The monthly Meeting of the Parish Council took place on
Thursday 6th August at the Village Hall where 6 Councillors were
present and 9 members of the public including Ward Cllrs Wright and Baldock.
Minutes
of the meeting held on 4th June 2015 – Amendments
to the minutes were made and it was proposed by Cllr Tucker and seconded by Cllr
Lewin that they be accepted as a true record. All agreed.
Public
Time– Planning - A resident raised
the issue of a new planning application being submitted for Moor Street
following the former application being turned down. The resident asked that as
the application had purely been reduced from 300 to 290 proposed dwellings the
Council comment in the same vain as to the original application. Planning – A
resident advised the meeting that his own application 15/505703/Full –
Greenacres, is not correct in its current form and was advised by Cllr Lewin to
advise Swale Planning of the amendments at which point the Parish Council would
review the application. Cllr Tucker
reported that there is a certain amount of confusion over the Greenacres
application as there appear to be two separate sites both of which are being
called Greenacres and that the enforcement notices shown on Swale Planning
appear to relate to the other site and not this one. The Clerk will contact
Swale Planning to request clarification. Planning – A resident enquired
as to whether there are any updates on the Jubilee Fields application, Cllr
Tucker reported that no updates had been received but that a strong letter of
objection had been submitted to Swale Planning by Gordon Henderson and could be
seen online. Road Sweeping – A resident raised concerns regarding the
amount of litter on the verges around the village and asked if the Parish Council
still employed a road sweeper, Cllr Tucker reported that unfortunately there
had been no interest in the role and that the village caretaker looks after the
parts of the village that the Parish Council are responsible for. The Clerk
reported that both she and Cllr Lewin had reported the issues of litter to
Swale Borough Council and a litter pick had been requested. Cllr Tucker advised
that residents can themselves request litter picks through the Swale Borough
Council customer services line. Reduction in Bus Service - A resident
reported that there had been notification from Chalkwell that the bus service
will be greatly reduced and asked if the Parish Council would be acting on
this. Cllr Tucker advised that the Clerk would be writing to Chalkwell and KCC
and asked also that the resident forward any details they had to the Clerk to
assist her with the relevant information. Ward Cllr Wright said he would also
pursue this matter. Parking around the School – Ward Cllr Wright advised
that following the presence of Enforcement Officers the parking around the
school had greatly improved and asked that residents contact either himself or
Cllr Lewin if the need for them arises again in the future. Localism Fund – Ward
Cllr Wright advised that any community projects looking for funding could apply
to him for the Localism Fund.
Correspondence – Village Centre Traffic – A letter had been received by the
Clerk regarding concerns with the speed of traffic through the village. It was
agreed that Cllr Horton would work with Upchurch Matters to educate residents
regarding the potential hazards of speeding. Cllr Tucker advised that the speed
watch equipment is available if residents would like to assist with this. A
discussion took place regarding the speed limits throughout the village but it
was agreed that nothing could be done to alter these as limits are decided by
law and not individual Council’s. Planting on the corner opposite Snaffles –
The Clerk had received a letter from the owner of Snaffles asking
permission to plant the corner of the Paddock opposite their shop. The Council
gave consent for this area to be planted upon agreement from the landowners to
the Clerk.
Planning – 15/50570/FULL – Greenacres, Holywell
Lane, Upchurch – The
Council will await the amendment notification before commenting on this
application. 15/504919/FULL – 104 Beckenham Park – The Council can see
no reason to object to this application. 15/505680/FULL – Orchard Close,
Poot Lane – The Council could see no reason to object to this application
other than to comment that the current design is not in keeping with the rural
location. MC/15/2731 – Land North of Moor Street Rainham – The Council
will be objecting to this application as per the previous application submitted
with regards to the local infrastructure.
Other
Planning Matters – 15/500491/OPDEV- 2 Greenacres, Holywell Lane– Cllr Lewin reported that an
enforcement notice had been put in place and that the applicant is appealing
against this.
Finance – A Finance Committee is to be formed
in order to prepare next year’s budgets and to address the unbudgeted spend,
the Village Hall, election funds and to project future spending for each of the
Parish’s areas.
Defibrillator – The Clerk advised that she had
received the defibrillator and this is being stored until the W.I and Parish
Council have agreed the best place to site this. The defibrillator is insured
under the Council’s current insurance policy.
Allotments – Cllr Tucker updated the meeting on
the recent unauthorised allotments fire and confirmed that the plot holder is
pursuing this as an act of arson with the police following the substantial
damage to her property. The Council have no grounds to pursue this separately
with the police.
Recreation Ground – Bins - Cllr Rose reported that two bins had
been set alight in the Recreation ground causing damage that may result in the
Council having to purchase new bins. Ball games in the Paddock and
Recreation Ground – The Clerk reported that the insurance company had
confirmed that any unauthorised organised ball games are not insured under the
public liability clause of the policy. There is historically a bye law stating
that ball games are not allowed in the Paddock. Any requests for organised
groups to hold activities in the Paddock or the Recreation Ground should be
made directly to the Clerk. It was agreed that a sign should be placed at both
areas to inform groups of this. Benches for Recreation Ground – Costings
will be looked at by the Finance Committee with regards to replacing the
benches in the Recreation Ground
Bus Shelter – Cllr Masson reported that he is
awaiting a response from Swale Planning regarding the pre –planning meeting and
Cllr Tucker asked that the Clerk chase this due to the time limit on several
possible grants that the Council could apply for.
Burial Ground and Churchyard – Cllr Rose
submitted a proposal to the members to address the non-compliant graves with
regards to acceptable edgings. It was agreed that this should be progressed and
that the only acceptable edgings around a grave would be box hedging as it was
felt that this had the most natural look. The Clerk reported that she had been
contacting by letter the grave owners of non-compliant graves but had
unfortunately received several back as ‘no longer at this address’. The Clerk
and Cllr Rose will be meeting with the Burial Ground Gardener with a view to
addressing these graves. St Mary’s Church Clock – The Clerk reported
that the Annual service is due in August and will be arranged in order that
Cllr Masson and Cllr Horton can be present. Burial Ground steps update – The
Council have received a complaint regarding the uneven steps in the Burial
Ground and have obtained a quote for new steps, due to there currently being no
money in the budget for this it will be passed to the Finance Committee for
discussion and in the meantime the Clerk will arrange for a sign to be made to
advise of the uneven steps and pathway.
Tree Management Proposal – Cllr Tucker
submitted a proposal to map out the trees in and around the village in order
that a contractor can regularly check these and update the Clerk on any
necessary work that will be needed in the future, this will enable the Council
to budget for this yearly. It was agreed that this would be put out to tender.
Highways – Cllr Arnold reported that three street
lights are currently not working and in keeping with normal procedure he will
report these to the contractors once he is notified of a fourth.
Other Matters not yet arising – Village Hall– Cllr Tucker
reported that the Village Hall are currently looking into obtaining grants to
carry out works on the roof, heating system and its general appearance
following low bookings. Any assistance from residents would be gratefully received.
Casual Vacancies – The Clerk confirmed that she had received no
responses to the advertisement for casual vacancies within the Council. Village
Fete 2016 – Cllr Tucker reported that the Village Fete would take place on
18th June 2016.
Please
note the full Minutes from the Meeting can be seen on the Upchurch Parish
Council website.
The
next Parish Council Meeting will take place on 3rd September at
7.30pm in the Village Hall.
Julia Cura, Clerk to the Parish Council.
Tel: 01634 363906
Website: www.upchurchpc.kentparishes.gov.uk
