DownsMail In touch with your parish The youth club was due to


Leybourne Council New faces


THE council welcomed itsnew clerk, Laraine Barrie. Jamie Stewart was elected un- opposed to the council following the resignation of Cllr Holmes. There was no representative


from the police at the meeting and no apologies were received. Members were concerned that


drug wraps had been found in the toddlers play area,the MUGA and the bomb hole. The youth worker had suggested thesemight be “legal highs”. Fur- ther evidence will be collected but as the police were not treat- ing this as a drug incident it should be reported to 101 to get a crime number. The clerk had prepared a crime


report for June, which detailed seven crimes, compared with 12 crimes in the same period last year. A member of the public asked


if the ban on the left turn at the exit of Castle Way towards the bypass was being actioned due to the speed of traffic, and re- quested more police activity. The council was asked about


the recent vandalism of the CCTV system and how it was being maintained. A member of the public ex- pressed concerns about the health and safety of children at the MUGA retrieving balls from the road, and suggested a net. Another member of the public expressed concern about dead and dying trees in the parish. County Cllr Sarah Hohler gave


an update on the proposals for the new primary school at Ley- bourne Chase. She said there were five interested sponsors for the academy. A member of the public asked


Cllr Hohler if there were any plans to improve the Seven Mile Lane junction with Wrotham. She confirmed this was being in- vestigated and a roundabout was being considered. Cllr Hohler had received a let-


ter from a resident concerning the vegetation in the footpath be- tween the Rectory and Harvest Ridge. The parish council main- tains the land to the east of the footpath, but Croudace still owned the land to the west. The parish council had written to the company many times andwould continue to press for action. Borough Cllr Brian Luker said parking was being reviewed.He agreed that some areas were overgrown but there had been prolific growth due to the weather and not all areas were the responsibility of the borough. Cllr Sophie Shrubsole said the planning issue at Leybourne Chase regarding the 20mph speed limit not being enforced was between KCC Highways and the developer, and not the bor- ough council.


haave begun on a weekly basis, including table tennis and X-box. The meeting heard the Adi-


Zone was to be renamed the out- side gym. Taylor Wimpey had provided the balance of the fund- ing and a meeting had been held to identify a suitable location at Leybourne Chase. There was a discussion about


the use of socialmedia to keep a wider range of residents in- formed. It was agreed that this form of media would need to be constantly updated. There had been a good re- sponse to the questionnaire, with 600 forms being returned. The general response was that residents were happy living in Leybourne.


Mereworth Council Sign requests


THE landlady of the Queen’s Head provided information on the sizes of signs she wanted to put on the post at the recreation area. She would provide the de- signs at a later date. She was thanked for her help with the village fete. Residents of Kent Street were concerned about the dangers of traffic on the A228/Kent Street and asked for information on the proposals they had heard about. County Cllr Matthew Balfour


said the parish council would be consulted on the phase 3 plans. He explained that there was a planning application to change the current permission at Kings Hill from offices to residential and thiswas thought to produce less traffic than commercial use. The plans included 975 homes, a retirement/care village, petrol station and school. A bypass or dualling of the


A228 was not planned, but there were proposals to have a cross- ing for pedestrians and traffic lights to help drivers exit Kent Street. A new footway would be put behind the hedge on the A228. A resident reported that a van


was being parked in a danger- ous place in Beech Road/Butch- ers Lane. PCSO Toni Matthews said the police were aware of this and had asked the driver to park elsewhere, but there were no parking restrictions in this area. The meeting heard that the


road surface in Beech Road was in a very poor condition. The clerk had reported it, but would do it again. The Church Operations Com-


mittee was concerned about the quality of the grass cutting in the churchyard. It wished to ask KentWildlife Trust for advice on having areas for wildlife and to look at changing the contract. It was agreed to invite the parish council to thismeeting. Residents reported that park- ing at the school was still an


issue. Drivers were parking on the verge, causing danger. Police had asked Kent Highways to send a representative to look at this issue, and itwas agreed that Cllr Jon Reganwould contact the landowner to discuss ways of preventing parking. PCSO Matthews said there had


been one crime – a theft of cop- per cable – and no incidents of anti-social behaviour. The clerk had received a quote


from Burslems of £245 for clean- ing the war memorial.Anaddi- tional quote had been requested, but not received. It was agreed to accept the Burslems quote. The meeting heard that the flashing school sign hadbeenre- located. The parish caretaker scheme


was discussed, and it was agreed that it was not a viable option for Mereworth, preferring to use local labour when required.


Phase 3 plans CHAIRMAN David Stretton had attended a meeting of Kings Hill parish council where plans for phase 3 of the development were discussed. He reported that pub- lic opinion was against the ap- plication, which included the erection of 975 homes, a primary school, a petrol station and pub- lic open space. Offham Parish Council was against the proposal,asitwould create extra traffic through the village, affect air quality and have an impact on utilities, serv- ices and the road system. The funding of the speed indi-


Offham Council


cation devices from the members highway fund had been ap- proved, and the parish council needed to meet with Kent High- ways to discuss the plans. Councillors agreed a draft set of village green bye-laws which would be sent to residents on the email list. The parish council had spent a lot of money looking after the green andwere justified in wanting to protect it from damage. The stone and plaque by the


oak tree at Teston Road playing field had now been installed.Cllr Wendy Williams had replaced the caps on the play equipment and the safety inspection was due to take place. It was antici- pated that the wet pour flooring would need maintenance. The village handyman had strimmed the edge of the field and sorted out the edges of the car park. Cllr Williams was given ap- proval to paint and tidy up the Quintain and the stone. It was agreed that Adrian Marchant could cut back the cherry tree in Teston Road. Any other tree maintenance would be considered after the annual in- spection. Cllr William Pierce was to speak to Stephen Betts to estab-


lish whether the farm had a prob- lemwith cars parked in Church Road.


Members reported that resi-


dents were largely against the sale of Cosgrave Field.The coun- cil agreed to consider alterna- tives.


Butyl had offered the council a considerable discount on a liner for the pond. It was agreed that the order would be made when Cllr David Frankling returned from holiday. The meeting heard that Speed-


watch needed to move more quickly if it was to be in place be- fore the winter months. There had been additional training in West Malling, and more training would be needed for Offham vol- unteers. The steam rally would be held


on October 20. Cllr Stretton had asked the Lions if they could help with parking in return for voluntary donations for their charity.


Ryarsh Council Homes plan


COUNCILLORS asked the clerk to respond to consultation on the plan to extend Kings Hill by a further 975 houses, indicating concern about traffic and lack of facilities in the area to support such large growth. Members had no objection to proposed traffic calming meas- ures on the A20 link road near Leybourne Grange Hospital. The Local Government Com- mission for England will not change the ward boundaries to include the few London Road properties in Downs ward. Ton- bridge and Malling Council wants to keep ward and parish boundaries aligned, therefore those properties will be part of Leybourne parish and West Malling and Downs ward. Residents had clearly ex- pressed the view that they wanted to remain part ofRyarsh parish and the parish council was disappointed by the LGBCE decision. The final invoice for the


Ryarsh community website had been submitted and the clerk was updating the parish website www.ryarshpc.kentparishes.gov. uk.


The clerk was asked to report a number of highway issues: two raised manholes on the path near the stables, a pothole in front of the Laurels, a hole in the road and side of the bank towards Nevin on The Street. The clerk had written to the


owner of The Oast House asking about ownership of the land from which nettles were blocking the pathway on Birling Road. If nec- essary, it was agreed that the parish council would pay for the nettles to be cut back to the boundary fence, in the interests of public safety.


You can e-mail the Downs Mail — info@downsmail.co.uk Malling 33


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