Speed equipment


DownsMail In touch with your parish Hunton Council


Any previous documents could be obtained from the clerk. Cllr Gordon Grove queried


GUY Oliver, of Hunton parish plan steering committee, spoke to the meeting about Speed- Watch. He said he and Cllr Ron Porter had attended a training session with the police in Janu- ary 2012, and two others had completed the training in July 2012, but had been unable to borrow the apparatus. The steer- ing committee would like to buy its own equipment. Cllr Steward had said KCC Cllr Stockell might be able to help with grant funding. Members agreed that the clerk should in- vestigate. Richard Tyler, of West Kent


Red Cross, spoke about emer- gency first aid and recruiting volunteers.He wanted to see if a community emergency reponse team could be set up inHunton, if for any reason, the village was cut off. They would need some- where to meet, somewhere to store kit, and some publicity, but there should be no cost to the council. All training, insur- ance and equipment would be provided by the Red Cross. PCSO Watts offered to contact other parishes to see if they would like to work with Hunton. The stolen post box had been replaced by RoyalMail. The clerk had contacted in-


surers to see whether the coun- cil’s policywould cover Hunton Fete in 2013. The insurers con- firmed that this would be the case.


Highways Services had filled


some holes at the entrance to the village hall car park when the road surfacing works were carried out. Ringway had rewired the


street light on Bensted Close. Cllr Gary Thomas was to look


at the DEFRA improvements to the policy and legal framework for public rights of way in con- junction with CPRE. Ameeting had taken place be-


tween the council and Ellie Ker- shaw and John Littlemore of Maidstone Council about the council’s funding allocation under the new parish services scheme. PCSO Watts gave a crime re-


port, and warned that Linton had been subject to thefts of electrical cabling. The thieves were operating in broad day- light, using ex-BT vans and wearing hi-vis jackets. The po- lice were challenging people in these vans.


Loose Council Files removed


IT was agreed to remove docu- ments more than 12months old from the parish council’s web- site. A recent meeting heard that documents had dated back to 2008, but this would change.


why there were no agendas in the agendas section of the web- site, as he felt this was slightly confusing. It was explained that the framework of the web- site providers allowed for a sep- arate agendas section and could not be changed, but as the agenda was incorporated into the minutes, there was no rea- son to keep agendas on the site, once the meeting was over. With regard to the youth proj-


ect, community warden Liz Lo- vatt said she did not want to spend funding until it was worth doing and as the youth club at the YMCA had not been supported, she had been look- ing at a different way of using themoney. She had been specif- ically looking into employment or training opportunities for young people from Loose, but it was noted there were not too many businesses in Loose itself. The aim was to offer opportuni- ties for individual training and local employment for 16-20 year-olds. Ms Lovatt said thiswould be a one-off asking for support of dealing with the gap for those who are not in education and training. She also mentioned other areas of activity for which the funds could potentially be used – youths were keen to get the shelter fixed and that youth worker Jenny McDonald was keen to get a group working with youths on the KGV play- ing field, for three months. It was agreed that the funding cur- rently available should be used for the community warden’s project. It was unanimously agreed


that the parish council was not in favour of parish council al- lowance. Out of pocket ex- penses would continue to be reimbursed. Ms Lovatt reported on a bur-


glary at Old Loose Close.Two suspicious vehicles in Walnut Tree Avenue had been checked and there were also two suspi- cious males in Loose Valley. Cllr Grovementioned a break-


in at the top of Mill Street. The clerk was asked to contact him for crime figures and also ask for crime figures prior to the main meeting, even if he was aiming to attend. Cllr Roy Hood queried whether those who had dumped the television at the field had been identified. Ms Lovatt said one had been identi- fied from the local area and the PCSO was taking it forward. It was agreed to change the


name of the fete sub committee to the events committee, which could consider ideas for use of land the parish council owns. It was agreed to obtain three quotes to service all walls


owned by the parish council. It was said there needed to be an expert on ragstone walls and to contact English Heritage for a recommendation.


Lights repairs


Sutton Valence Council


SEVERAL lights around the parish had had to be turned off for the sake of safety. Lamp re- placement needed to be com- pleted on the majority of lights as they had passed their life ex- pectancy. The clerk was to cal- culate the cost of emergency repairs and the lamp change. It was further resolved that the monies in the budget and the contingency would be used if necessary on this project. It was agreed that parish council chairman Cllr Eileen Riden officially opens the Gold- ing Homes affordable housing development in Haven Close, off North Street. The clerk was instructed to invite, once the date was known, local politi- cians and planners as well as parishioners who had been of- fered the homes The clerk said a part-buy dwelling had been offered to a parishioner by a neighbouring parish as nobody from Sutton Valence had come forward. Councillors objected to an ap- plication to allow anybody classedasgypsytolivein Somersby Stables, Headcorn Road. There was a personal condition and the parish coun- cil wanted this to remain. The precept was likely be capped for 2013/14. Any in- crease in precept on band D properties above around 3% would be considered excessive and an election would have to be called and paid for by the parish council. Repairs to the goal in the Har-


bour play area hadbeencom- pleted. An inspection report stated that rubber had been cut from a seat in the junior swings andaframe hadbeenbentin the toddler swings. Both were low risk problems, but needed monitoring. Two emails were received


from a parishioner interested in adult outdoor gym equipment at the Harbour. A complaint had been re- ceived from a parishioner about the dog mess. Cllr Phil Taylor was to put up signs. Cllr BarryArmstrong reported


that the football pavilion roof had been leaking but had been repaired; the state of the pavil- ion had improved but was still being monitored. It was agreed that Cllr Arm- strong would get quotes for a line-marking machine. Cllr Peter Coleman updated


the meeting on the proposed youth club.


Visit Downs Mail’s website — downsmail.co.uk


Cllr Ian Robinson reported


that the Christmas tree would be put up on the village green on December 2. The question of who emptied


the village hall car park bins and the frequency was raised. A query had been raised as to


the ownership of the triangle of land onWarmlake crossroads. It was agreed to purchase two rosebushes for around £20 to go outside the White House. The clerk said the path to the church was parish land and was trying to get it repaired.


Staplehurst Council New councillor


NEAL Kemp was co-opted to the council by a majority vote. The caretaker had marked up parish salt bins and checked salt levels. It was agreed to get a quotation for siting the new bins and distributing the salt. There was to be a public meet-


ing to discuss the plans for land north of Headcorn Road (Bovis Homes) and George Street (Iceni Projects/Combe Bank Homes). Cllr John Perry said Maid-


stone Council was due to con- sider supermarket applications by Sainsbury and Tesco at the end of November. The owner of Duckhurst


Farm had submitted news plans to Maidstone council, which in- volved sixmotocross events per year. It was agreed the council could not support this. Cllr Perry was disappointed


that Golding Homes had de- clined a council request for a grant towards a new CCTV cam- era.


Councillors considered quota-


tions for clearance work at Ju- bilee Field and agreed to accept one from SRFC. Maidstone Council had moni-


tored the Parade and found some waste binswere overflow- ing and others hardly used. Maidstone Council would be talking to the site maintenance contractors. Cllr Peter Spearink said the


shelf was in place on the war memorial. Cleaning options had been considered and it was agreed careful brushing was the best approach. Regarding the Rural Settle-


ment Group, it was agreed to spend £100 on a rural profile and£100ona2013updateif necessary. It was agreed that the Jubilee


sports field should be sign- posted at the southwest corner of the Headcorn Road/A229 junction. However there were concerns about the clutter on the signpost and it was recom- mended a single sign be used instead of three finger ones, list- ing Headcorn, Hawkenbury, Ju- bilee sports field and golf course. They agreed a second sign should be for Bell Lane toi- lets and car park.


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