Notice Board

Friday 4th September - GAMES AFTERNOON at the Memorial Hall between 2:00pm and 4:00pm which includes Scrabble, Rummykub, Whist, Euchre and many more card and board games. We charge £1.50 for a cup of tea / coffee biscuits and a very warm welcome.

Visit: www.greenrockriverband.com to see and hear the Band in action.

Saturday 26th September the Memorial Hall are Delighted to Introduce you to "GREEN ROCK RIVER BAND" with their lively "Songs with Harmonies" and their "Jazz fused Trombone and Banjo". The evening will start at 7:00pm to 7:30pm. Phone Kay on: 01795 844408, for your £9.00 ticket. See you there.

Notes for your Diaries:-

Saturday 10th October the Memorial Hall is holding a Quiz Night with tables of 6. Tickets are £5.00 each, which includes a ploughman's type supper. The time is 7:00pm for 7:30pm. There is a bottle of wine for each winning team member. Please bring your own beverages for the evening.

Saturday 21st November the Memorial Hall is holding Lower Halstow's Winter Wonderland Market. We are supporting The PDSA animals Trust and Dream Flights for terminally ill Children. The Market opens at 10:00am with stalls including Cheeses, Cakes, Toys, and Indian Food. There will be displays every hour, for example a Sugar Craft display, and hopefully a Tai Chi display. The Market will be closing at 4:00pm with The Salvation Army Band playing carols for us all to join in with. A full itinerary will be in the next News Magazine.

Keith Howard-Challis

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The monthly Meeting of the Parish Council took place on Thursday 6^th 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 4^th 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 18^th 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 3^rd September at 7.30pm in the Village Hall.

Julia Cura, Clerk to the Parish Council.

Tel: 01634 363906

Email: clerk@upchurchpc.kentparishes.gov.uk

Website: www.upchurchpc.kentparishes.gov.uk