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School request Karen Filmer fromLangley Park School’s breakfast and after-school clubs explained that the school and nursery –where a number of Boughton Monchelsea children a�end – needed funds for outdoor play equipment and indoor staging to be purchased. Itwas agreed to give a grant of £300 to the school. Brewery events Itwas agreed that the council shouldwrite to Rockin Robin brewerywhen their outdoormusic events recommence in the spring, asking for consideration to be given to neighbouring residents and advising that the councilwill bemonitoring the situation closely. Thank yous The clerk advised that thank you le�ers had been received fromthe baby and toddler group and fromthe BoughtonMonchelsea community choir for recent grants fromthe council. Footpath The route of the newfootpath fromRomanWay to the Parkwood shops had been approved byMaidstone Borough Council. Road sign Disappointmentwas expressed regarding Kent County Council’s apparent lack of support for the interactive road sign on Heath Road, adjacent to Linton Park School. The school had been advised to ask for the relevant planning condition to be removed but thiswould come before MBC’s planning commi�ee for decision. Trees The BoughtonMonchelseaAmenity Trust have no current plans to reduce the height of the poplar trees on the edge of the landscaping strip at Pested Bars Road. Allotments Itwas proposed to reduce the plot numbers at the allotments. Ninewere vacant and therewas nowaiting list, so the council agreed to shut the vacant ones down and ask two other holderswhose were near to thosewould be prepared to move in order to shut off thewhole area. Village hall In his role as borough councillor, CllrMunford had called a meetingwith the chairman of the village hall commi�ee regarding future development of the hall,with a plan required in order to secure future section 106monies fromdevelopers. Reservoir update Cllr Herrin noted it had been a year since the Parkwood Farm reservoir remedialworkwas completed. Monthly inspectionswould need to continue and Cllrs Edmans and Redfearn agreed to take over the responsibility. Speed limits The council’s independent traffic consultant explained that KCC would be very unlikely to support a speed limit reduction on Heath Road but that 20mphmay be possible in the heart of the village and on the Joywood development, with parish council funding. The first steps would be to carry out speed surveys, followed by consultationwith residents. It was agreed to spend up to £4,000 on the surveys.A project, Twenty’s Plenty in BoughtonMonchelsea, has been set up.
Broomfield & Kingswood
Councillor co-option Therewere no requests for an election afterMike Lovell’s resignation.MichaelDarling declared an interest in being co-opted to the council. The necessary paperworkwas completed and CllrDarlingwaswelcomed and invited to join themeeting. Sports FieldMembers of the sports field commi�ee recommended the installation of
32 Maidstone Weald January 2018
aMulti-UseGamesArea (MUGA),which was approved by
councillors.Match funding to £10,000was agreed at aHeritage, Culture and Leisure Commi�eemeeting inOctober, butMBCwould not advicewhen thiswould be available for application. Community Centre Itwas agreed to forma commi�eewith delegated responsibility to discuss issues such as the pre-school extension and parish council office.
Chart Su�on War remembranceMembers discussed the
Three Su�ons and British Legion Branch joint commemorations for 2018. Initially a representative fromeach parishwas to meet in the newyear to discuss plans further and Cllr Underdownwas nominated to represent Chart Su�on. HGV signA quote for £77 had been received fromKent Highways to erect a new‘Unsuitable for HGVs’ sign at the Su�on Valence crossroads to prevent HGVs fromentering Chart
Road.After discussion, itwas agreed to accept the quote subject to approval fromSu�on Valence parish council. Flooding Cllr Forknall reported on flooding outsideMarshalls Place due to blocked drains and gullies and asked the clerk to report this to Kent Highways. Bus group Cllr Fi�gerald had a�ended the East ofMaidstone Bus Groupmeetingwith Cllr Underdown.A consultationwas due early in 2018,with a deadline of the end of March, although KCC’s budgetwas to be set in February. Services Cllr Fi�gerald advised that the Parish Services Scheme figureswould not be available untilmid-January, but that the parishes have been advised to expect a modest reduction.
Coxheath
Budget decision Coxheath Parish Council has set its budget for 2018/19, resulting in an increased precept of £77,500. Once the tax base is advised it is anticipated that the increasewill translate into an additional charge of approximately £2.70 per annum, per Band ‘D’ property. Youth club The newyouth club,which meets everyWednesday evening in the Small Hall at Coxheath Village Hall is moving fromstrength to strength and now has 20 registeredmembers. Street nameAfter several exchanges of correspondence, it has been agreed that the newroad to be built on the Clockhouse Farmdevelopmentwill be named ‘St Lawrence Crescent’. Street lighting The council had concerns about the adequacy of street lighting in the vicinity of the pedestrian crossing to the west of the Coxheath village centre crossroads and is taking thema�er upwith Kent County Council Highways. Street furnitureA delegated budget of up to £5,000was agreed to enablework to start on the upgrading and refurbishment of street furniture in the village centre. Data protection The chairman and the clerkwere to a�end aworkshop on changes to legislation on data protection in January. Schoolmeet Four Parish Councillors, led by the chairman,met the newExecutive Head of the combined Loose and Coxheath Primary Schools in early December, to discuss future co-operation.
Housing developmentA small delegation of councillorswere tomeetwith representatives ofWesterhill Homes in January, to discuss aspects of the imminent housing development at Linden Farm.
East Farleigh
Defibrillator Itwas agreed that three members of the parish councilwould install the defibrillator at the Old School Hall as soon as possible. Village car park A resident had emailed to ask if double yellowlines could be painted either side of the car park entrance and members agreed that thiswas necessary for safety reasons. The land is the property of the parish council, so itwas agreed to research howbest to go about this. Highways issues Amembers’ grant had been applied for and £3,000was given towards the cost of purchasing amoveable Speed Indicator device,whichwould cost in excess of £7,000 for five posts. Members had found ten possible sites around the village,whichwould be presented to a KCC inspector for approval. Traffic calming Costings had been received fromKCC Highways and a figure of approximately £80,000would be required to install a 20mph limit and speed cushions in Lower Road fromFarleigh Forge to the end of the 30mph limit beyond Kilnbridge Close.A community loanwould be needed at a cost of approximately £4,000 a year. This could come out of the current Highways budget so therewould be no need for the precept to go up. Itwas unanimously agreed to apply for a loan, before consulting the village on the plans. Recreation ground The council had received two quotes for thinning out the trees around the recreation field. Two thirdswill be removed. The fence is also broken and children are ge�ing through andwill have to be replaced. Itwas agreed unanimously to gowith Ralph Stevens at a cost of £4,000 plus VAT, paid fromthe tree fund. Remembrance service The parish council had spoken to Peter Callway about themix up over refreshments in 2017 and it has been sorted out for 2018. Itwas agreed to try tomake the service amore special event, as it is the centenary of the end of WWI. However, itwas agreed to book the Old School Hall for Sunday November 11 as a preliminary step.
Headcorn Newmember SueWalkerwas co-opted on
to the parish council. Chris Sturdy,who received just one vote less,was asked to apply again as a positionwas expected shortly to become available. Caravans Councillors heard that anMBC enforcement officer hadmade several visits to the Hammerstreamsite and advised that the caravans on site had been dumped and were not connected up to any services. They are to be removed by the landowner and the enforcement officerwill keep watch on the site. Junction KCC advised thatwork on the Grigg Lane junctionwithWheeler Street and Oak Lane had been completed. However, the clerk agreed to look into confusion overwhat it hoped to achieve; KCC stating itwas to improve the visibility ‘splays’. Crossing The chair advised that KCC had
Parish Councils
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