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Roadmarkings County Councillor Sarah Hohler advised that the slowmarkings and pedestrian in road signs onWoodgate Roadwere due to be installed. She also suggested that lowering speed limits on country lanes can often have an adverse effect as pedestrians can think it is safe to walk on such roads. Defibrillator Both of the defibrillators had been checked, and the clerkwas asked to source two newsigns for the BT box at the Jet garage. Play equipment Cllr Robinson reported that the recreation ground commi�eewere looking at fundraising and grants for the replacement equipment. The commi�ee have also received a kind offer of support fromthe Bridge Club for a small project, with replacing the hand driers in the toilets one of the projects being considered. Footbridgeworks Solicitorswere still in the process of investigating the legalities involved in the reinstatement of the footbridge over theM20. The solicitors for the parish councilwere stillwaiting for the amended license and transfer deed from the solicitors forHighways England. Dark Skies The clerkwaswaiting to hear what support and advice the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) could offer to advise Tonbridge &Malling Borough Council (TMBC) to put in place policies in the newLocal Panwith respect to external lighting, particularly in rural areas. The clerkwas asked to followupwith TMBC councillorMike Taylor,who is also on the CPRE board. Tree contest Itwas agreed after a suggestion by Cllr Robinson that the clerk should request aweeping beech tree as the prize for the KentMen of Trees’ Trees in the Village Competition. Itwill be planted in the recreation ground. Smartmotorway The clerk had been advised that the joint venture developers, who are constructing the smartmotorway between junctions 3 and 5 of theM20were happy to present the scheme to the parish council and provide updates on theworks, key dates and trafficmanagement. Churchyard donation It had previously been agreed to reviewfinances early this year to see if a donation could bemade to StMargaret’s PCC towards the maintenance of the churchyard, following TMBCwithdrawing the S136 grant last year. Itwas agreed that the councilwould make a donation of £1,000.
Leybourne
Police latest The PCSO had been invited to the parish office andwas to be invited to the next councilmeeting. Consultations The clerkwas to send data on the bus route consultation by Cllr Mearns toArriva. TMBC had been emailed for further information on Public Space Protection Orders,while allmemberswere sent the consultation on the pharmacy. County report CllrHohler thanked the council for their replies to budget
consultation.Website reporting had increased 36%over the past five years. After an update on the Ryarsh sandpit
30 Malling March 2018
plans, itwas suggested that the council take part in consultation. CllrHogwood asked if therewas any update on the adoption ofHawley Drive, towhich Cllr Hohler said shewould reviewthe information and update the council. Borough update Cllr Luck said that parking prices inWestMallingwere under consultation and the pricemay go up 10p an hour. Cllr Luker said that panel members had reported that traveller’s issues in East Kent had increased by 80%, while ameeting regarding the benefits of the smartmotorway on theM20was being held by the contractor. Budget The third and final draft of the budget fromthe finance commi�eewas agreed. Itwas also agreed to not increase the precept. Lengthsman Therewas a long discussion regarding Cllr Compton’s proposal that the council employ its own lengthsman. Cllr Compton felt that the current standard of maintenance by TMBC needed to be seriously improved upon and the bestway to do thatwould be for the council to take charge of it for
themselves.As a charge is already paid to TMBC, itwas agreed that Cllr Comptonmeetwith TMBC to explore the possibility of retrieving some of the money in order to pursue the proposal. VillageHallA specialmeetingwas agreed to reviewthe hall hire fees, income and costings. Open SpacesWorkwas due to start on the bund project as part of Project Leybourne. TMBCwere to send an invoice for the council’s contribution. Cllr Luker and Cllr Russellwere thanked for their assistance in themeetings regarding the project. The Chase CllrHogwood gave an update fromthe Leybourne Chase Residents Association. The community centre is now open for businesses. There had been a couple of accidents on theA20 fromthe Chase and residents had been told to email KCC to try and get changesmade to the road layout. Outdoor gymAn application for planning was beingmade by the parish clerk.A revised lease had been drawn up by KCC.
O�am
Borough latest The councilwere told by CllrMa�hewBalfour that plannerswere working hard to dealwith the seemingly arbitrary increase in houses put forward by central government. Therewas a discussion about blocks of housing in the Local Plan, and quarries. The TMBC budgetwas shortly to be decidedwith some difficult decisions having to bemade - but frontline services are not going to be severely affected. Granite se�s The council reported that there had beenmore problemswith the granite se�s thanwere anticipated. There are remedialworks before the resurfacing at the end of the scheme and itwill be reviewed in a year. There have beenmixed reviews to the scheme but themajority viewwas that itwillwork - Cllr Frankling is reasonably confident that the overall effectwill be positive for the village. Orchard Place Cllr Balfourwas askedwhy
the council’s objection to the planning application for Orchard Placewas not passed to the commi�ee. Cllr Balfourwas sorry but had no recollection of seeing the email, so the clerkwas asked to forward a copy. The council’smain concern is that the entrance iswhere children access the playing field. Police presence InspectorMaxineMartin had sent an email regarding police and PCSO a�endance at parish council meetings, inwhich she said theywill aspire to a�end onemeeting every threemonths. African Lodge CllrWilliams had a�ended the licensing hearing into theAfrican Lodge andMarquee at Kentfield Farm. Therewere 57 responses to the application and only one in support. The licencewas granted butwith a number of conditions, including that noisewill be inaudible, the councilwill be given 14 days’ notice of any bookings and only 28 events can be planned a year. Street parking TMBC’s consultation over on-street parking fees and charges had been seen by councillors,whowere able to respond online. Data protection The clerk had a�ended a General Data Protection Regulations workshop run by the KentAssociation of Local Councils (KALC) and Satswana. She reported back and itwas agreed that the clerk contact Satswana to act as the Data Protection Officer. Remedialworks Cllr Frankling gave a summary of the remedialworks being undertaken.When completed theywill resurfacewith amicrochip spray that is more robust but this could not be done until theweather improved.A year after that, theywill come back to do any further remedial and snaggingworks. Slip injuryA resident had slipped on paving stones by the village green and breaking herwrist on January 31. It had been extremelywet that day. The clerkwas asked to contact the resident to send the council’s regards and find out exactly where she fell to report to KCCHighways. Gates The gates had been installed and Cllr Oliverwanted to order the cherry tree for themain gate on the Quintain side of the green, so the clerkwas to forward the details for this fromKMOTT. The council will discuss planting for the other gates. Awards The councillors agreed the recipients of the two Parish Council CommunityAwards. Parish projects Thewell still needed to be done but the duckhouse had been refurbished andwill be put back inwarmer weather. Parishworks CllrMarchantwas to take down the hedge by the play area and Cllr Williams had purchased five laurel bushes to go into the gap. Therewas a broken bench in Cosgrave Field,while the bin there had rubbish in itwith a September date, so the clerkwas to contact TMBC to arrange for it to be emptied. CllrMarchant was also asked to put something in the grass by the car park, perhaps stones or logs, to stop people parking on it. The solar Speedwatch signwasn’t flashing so itwas suggested itmight need cleaning. Village hall A total of £414.10was raised at
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