Parish Councils


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Sunday afternoons. Bearsted U14s previ- ously used the pitch on Sunday mornings, but would be moving up to U15s next season and would then require the pitch on Sunday afternoons. Itwas suggested that the clubs approach their leagues to see if fix- tures can be arranged so that they do not clash, and therefore both can be accommo- dated.


Flytipping The clerk was asked to report three lots of flytipping in Forge Lane.


Village hall Therewere now new chairs and the committeewas considering replacing the boiler and some of the doors.


Overgrown verges/hedgesWorkwas due in July. If they become overgrown later in the year, the parish councilwould consider pay- ing for extra work.


ThanksAthank you cardwas received from Mrs Mary Underdown for the vouchers in respect of her help at the annual parish meet- ing.


Budget changes An increase in the S137 budget to the maximum limit of £4,586.40 for 2014/15 was agreed, as the council had al- ready spent £152.57 on residents’ parking signs and anticipated further spending on the purchase of the shop cabin.


Coxheath


Planning The parish council lodged a strongly worded recommendation to Maid- stone Council to refuse the planning appli- cation for 132 dwellings on land north of Heath Road, known as Heathfield.


Retired Cllr John Parr retired from Coxheath Parish Council after more than 10 years. He was thanked for the many successful projects he had led.


Traffic calmingAcircularwas being distrib- uted to all households in Coxheath explain- ing changes to the Heath Road traffic calming scheme to be implemented fromAu- gust.


Neighbourhood watch The response to the call for new volunteers in Coxheath had been disappointing. Anyone interested should contact Cllr Bill Milner on 01622 749926.


Footpaths Certain footpaths in and around Coxheath that had become overgrown were reported to the public rights of way officer.


Elections Cllr Clive Parkerwas re-elected as chairman and Cllr Rodney Divall was re- elected as vice-chairman.


Neighbourhood plan The next stagewas the submission of the plan to independent ex- amination. It was hoped this would be undertaken in the next fewweeks.


Traffic calming A meeting was to be held with the design engineer from Kent High- way Services to finalise implementation of the changes to the Heath Road traffic calm- ing scheme.


Recreation projects A sum of £65,000 had been received from Crest Nicholson as a con- tribution towards community recreation projects in the village, following the comple- tion of theAvante development.


Lighting Many of the streetlights in the vil- lage were switched off between 1am and 5am as part of a KCC cost-cutting exercise. Residents should contact the parish council if this causes problems.


42 Maidstone South July 2014


Balloon flights The council was to investi- gate the control of hot air balloon flights fol- lowing complaints of low flying in the vicinity of Aspian Drive.


Bus shelter Arrangements had been made for the repair of the bus shelter in Heath Road, next to the primary school playing field.


East Farleigh


Crime report PCSOAlan Hunterwas unable to attend but reported two crimes since the last meeting: a theft from a vehicle in Fairhurst Drive and criminal damage to a window in Gallants Lane.


Flood plan Itwas agreed that the clerk and a couple of members of the councilwould edit Yalding’s flood plan to suit East Farleigh, for approval at the next meeting.


Recreation ground It was agreed to put up some signs banning dogs from the recreation ground, as it was an area where children play and families have picnics, not a dog walking area. Thewordingwas to be agreed.


Waste bins It was agreed to buy two waste bins for the recreation ground, one by the gate from the car park and one by the main entrance, as more peoplewere now using the recreation ground area and litter was be- coming a problem. The clerk was to look at prices.


East Suon


Solar panels Headcorn Parish Council had asked whether East Sutton would consider sharing the cost of an independent soil re- view done on the agricultural land ear- marked for solar panels at Tong Farm. This was agreed in principle.


Play area All was satisfactory except for the basketball court surface, although this was rated low risk. The safety surface was covered in pine needles and needed sweeping.


Trees Chairman Cllr Tim Turnill reported on trees overhanging the village hall. Golding Homeswould be informed.


Egerton


Election Cllr Alison Richey was elected chairman for the year with Cllr Richard King as vice-chairman.


Basketball While carrying out the spring clean Cllr Pat Parr noticed the sorry state of the basketball board and ring andwondered if it could be repaired. Cllr Bill Smyth offered to raise the height of the post and backing board and repair and replace the hoop and net. He was thanked for putting lights on the steps from Elm Close to the vil- lage hall car park.


Fly tipping There had been some flytipping near the garages along New Road.


Speed sign The speed sign at Stonebridge Greenwas on the ground. Cllr Smyth had of- fered to go and fix the problem.


Headcorn


Co-option Maidstone Council had con- firmed the co-option of a new councillor could take place.Areviewwould be taken to see if the number of councillors could be


raised to 14.


Crime figures There were six crimes in the past month and four reports of anti-social behaviour.


Road safety Mike Heath of Kent Highway Services had replied to the parish council re- garding the junction at Toll House, Smarden Road. Having looked at recent crash history, he felt the site had a very good safety record and was not a priority. Regarding the A274 Maidstone Road, he said this would have been assessed as part of the speed limit re- view in 2007. Despite new guidance in Jan- uary 2013, the level of development and usage of the road would not currently jus- tify cutting the existing 50mph limit. There had been a recent serious crash involving an overtaking manoeuvre and a reduction in speed limit could lead to a rise in overtaking crashes as frustrated drivers take risks when they perceive they are travelling at an artifi- cially low speed.


Oak Lane Regarding the parish council’s enquiry about HGVs using Oak Lane and request for a weight restriction sign and speed limit reduction, Mr Heath said the crash record showed there had been no in- cidents in the past three years so the site would not gain priority funding.


Grigg lane An order had been raised for surface repairs to be completed.


Smell A resident had complained about an unpleasant smell in Grigg Lane. Southern Waterwould be contacted as itwas thought the smell emanated from the Hardwick’s wetwell.


Village sign A quote from Mr Port for the restoration of the sign was accepted. The Day’s Green Committee had donated £500 to the project.


Baskets David Edwards would start to water the hanging baskets.


Linton


Planning The chairman Cllr Clive Baxter had been notified by a resident of corre- spondence with Maidstone Council enquiring about the gypsy status of a plan- ning applicant. A response had stated that checks were undertaken to ensure that applicants did have a gypsy status. How- ever, in this case the borough accepted it had made no investigation of its own and had relied on assurances given by the applicant’s own agent. The matter was on- going.


Park and ride Residents raised concerns about the park and ride proposals. A peti- tion against it with 700 names had been or- ganised.


Traveller sites A meeting had taken place with Headcorn, Staplehurst, Hunton and Langley parish councils about traveller and gypsy sites in Stilebridge Lane. This had also been attended by Maidstone Council senior planning officer Peter Hockney. An inde- pendent audit of some applicationswas sug- gested, as well as sites being spread more thinly so that they do not dominate the com- munity in one area.


Allotments Thesewere looking good after a recentworking party on the north boundary. Dead trees would be removed and Peter Paterson would put up new fencing. Hedg- ing was to be replaced with hornbeam. It was felt it might be necessary to fit a combi- nation padlock on the gate at a cost of about


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