held 01.10.08
Explore Kent
Communities and Local Government – Communities in Control
Excel Aroam
S & C Slatter
ABC Notification of a Review of Ashford Borough Council Funding and Support to
Voluntary and Community Organisations
NatWest
Clerk and Councils Direct
English Rural
ROSPA
South East Water
KALC Parish News etc
ABC re Playing Field

Emails received during the month were also read out by the Clerk.

12. ANY OTHER BUSINESS

Mr Howard reported on the recent Nature Conservation Forum that he attended.

Mrs Warren reported that the crime figures for Hothfield were up, mainly due to motorists taking petrol and driving away from the garage.

Mrs Pender asked whether there was any progress on the possibility of street lighting being installed between Beech Drive and Park Drive. Mr Patten said the issue might come up as a result of the Village Appraisal. The Housing Department at ABC have funds available for improvements to Hothfield. The tenants need to raise the matter when they are consulted about the improvements they would like to see in the area.

There is a Race Night this coming Saturday and a Quiz night on 13 December.

There being no further business the meeting closed at 8.49 pm.

HOTHFIELD PARISH COUNCIL

PLANNING APPLICATION RECORD

14 OCTOBER 2008 - 10 NOVEMBER 2008

Planning Applications Received

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

Y08/01539/AS Application for Advertisment Consent	QN Hotels Group re Holiday Inn, Maidstone Road, Hothfield, Ashford, Kent TN26 1AR Removal of existing signs and installation of new totem and fascia sign Parish Council: Support (Unanimous) Councillors are concerned that the new sign may impede the line of site for on coming traffic on the A20.

Y08/01645/AS	Mr R Dean, 4 Heath Cottages, Maidstone Road, Hothfield, Ashford, Kent TN26 1AN Erection of a double garage Parish Council: Support (Unanimous)
The following application has been granted:-

08/01439/AS	Mrs A Rand, The Danes, The Street, Hothfield, Ashford, Kent TN26 1ES Change of use of shop into residential garage

Last Update 24.11.2008

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