DownsMail In touch with your parish Continued from page 29


a cost of just over £3,000. The number of cars parking


on the grassed area at StMark’s Square and the length of time for which they were parked had increased so the clerk autho- rised the repair of the steel bol- lard, supplemented by two wooden posts. These seemed to have resolved the problem. Cllr Tiller had distributed in- formation about the proposals for Rochester Airport, includ- ing the development of part of the site for business, science or technology and the installation of a paved runway. Members had no concerns at this stage.


Council tax help BOROUGH Cllr Matthew Bal- four spoke about the implemen- tation of council tax support schemes and the effect on the precept and scheme of financial arrangements. Work on the holly trees by the


Birling Council


war memorial hadbeencom- pleted. A lamppost by the round-


about at the A228 junction with Birling Road seemed to have been hit by a vehicle and could be a danger to traffic and pedes- trians. The clerk was asked to report this to Kent Highways. The verge and hedge along


Bull Road had been cut back by Birling Estate. However, it was felt that the area in front of the railings by the traffic calming could also be cut. The clerk was asked to report


a metal plate owned by the water company on the footpath by The Bank that was proud of the path and a potential danger to pedestrians. The Birling Community Trail leaflets had been printed and were to be delivered.


Ditton Council Drains cleared


THE drains on New Road had been cleared to ease the flood- ing problem, but further inves- tigation was to take place. Both requests for salt bins had


met the required criteria. A salt bin for Steamside would be in- cluded in next year’s budget but the one in Cherry Orchard was lower priority. A letter and petition request-


ing a pedestrian crossing on the A20 near the top of Orchard Grove was discussed and was forwarded to Kent Highways. A letter from Ditton Minors


FC requesting more pitches to be leased to the club was noted. All pitches were at full capacity but it was agreed that the foot- ball clubs that use the pitches be asked to supply a certain per- centage of players from Ditton. Borough Cllr Carol Gale said Brampton Fields residents’ meeting was due to take place and would include safety con-


cerns about the entrance on to New Road. Anti-social behaviour in Nursery Road had been re- ported to Russet Homes and the KCC warden and Russet Homes was considering erecting fenc- ing there. No officers from the neigh- bourhood police team were able to attend the meeting but a re- port was sent in and read by the chairman. There had been an increase in thefts from motor vehicles during November. Parking in Primrose Drive


and Brampton Fields was being monitored and residents were asked to park sensibly. Cllr Yearsley said that at a re-


cent meeting of the youth cen- tre steering committee the possibility of other groups using the centre in return for a dona- tion was discussed. It was agreed that the lease needed to be checked and members were concerned that it was a form of sub-letting. It was suggested that any money raised in this way should go to the mainte- nance of the building. It was generally felt it would be better for the youth club to use the building more. Cllr Mrs Day asked the coun-


cil to approve the Boundary Stone Walking Group working party’s work to achieve listed status for a stone in Oaken Wood.


Hadlow Council Vacant seat


THE clerk said no applications had been received with regards to the vacancy for a co-opted member of the council. The clerk reported that the budget for 2013/14 had been drafted and would be finalised in January. A review of policy and procedures had been sched- uled.


There was a request from St


Mary’s Church for a donation towards the replacement of the boiler. Itwas agreed to refer this to the finance and general pur- poses committee. PCSO Toni Matthew said the parish partnership panel had agreed that in future local crime figures would be accessible on the Police UK website. With regards to the recent


spate of fuel thefts, she said this seemed to have stopped after po- lice patrols had been increased. The patrols had also spent more time in the Great Elms area where there had been reports of incidents. The clerk asked for ad- ditional patrols at Williams Field, particularly during the evening as village hall users were often intimidated by youths.


Kings Hill Council School plans


THE proposed permanent ex- pansion of Discovery School and the temporary expansion of


Kings Hill School were dis- cussed. It was resolved that the clerk write to KCC education to request information on the sta- tistics being used to determine themedium and long-term edu- cation plans for the area. The parish council was en- couraged to use the new crime reporting website instead of re- ceiving details from the PCSOs. It was agreed the information was out of date and of little use to the council. The annual parish meeting would take place on March 14. The next edition of View from the Hill would be combined with the annual report to save costs. This would be delivered before the meeting. The proposal byTonbridge and Malling Council for a joint stan- dards committee was discussed. It was resolved that the clerk should reply that the council agreed with the suggestion but would prefer complaints about parish councillors to be heard by a panel with a majority of parish councillors on it. The panel should also drawn from outside the affected area. A query about the completion


date of the control tower was raised. Liberty Property Trust would be asked to give the council an update.


Leybourne Council Call for election


CLLR Mearns said Tonbridge and Malling Council had con- firmed that a small group of res- idents had asked for an election to fill the parish council va- cancy following the resignation of Cllr Albert. This could cost about £5,000, if the vacancywas contested. The election had been due to take place on Janu- ary 17. The meeting heard that police would only provide crime fig- ures from the Police UK website from now on. A graph showing crime figures from December 2010 to October 2012 had been circulated prior to the meeting and it was requested that a graph be produced for the cur- rent month against the same month in previous years. The CastleWay signage work


was listed on the Joint Trans- portation Board schedule for completion in February 2013. It was reported that the road sweeper would not be deployed in Leybourne as the service was for high footfall areas only. The clerk was to write to the bor- ough council to ask that the road sweeper should continue from Town Hill along the foot- path on the south side round to- wards the garage, as far as the first property. Cllr Mearns reported that


Sport England was happy to consider extending the grant deadlines to allow the parish council to install the AdiZone.


He added that the community development trust at Leybourne Chase had expressed an interest in the AdiZone being installed at the new housing develop- ment. The possibility of developing


a sports complex around the football pitches with changing rooms and associated facilities was discussed. It was agreed to investigate this possibility. Cllr Mearns said Cllr Hohler


had agreed to support the parish council where possible with the issues of parking and bus serv- ices. He added that he would be working to get additional bus services into Leybourne as part of the Taylor Wimpey develop- ment. Cllr Cromey asked if Cllr Mearns could ask about cycle paths in Leybourne Chase, con- necting the villages. Regarding Kings Hill phase


three, Cllr Mearns noted that areas designated for commercial usewere now being proposed as residential, with plans for up to 1,000 homes. Planning permis- sion had not been sought. All neighbouring parishes


were in favour of opening up junction 5 of the M25, with the exception of Sevenoaks. The meeting heard that the re- modelling of the forecourt of West Malling Station was due to be completed by March 2014. Cllr Mearns said the bound-


ary commission’s report was lit- tered with errors and the boundary commission refused to amend it. The council was pressing the local MPs to object to the plans. The parish council was re- questing that the single ward of West Malling and Leybourne was split into two wards. West Malling had made the same re- quest. CllrWarnes reported that one


of the cross rails of the fence at the top of Rectory Lane had been removed. Cllr Valvassura was con- cerned about the potential in- crease in traffic when the mini-market opened on the London Road. A member of the public thanked councillors and the clerk for all their hard work over the year and said all the positive feedback he had heard from parishioners outweighed the recent negative reaction to the parish council.


Mereworth Council Village heritage


A RESIDENT said she had an oak chest with Mereworth carved on it and a tea set which had belonged to the Mereworth Senior Citizens. She felt the parish council should be re- sponsible for it. It was felt this should remain in the village and it was agreed that it would be collected from the resident. Tessa Wells asked about


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