downsmail.co.uk Boughton Malherbe


Annual meeting The clerk was to place a notice on the website regarding the cancellation of the AGM. Finance The following account balances were noted: Nat West £2,703.89; Nationwide £25,457.97; Cambridge and Counties £86,748.22. The MBC precept of £5,581.32 had been received. Traffic calming It was agreed, in principle, that the revised scheme previously circulated was now the preferred scheme. It was further agreed to submit the preferred scheme to KCC for approval and costing. . Councillor vacancies It was agreed to place a notice on the noticeboard and the website inviting residents to request a by- election. If such a request is made, an election would take place in May 2021. If no request was made, the clerk would start the co-option process.


Boughton Monchelsea


Elected officers Cllr Ellis nominated Cllr Munford as chairman, seconded by Cllr Smith. It was unanimously agreed that Cllr Munford take on the role for the next year. Cllr Munford nominated Cllr Ellis as vice- chairman. This was seconded by Cllr Martin and agreed by all members. Cllr Munford took over as meeting chair. Police report There had been six reported crimes in March and April: five in south ward and one in north ward. South ward crimes were three incidents of theft, one of criminal damage and a shed break-in. The crime in north ward was criminal damage to a vehicle. Wildflower meadow The contractor had been instructed to proceed work on the meadow at Furfield Park before the Covid- 19 crisis, but the work was on hold due to the number of walkers using the area. Work could be delayed until 2021. Dog waste Due to the increased number of dog walkers during lockdown it was necessary to increase the frequency of dog bin emptying from fortnightly to weekly. This would revert back to normal once people returned to work and the number of walkers decreased. Bus shelter grant KCC had notified parishes of a further bus shelter grant scheme, whereby councils were able to apply for match funding, covering up to 50% of the cost of a new or replacement shelter, to a maximum value of £3,000. It was agreed not to make any application this year. It was noted that the bus stop at Marlpit did not fit with KCC’s grant criteria in that there was no kerbing. It was agreed that this should be discussed with KCC at the next highways meeting, with a request for improvement works. Neighbourhood Plan The process was on hold due to Covid-19 but the plan had been submied to MBC for formal consultation and consideration by the independent examiner. Village hall Cllr Edmans said the commiee was reviewing the refurbishment work and Cllr Gershon


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noted that the commiee had been doing a good job reducing costs and looking after the hall during the Covid-19 crisis. Bus group Cllr Whybrow said residents needed to give feedback to KCC on the trial bus service. Under normal circumstances, the trial should run for at least a year. Grants The following grants were agreed: Brownies, £200; Friendship Circle, £300; Scouts, £300; baby and toddler group, £200; Helping Hands, £300; bowls club, up to £250; community choir £300; Regency Dancers, £250; WI, £300; St Peter’s Church, £2,500 towards grass cuing; Royal British Legion, £350; Salvation Army, £350; Furfield Park open space group, £400. Parkwood Farm reservoir Cllr Edmans was to prepare a report following contact with the Environment Agency. Cllr Munford said advice should be sought from Black & Veatch, if required. Village sign Cllr Gershon had produced a report which had been distributed to members. Cllr Gershon added that it was unlikely the sign could be saved. Cllr Munford suggested that the last time the sign had been taken down around eight years ago, parishioners had been upset at its removal. He asked whether now was the right time to remove the sign. He suggested that whichever design and material was taken forward, electronic imagery should also be captured, for use by the parish council into the future. It was agreed that Cllr Gershon would take the project forward and report back. Covid-19 support Cllr Munford gave an overview of the parish council’s Covid-19 support scheme. He said £1,875 in grant money had been received (£1,500 from KCC and £375 from MBC). Clerk’s work Cllr Munford noted that the clerk had carried out many additional hours work between mid March and the end of April. It was agreed to pay the clerk for a total of 40 hours per week during these weeks. Furfield Quarry It was agreed that the clerk would set up a remote meeting with MBC and the Skinner Trust and that BMAT trustees, Mr Humphryes and Mr Martin should aend. Tree planting Cllr Humphryes was expecting the last of the Salts Wood tree planting quotes. Cllr Munford thanked Cllrs Humphryes and Martin for their hard work to date. Newsleer The clerk and members thanked Cllr Date for his work in producing the latest newsleer. Cllr Munford noted that adverts for local businesses affected by Covid-19 had been included free of charge.


East Farleigh


Community Help Group The CHG had helped 28 people during the Covid-19 crisis. Some parishioners had now made their own arrangements. Rubbish Lier on Dean Street had been picked up by Pearsons. Cllr Charlton was to follow up on the removal of a dead badger on Dean Street. Fly-tipping had been reported on Gallants Lane – Cllr


Hussein was to make a formal report. Donations It was agreed to double the budget for 2020/21 donations as they had been missed off the last agenda. The following payments were approved: Farleigh’s WI, £100; East Farleigh Brownies, £100; Kent Air Ambulance, £100; East Farleigh Pre-School, £100; West Farleigh Youth Football Club, £100; Heart of Kent Hospice, £100; Porchlight, £100; Kenward Trust, £50; Blackthorn Trust, £50. Social media It was agreed that the clerk should be the responsible officer regarding administration on social media.


Leybourne


Chairman and commiees It was unanimously agreed to continue with commiees as they were,with the addition of a Village Hall Covid commiee. Audit Cllr Wagstaff thanked the office team for their work. The finance commiee would need to meet to determine budget impacts due to loss of income, however all expenditure has been reviewed and stopped to ensure minimum spend. The Chase There had been reports of a bridle path being put in – there would be an investigatioin to determine permission. The trim trail had been removed temporarily due to cleaning issues and would be resited once it was safe to do so. Leybourne Linkline Cllr Banks said the project was going well, the volunteers were coping with requests, which were mostly shopping and prescription pick-ups. Linkline had set up a food bank drop-off at the Church.


Ryarsh


Highways Vegetation had grown around the streetlight outside Godfreys. The footpath from the business unit by the Oast House was said to be overgrown and impassable. This had been reported before. Village hall Cllr Storey said the hall had received a £10,000 grant from TMBC. It had lost all income from bookings and had no hirings. It was not known when hirings would return. In the meantime the hall had been given a deep clean. Parish property Cllr Storey regularly checked the Resource Room and a £5 note had been left which was donated to the Village Hall maintenance fund. The defibrillator is working okay. There were no other issues.


Yalding


Officers elected Cllr Geraldine Brown was re-elected as chairman. Andy Sanders was re-elected as vice-chairman. Flooding The chairman briefed the meeting about discussions with MBC with regard to the relocation of the sub-station at Lyngs Farm House to Lyngs Close. She had asked Mark Green at MBC for his help in moving this forward more quickly. As this is a community resilience project, MBC would absorb the professional fees.


Parish Councils


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