A Meeting of Bishopsbourne Parish Council was held at the Conrad Hall on Tuesday, 21st May 2019 at 7.00pm.
Present: Cllr R Prestige – Chairman, Cllr L Jordan, Cllr D Tapley, Cllr K Martin, Cllr H Andrews & Mrs V McWilliams – Clerk.
New City Cllr Mike Sole was welcome, and 15 members of the public were present
The Clerk asked for nominations for the election of a Chairman. Cllr Jordan proposed Cllr Prestige, seconded by Cllr Tapley. There were no other nominations and Cllr Prestige was unanimously re-elected. Cllr Prestige then proposed Cllr Jordan as Vice-chair, seconded by Cllr Andrews. Cllr Jordan was unanimously elected.
COUNCILLORS’ REPORTS
Cllr Michael Northey was unable to attend, but sent the following report
KCC Highways is preparing a Highways Improvement Plan for each parish.
In early February Highways announced an ambitious plan to clear vegetation from Kent’s footpaths and along highways. There are plans to employ more highways inspectors.
Five new drainage engineers and a planned team leader have been recruited to help tackle flood risks. They will be looking after the vast numbers of drains in Kent. KCC includes round 250,000 roadside drains, 250 ponds and lagoons, 25 pumping stations and 8,500 soak ways. These numbers are constantly increasing, because of new housing developments. We are still asked to report any issues on the website.
Regarding Brexit, £33.48 million has been invested in Kent to help improve roads for any eventuality. Of this £10 million has gone on pothole and foot-way repairs, £15m on carriageway renewal with low noise surfacing, over 5,000 gullies repaired, lagoons and soak-aways cleared; with hard cut of vegetation and clearing of verges. Manston is being resurfaced to take possible demand to park lorries.
On 5 April 2019 KCC announced that the collection of 3,000 handwritten parish registers held at Maidstone has gone online for the first time. More than 2.6 million fully indexed baptisms wedding banns, marriage and burial records spanning more than 400 years of Kent history are now available to search online exclusively. To find out more visit: https://www.kentarchives.org.uk People will be able to track their family history in an exciting and accessible manner. This is part of a partnership between Findmypast and KCC Archives.
- APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Michael Northey sent his apologies as he had a previous engagement
- 2. MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING
The minutes of the meeting held on Tuesday 5th March 2019 were approved and signed by the Chairman. Proposed by Cllr Jordan seconded by Cllr Tapley
- MEMBERS’ INTERESTS
No notification by members was given of any pecuniary or personal interest in items on the Agenda
- MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES
There were no matters arising.
- FINANCE
Lloyds Bank £15,630.63
Monies in
Precept £7,000.00
Concurrent Funding £1,881.95 (NB: I have not received the May statement yet so it’s not showing)
Monies out
Val McWilliams Clerk Salary £210.00 +Office maintenance £80.00 Total £290.00
Came & Company Insurance £694.10
MFW Payroll £170.00 +VAT £34.00 Total £204.10
St Mary’s Church donation following litter pick £30.00
KALC Subscription (£135.40 + VAT £27.08) Total 162.48
AJL Garden Services Grass Cutting Neame Meadow x 2 Strimming Church yard x 2 Total £240
CPRE Subscription S/O £36.00
AVM Expenses (to follow)
TOTAL £1,656. 68
Agreement to approve payment of the expenses due was proposed by Cllr Jordan and seconded by Cllr Tapley.
The Clerk presented the accounts which had been audited by the Internal Auditor. The Council approved the accounts which the Chair and Clerk then signed.
As the Council’s annual income is below £25,000, we are entitled to apply for a Certificate of Exemption. The annual gross income amounted to £9,517.00 and the gross expenditure was £8,471.00. The Chair and Clerk signed the form which the Clerk will forward to the Audit Commission. Proposed by Cllr Tapley seconded by Cllr Jordan
The End of Year Finances will now be placed on the noticeboards and on the website once it is fully functional.
It was agreed that the Clerk would contact the bank in order to register Cllr Martin and Cllr Andrews as new signatories.
- 6. PLANNING
19/00466 Proposed two-storey extension,
1 Flint Cottage, Bourne Park Road. Bishopsbourne CT4 5BJ Withdrawn
- NEAME MEADOW
Moles had appeared on the meadow again. RDR Pest Control have been back and treated
them. They will inspect the area again in a couple of weeks to check that they have not returned.
The broken fencing running along Neame Meadow has still not been repaired. The Clerk will chase Jamie Cole again and ask him to get back with a quote to repair it.
CCC are still waiting to install a new bin for the playing field and remove the two existing ones. The Clerk has spoken to CCC who assure her that it will be done shortly
- PLACEMENT OF WASTE BASKET
The Clerk has contacted CCC regarding the new bin, they have agreed to place it by the tree in front of the church. They will be responsible for emptying and maintaining it Sadly, it still has not been put in place. The Clerk will chase CCC.
The Clerk has spoken to Vanessa Macdonald who has agreed to meet with the Chairman and Clerk to consider putting a bin somewhere near the Tadpole tearoom and the Farm Shop.
- WEBSITE
Cllr Jordan is working on the new website and it is hoped to have it fully installed and running fairly soon.
- CORRESPONDENCE
Fly Red Ensign for Merchant Navy Day 3rd Sept 2019
HAGS Spring Offers 2019
Clerks & Councils Direct – May 2019
Countryside Voice Spring 2019
Emails sent to all
01/04: NALC Chief Executive’s Bulletin
01/04: NALC Annual Conference and Exhibitionn28/29 October 2019 Milton Keynes
01/04: KALC Social Media and communication Networking Event 22 June 2019 Langton Green
03/04: Kent Police – Rural Matters magazine and Rural Liaison Team Report
04/04: NALC Newsletter
10/04: NALC Newsletter
13/04: CPRE Campaigns – Celebrating 70 years of our National Parks
15/04: Kent Tree and Pond Wardens
16/04: NALC Chief Executive’s Bulletin
18/04: NALC Chief Executive’s Bulletin
18/04: Action with Communities in Rural Kent – newsletter
24/04: KCC Trading Standards – ALERT
24/04: KALC National CSSC Green Message
24/04: KALC National CSSC Green Message – UK Protect
26/04: KALC News – April 2019
26/04: NALC Chief Executive’s Bulletin
01/05: KALC – Community-Led housing and Self-Build Conference 2019
02/05: KALC – KCC Trading Standards ALERT – Doorstep Cold Callers
02/05: Came and Company – Council Matters Spring 2019
02/05: Came and Company – Introduction to Kevin Millard (Kent Region rep)
07/05: NALC Chief Executive’s Bulletin
07/05: TOWN and PARISH Councils: VE DAY 75 – 8TH MAY 2020
14/05 KCC Household waste recycling centre
16/05 Notes on Neighbourhood Planning
17/05 6/05 NALC Chief Executive’s Bull
All correspondence has been circulated and the necessary action taken.
It was agreed that we should try to do something for VE Day 8-10 May 2020. It will be fully discussed nearer the time. The Clerk will inform the organisers that we are registering an interest in arranging something
- COUNCILLORS’ RESPOSIBILITIES
There was nothing to report on responsibilities. It was agreed to leave distribution of Councillors responsibilities until the July meeting.
12 ANY OTHER BUSINESS.
Cllr Prestige agreed to try to find someone to refurbish the signpost by the church as Jamie Cole does not have the time to do it.
A resident mentioned the overhanging rose bushes at the top of Station Hill. The Council will approach the owner asking them if they could cut them back once they had stopped flowering.
There were complaints about the state of the drains at the bottom of Frog Lane and Station Hill. The Chairman assured them that the Parish Council kept a close eye on all the drains and made sure they were regularly cleaned out.
A resident enquired how many meetings the Parish Council held each year. He was told the Council met every two months which totalled six meetings plus and Annual Village Meeting in May. The council would call an Extraordinary meeting to deal with any urgent business.
The Litter Pick on Saturday 13 April at 10am was very successful. The helpers enjoyed coffee in the Conrad Hall afterwards. The Council sent a donation of £30 to the Church
to cover the cost.
- NEXT MEETING The next Parish Council meeting will be held on Tuesday, 2nd July at 7.30pm in The Conrad Hall
The meeting closed at 7.20pm. It was followed by the AVM at 7.45pm