News | Sponsored parish council Boxley Parish Mail
CHAIRMAN: Ivor Davies CLERK: Pauline Bowdery ASST CLERK: Melanie Fooks Parish Office, Beechen Hall,Wildfell Close,Walderslade, ME5 9RU
Tel: 01634 861237 email:
clerk@boxleyparishcouncil.org.uk Website:
www.boxleyparishcouncil.org.uk Contact details for parish councillors can be obtained from the parish office, the Useful Contact Details leaflet or the website
Concern over Commemorating WWI THE parish council recently asked for ideas for a project to commemo-
online plans MAIDSTONE Council has now confirmed that its proposal to stop supplying paper copies of planning applications to parish councils and residents is going ahead. As from June it will only be pos-
sible to view the applications on the MBC website or in person at its Gateway office. Comments and ob- jections from the parish council will only be accepted through the web- site. When consulted earlier on this suggestion, concern was raised by Boxley Parish Council members that residents not on the internet or comfortable with using computers will be at a disadvantage. The parish council will now look for ways to mitigate this locally.
Looking ahead THE parish council has reactivated its local plan working group to en- sure that it responds fully to the draft local plan document now re- leased by Maidstone Council. This is an important issue that
could affect residents for the next 30 years or so. Maidstone Council is hosting a public presentation at the Hilton on Wednesday, April 9 from 2pm to 8pm.
Annual meeting
ALLresidents are invited to the an- nual meeting of the parish which will be held at 7.30pm on Monday, May 12 at Beechen Hall, Wildfell Close,Walderslade. This will be fol- lowed by the annual general meet- ing of the parish council.
AT its meeting on March 11, the finance and general purposes committee received another glowing report from the council’s independent internal auditor on its accounts and financial and other systems run by the parish office. The chairman, Cllr Ivor Davies,
said: “It is always good to receive assurances about the accounts
rate the 100th anniversary of the outbreak ofWorldWar 1. Preliminary suggestions include
a discreet explanatory plaque or a memorial, perhaps in black iron, situated close to the Boxley war memorial; an information leaflet containing some personal history of the fallen named on the memo- rial; or planting two trees symbol- ising the opposing sides in the conflict, for example an English oak and a linden (lime) tree, which has strong German connections. Apossible site for the trees could
be on the verge at Grovewood Drive North, near its junction with
Praise for parish office systems
and systems from an outside source. It is easy to become com- placent and the parish council arranges two visits per year to en- sure we keep on our toes and up to date with all the relevant fi- nancial legislation. “The parish council’s staff, par- ticularly the clerk, and committee members work hard to earn such reports and I thank them all.”
Vacant allotment plots available to rent
THERE are still some vacant plots at the new allotments site. These are now open to people fromoutside the parish boundary aswell as residents. Residents may apply for up to four quarter plots and non-residents for
one or two. Enquiries should be made to the parish clerk, whose contact de- tails are at the top of this page.
New Cut Road. The parish council agreed to con-
tinue looking into the suggestions but wouldwelcome more. It will liaise with a resident who
had been researching the names on thewar memorial and had also un- dertakenwork for the ImperialWar Museum’s “Lives of the FirstWorld War” interactive platform being launched in May and who was planning to write some articles for the Boxley church magazine aswell as considering a public display at the church.
Council vacancy
WITH the departure of Dennis Holmes from the parish council for work reasons, a casual vacancy has been declared. The council will shortly start the
legal process to advertise and fill it. Parish councillors play a vital
role in representing the interests of their local community. Parish clerk Pauline Bowdery
said: “Caring for the community is like a good party – when things go well and smoothly everyone enjoys it and nobody sees or thinks about all the hard work, preparation and teamwork behind the scenes.” Anybody interested in standing
can lodge their details with the parish office. They will then be kept updated on the process.
Mud complaints investigated at meeting
AS it had not proved possible for the chairman and clerk to settle a resident’s two complaints regarding Sandy Lane, theywere put before a full meeting of the parish council, in accordance with its code of practice. The resident’s complaints were
about the failure of the parish coun- cil to report what action it had taken on a complaint about the condition of Sandy Lane and its continuing failure to have the road conditions improved. The resident showed photo- graphs of the road surface during the previous few weeks, saying it had potholes, water and mess and
32 Maidstone East April 2014
had not been this bad in 19 years. Much of this, it was alleged, was caused by mudwashed down from the new allotments access road and traffic to and from the site. In response, the parish council
clerk conceded there had been a breakdown in communication with the resident over the Christmas pe- riod because of staffing issues, but the chairman had written to the res- ident fully apologising for this. The resident then withdrew the second complaint. The clerk said a variety of vehicles
used Sandy Lane to get to the sev- eral properties along its length and
that all heavywork at the allotment site had been completed by early autumn and the road then swept at parish expense. The council did not therefore accept responsibility for themudcurrently on the roadaway from the allotments gate or for causing the potholes in what had been thewettest winter on record. The clerkwent on to explain that,
as the parish had no legal power to repair or maintain a highway, on re- ceipt of the initial complaint the matter had been passed to KCC. The resident had been informed of this at the time. The parish had also arranged for the road to be cleaned
by Maidstone Council, who would now sweep it every six weeks. Re- cently Kent Highways had cleared some surface mud andwas investi- gating the potholes but, as ex- plained to the resident, it did have other, possibly more pressing, prob- lems elsewhere in the county. After discussion, members agreed that the complaint would not be upheld. They noted that the clerkwas obtaining professional ad- vice on the issue of run-off from the allotments and would continue to monitor cleaning and maintenance of Sandy Lane and keep the resi- dent informed.
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