DownsMail In touch with your parish


ing and residents should be aware of this. She said she was considering holding a surgery in the parish. She added that Yalding Rail-


way Station was becoming a tar- get and warned anyone who parked their car there to make sure it was locked. Cllr Van Hensbergen said the footpath behind the KGV field needed cutting and the clerk was to contact KCC about it.


Snodland Town Council


Council post


IT was agreed that advertising, at a maximum cost of £1,000, should be placed for the post of a chief executive to the town council. Interviews would take place at the beginning ofNovem- ber, Itwould probably take about four months to fill the vacancy. The job description was agreed. At the five-month mark, the council was more or less on budget and that any overspend could be accounted for from grants that had been received. It was recommended that the budget remain unchanged and be reviewed again in threemonths. The upgrade of the street lights


so that they can operate the Christmas lights safely, has been carried out. A light outside 13 St Kather-


ine’s Lane would be renewed at a cost of around £600 and it was hoped the lights in Brooklands Lake car park would be repaired and working for the winter. Following repairs to the floor


of the clerk’s office at the Devon- shire Rooms, it was agreed that new windows for this side of the building should be installed to help to insulate the building. A quotation for the grass cut-


ting for the rest of the year, on the new Potyns Field was agreed. Smurfit has a blue skip in its


car park inMill Street that can be used by any residents for the dis- posal of cardboard. The money raised from the sale of this waste is given to a local charity at the end of each month. Snodland Amateur Boxing


Club is hosting a boxing tourna- ment at the community centre on November 10. Tickets will be available on the door or from the club at its meetings in the com- munity centre on Tuesday and Thursday nights.


Trottiscliffe Council Shed burglaries


PCSO Laura Bullen said there had been several burglaries from garden sheds. She also warned of heating oil thefts in the area. Clearance work had been car-


ried out on some footpaths,al- though Cllr Richard Wallis said the hedge was so overgrown on path MR194 that it was impossi- ble to get through. He also said the repair to the kissing gate was not satisfactory. The clerk was


asked to report this. Patrick Ben- zynie said he had cleared foot- path MR189 and repaired the kissing gate as it was in his own- ership. Two bollards on the village


green had been damaged by a ve- hicle and Cllr Trevor Ledamun had reported this to Highways. Cllr Ann Kemp had received a


letter about a near accident when a quad bike and motorcyclists had frightened horses being rid- den by three girls along Ford Lane. The clerk was asked to re- port this to PCSO Laura Bullen. Residents had complained that


they had been stopped when walking along the track parallel to PilgrimsWay, giving access to Oak Cottage, Hillside, The Shack and St Ives and told it was a pri- vate road. Mr Benzynie said he had told walkers that the track was a private road and not a pub- lic right ofway. Cllr Mike Merryfield Day re- ported that the leg on one side of the junior swings was still await- ing repair. Three companies had quoted


for mowing and hedge-cutting at the recreation ground and allot- ments, and the clerk had met them all on site. It was decided to award a three-year contract to As- pects. The council had objected to a


plan to replace Cedar Bungalow with four houses in Church Lane. The council also objected to a


plan to replace a garage at the Old Post Office in Taylors Lane with a side extension. The clerk was asked to speak to


the planning department at Ton- bridge and Malling council about banners on the front of The Plough public house. It was noted that there would


be an increase in the annual charge for themeeting room. It was agreed to send a dona-


tion of £50 to the Citizens’ Ad- vice Bureau. Cllr Wallis said that although


the council had agreed to under- write the Jubilee celebrations to the tune of £1,000 this had not been necessary as other grants had been received. Ownership of the beaconwas to be discussed at the next meeting. The Jubilee committee would be giving sur- plus money to charity. One of the objects of the celebrations was a legacy and it was suggested that a bench seat be sited where the beacon had been erected.


Wateringbury Council CCTV installed


A NEW CCTV camera had been installed in the village hall. The roadside seat near The Or-


pines, which was damaged, would be replaced with a new one.


County Cllr Richard Long would be instructed to act on be- half of the parish council andWa- teringbury Sports and Recreation Association to complete and for- ward Land Registry forms in con-


nection with the QEII Field sta- tus. Councillors also agreed to cover the costs for the sports as- sociation. The possibility was discussed


of taking out a loan to buy any land that may come up for sale, that may be beneficial to the vil- lage. Parishioners have to be con- sulted and a draft letter to be delivered in the village would be prepared for councillors to con- sider. The fencing around the small


play area was in need of atten- tion and it was agreed to have this inspected. Councillors discussed Opera-


tion Rover – a project where po- lice would carry out extra speed checks in the village and stop any driver for other offences such as using a mobile phone. County Cllr Long had agreed financial support from hismember’s high- way fund. Further inquiries would bemade. Councillors discussed an objec-


tion from a family over the cost of a burial in an existing grave in the cemetery which, due to the deceased never having lived in the village, would be £1,000, double that of a previous resi- dent. The amount is clearly shown on the list of charges. A majority vote was carried favour of the fee standing at £1,000. Cllr Dennis Stones asked for his objection to be minuted.


West Malling Council Police absence


THE clerk had expressed mem- bers’ concerns that no police rep- resentative had been available to attend a meeting for some time. PC Nick Stevens had replied say- ing that shift patterns often made if difficult for representatives to get to meetings. The clerk had also received an email fromChief Inspector Jon Kirby asking for dates of council meetings. A site meeting had been held


with Ben Hilden of Kent High- ways regarding parking on the A20 at Leybourne Woods.Asa result of the meeting Mr Hilden had emailed revised proposals. Members were of the opinion that parking should be inmarked designated bays only, HGVs should not be permitted, and that a pick-up point for commuters would be preferable once the sta- tion layout had been redesigned. Cllr Galloway said the clerk


had taken advice fromKCCprop- erty services regarding asbestos on the allotments. It would be feasible for JohnMoon to remove the material as long as stringent precautionswere taken.However he would have to use his ownve- hicle. It was therefore agreed to wait until the fence had been re- moved and ask KCC to provide details of an appropriate contrac- tor. (Subsequently, following con- cerns from the school about the presence of asbestos, the clerk arranged for removal by a spe- cialist contractor.)


Visit Downs Mail’s website — downsmail.co.uk Notification was received from


KCC that they intended to adopt the access road between The Swan and Station Street.This road currently had street lighting which was not to an adoptable standard. The council was asked whether the road should con- tinue to incorporate lighting fol- lowing its adoption. Members were reminded that the lights did not belong to the parish council. It was agreed that the council did wish to continue with the street- lighting, and that after adoption the road should also be included in the street cleaning and snow clearance schedules. Mr Moon had told the clerk he


no longer wished to carry out the daily litter-picking duties be- cause of other duties. He was happy to continue his other groundsman duties as these did not require a daily commitment. MrsTurner had been in contact


with John Collins who was pre- pared to do litter-picking. It was agreed that he would be offered the post for a trial period. Mrs Turner of the village hall management committee had asked Chris Gosney to provide estimates of the toilet refurbish- ment work and the replacement air conditioning.


West Peckham Council


Traffic gates


AN EMAIL had been received from a resident regarding the re- painting of the traffic calming gates, one of which had been damaged. CllrWright was to con- tact Highway Services. It was agreed that no more salt


and sand was required as the bins were nearly full and the jumbo bag was half full. Cllr Talbutt raised concerns re- garding the drop-off in the road surface opposite The Octagon along Mereworth Road. Concernswere raised regarding


the speed of farm vehicles through the village. Cllr Wooldridge was to contact farm- ers to ask their drivers to be mindful of their speed. There had been several reports


that HLF had allegedly breached the conditions of planning per- mission for their use of polytun- nels. The parish council agreed to approach HLF and Tonbridge council to see if thematter could be handled more constructively. The flooding in the village in


early June in the vicinity of Par- sons Corner and Mereworth Road would be taken up with the rele- vant authorities. Concerns were raised over the


health of the walnut trees on the village green.CouncillorsWright and Spensley were to contact Liz Guthrie at Tonbridge Council. S Evans andMCorfe attended


themeeting to discuss last year’s fireworks display and how to avoid a similar occurrence at this year’s event.


Malling 31


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