DownsMail In touch with your parish


Continued from page 34 re-painted at a cost of £150, and this was agreed. Cllr Valerie Underdown said


there had been a high demand for the footpath walks leaflet and stocks were running low. Cllr Michael Brown offered to run off 50 copies of each leaflet at cost price, and this was agreed. Cllr Underdown ad- vised that Jo Stevens had of- feredtomakeadonationto cover the cost of the leaflets. Gemma Catt from Kent High-


ways Services had advised that the footpath reconstruction would be added to the footway list butmight not be carried out in this financial year. Footpath grass cutting and clearance would be carried out as andwhenit needed doing, upon request. Members were asked to ratify


a decision to offer a licence to Three Suttons FC to play on Saturday afternoons, and this was agreed. Coxheath and Farleigh JFC


had asked for a reduction in fees of £50 to contribute to the cost of lost match balls on neigh- bouring land. This was agreed, and the club would be asked to report any lost balls to the clerk. Cllr Chris Webb said a sign advertising a local business had been erected on the roadside opposite an industrial estate. The clerk was asked to report this to Highways, with a view to getting it moved to the other side of the road.


Coxheath Council Dogs’ day out


MEMBERS heard that the coun- cil had contributed £300 to- wards the running costs of the Bark in the Park day at Cox- heath on September 15. The event involving Kent Police, Maidstone Borough Council En- vironmental Services, Coxheath Scouts, Coxheath Preschool and the Kent County Council Com- munity Warden is designed to educate and encourage respon- sible dog ownership. The neighbourhood plan con- sultation period commenced on September 10. Letters about the consultation were to be deliv- ered to all households. The council was seeking clar- ification from borough council- lors on public gypsy and traveller sites, including any implications for Coxheath. Final drawings had been sub- mitted to KCC Highways for the revised traffic calming scheme in Heath Road. There was to be a public consultation before any changes were made. Kent Police was clamping


down on owners of nuisance motorbikes in areas of public open space in Coxheath. Anew noticeboard wastobe purchased for Clockhouse Rise, for residents on the Avante site. The council had adopted the


42 South


borough council’s model code of conduct. Cllr Clive Parker was to attend


a parish briefing on the Maid- stone LDF core strategy.


East Farleigh Council Thefts on river


PCSO Jo Watts reported that there had been a string of thefts along the river from several parishes, including East Farleigh. The council agreed to lend its support to KALC’s petition for the continuation of the Concur- rent Functions Grant. Under Maidstone Council’s proposed Parish Services Scheme, this grantwould be removed, which would add approximately £20 to the rates paid on a band D property. A request for a 30mph limit


on the length of Dean Street from Heath Road to its junction with Lower Road has been turned down, as the police can- not support it. The exhibition on the pro-


posed car park resulted in some useful exchanges of views and the council was to analyse the comments received. The village plan action group


had now received their lottery grantof£9,370for thefeasibil- ity study to look at traffic issues in the village and how they might be resolved or improved. The Best Kept Garden compe-


tition had to be cancelled for this year, due to bad weather. A village gateway sign has


been given the go-ahead for the Barming side of the East Far- leigh Bridge. It will include a warning to HGVs just below Rectory Lane so that lorries can turn in the farm entrance and avoid getting stuck in the lane further down towards the rail- way crossing.


Headcorn Council Police coverage


SGTTRISTANStevens andPCSO Alan Beech spoke to the meeting about visibility and coverage of policing.The High Street only ac- counted for 20% of crimes from April 2011 to date, and detection rateswere 35%. A meeting was held with Roy Laming of Switch Café to discuss a potential funding bid being submitted for providing youth activities within the village. Cllr Kemp reported on the consultation on the South East- ern Franchise on behalf of Mar- den, Staplehurst, Headcorn and Pluckley. The draft submission was approved and will be sub- mitted by Staplehurst Parish Council. A letter had been received


from Jon Hunter, of Weald of Kent Golf Course, who were re- searching promoting their facil- ity for tour coach parking and dining. They were considering an option to drop off passengers in Headcorn to do some shop-


ping etc, but it would require a dedicated drop-off/pick-up point. Cllr Selby was to arrange a meeting. It was resolved to put Christ-


mas lights on a tree in the High Street (opposite Cellinis), the church lychgate and outside the Wedding Shop and Turnhill Es- tate Agents. It was resolved to develop the concept of a neighbourhood plan and to designate Headcorn parish as a neighbourhood area. Kent Police were to provide SpeedWatch training at the Vil- lage Hall House meeting room at 7pm on Thursday, October 18.


Hunton Council New councillor


STEVEWyles waswelcomed on to the parish council following his co-option. Abi Jessop spoke about her


role as community engagement officer at Kent County Council and how funding for local proj- ects could be obtained. The chairman introduced Danny Peacock and Margaret Carpenter from the King George V playing field management committee as it would like to improve the play equipment. The clerk had contacted Royal


Mail to establish when a re- placement post box would be put in place. Royal Mail apolo- gised for the lack of progress and referred the matter back to the collections manager at Maidstone sorting office. The Kent model Code of Con-


duct was formally adopted. The Hunton Parish Plan steer-


ing committee was considering the possibility of a community shop in the village. Advice had been provided by Action with Rural Communities and com- mittee members planned to visit Chart Sutton and Kilndown, which have community shops. The chairman said a neigh- bourhood plan should be con- sidered at some point but it needed to tie in with the bor- ough’s Core Strategy which was not yet in place. Alan Blackledge-Smith had completed the work on the vil- lage sign and East Street notice board. He informed the clerk that the main post of the sign was likely to need replacing during the next year. The faulty street light at Ben-


sted Close had been repaired, but would require rewiring at a cost of £45 plus VAT, which was authorised. The bridges which had been constructed for the footpath from Bensted Close to the vil- lage had been used elsewhere by KCC, resulting in a delay due to the need to reconstruct them. The chairman asked County Cllr Paulina Stockell for assis- tance as the village was upset at the time taken to put the foot- path in place.


Residents living close to Gold-


ings, Elphicks Farm, had ex- pressed concern about increased traffic and litter being thrown out of vehicles. Borough Cllr Dennis Collins agreed to look into it.


Loose Council Pavilion use


IT WAS agreed to allow use of the Parish Pavilion for Neigh- bourhoodWatch quarterly meet- ings for no charge, on condition of availability. A new Loose Neighbourhood


Watch co-ordinator had been identified by community war- den Liz Lovatt. The camera at the rear of the pavilion which had been van- dalised at the beginning of the week, had now been stolen, and the police informed. Councillors expressed disappointment at the theft as the camera had just been replaced with a new one. PCSO MattWilliams said John


the caretaker had provided a CCTV recording of vandals. Drugs were found in a large


shed at Salts Lane. There had been shed breaks in Northleigh Close and Pickering Street, a burglary in Busbridge Road, and the theft of petrol from the Tamarisk Shell garage. Some neighbouring parishes,


the North Loose Residents’ As- sociation and the Maidstone Council planning officer had been invited to ameeting to dis- cuss the neighbourhood plan process. Members of the public would be involved once the con- sultation was underway. Repair of the open gulley next


to Brooks House was in hand by Kent Highways Services. Exces- sive lighting on the Leonard Gould site at Braddick Close would be replaced by Bellway Homes. Aresident ofWalnut Tree Lane


had written to KCC to complain about parking problems created by parents during recent events at the Loose schools. It was sug- gested that yellow lines at the bus stop could help. The school could negotiate


with the parish council re park- ing on the King George V play- ing field, although itwould have to be supervised. It was sug- gested that the school, parish council and ward councillor could arrange a meeting to dis- cuss the options. Loose Amenities Association


might be able to remove the silt from Brooks Field with the help of the Scouts. It was agreed to pay the £250


cost of theMedwayValley Coun- tryside Partnership involvement with Loose School,asitwas considered to be a valued com- munity project. Derek Corbett would continue


as the official pond warden at Brooks Field for the parish coun- cil and would organise work par- ties to clear the pond.


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