Boxley Parish Mail CHAIRMAN: Martin Pepper
BOXLEY councillors have agreed that there will be no increase in theparish council’s tax precept for the forthcoming year. The 2011/12 figure of £81,916will be repeated for 2012/13, resulting again in a payment of £20.99 per annum for a band D property. Outlining the budget process, council chairman Martin Pepper said he expected the parish’s £33,000 concurrent funding grant from Maidstone Council would remain at the same level for a further year. Another important factor was to keep the parish’s reserves below a £500,000 threshold, which would have resulted in a harsher audit and reporting regime.
Consequently, he recommended funding for some projects or business activities from the free reserves. Cllr Pepper said that 2011/12had been a busy year
with major expenditure on replacing the ceiling at Beechen Hall, the jubilee orchard project at Grove Green and significant financial contribution to the controlled crossing outside St John’s School. Desks in the parish office had been replaced and community projects had been undertaken in line
Green support IT was agreed that the parish council should take a lead on green matters. Following a request from
Cllr Geoff Smith, the council expressed support for a proac- tive policy on alternative en- ergy schemes. Cllr Smith said: “Every person is making an effort in their own homes. There’s an awful lot we need to be doing to fight this prob- lem.” His proposals included lob-
bying the Government to en- sure it keeps the need high on the agenda, encouraging Maidstone Council to actively work with farmers and busi- nesses producing alternative energy, putting links on the parish website to the Carbon Trust and other energy con- servation groups. Cllr Tony Harwood sug- gested the council investi- gates the possibility of solar panels for the parish office. He said: “The parish council needs to show community leadership. We are the sort of authority that can invest and energy costs are only going to rise.”
with Boxley’smission as a Quality Parish Council. Grants to local organisations had been made through the year and some had been marginally in- creased in the light of the parish’s healthy financial position. Cllr Pepper (pictured) said: “Every opportunity has been taken to look at costs of products and services as well as investing reserves wisely, spreading our investments with a number of financial institutions.” A pot of £10,000 was being set aside for funding ideas from a new
community competition. There would be more de- tails on this once the “rules” had been agreed. Turning to earmarked reserves, the council still
had the ambition to use a £60,000 fund to purchase land for community
use.This had been expanded to include the idea of allotments. A land search and feasibility study were underway. Figures for the end of the current financial year
show total reserves at £359,726, of which £236,452 is in earmarked funds.
A refurbished play area is part of plans for the old orchard site
CLERK: Pauline Bowdery ASST CLERK: Melanie Fooks
Parish Office, Beechen Hall,Wildfell Close,Walderslade, ME5 9RU Tel: 01634 861237 email:
bowdery@boxleyparishcouncil.co.uk Website:
www.boxleyparishcouncil.co.uk
Contact details for parish councillors can be obtained from the parish office, the Useful Contact Details leaflet or the website No rise in parish precept Boxley flags up
problem with signs PROPOSED flagpoles and il- luminated signs at a new car showrooms at J6 of the M20 at Aylesford have been criticised by Boxley Council. The parish said it did not
wish to object to the scheme but would like to see it scaled back as the design was not sympathetic to the area and would be visible from the neighbouring Area of Out- standing Natural Beauty. The council would like to
see the quantity and height of the signs reduced at the for- mer Veglios Hotel site.
Plan for high profile
annual meeting PLANNING is under way for the 2012 annual parish meet- ing, which it was felt should be more of a high profile event than the last one, as this is an election year. Consideration would be
Village name for orchard THE community space being created to celebrate the Queen’s 60th an- niversary will be officially known asWeavering Diamond Jubilee Or- chard.
Members chose the name to reflect the village heritage of the area.
Other suggestions wereWeavering Jubilee Orchard and Diamond Ju- bilee Orchard. The title will be included on interpretation boards at the site at Pen-
hurst Close with an explanation of the project, which the parish coun- cil has sponsored.
Website launch on the cards THE council is close to agreeing the format of the new website and will also be setting up a Facebook page at its launch. It is hoped that the website and Facebook pageswill bemore user friendly and quicker to update than at present. One feature of the website will be pages dedicated to Beechen Hall and these will in- clude an online hall booking enquiry form. It is also hoped to have a mini diary of events in the future. But
until this is completed, anybody interested in hiring the hall either for a class (day and evening vacancies) or birthday party should contact the parish office. Community pages with information and/or links to other web-
sites will also be included. The Facebook pages will be used as an alert to changes on the website etc.
Glade work action days TWO new action days have been planned for the next couple of months. Tuesday, February 7, between 10pm and 2pm – Adding the finishing touches to the glades that have been created as well as felling some small trees in a plantation area.
12 East Latest news from Boxley Warren
Saturday, March 10, between 10am and 2pm – Finishing glade work and under- taking a spring clean of the area.
Memories and wish maps TWO new Google Maps have been created following the consultation event in De-
given to inviting community groups and organisations in the parish to give presenta- tions at an informal gathering with
refreshments.Adate (be- tween March 1 and June 1) is to be agreed.
Views sought THE parish council has placed two important draft documents on its website and is encouraging residents to make their comments known on their content: *Vision and ‘business plan’
– this will guide the parish council in future years *£10,000 Community Grant, which are the suggested terms for this budget. Future infor- mation can be provided by the parish office.
WaldersladeWoods THE volunteers recently cleared the footpath and steps linking Impton Lane to Tun- bury Avenue and attempts are being made to get KCC to re- pair step edgings. Another en- trance into the woods was also cleared.
cember. These have been created to il- lustrate thememories that people have of Boxley Warren as well as what they
would like to see on the site: Memories map:
http://g.co/maps/z688e
Wish list map:
http://g.co/maps/hpdzw Further information on the work can be
found on Facebook and the Mid Kent Downs website.
Have you got news for us? Phone our News Desk on 01622 734735
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