downsmail.co.uk Bredhurst
Planning The clerk contacted Maidstone Council to ask that the parish council be informed about applications near the village. Neighbourhood plan/MOSAIC Cllr Nichola Carr had made verbal enquiries. Parishes had taken different stances so Bredhurst needed to decide how to proceed. MOSAICwould provide relevant data to help inform the decisions taken. Further discussionswere needed before a decision was taken and itwas decided to hold a meeting in September for this purpose. Notice board maintenance Purchasing a magnetic backing boardwould cost about £84, eliminating the need for drawing pins. The quotes receivedwould be sent to councillors. Thanks The clerk wrote to Mr Reynolds of Kent Highways (copy to KCC Cllr Paul Carter) to thank him for organising several repairs in the village so quickly and had received acknowledgement from both. Crime reportAride-onmowerwas stolen from the rear garden of a home in The Street. Inspection The annual playground inspectionwas due in September. GateApadlock had been bought for the playing field gate. Therewere four keyholders and a laminated notice regarding contact had been put
up.Aquotewould be obtained for a permanent notice. Objection Bredhurst Parish Council had objected to a planning application for replacement stables, hard-standing for a mobile home for a gypsy family along with day room and touring caravan at Cherry Orchard Stables, Dunn Street Road. The Nursery The parish council had objected to an application for an occupational manager’s dwelling at The Nursery, Dunn Street Road. Gibraltar Farm Bredhurst Parish Council, as well as borough councillors andMPHugh Robertson, opposed an outline proposal for up to 450 houses at Gibraltar Farm, Ham Lane. To assist residentswanting to lodge an objection, a flyer had been distributed in the village. The parish council believed itwas important that as many people as possible submied their own objection to this development to Medway Council. The clerk would also email a copy of the flyer to residents and put it on thewebsite. Commemoration The cost of printing the WorldWar One commemoration booklet had been paid by the parish
council.Atotal of £232.70 had been received from the sales of the booklet andwould be donated to the Royal British Legion. About 30 copieswere le for sale. Lighting The clerk had received a bill from E.ON for electricity for the Hurstwood Road light which should now be paid by Kent Highways. HedgingAresident had complained about overgrown hedging near Peacehaven. The landownerwould be approached to get it cut back. Post officeAn email had been received asking about pictures of the old post office. The clerkwould respond that the parish councilwas unable to help.
Broomfield and Kingswood
Welcome TomHoywas co-opted as a parish councillor andwelcomed back to the council. Sports field Two quoteswere received
50 Maidstone East October 2014
for the cost of removal of the Levercrest play area. Due to the limited number of councillors present, itwas agreed to carry this item over to the November meeting. Playdalewas scheduled to carry out remedialwork at the play area on October 3. Padlock The padlock on the gate in front of the Scout hut had to be replaced and extra keys cut. All keyholders had been supplied with new keys. Football Maidstone Mavericks junior football clubwere unable to increase their numbers for the next season and the team had folded. The manager may be interested in starting a general, all age, training scheme if permied to use the sports field. Councillors agreed in principle that they were open to discussions with the manager. They also agreed to consider applications from any football team interested in leasing the sports field for training and/or matches. Defibrillators Following a presentation by John Rivers of Kent Association of Local Councils, itwas agreed to request fundraising support from clubs and societies in the parish for the purchase of the equipment. The defibrillatorwould be installed in a public place and the council would investigate the availability of emergency first responders in the parish. Peter Pease Close Following advertising in the village magazine of the availability of shared ownership opportunities at Peter Pease Close, the clerk had received some interest from parishioners. When forwarding this information to Orbit she was then informed that the propertieswere already under offer. The clerk enquired about the required local connection of the prospective purchasers andwas informed that on this occasion the S106 had mistakenly not been applied due to confusion during office reorganisations. Following discussion, councillors requested the clerk obtain legal advice. Scouts The clerk had wrien to thank the Scout group for the fantastic remedialwork on the Scout hut at the sports field. Buses Cllr Mike O’Neill had had to contact Arriva on two days in August about the non-arrival of the number 59 bus.
Detling
Jade’s Crossing Kent Highway Services had ordered replacement strips for the steps and a hand rail, as requested by the parish council. The fence along the A249was due to be repaired. A249 action groupAleer had been wrien to KCC Cllr Jenny While regarding the reduction of the speed limit along the A249. Land near East Court The tree had now been removed from this land. Clarendon Homeswas due to inspect the site and would remove any rubbish belonging to it. Balefields trip Itwas agreed that the surplus of £171 from the successful trip be donated to the Poppy Appeal in November. Old School playing field The chairman Cllr Mark Housden had authorised that a hook and fixing to the gate should be removed. It was confirmed that the parish council had agreed to the gate butwould not finance this and that Cllr Mike Dennywould liaise with the village hall management commiee regarding the payment of the outstanding invoice. Hockers Lane The need for hedges along Hockers Lane to be cutwas discussed. Highways Half of the sign at the end of
Scragged Oak Roadwas missing and this would be reported to Kent Highway Services. HorishWood Cllr Steve Griffiths reported on coppicing at HorishWood. He asked the parish council to consider opening up the woodland by coppicing the oak trees during the next cuing season. Mike Phillips, from the Kent Downs Group, had offered to mark the trees for coppicing whichwould allow the younger trees to grow for future generations. Regarding thework undertaken at thewoodland by SouthernWater, Gullands Solicitors had agreed to act for the council. Picnic The picnic event at the Old School playing fieldwas aended by about 200 people. Itwas suggested the parish council should continue this in future years. Some residentswere discussing the possibility of holding a fete and a commieewas already in place. Hedge Cllr Denny had cut the hedge at the front of the village hall. Monks Meadow John Monkwas thanked for erecting the sign. Forum Itwas agreed that the Local Business Forum be launched at the parish open day. Shop Cllr John Clayton suggested revisiting ideas about having a village shop or post office andwould seek further information on this.
Hollingbourne
Verge The verge opposite the school had started to grow back to an unkempt level. Cllr Alan Bennewas to contact KCC about this. Some of the greens in the villagewere maintained by residents, but the grass verge was too large an area. Fete Regarding the takings from Hollingbourne Fete, £200 had been spent on four pop-up gazebos for next year’s fete. Housing The chairman suggested obtaining the views ofMPHelen Grant on the new housing issues being faced by the village. Vandalism There had been four incidents of vandalism of the Meadows Trust hedges over the summer break. Safari The parish council commended the WI for a most excellent safari market.A councillor had been informed that some items had been stolen off the villagers’ stalls. Thiswas disappointing, but unfortunately, inevitable. TreeAleer had been sent to the owners of a house in Eyhorne Street requesting their insurance details, aer a fallen tree had destroyed the street light opposite their property. Street lights The accounts showed that £1,947.38 had already been spent on the streetlights in the village this financial year but Maidstone Council had still not reimbursed the £2,124 promised by the borough council’s former leader Chris Garland. The KCC maintenance offer, through Cllr Jenny While, had depended on the parish having years of records regarding the street lights, but it did not have these. The clerkwould contact KCC regarding the exact information required. ParksAgate leading into the playground had been bent out of alignment and the repairwould be a major task involving digging up the
foundations.Anotice at the entrance to the Millennium Green regarding responsible dog ownership had broken as thewooden post had roed, butwould be repositioned.
Parish Councils
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