PRESENT:

Cllr David Coomber

Chairman

Cllr Ken Bamber

Cllr Gordon Bird

Cllr Mrs Pam Coomber

Cllr Peter Hicks

From item 4

Cllr Mrs Brenda Hoskin

Cllr Tom Mason

Cllr David Miller

Cllr Geoff Moore

Mrs Roxana Brammer

Clerk

In attendance

Mr David Levy

Footpaths Officer

Items 1-6

Item

Minute number

Action point

1

427

APOLOGIES

Apologies for absence were received from

Cllr Mrs Nancy Bird

indisposed

Cllr Gary Etheridge

At work

Cllr Mrs Jane Etheridge

At a meeting of Medway Council

It was proposed by Cllr Coomber, seconded by Cllr Moore and carried unanimously that these apologies be accepted by the Council.

An apology for late arrival was received from Cllr Hicks.

2

CODE OF CONDUCT

428

a

Declarations of Interest and Alterations to the Register

Cllr Bird declared a personal interest in item 6b, Hilltop School footpath closure, as a governor of the school

429

b

Standards Committee

No meeting had been held.

3

430

ANY OTHER BUSINESS OF AN URGENT NATURE

None.

4

431

MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 22 FEBRUARY 2007

It was proposed by Cllr Mrs Hoskin, seconded by Cllr Miller and agreed that the minutes of the meeting held on 22 February 2007 be signed as a true record.

5

432

MATTERS ARISING

No matters were raised.

6

FOOTPATHS

433

a

Representative's Report

The Chairman reported a note of thanks had been received from Wendy Williams for the gesture of thanks made by the Council. He then suspended the meeting to allow Mr Levy to give his report.

Mr Levy said the strimmers were being serviced. Work was being done on the ditches on the footpath from Four Elms Hill to Islingham Farm, which Mark Loos had been unaware of. Mr Levy would try to find out what was going on. He had left a message for Annmarie Behn about FP 93 at Medway Yacht Club and had subsequently spoken to Mark Loos. The Yacht Club owned all the land up to the sea wall. Martin Morris of Highways would investigate any certificate to operate over the footpath. Mr Levy referred to a potential planning application on land at 48 Hollywood Lane and said he would not write to the planning authority until the application was out for consultation.

The Chairman thanked Mr Levy and reconvened the meeting.

Cllr Hicks said he understood the Yacht Club used a crane to lift the boats one weekend at the beginning and end of the season and that they posted notices.

434

b

Hilltop School Footpath Closure

Cllr Bird reported that an agreement had been reached between Highways and Education at Medway Council and the school on the cost of an order to close the footpath.

7

UPNOR

435

a

Upnor Society

The minutes of the Society's meeting held on 20 February were received. Cllr Moore had attended the AGM on 13 March. 36 people had been present. They had discussed the proposed Taylor Woodrow development at Sandacres. The name of the Society had been formally changed to Upnor Residents Association.

436

b

Environmental Enhancement Project

A letter from Groundwork had gone astray and the Clerk had now received a copy. Groundwork had agreed terms as discussed with Alistair Bayford and Emma Powell at the January meeting. The Chairman reported on a meeting with the Arethusa Venture Centre and the Commodore of Medway Yacht Club that had been constructive. A further meeting would be held with Alistair Bayford to discuss design details of the master plan.

437

438

439

440

441

442

c

Other matters

 

i   Hebe stumps. 2 quotations had been received to grind out the stumps, one for £50 from Medway Stump Grinding and one for £135 from Stumpmasters. It was proposed by Cllr Mrs Coomber, seconded by Cllr Mrs Hoskin and agreed to accept the quotation from Medway Stump Grinding.

ii   Public Conveniences. Cllr Mason said these needed painting and asked the Clerk to request that this to be done.

iii  Mobile Police Station and Library. Both needed publicising and it was suggested they be promoted on the noticeboards.

iv  Church. Cllr Hicks said that parking for Sunday services at the church made the junction difficult for traffic.

v   Bench. It was reported the bench in the High Street was in need of repair.

vi  A resident of Lower Upnor was of the opinion that Castle Street needed resurfacing.

8

PLANNING

a

Applications

443

i

MC2007/0377: 59 Wainscott Road , Wainscott: X1 double sided free standing display unit

No objection

444

ii

MC2007/0114: 109-111 Wainscott Road , Wainscott: Conversion of shop to 3 dwellings: additional supporting statement and revised drawings

It was agreed to support the statement and revised drawings.

445

iii

MC2007/0417: Unit 12, Central Business Park , Neptune Close, Medway City Estate: Two first floor windows to provide light to offices at first floor in industrial unit

No objection

446

iv

MC2007/0419: Unit 12, Central Business Park , Neptune Close, Medway City Estate: Two UPVC flat boards 2400mm long x 1200mm high – consent sought for maximum 5 years, signs existing, application to reposition

No objection

447

v

MC2007/0431: 6 Sholden Road , Wainscott: Loft conversion and side garage

No objection

448

b

Decisions

The decisions as listed on Appendix A were noted.

c

Appeals and Other Matters

449

i

MC2007/0203: 4 Larkin Close, Frindsbury: Construction of a 2 metre fence and porch to front and relocation of garage to front/side

The Chairman had received a letter from the applicant, the contents of which were noted.

450

d

Licensing Applications

None.

451

e

Minutes of the Planning Committee Meeting held on 8 March 2007

Noted.

9

FINANCE

452

a

Bank Balances

The bank balances as listed on appendix B were noted.

453

b

Cheques Signed Since the Last Meeting

None

454

c

Accounts for Payment

It was proposed by Cllr Hicks, seconded by Cllr Bamber and agreed the accounts for payment (cheques 101030 – 101036) as listed in Appendix B be approved, together with £100, Hilltop Primary School (101037); £81.31, British Telecommunications (101038) and £551.08, Apollo Blinds (101040).

10

GRANT APPLICATIONS

455

a

Kenward Trust

It was proposed by Cllr Bird, seconded by Cllr Hicks and agreed to make a grant of £50 to the Kenward Trust. Grant made under LGA 1972, S137. (cheque 101039).

11

MANAGEMENT OF THE COUNCIL'S LAND AND PROPERTY

456

a

Recreation Ground

i   General Maintenance. Nothing to report.

ii  Playground Engineering Inspection. The Clerk had yet to go through the report with Daniel Godden.

457

b

Hedges

Nothing to report.

12

HIGHWAYS AND TRANSPORT

458

a

Traffic Scheme, Brompton Farm Road/Hollywood Lane

The Chairman reported there was still no sign of the speed indicator device.

13

459

LIGHTING

Nothing to report.

14

460

YOUTH

Jenni Davis had left Medway Council and the contact was now Roy Smith. PC Tim Harris had said that anti-social behaviour had quietened down.

15

RURAL LIAISON COMMITTEE

461

a

Representative's Report

The Chairman reported on the last meeting. Presentations had been given on the rights of way improvement plan and detached youth work. The letter from Chief Inspector Wedlake had been discussed and the Chairman and Cllr Mrs Bamber were seeking a meeting with him. At the open part of the meeting, presentations had been given by Sean Carter on rural retail, Alan Jarrett of the Medway Swale Estuary Partnership and by Paul Outhwaite and George Crozer on the North Kent Marshes.

462

463

464

465

b

Projects

i   Seats, Lower Upnor. On-going.

ii  Wainscott Village sign. On-going..

iii Kick wall. The various options were discussed. It was proposed by Cllr Hicks, seconded by Cllr Mrs Coomber and agreed to proceed with rebound fencing in the goal mouth of the basketball frame at a cost of £990 plus £870 installation.

iv  Cooling Road/Brompton Farm Road corner. On-going.

16

KAPC/MAC

466

a

Representatives' Report

No meeting.

17

HALL MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE

467

a

Representative's Report

Cllr Mrs Coomber said the Committee wished to thank the Council for the grant. There were not many bookings.

468

b

Hall Improvements/Extension

Cllr Mrs Coomber said the floor would be re-varnished. There was a problem with the new chairs and the supplier would be investigating.

18

POLICE MATTERS

469

a

Police Liaison Committee representative's report

Cllr Miller said the next meeting was on 1 May and he would not be attending.

470

b

Neighbourhood Watch

Cllr Miller reported that the police were looking for a vehicle in connection with a serious assault. Otherwise there were reports of bogus callers and thefts of and from motor vehicles. The annual conference would be held on 14 April.

471

c

Speed Watch

The Chairman reported on the results of the questionnaire. Two residents disagreed with the scheme and five had agreed with the principle but offered no help. There were nine volunteers, plus the Chairman. The Clerk would write to thank them.

A meeting would be set up after the elections for all councillors and volunteers of the participating parish councils.

19

WEBSITE

472

a

Webmaster's Report

The Clerk read the Webmaster's report:

Firstly, my apologies for not being present in person to present this brief update. I considered it would not be appropriate as Members will be discussing Agenda item 19ii but I very much would like to continue as your Webmaster.

In the past 12 month rolling period, we have had some 14,697 hits on the Frindsbury Extra Parish Council website. For the last complete month of February 2007, the statistics counted 1,546 hits. [Note: A proportion of these hits were from me accessing the site to upload information or check web site consistency, plus numerous internet ‘robot crawlers' visiting the web pages gathering data for indexing or to populate search engines directories.]

Recent additions have been limited to the normal PC Meeting minutes and agendas.

The most popular viewed web pages during the month of February 2007 were the More About Frindsbury Extra Parish, the Link directory, and the Minutes web pages.

Visitors to the web site that used internet search engines (rather than typing in the address direct) used these search terms the most: “lower Upnor riverside project”, “Frindsbury” and “lower Upnor”.

474

b

Webmaster's Contract

It was proposed by Cllr Hicks, seconded by Cllr Bird and agreed the contract with Clive Stanley Associates be renewed for two years to 31 March 2009.

20

CONSULTATION

475

a

Regional Housing Strategy Review

Received.

476

b

Partial Review of the SE Plan: Revised apportionment of primary-won land aggregates

Received.

21

CORRESPONDENCE

477

a

Trading Standards

The letter from Alistair Martin was discussed and it was agreed to iknvite him to be the guest speaker at the Annual Parish Meeting.

22

FUTURE MEETINGS

478

a

Annual Parish Council Meeting

As the Chairman would no longer be available on 10 May, he asked that the date of the meeting be changed to Tuesday 15 May. This was agreed.

479

b

Annual Parish Meeting

It was agreed the Annual Parish Meeting be held on Tuesday 29 May.

23

480

REPORTS AND CIRCULARS

The reports and circulars as listed on the agenda were received.