News | Sponsored parish council Boxley Parish Mail
CHAIRMAN: Ivor Davies CLERK: Pauline BowderyASST 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 fromthe parish office, the Useful Contact Details leaflet or the website Polling day
VOTERS will have the chance to learn more about the parish council and its work from a special display at the parish of- fice at Beechen Hall, Walder- slade, during the General Election on Thursday, May 7. As in previous years, the hall
is being used as the local polling station for the parlia- mentary and Maidstone bor- ough elections. Parish office staff and councillors will be on hand to provide information on the parish to members of the public and two local vol- unteer conservation bodies, the Walderslade Woodlands Group and the Friends of Box- ley Warren, have been invited to present displays.
Quality mark
CHANGES to the Quality Coun- cil Scheme have resulted in the parish council undertaking a re- view of whether it still wishes to take part. Set up to identify councils work-
ing to high professional standards, members are questioning the tan- gible benefits of having an award. Members have requested a list of
all the criteria for foundation, qual- ity and gold standards, showing what is already achieved and what is achievable, and how much staff time would be required to produce the evidence. In 2004 Boxley Parish Council
was the first parish council in Kent to receive Quality Status and re- ceived reaccreditation in 2008.
Annual meeting
MEMBERSof the public are invited to the annual parish meeting at the Kent Scout Activity Centre, Lower Grange Farm, Sandling ME14 3DA at 7pm on Monday, April 13. This is an opportunity for you to have your say about what affects you. The monthly meeting of the
parish council will follow at about 7.30pm.
Congratulations
THE parish council congratulates Cllr Derek Butler, a Boxley ward borough councillor, on his election as deputy mayor of Maidstone for 2015/16.
34 Maidstone East April 2015
HGV parking problem moves to new location
WHILE significant progress has been achieved on preventingHGVs park- ing illegally near the lay-by at Old Chatham Road, Sandling, it appears that lorries are now regularly parking overnight in Grove Green.
Reports have been received that
this is occurring in Grovewood Drive South and Lodge Road and that some drivers from Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland were parking for even longer. Residents are asked to report
such occurrences to the parish of- fice so that a history can be built up. Meanwhile, borough CllrWendy Hinder has confirmed she has re- ceived no complaints about illegal
parking in Old Chatham Road clearway after barriers and signs were re-sited and that residents were pleased with the effect of the work. The bollards had been in- stalled incorrectly by KCC contrac- tors, resulting in buses being unable to use the route, but this had since been remedied. The parish council, in recognis-
ing that HGV parking is a county and indeed countrywide problem,
Homes plan goes to appeal
FOLLOWING Maidstone Council’s refusal of an outline planning applica- tion for eight new houses on land at the junction of New Cut Road and Bearsted Road, Weavering, an appeal has been lodged by the developer with the Planning In- spectorate. The parish council earlier registered its ob- jections to this proposal to build on one of the few remain- ing pieces of open land in the vicinity, rich in bio-diversity and drained by the stream feeding the Vinters Valley Park lake.
has taken up the matter with the Department for Transport through our constituency’s former MP Sir Hugh Robertson, but is not hopeful of early action. Other parish coun- cils have been approached and it was noted with interest that Ash- ford council and Kent police were piloting a programme of clamping persistent offenders. However, this is only for six months and limited to one small area.
Parish precept
THE council tax bills now issued show a 5.9% increase in the parish precept. However, this merely corrects last
year’s administrative error in Maid- stone that reduced the parish coun- cil’s precept by 6%. This was contrary to its intention that it should remain unchanged (see re- port in the July 2014 Parish Mail). The precept is the same as that for 2013/14 and, at £25.77 yearly for a bandDproperty, is the second low- est of 35 parishes in the borough.
Car vandalism
THIRTEEN vehicleswere damaged in Fir Tree Grove and Conifer Drive, Lordswood. Occurrences of this nature should be reported to the police 101 number.
Your right to comment on parish audit
THE parish council is about to enter into its auditing period and the financial books will be open for inspection by any interested persons for 20 working days from Friday, May 8. Appointments can be made by contacting the parish office. The legal notices and a summary of the right of inspection will be dis- played on noticeboards, the web- site and via Facebook. You as residents have a right to
ask the auditor questions about the accounts and, if you think the council has spent money that it shouldn’t, object to the accounts. The parish council’s end of year financial report is scrutinised by PKF LittleJohn LLP as required by law. In addition the council also has an independent auditor who visits twice a year and two addi- tional internal audits are carried out by parish councillors during the year.
Parish council chairman Ivor Davies believes that “parishioners will be assured by the level of scrutiny parish councils find themselves under. We are ever mindful that this is public money and therefore try to operate in an open and accountableway. Every receipt and payment throughout the year is reported to the parish council meeting via its agendas and these are readily accessible to the public”.
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