DownsMail In touch with your parish


said 10 crimes had been re- ported in Hollingbourne during March, of which six had oc- curred at theM20service station. Chairman Mike Bedwell thanked Cllr John Cobbett for maintaining the momentum to improve broadband speeds in the village. The possibility of BT upgrading the exchange would seem to be remote. Itwas decided to refer the matter to MP Hugh Robertson. County Cllr Jenny Whittle


said Greenway Court Road would be top-dressed during the summer, following pothole repairs. Shesaidthe primary school


was over-subscribed,with24 applicants for 15 places. There was the possibility of a commu- nity consultation on the matter of any possibility of a school ex- pansion. Cllr Alan Bennett and Peter


Waite were to tour the village and hoped to recruit a group to look in greater detail at a neigh- bourhood plan. Cllr Cobbett said the paths


from the railway station across the field to Jack’s Alley and at the end of Musket Lane towards the service station were both in dire need of attention. Cllr AdamWard asked for in- tervention by borough Cllr Daphne Parvin in resolving the unacceptable delay by Maid- stone Council in providing the paperwork for the Millennium Green. The officer concerned had been helpful, but no action had been forthcoming. There had been a certain amount of natural die-back of pond grasses on the Green, but it may be that the specialist con- tractors would need to be brought in. The roof valleys of the Card-


well Pavilion had been cleared. New locks had been fitted to the gas meter housing and the cen- tral heating controls. The exter- nal lighting system had been checked and new wiring recom- mended.


Leeds Council Safety move


THE rumble strip had been in- stalled on Penfold Hill. Lorry Watch had re-started


and about 200 HGVs were re- ported using the B2163. Regis- tration numbers had been submitted to the police, who had advised the perpetrators that further breaches would re- sult in prosecution. Delivery of the new parking barrier was awaited and it was due to be installed. PCSO Richard Kirby and Sgt Stephens were hoping to attend meetings on a quarterly basis. There had been 27 crimes over the year –downfrom34the previous year. Most related to general thefts from sheds and cars, although there had been an


increase in fuel thefts, and it was suggested that anyone with an oil tank should make sure they had proper security. The meeting heard there was


a new team using the playing field. There was a lot of litter around the car park and pavil- ion, and two new litter bins would be provided. The new village website was


up and running, and has lots of information. It can be used to sign up for the parish council newsletter or make comments. A total of £6,400 had been


spent on street lighting last year, and this sum was likely to grow as the lighting was antiquated. The parish council was likely


to lose funding for lighting from Maidstone Council next year, and would have to look at ways to cut costs in that area. Many parisheswere consider-


ing turning lights off at given times, but there would be con- sultation before a decision was taken.


Lenham Council Speed signs


THE chairman of Speedwatch, Mr Long, said he had attended a Speedwatch conference and en- quired about 30mph signs that some parishes had painted on their road surfaces. Mr Long had spent time at Swadelands School advising them on gardening techniques and said there might be a small plot of land available to turn into a school allotment. The meeting heard that the memorial cross had been sprayed with weedkiller and a delivery of chalk was awaited. The dead tree in Groom Way


had been replaced. Borough Cllr Tom Sams said


he had spoken to Maidstone council leader Cllr Chris Gar- land and Ray Lambing, of the Switch Café, about the Lenham youth centre and the possibility of opening it more days per week. KCC Cllr Jenny Whittle said she would help fund a third day a week. She was also going to look into the Lenbus taking youths to Maidstone Leisure Centre. Ian George said he had heard


that the old red phone box in the square was to be decommis- sioned. Chairman Nigel Godfrey said the council had considered adopting it several years ago, but had dismissed it on the grounds of cost. Four crimes had been re- ported in the past month. Community warden Martin Sherwood said the home safety event in Harrietsham had been well attended and he asked to use the community centre for a similar event in July. This was agreed. KCC Cllr Jenny Whittle said pothole repairs were starting in earnest and two gangs were now


working under the fund and fix regime. Cllr Whittle said Lenham Bowling Club was looking into buying its green from KCC. KCC was to ask the school if they re- quired the land before any sell- off was to take place, but it was thought therewould be no prob- lem, as the primary school had ample room. Cllr Whittle said shewould be pursuing the double yellow lin- ing of Ham Lane, with Ben Hilden of Highway Services, to make sure it was enforceable. Cllr Greenwood had taped up


the letterbox in the lock-up. The clerk said she would get hold of a key so the box could be removed altogether. Cllr Andrew Newman said


the general feeling on the neigh- bourhood plan was that progress should be slowed down until the parish council knew what decisions Maidstone council had come to on its Core Strategy and local plan. Parishioners who knew of any highways problems were asked to contact Cllr Bone or the clerk with the location, so they could be added to the list of repairs. Cllr Greenwood had in- spected the beech trees in GroomWay with the tree officer from Maidstone Council, but could see no reason why they should be felled. Further inves- tigation would take place. A water connection in the cemetery had been scheduled to take place. Cllr Osborn said a meeting


had been held withMrMarsden and the proposed route for a footpath connecting any future development of the Paddock to GroomWay had been agreed. Cllr Bradshaw said the refur- bishment of St Mary’s clock face was under way and it was hoped the clock face would be installed soon.


Meeting schedule IT WAS agreed that the sched- uled monthly meetings would continue to be held on the sec- ond Tuesday of each month at 7.15pm at the village hall. Cllr Peter Titchener was re- elected as chairman and Cllr Paul McCreary was elected as vice-chairman. Hazel Bingham was re-elected as footpaths offi- cer and Trevor Sharp as the Cricket Club liaison officer. The 2013 annual parishmeet-


Ulcombe Council


ing had been held on April 23. Reports of the previous year’s activities were received by rep- resentatives of the village or- ganisations and from the borough council ward mem- bers. The reports would be re- produced in full in the 2012/13 annual parish report which would be distributed to all households in the parish. Following its recent Calls for


Sites under the Strategic Hous- ing and Economic Development Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA/SEDLAA), Maidstone Council had advised that a sec- ond phase of submissions had now been published. All sub- missions could be viewed on the MBC website homepage under Planning: Local Development Framework (submissions phase 1 and submissions phase 2). Comments were invited from


themembers of the public in at- tendance at the May parish council and were noted. The parish council resolved that it did not support the submis- sions which had been put for- ward and would inform MBC accordingly with its reasons. Two extraordinary meetings


had been held to discuss the ad- vantages and disadvantages of the parish having a neighbour- hood development plan (NDP). Comments had been noted by the public present and by the parish council at both meetings and minuted. Michael Murphy had briefed


the parish council on the back- ground to NDPs, explaining what a plan could try to achieve and its limitations and what was required in terms of con- sultation and input by the parish council and residents. It was agreed that subject to further extensive consultation with the parish to assess the level of support, the parish council supported the concept of a NDP for Ulcombe in princi- ple, but would defer further consideration until autumn 2013. The parish council was repre- sented at the April police forum meeting. Maidstone district’s number of PCSOs would be in- creasing from 21 to 30, but no timescale had been given for when this would be fully im- plemented. Concerns were raised regard-


ing the new 101 service – there had been reported delays in call answering, being put on hold and the frustration of getting through machine messages. One police surgery would be


held each month for each ward and the venue would alternate between the parishes. The parish council was disap- pointed that its parish high- ways report had not been included on the agenda for the April Kent Joint Transport Board meeting but it was antic- ipated that it would be covered at the July meeting. The parish council would be represented. Acontractorwas appointed to repaint the play equipment and repairs would be made to the decorative village sign. KCC had confirmed that the changes to the 59 bus service timetable had been imple- mented.


You can e-mail the Downs Mail — info@downsmail.co.uk East 51


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