Apologies for Absence were received from Cllr Durrant, Cllr Moran and Cllr Mrs Ward and their reasons for absence were accepted.

Declarations of Personal and Prejudicial Interest in respect of matters to be discussed – none.

The Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting held on 26th April 2006 were approved and duly signed.

The Minutes of the Annual Parish Council Meeting held on 24th May 2006 were approved and duly signed.

i. Item 7(ii) District Cllr Mrs Cook’s report – the Clerk reported that the Youth Van is fully booked this summer and will not be able to visit Chiddingstone. However, a request has been made for next year.

ii. Item 12 Courtesy Car: The Clerk reported that she has spoken to the Chairman of HATCH in Hartfield which offers a courtesy car service, together with other services for local people. Regarding insurance – each volunteer driver has to advise his/her car insurance company that they are going to carry passengers for this purpose and it is not on a fee paying basis. The insurance company will issue an endorsement to the policy, which is free of charge. Public liability insurance for HATCH is covered by their PCCs, as they come under their umbrella. Volunteer drivers don’t need to be police checked unless they are carrying unaccompanied children. HATCH do not charge their passengers, but ask for a donation. Volunteer drivers are encouraged to claim mileage at 40p/mile as this gives an indication of the amount of distance travelled in the accounts and proves there is a need for the service. There are telephone costs as well as mileage expenses, but HATCH is now largely self-funding. Grants are received from the Parish Council and the PCC’s and also in the early days from the PCT. HATCH has a constitution setting out their rules and regulations, which is important as it protects them and allows them to say no if the passenger is out of area. Volunteer drivers are split into the weekdays they can be available, and there is a co-ordinator who manages the system on a day-to-day basis.

iii. Item 16 Any Other Business (i) An email has been received from Bryan Fitzgerald, Transport Planning & Development, Kent Highway Services, who advised that he will process the matter of a second speed reactive sign by reviewing the Chiddingstone file with respect to the first sign and search for any relevant crash history and speed data KCC may have. He will be unable to respond to our request quickly but has asked that the matter be placed on the Parish's 'wish list' spreadsheet. The Clerk advised that she has also reported that the current speed reactive sign is only working intermittently and Alan Ross from KCC Highways will ask the contractor to check it when he is back in Kent, which might not be for a few weeks. At our request, the County Lengthsmen have filled numerous pot holes in Hill Hoath Road, Chantlers Hill and the one between The Castle Inn and the bridge. Cllr Cottrell reported that Bore Place Lane has not yet been done. Cllr Coulstock reported that the repair has been made outside St. Luke’s Church, although water is still leaking. Repairs have not been carried out yet to the bridge over the river at Somerden Green and Clerk to chase KCC ROW.

Open Session
District Cllr Alison Cook reported that a pilot inspection has just been concluded in respect of the CPA and the results appear to be extremely positive. The Team was concentrating on two specific areas: housing (and in particular affordable housing) and Community Development, in addition to 5 key objectives which included the Council’s ambition for the community, its achievement and prioritisation. Part of the process involved a tour of the district and a round table discussion with cabinet members and senior staff. With regards to the Budget, it is proposed, in line with previous years, to hold a series of roadshows as part of the budget consultation process. It is hoped to increase the number of venues to include Westerham and Otford as well as canvassing the Citizens Panel. SDC will be holding an Extraordinary Council Meeting on Monday 26th June to discuss the future of Sevenoaks Playhouse and the ‘exclusive option agreement’ between the Theatre and Barratt to redevelop the current site. Independent experts have been investigating the future financial viability as well as examining the acceptability in planning and highways terms of the scheme as proposed. There is now a dedicated 24-hour helpline for anyone suffering from racial abuse on 0800-1381624. Kent County Council has set up a Clean Kent Rapid Response Team to deal with all reported incidents of dumped rubbish and general clearing up. They will cover the whole county and Sevenoaks District will be attended to one week in four. Cllr Cottrell asked if the response team will just deal with problems on Highways’ land or whether private land will also be included. He added that fly-tipping is expensive to remove from private land. Cllr Mrs Cook advised that she thought that all incidents of fly-tipping will be included whether on Highways’ land or private land. Cllr Coulstock advised that when SDC took on the contract for grass cutting, the areas in Richards Close have only been cut twice this season and Dukes Meadow has not been cut at all. Cllr Coulstock added that the grass was so long that he had to cut it himself, for which Cllr Mrs Cook thanked Cllr Coulstock.

District Cllr Donald Spence reported that the SDC News Releases are now a very efficient means of informing the community of events and notices in the District. The Community Plan and Local Development Framework questionnaire is important to complete and mostly asks the respondent to tick ‘agree’ or ‘disagree’. There is space for comments too. The South-East Plan consultation is drawing to a close and includes a proposal for 9,000 new houses in Kent per year for twenty years. Most of the new homes will be in the Thames Gateway and Ashford. District Cllr Mrs Cook advised that the Government Office for the South-East is proposing 46,000 new homes per year for twenty years in the South-East, which is double that proposed by the South-East Plan. 35% will be affordable housing.

County Cllr Peter Lake – no report.

i. To consider planning applications received: Cllr Williams reported that the application at Chequers (SE/06/0122) was discussed at the Planning Committee Meeting on 7th June. This application is the demolition of outbuildings (commercial garage and workshop), erection of replacement B1 units and conversion of existing offices to dwelling. At the Planning Committee Meeting, members agreed that the proposed height of the new building could be un-neighbourly to the residents in the cottages adjacent to the site. Cllr Williams has spoken to the developer, who has advised that it will not be financially viable to have a single storey building as he needs four tenants. Members agreed that they would not object to this application, but would request that there is adequate screening between the new building and the cottages.

ii. The following application has been granted:
06/00646/FUL - Pheasant Pluckers, Threshersfield, Chiddingstone, Kent. TN8 7NB - Proposed single storey, flat roofed link between existing dwelling and existing outbuilding.

To Report on Correspondence Received (attached)
i. Item 2: invitation to the Chairman and Clerk from the Chairman of SDC (Cllr Alison Cook) to a lunch at Bore Place on Thursday 28th September. The lunch will provide an opportunity to view the facilities at Bore Place and learn of the endeavours at Commonwork towards sustainable solutions in farming, the environment and education in the area.
ii. Item 9: Charter 88 – Campaign for a modern and fair democracy re: community decline and Charter 88’s campaign for a modern democracy – empowering citizens and local councils. A recent report by the All Party Parliamentary Group for Small Shops concluded that unless urgent action is taken, many high streets would be dead within ten years with the resulting decline of local economies and communities. Therefore, Charter 88 is supporting the Sustainable Communities Bill which gives Parish Councils and local people powers over how to protect their communities from further decline by introducing mechanisms for ‘government from the grass roots’. Asks for support from Parish Councils to (i) join Campaign 88 £30 p.a. (ii) support the Sustainable Communities Bill (free) and/or (iii) write to our MP and ask him to support the campaign by ‘signing Early Day Motion no. 641 and handing it to the Table Office’. Members considered whether the Parish Council should join the campaign at £30. Cllr Cottrell wished to read the documentation and item to be added to the July Parish Council meeting Agenda.
iii. Item 13: Kent Highways Services – invitation to Town/Parish Council briefing on 28th June at Joynes House, Gravesend regarding changes to Highways services.
iv. Item 18: Email from Highways about setting up a parish liaison meeting on Thursday 13th July at 9.30am in the village. Attending from Highways will be Sue Ireland (Parish Liaison Officer), Barbara Hucker (Line Manager), Alan Gibbons (Area Inspector) and Mike Payton (Operations Engineer). Cllr Cooke, Cllr Barratt, Cllr Cottrell, Cllr Coulstock and Cllr Williams undertook to attend if they can. Cllr Cottrell suggested that the meeting be held at Bore Place. Members to consider items to be discussed and the parish’s “wish-list”.
v. Item 19: SDC re: 2007 Community Plan and Local Development Framework Issues and Options Consultation. Comments by 24th July. Cllr Williams undertook to complete and return the consultation.
vi. Item 20: KCC re: street lighting maintenance. Members advised that there are no street lights in the parish.

Update on the Affordable Housing Scheme
Cllr Cooke reported that Janet Ranson from West Kent has confirmed that the planning application has been submitted but no comments from the Planning Officer have yet been received. The Clerk advised that she has booked a stand at both the St. Luke’s fete on Sunday 16th July and the Chiddingstone fete on Saturday 29th July. Both are free of charge but the Parish Council will have to take a table to St. Luke’s fete and it would be sensible to take a gazebo in case of hot, or wet, weather. Cllr Cooke reported that Janet has advised that there is a slight hiccup in the negotiations with Redleaf, the trustees of the land, as they have requested a higher purchase price for the land. Members agreed to go ahead with the stands at the fetes, and hopefully more information will be available soon.

Finance
Members approved the 2005/06 Year End Accounts and Statement of Assurance and approved the signature of the Annual Return by the Chairman. The Internal Audit has been successfully completed and no matters for concern were highlighted. Members thanked Mr Andrew Bradley for carrying out the Internal Audit and Mrs Evans for producing accurate accounts.

The list of cheques were approved and the cheques were signed accordingly.

Items for Reporting or Inclusion in Future Agenda
The Clerk reported that the procedure for applying for Listed status of the Vexour Bridge and the War Memorial is to write to English Heritage with details and photos of the bridge/War Memorial. Cllr Williams advised that he has some photos, and it was thought that War Memorial belongs to Rochester Diocese and the bridge to KCC.

Cllr Cottrell asked if he could discuss a potential planning application at the next Planning Committee Meeting.

Cllr Barratt stated that a dog bin is needed in Chiddingstone. Clerk to ascertain costs.

Cllr Williams advised that tractors have been speeding down Bore Place Lane, particularly with silage trailers.

Cllr Coulstock reported that the gutters at Slaters need clearing. Clerk to write to Moat Housing.

Cllr Cooke reported that he has spoken to Mr Tom Blackmore about linking the village and Chiddingstone Castle, and a meeting will be arranged next week with Cllr Durrant, Cllr Barratt, Cllr Cooke and Mr Blackmore.

Cllr Cooke reported that he has received a letter of resignation from Cllr Moran. Members were very sorry that Cllr Moran has resigned, but understood his reasons. Clerk to advertise the vacancy.

The meeting closed at 8.00pm

Chiddingstone Parish Council Meeting – 22nd June, 2006
List of Cheques (figures inclusive of VAT)

Tree Hoppers – maintenance of St. Mary’s churchyard for April and May & spraying church wall £822.50 £122.50

Mrs L. Kleinschmidt – salary: 15 hrs x 4 weeks £628.26

Post Office Ltd – income tax and national insurance contributions £55.69

Mrs L. Kleinschmidt – expenses and mileage £49.86

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