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TILMANSTONE PARISH COUNCIL
MEETING 21ST FEBRUARY 2006.
Present:
Cllr S Bermingham (Chair)
Cllr P Court
Cllr A Barter
DDC Cllr S Manion
2 Members of the public.
J Peskett (Clerk).
1. Apologies. Cllr Overy, Cllr Finn-Holden and DDC Cllr N Kenton.
2. Minutes of previous meeting. The minutes of the previous meeting were agreed. Proposed Cllr
Court, Seconded Cllr Barter. They were then signed by Cllr Bermingham.
3. Declarations of Interest . None.
4. Matters Arising:
a. Quote for removal of dead tree by The Historic Notice Board. Teasels have quoted
£100 to do the work excluding removing the tree and B Jones £100 to do all the
work. It was agreed to accept B. Jones’s quote. Proposed Cllr Barter, Seconded Cllr
Court. Cllr Bermingham will contact both parties.
b. Letter box at Lower Street. In hand.
c. Glebeland footpath. Both the Clerks letter to Mr Collins and his reply were read
out. At the moment the path is kept to the minimum standard and the Parish
Council are contemplating re questing a grant to improve it above the minimum
standard. The Clerk is to write to Mr Collins asking for his approval to establish
what could be done and at what cost to improve the standard. A copy of Mr Collins
letter is to be sent to Melvyn Twycross at the East Kent Public Rights of Way Office.
d. EE398. Change of use from footpath to bridleway at Vicarage Lane. An e mail
received from Laura Mortlock (The senior public rights of way officer) was read
out, explaining that the correspondence for the PC on this issue was sent to the
previous Clerk by mistake. The case was investigated in 2002 and TPC were
consulted. An order to upgrade the footpath was declined at that time. An appeal
was submitted and the Secretary of State directed that an order be made. Since then
two objections have been received. The issue will be resolved by the Planning
Inspectorate, probably by way of a Hearing or Public Inquiry. The PC will be kept
informed of the progress. A long discussion ensued during which Mr Bate showed
the Cllrs some maps and letters explaining how the issue had evolved. He will
photocopy the letters and make some notices for the landowner to give out to horse
riders. Cllr Bermingham agreed to meet with Mr Bate outside the meeting to look at
previous ‘witness statements’. It was agreed that all the Cllrs at tonight’s meeting do
not currently object to the upgrade. The Clerk will write to Laura Mortlock asking
to be advised of the date of any further hearing.
5. Parish Appraisal. Cllr Bermingham has applied to Defra for a grant of £1173.52 to help pay
the cost of producing a Parish Plan. She is proposing that meeting take place with Parishioners
and that there be an open day possibly in June when the Appraisal questionnaire’s have been
analysed, so the Plan can be compiled.
6. Playground.
a. Update. Quotes are to be obtained for improving the access to the ground from Paul
King Groundworks and Capel Groundworks. A quote is also to be obtained to
completely revamp the playground. RSS have been approached to do this. It was
however agreed that the replacement of bark and the repair of the border for the
bark is to be done ASAP as a separate issue. Proposed Cllr Barter, seconded Cllr
Court. It is likely that the ground will be too wet in the immediate future for RSS
(who gave the cheapest quote for the bark) to get their heavy plant in the
playground.
b. Consideration of a new approach to Dr. Hof to sell the PC a piece of land. It was
agreed that a further letter be sent to Dr. Hof’s Agent .
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c.
A letter from RoSPA re legal action against person sending out wrong information
was read out.
7. Highways Update. No new issues.
8. Planning. None.
9. Correspondence.
a. Kent Highway Services have advised that under the County Lengsthmen scheme
items affecting highways will be done as a priority. All other items will hopefully be
done on the 6 monthly inspections.
b. Public Rights of Way. Annual Liaison Meeting.6.3.06. Cllr Bermingham will attend.
c. Senior Citizens Forum. Questionnaire. To be passed to the editor of the Village
Magazine.
d. KCC. Dover Local Board Meeting 7.2.06. No-one attended.
e. DDc. Standards Board Meeting 8.2.06. No-one attended.
f. Walmer Parish Council. One copy of The Design statement for Walmer is available
free of charge to the Parish. It was agreed to get a copy. Cllr Manion will ‘introduce’
TPC to Sutton PC with a view to having a joint meeting about Parish Appraisals
and Plans.
g. Standards Committee meeting 1st March 2006. No-one can attend.
For Circulation:
a. Public Sector Magazine. January 2006.
b. Rural Housing Trust. Feedback from meeting on 17.1.06 and ‘How Parish Councils
can provide affordable housing’ booklet.
c. DDC Budget consultation 2006/7.
d. Literature on youth shelters and plants for public places.
e. KCC. Kent waste exhibition unit.
f. Early years and childcare magazine.
g. KCC. Licenses for tables and chairs on the public highway.
h. Kent CAN. Information leaflet.
i. ACRK. Rural news.
j. DDC. Close to home. January 2006.
k. Kent Police. The Relay February 2006.
l. KAPC Parish News (copied to all Cllrs).
m. KAPC minutes of meeting 26.1.06.
n. The Playing Field Newsletter.
o. Whitfield Action Group update.
p. East Kent Coastal Teaching Primary Care Trust…Improving health and delivering
high standards of care.
10. Finance
Approval of payments.
a. Audit Commission.
£141.00
2005 Audit.
b. J Peskett
£231.84
Clerks salary and expenses
Proposed Cller Bermingham. Seconded Cllr Court.
Other Matters.
a. Increase in hourly rates for Parish Clerks from 1st April 2006 agreed. Proposed Cllr
Court. Seconded Cllr Bermingham
b. One application has been received for the position of Parish Clerk and it was agreed
that Mrs Sam King should take over from Jan as from 1 st June 2006. She will be
paid for 3 hours weekly during training (more if required). Proposed Cllr P Court.
Seconded Cllr S Bermingham
11. Report from Dover District Council.
a. The DDC Council Tax is to be increased just below 5%. Restructuring has enabled
DDC to balance their budget.
b. There is to be a restructuring of Local Government with the possibility of a Unitary
Authority. There will probably be no elections in 2007, a Shadow Authority in 2008
and a handover in 2009.
c. In the Local Development Framework, DDC is proposing that about 6000 new
homes will be built over the next 20 years which equates to only 300 per annum.
This year 269 new houses were built. There is more single occupancy thus more
homes are needed.
d. The TPC Web page has been linked to DDC and Cllr Manion’s web sites.
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Cllr Manion’s son gave a very informative talk about the Dover Youth Forum. A
leaflet has been designed to show what is on offer and this will be displayed on the
Village Notice Boards. They are also running a safety campaign to ensure that young
people are aware of dangers.
12. Parish Footpath Map. It was agreed that this should be put on the land that is to be cleared
by the Historic Notice Board at the Church. A large board with wooden posts will be ordered.
13. Danefield LDF. As this is such a contentious area discussions took place on whether the
owner should be contacted to see if they want it included in the Local Development Framework.
It was agreed that no action be taken at the moment but it will be reviewed in three months time.
14. Clean up days. There are willing volunteers to pick up large items of rubbish in the Village. It
was agreed that the Clerk write to DDC to see if they would waive the fees for a licensed tipper
truck to dispose of these items at the local tip.
15. Any Other Business.
a. Date of AGM. 24th April 2006.
b. Cllr Bermingham asked if TPC would fund her going on a Chairmanship training
day at a cost of £45 plus £7.88 VAT. This was agreed. Proposed Cllr Court.
Seconded Cllr Barter. A cheque was duly issued.
c. A letter was received from Cllr Finn-Holden resigning from the Parish Council. A
casual vacancy notice will be displayed and an article put in the Village Magazine.
Cllr Finn-Holden was thanked for all her input.
16. Date of next meeting. 20th March 2006.
e.
The meeting finished at 9.50pm.