Upchurch Parish Council Report - April / May 2020

Report of the Parish Council April / May 2020

Cllr Tyrone Ripley (Chairman), Cllr John Arnold (Vice-Chairman), Cllr Pam Denny, Cllr Alan Horton, Cllr Gerry Lewin, Cllr Peter Masson, Cllr Janet Marshall, Cllr Gary Rosewell and Cllr Neil Sheppard. Clerk Mrs Wendy Licence.

Parish Council Meetings

The Local Authorities (Coronavirus) (Flexibility of Local Authority Meetings) Regulations 2020 now gives Local Councils the power to meet remotely during this COVID-19 pandemic and Upchurch Parish Council is now holding meetings virtually.

Cllr Tyrone Ripley has been elected Chairman and Cllr John Arnold has been elected as Vice-Chairman.

COVID-19

Following Government guidelines to stay safe by avoiding using playgrounds, Upchurch Parish Council has closed the Play Area at the Paddock until further notice. It cannot be guaranteed with the volume of people using them that they are not contributing to the spread of the virus as playground equipment cannot be sanitised after each use. 

Government guidelines on social distancing should be observed at all times when exercising at The Paddock and Recreation Ground and also when walking or running along public footpaths and this will help keep all members of our community safe.

The Council has accepted an offer of a grant from KCC Cllr Whiting’s Grant Fund to purchase ​hand sanitiser ​for the village. ​This will be distributed to the school, volunteers, the surgery and Nursery Days to help control the spread of any infections.

Planning

i. Ref: 20/501448/OUT Address: Land At Oak Lane Upchurch Kent ME9 7AY

Proposal: Outline application for the erection of 7no. residential dwellings (all matters reserved except for access).

Councillors considered the application and acknowledged the changes made against the previous application. Councillors did not object to the new proposal in principle but had great concerns over the possibility of future potential applications on the land at the back of this plot and wanted to see some method of ensuring the development does not spread on to surrounding plots. Any S106 should remain in the village.

ii. Ref: 20/501475/FULL Address: Land Rear of Eden Meadow, High Street Newington 

Proposal: Erection of 40 No. residential dwellings including affordable housing and associated car parking, hardstanding, landscaping and open spaces, infrastructure including SuDs and earthworks accessed from the existing junction serving Eden Meadow from the A2 High Street.

Although not in the Parish, Councillors considered the application and agreed to object to the proposal. Concern was raised about the impact of the development on Upchurch as it will generate additional traffic on an already overburdened road system through the country lanes and the A2. This will further add to the pollution and poor air quality especially given the recent changes in road improvement schemes along the A249 where Swale Borough Council is withdrawing support for highway junction improvements on the A249 and M2J5/A249.

iii. Ref:20/501340/FULL Address: 8 Chaffes Terrace Chaffes Lane Upchurch Kent ME9 7BQ

Proposal: Erection of part two, part single storey side extension.

Councillors considered the application and had no objections to the proposal and requested that neighbours’ comments be taken into consideration.

iv. Ref: 20/500657/FULL Address: 90 Chaffes Lane Upchurch Kent ME9 7BH 

Proposal: Erection of a single storey front/side and rear extension.

Councillors considered the application and had no objections to the proposal and requested that neighbours’ comments be taken into consideration.

v. Ref: 20/501183/FULL Address: Caravan Storage Area Otterham Quay Industrial Estate Otterham Quay Lane Upchurch Kent ME8 7UX

Proposal: Change of use of land for the siting of up to 36no. specialist residential mobile homes with associated services, access, parking and turning area.

Councillors were concerned at the lack of detail in the proposal. There needs to be more detail as to the makeup of residents for these homes given its close proximity to Beckenham Park which is for people over the age of forty and there are restrictions on pets permitted. 

Councillors agreed to object to the proposal due to the lack of information, lack of services and cohesion with the local community.

vi. Ref: 20/501645/FULL Address: Gore Farm Chaffes Lane Upchurch Kent ME9 7BE

Proposal: Erection of an agricultural building for secure storage, including provision of an area of hardstanding and concrete for access and bin storage.

Councillors considered the application and supported the proposal subject to local comments.

vii. 20/501701/FULL Minor material amendment to 16/506986/FULL (Demolition of no. 116 Oak Lane and construction of 2 no. three bedroom houses and 1 no. four bedroom with associated garages and parking.) to allow amendments to the proposed road widening and traffic calming measures.

Councillors considered the application for minor amendments to the traffic calming scheme, the original proposal for the houses has already been permitted. A traffic calming scheme is the desire of the Parish Council and is supported by the public consultation although some residents do not want the scheme as it is. Residents are also concerned that vehicles frequently mounting the pavement. 

It was agreed to ask if KCC Highways consider it to be safe at this point in Oak Lane to have traffic calming and leave the design up to the expertise of the engineer from KCC Highways.

Paddock and Recreation Ground

The Council has accepted a quotation to install adult outdoor fitness equipment in The Paddock. This will be paid for by the S106 money from the development at Kent Terrace.

Burial Ground

The rose beds at the Burial Ground have been consecrated by the Ven Stephen Taylor, the Archdeacon of Maidstone, and Bishop Rose, the new Bishop of Dover.

Church Clock

The clock is functioning really well although there has been an issue with the chimes but this has now been resolved. The Council has been trying to get a plaque for the eastern side of the church door to commemorate the refurbishment of the clock for the centenary of the end of the Great War. Swale Borough Council Planning Department has advised that a full architect’s report and a planning application are required, this would be very expensive and might not get approval so it would not be appropriate to pay for this. It is hoped that some recognition of the act can be placed internally in the church.

Highways and Street Lighting

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the lighting contractor has advised the Council that there is a problem sourcing the parts for the upgrade of the street lighting. Due to a huge increase in the cost of Air Freight following the COVID-19 lockdown and the parts will now be delivered by sea and there will be a delay in upgrading the streetlights to LEDs.

This is a precis of Council business, full minutes of all meetings can be found on the website when ratified.

Date of next meetings:

Full Council - Thursday 4^th June 2020 at 7:30pm

The Planning Committee and General Purposes Committee - Wednesday 17^th June at 7:30pm 

All meetings will be held remotely due to the Government lockdown.

All residents are welcome to view the meetings and there is a time for members of the public to comment, raise concerns or ask questions. 

Please contact the Clerk, clerkupc@outlook.com to obtain login details for the meeting.

Wendy Licence - Clerk to the Parish Council

Tel: 01622 739324

Email: clerkupc@outlook.com

Website: www.upchurchpc.kentparishes.gov.uk

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Statement from Cllr Roger Truelove, Leader of Swale Borough Council

Cllr Roger Truelove.

“It is two months now since the council closed its offices and councillors and staff took their laptops and set up office in their homes.

Since then the work has continued, with normal services maintained and a whole set of new responsibilities carried out at the request of Government.

We have run community support hubs, supported foodbanks, distributed government business grants and found accommodation for rough sleepers and a growing number of homeless people.

We have worked with the Government, the County Council, the NHS and the Police. We have had officers out at weekends monitoring the public response to social distancing.

Like other Councils we have fought to maintain as high a level of waste collection as possible.

We now estimate the extra responsibilities and the loss of normal income will leave with us a shortfall of £4 million on our basic budget. This will be hard but I believe we will manage.

This is the worst of times. The isolation forced on so many, especially frail and vulnerable people is difficult to maintain.

It is hard for all of us to be cut off from family and friends and to be denied those things that we enjoy in life, such as going to a football match, the cinema, to restaurants or meeting friends in a pub.

It is asking much of faith groups not to attend church, mosque or synagogue.

Above all, and dependent on our different temperaments, we share an underlying anxiety, about health, jobs, the economy and of course our children.

We want to see an end but we don’t know when that end will be.

Ironically, there are some ways that this has been the best of times.

We have seen an outburst of decency, of community support, of care for others, of courage and selflessness.

We have seen an improvement in our environment, cleaner air and quiet only broken by the sound of birds.

The advice to take daily exercise has enabled people to discover peaceful walks into our countryside.

We have discovered just how important our frontline workers are.

Let us hope that when we get back to watching football and eating out, that we retain this sense of community and mutual regard.

This is a time for wisdom, not foolishness. We have seen how important our public services are and how important it is to work together.

I am conscious that as a Council we must play our part in building a recovery. There will be a legacy that goes beyond the need for health care. We already see a rise in unemployment.

But we must not be overcome with anxieties.

We will continue with our determined aim of improving our public spaces, our town centres and our coast.

We will work with others to build a stronger local economy.

We will continue work to improve our environment and we will create stronger links between our council and voluntary and charitable groups in the community.

We have worked well remotely. Meetings are held through Skype, within Swale and with others across the county and the country.

It has been very hard for everyone but we will learn lessons and build a strong recovery.”

Cllr Roger Truelove
Leader, Swale Borough Council
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New Online Book Club for Young People

Medway Libraries has partnered with the Medway Youth Service to deliver a new online Book Club for young people ages 8 to 19, and up to 25 with additional needs.

For June they have different titles for each age group, please see below. All of the titles are free to download. There are sessions scheduled for different ages at the times shown below.

If you are interested in joining please Email the relevant librarian shown below:

For ages 8 to 12 Email: emily.maycock@medway.gov.uk

For ages 13 to 16 and 16+ group Email: kate.clifford@medway.gov.uk

Once you have contacted your librarian, they will sign you up to the library and help you to download Microsoft Teams if needed.

And if you or someone you know aren't already members you can sign up online today, it's a quick and simple process giving you access to all of their online materials.

Upchurch Matters

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Swale Borough Council Waste Collections Rise During Government Lockdown

The amount of domestic waste being collected across Swale has increased by almost ten percent compared to last year.

With more people staying at home during the day during lockdown, initial figures show that Swale collected 4,354 tonnes of domestic waste during April this year, compared to 3,976 tonnes in month in April last year.

Within this figure, general waste rose 9.4%, recycling was up 12.4% and food waste rose 77.5%. Garden waste - which was suspended for two weeks in April was down 20.9%.

Cllr Tim Valentine, cabinet member for the environment at the council, said:

“The increase in the amount of waste collected has been substantial. In practical terms this is seen with fuller bins requiring more journeys to empty the vehicles more frequently. This has a knock-on effect for collections scheduled later in the day.

The increase in recycling is welcomed, and I hope this will continue. Despite there not being a service for two weeks in the month, garden waste tonnages only fell by 20 per cent. That means that 80 percent of the usual garden waste was collected for compost in the other couple of weeks - that’s a phenomenal amount!

In particular we welcome the substantial increase in food waste being recycled. This is a great way to be more environmentally friendly. But we do need to try to reduce the amount of general waste we’re throwing away.

Unfortunately, with the increase in the other waste streams and reduced staff levels, it meant the garden waste service hasn’t been as reliable as we would expect normally. This is why we will be giving subscribers affected by the service suspension in April a free month on top of their current package.

Overall, given the extremely trying circumstances, the service has coped well with the pressures it has faced.

People’s patience has been greatly appreciated, and I’d like to thank everyone for their continued understanding.”

For more information about waste collections visit: www.swale.gov.uk/bins-recycling

Swale Borough Council

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Whoever you are, there is no excuse for Domestic Abuse

In an emergency dial 999 or 101 for non-emergencies. You can also speak to someone online at: www.kent.police.uk

There are other agencies working with Kent Police to support you:

National Domestic Abuse Helpline: 0808 2000 247

Domestic Abuse Support Services in Kent & Medway: www.domesticabuseservices.org.uk

Victim Support: 08 08 16 89 111 www.victimsupport.org.uk

Broken Rainbow: www.brokenrainbow.org.uk

Childline: 0800 1111

Kent Police

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Swale Borough Council - Free Month for Garden Waste Disruption

Garden waste subscribers in Swale who missed collections in April will get a free month added to their 12-month subscription.

Garden waste collections were suspended for two weeks (one collection) at the beginning of April as refuse collections were impacted due to coronavirus (COVID-19).

With more people staying at home and tidying their gardens, demand for the service increased, as did the amount of garden waste people were putting in their bins.

Cllr Tim Valentine, cabinet member for the environment at the council, said:

“We’re happy to offer this month extension for the thousands of people around the borough who subscribe to the 12-month garden waste collection service and were impacted by the service disruption in April.

We’ve been working hard to maintain essential services during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, and people have been incredibly understanding about any missed or delayed collections.

Since lockdown began, the amount of garden waste being collected has gone up as people have been spending more time in their gardens. This is good news for recycling, but it also means more trips to empty the vehicles when they are full, which has a knock-on effect for collections later in the day.

Not only have people been understanding and patient with the service, but they’ve left some wonderful messages of support for the workers who have been keeping the services going during the pandemic.”

For more information about bin collection or to sign up to the garden waste collection service visit: www.swale.gov.uk/brown-bin-garden-waste

Swale Borough Council

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