Chairman’s Report to the Annual Parish Meeting

The Annual Parish Meeting took place on April 26th.

The Parish Council

A warm welcome to all the residents who have come along tonight.

I am going to keep the Chairman’s report as brief as possible. You will see from the agenda that some topics of particular interest will be introduced by the Clerk or by fellow Councillors

There were only seven candidates for election to the Parish Council in May last year, who were elected unopposed.  The Council proceeded to co-opt two councillors by a process of advertisement and interview so that the Council could be brought up to its scheduled size of nine Councillors.

Sara Tucker and John Arnold were duly co-opted and are making a substantial contribution to the work of the Council.

Unfortunately Ina Bean has had to resign from the Council. and the process of co-opting a new member is under way.

Our Clerk, Claire Attaway continues to work with great energy on behalf of the Village. It has become apparent over the last year or so that the increase in formal paperwork that her role involves has meant that she has been working an excess of unpaid overtime. In view of this the Council has decided that the number of hours she is paid for every month should be raised to the level recommended by the National Association of Local Councils for a parish of the size of Upchurch.

Our Street Cleaner, Stan Jones retired during the year. Our thanks to Stan, for his work in the village. We were lucky to recruit a relative newcomer to the Village, Ian Letchford as his replacement and I am happy to say we think he is doing a very good job.

In addition to the Clerk and the Street Cleaner the Council employs a gardener, Elizabeth Walters, to tend the Burial Ground.

The Council normally meets on the first Thursday of the month at 7:30pm in Holywell School Hall. We do not meet in August. The first half hour is reserved for questions to the Council from residents. These public sessions are often well attended and some recent ones have been quite lively.

The Parish Council believes that its primary role is to help foster a spirit of community and maintain the rural character of the village.

The Parish Council has made considerable efforts to minimise its costs over the last three years. There has been no increase in the precept for the Parish council this year. We have managed to obtain grants from the KCC Local Engagement Fund,  £1000 towards set up costs for the Upchurch Farmers Market, £2500 towards repairs to the Recreation Ground Car Park, and £800 towards the repair of the Village Sign Post.

You might like to note that our PCSO Lauren McCall has moved on and our new PCSO is John Cork.

Aside from Parish Council Matters for a moment it is pleasing to report the Upchurch Matters Web Site has had a very successful first year with visits from nearly 8000 people from 69 countries. Well done!


Village Clean Up Day


Village Clean Up day has not been well supported by residents in recent years. Your suggestions on how it might be reenergised would be welcomed.


Land Management Responsibilities

Burial Ground

Our gardener, Liz Walters continues to help make the Burial Ground a peaceful and attractive setting. We have continued activity to check that gravestones and surrounds are maintained in a safe condition.

The Burial Ground is running out off space, We will be making some small alterations to free some more spaces, but we will soon have to investigate airing more land.


Closed Churchyard


The Churchyard wall has required little repair work last year. There is, however some water damage at the base of the brick sections that we hope to tackle this year.

We have a problem with the Conifers that run down the side and rear of the garage showroom, and now undermining the showroom structure. We have taken expert advice to confirm that removal off these trees is the responsibility of the Parish Council. The problem is made more complicated because the trees on the side of the garage are within the Conservation Area and will need planning Permission before they can be removed


Paddock


The major frustration for the Parish Council this year, as last, has been our inability to negotiate a new lease for the Paddock with the agent for the Church Commissioners. We have been working on the basis of the old lease for about five years but a new long lease is needed if we are to obtain grants for the improvements to the Paddock that Phil Newbery has suggested.

A great deal of the Clerk’s time has been spent chasing this lease and we have engaged a Solicitor to assist us. Councillor Lewin has now volunteered  to see if he can move the lease forward. His initiative in this matter is much welcomed.

We failed to obtain a KCC Local Engagement Grant to improve the play area last year but have been told that a renewed application this year should be looked on favourably


The Recreation Ground


We propose to erect a pair of five a side goal post the Rec. this year. It is hoped that this will attract youngsters form playing football in less suitable areas such as the Paddock. The Recreation Manager at Swale BC has been most helpful in advice about this matter.


Allotments


The allotments continue to be well used and we have plenty of people on the waiting list.


Planning Matters


Planning issues are initially dealt with by the Planning Application Review Team who often writes to Swale Borough Council before the whole Council has seen the papers, because a period of 21 days is allowed for responses. The Parish Council then reviews the response at the next meeting and when deemed necessary, we send a supplementary letter.

Pat New leads our Planning Application Review Team and we thank her for her work.

Bus users have been requesting a bus shelter in Horsham Lane for some years. Residents in Horsham Lane and the Street have objected because they are concerned that the shelter could form a centre for anti social behaviour. A sub group of the Parish Council are considering whether other facilities for village youth could reduce this risk


Highways


Parking problems still arise at the school at in and out time, and in the centre of the village.  We have consulted Swale BC, who are responsible for parking restrictions and you should have a copy of their proposal for restrictions.

The Parish Council would like your advice on these proposals and we will discuss them under General Parish Business. The Parish Council are unclear as to whether this proposal will lead to a genuine improvement. During the discussion please bear in mind that the current situation in the areas addressed by the proposal is dangerous for the young and very old.

John Arnold is now acts as our County Co-ordinator and sends a regular summary of road issues in Upchurch to the Highways Agency. He attempts to accelerate action when necessary.

Speedwatch coordination in Kent Police has been disrupted by their recent reorganisation to save costs. I expect to hear from the new contact shortly. Newington PC has expressed an interest in sharing the costs of the equipment with us.


Thank You


I would like to thank the Council’s staff Ian, Elizabeth and Claire for all their hard work, especially Claire who puts a lot of extra effort into her job.

Lastly I would like to thank my fellow Councillors for their efforts and for putting up with me!


John Catford - Chairman, Upchurch Parish Council
Tel: 01634 231326  Email: chair@upchurchpc.kentparishes.gov.uk
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