DownsMail In touch with your parish
tenance money, after which the parish council would have to maintain the site. The county council also
pledged to foot the bill for sur- veys and agreed to pick up “rea- sonable costs” associated with the Land Registry. Council chairman Cllr Nigel Godfrey said: “We have got the best deal out of it that we could.” KCC Cllr Jenny Whittle re-
vealed that the middle of Lenham would be put on a main salting route, in the event of adverse weather. County- wide, the route covers all A and B class roads, busy commuter routes and other danger spots. Cllr Andrew Barr said: “This will be a great improvement.” Old Ashford Road had been wrongly signed as Old Ashford Lane at the A20 end of the road. The merits of the Citizens Ad-
vice Bureau’s regular presence at the Lenham community cen- tre were discussed after it emerged that a total of 17 peo- ple had attended between Feb- ruary and September. “That’s an average of two per month,” said borough Cllr John Barned, who pointed out that the project costs £600 annually. The major- ity of councillors remained sup- portive. Cllr Nick Osborne said: “Even if it saves just one person it will be worth it. I know one person who was absolutely at his wits’ end and didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t get an appointment with Maidstone Council for three weeks but he was able to just walk in here on a Thursday morning and he re- ceived good help.” The CAB funding is due to
run out in the next few months. Cllr Osborne added: “We are going to have to look at our budget and make the decision when we do next year’s budget in February.” Two parish councillors were
absent due to their attendance at other meetings. Cllr Richard Greenwood was representing the parish at a KALC meeting, as was Sarah Goodwin at a joint parishes group meeting. A budget of almost £400 had
been set aside to buy and install a noticeboard at Lenham Forstal. John Bone put himself for-
ward to fill one of the two va- cant parish council positions.A Lenham resident for 16 years, Mr Bone was a home-based electrical engineer. His com- pany provided specifications for the original CCTV set-up in The Square, when the monitor- ing station was the Dog and Bear Hotel. “I will take early re- tirement next year,” he said. Mr Bone is currently presi-
dent of Medway Lions Club, where he has been a member for over 20 years. “This is to be wound up by May 2011 due to lack of interest,” he added. “So
I am looking for something else to do.” His possible co-option was to be put on the agenda for discussion at the December meeting. Borough Cllr John Barned said
he might be able to put about £200 towards the new equip- ment at the Cherry Close play area. Cllr Tom Sams had pledged £500. Following the fire that dam-
aged his constituency office, the parish council had offered MP Hugh Robertson use of the Ap- pleton Room to hold surgeries temporarily for six months. County Cllr Whittle reported
that she had undertaken a pres- entation to Swadelands pupils on what it is like being a coun- cillor. Lenham Valley Business As- sociation chairman Alan Read- ing gave a presentation to the parish council. Local resident Brian Long said
that the Speedwatch scheme appeared to have helped reduce vehicle speeds. He said a speed survey had taken place earlier that day in Headcorn Road and that it would be repeated at “more frequent intervals”. PCSO Rowley had spoken to youths about hanging around in the churchyard. He said: “I can’t stop them being there, but I have told them that out of re- spect to other users and people buried, they should not abuse the area and should put their cans in the bin.” Residents had complained about youngsters opening the churchyard gate and allowing it to slam shut. PCSO Rowley revealed that
two local youngsters had been barred from the youth centre grounds. He said: “One of them apologised, which was quite re- freshing and a bit of a shock, to be honest.” It was felt that bins were needed at the BMX park in William Pitt Field and on the cricket field. Quotes were to be sought.
Question time QUESTIONS from residents were addressed regarding ditch clearance, the borough’s freighter service, hedges, dis- posal of horse manure and street cleansing. County Cllr Gary Cooke re- ported that he was now a gover- nor of New Line Learning and Cornwallis Schools. With regard to planning mat-
Otham Council
ters, the parish did not wish to object to proposals for a side garage extension at 2 Wards Bungalows, Otham Street. Members requested refusal of
an application for a single- storey extension to an existing garage, comprising car port, store and tractor store at High- woods, Avery Lane. It was felt that the footprint of the pro-
posal was too large for the size of the house and it would lend itself to dwelling space conver- sion. It was reported that an appli- cation for the demolition of a garage at Madame Taylors, in Otham Street, and construction of a new three-bay one with storage over had been refused. An application at 4, Senacre Cottages, Gore Court Road, had been approved. Anew half-set of net supports
had been ordered to replace the broken one on the village green. A bolt was missing but it was hoped a replacement could be found. Members heard that KCC had finally acknowledged that lor- ries were causing damage to country lanes. A meeting had been suggested with County Cllr Jenny Whittle to link to- gether parishes with problems. The community liaison officer would be asked if signage could be improved at the Otham Lane/Ashford Road junction as the existing signs warn drivers too late that the road is not suit- able for HGVs. It was agreed to buy a new lit-
ter bin for the village green. Kent Highways’ offer of a one-
tonne jumbo bag of salt was de- clined as there was nowhere suitable to store it. Downswood Parish Council
had been invited to attend the Remembrance Day service and it was hoped the Guides and Brownies would be there. Hugh and Susan Vaux had kindly agreed to serve hot drinks in the village hall after the ceremony. A parish open meeting was
held to discuss St Nicholas’s Church. The meeting was ad- vised there was a shortage of priests due to the large number approaching retirement. Al- though St Nicholas’s did not have a priest, it was not threat- ened with closure. There was a possibility that it might be amal- gamated with Bearsted or be part of a parish team.
Stockbury Council Crime debate
A SIX-WEEK crime report had been received. Incidents were: theft of fishing equipment, dam- age to greenhouse in South Street Road, assault in The Street, burglary at Hill Green Road, arson incident around Rumstead, damage to vehicle at Stockbury turn-off. The chairman expressed dis- satisfaction with the report and would question the police method of reporting to the council. The chairman reported a
meeting with PC Tallon to dis- cuss police and local bound- aries, crime reporting, police cutbacks, loss of full-time offi- cers from rural to urban, neces-
sity to report all crime however insignificant, otherwise no cover; and closures of the A249. It was agreed that the jumbo
bag of salt for the village from KCC could be stored securely at MB Farms. Members were unable to com-
ment on a retrospective pro- posal for change of use of land to residential atWildwinds, Pett Road. No details had been re- ceived and a hard copy would be requested. Approval was recommended
for erection of a two-storey ex- tension and garage at Net- tlestead House, Bull Lane. It was reported that Maid-
stone Council was receiving a lot of opposition from parish councils to proposed cuts in grant.
Broadband installation was
due to start in the next few months. The cost would be £24.99 per month per house- hold. Concerns raised by residents included speeding traffic on vil- lage roads. Rubble was regularly dumped at Sea View Farm and planning enforcement officers would be informed. Cold-callers using a white pick-up van carrying the name of a roofing firm based in Sur- rey had been reported to the po- lice.
Ulcombe Council Pett rats
A REQUEST to site a Wendy house in the outside play area at the village hall had been re- ceived from Ulcombe Pre- School. Members expressed some concern about its security and a possible fire risk as it was so close to the hall. The request would be referred to the village hall committee. Kent Highways had stated
that the Chegworth Road traffic calming had not been allocated funding due to budget re- straints. As there had been no more than three reported per- sonal injury accidents over the past three years, it would be dif- ficult to justify, compared to sites with a higher crash record. With regard to a planning ap- plication for the construction of four houses with parking, garages and landscaping on land adjacent to the primary school, members agreed in prin- ciple that the site should be de- veloped for housing in order to fund important improvements to the school. But they had reservations about the proposed scheme constituting over-devel- opment of the site with the garage block taking up potential parking space. It was agreed that the parish
council wished to see proposals approved for an extension to the school including a new library, office, toilet and kitchen.
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