Committee Members present: Cllrs C King (Chairman), J Atkins, C Block, Mrs B Brown, Mrs D Crook,
Mrs K Grayhurst, Miss A Moloney, T Tucker, L Withey

Council Members present: Cllr B Garlick, Mrs S Hunter (Town Clerk)

Members of the Public present: Mr and Mrs O’Connell, Mr Boyes, Mr Baldwin, Mrs Richardson, Mr Comber,
Mr Taylor, Mr Pollington, Mr Chapman, Mr Pettit, Mr Collins, Mr Sharp, Mr Morgan, Mr Edwards

1. Apologies for absence

Apologies for absence were received from Cllrs D Keeley, Mrs S Boakes, D Brown, C Grayhurst, Mrs B Keeley,

2. Declarations of Interest

Cllr D Crook – Chairperson of the Community Association.

3. Matters arising from the Minutes of the meetings held on 21 May and 1 August 2007

3.1 Item 5 – Grave Digging – Cllr Atkins expressed his concerns that the Council had not received other quotations for grave digging. The Clerk pointed out that she had tried repeatedly to obtain other quotations to no avail.
3.2 A memorial cricket match has been arrange on 15 September 2007 for Mr Hammond.

3a Open Forum

3a.1 Mr O’Connell asked if there was any news on the new development at the Community Centre. Cllr King gave feedback from a recent meeting the Council had attended with Smurfit Townsend Hook and the hope is they will begin building early next year and the building work will take between four and five months to complete.
The Council has tried to find temporary accommodation for the Gym, although nothing was suitable.
3a.2 Mr Collins from Holborough Cricket Club expressed concerns regarding an influx of dog walkers due to the new development. An increase in litter and vandalism is evident. A damaged bench was removed approximately three months ago and has not been replaced to date. The Council will pass on this information to the police, and will also look to have a dog bin and signage.
3a.3 Mr Pollington of Smurfit’s Sports and Social Club read a letter he had sent to Sport England and expressed his disappointment that Smurfits would be building on the sports facilities in the future. He also expressed his concerns regarding the future of a copper beech tree. Cllr King empathised with Mr Pollington and expressed the excitement of the Council of the new sports facilities that will be available at Potyns in the future.
3a.4 Mr Morgan of Snodland Football Club raised the lack of players facilities available, eg no dugouts (due to previous vandalism) and no club house for food and drink. All of this will change long term with the new facilities at Potyns. However it was suggested that as the field is licensed, a temporary arrangement was made for this.
3a.5 Mr Sharp of Snodland Nomads asked if the pitch could be moved by six feet to avoid a ‘flooded’ area. This would not be a problem for the Cricket Club. A request was also made to purchase some new portable goal posts. The Council will look at costs for this.
3a.6 Mrs Richardson complained about the overgrown area around the pond in Birling Road. She also asked if there was any possibility that Malling Road could be resurfaced and white lined. Cllr Miss Moloney said the Council would include this on the ‘Highway’s Spreadsheet’, and explained that Highways have certain criteria to be met before they will carry this out.
3a.7 Mr Comber complained about the abuse of alcohol by underage teenagers in the Recreation Ground, resulting in vandalism of the play equipment and litter of an unacceptable level on a regular basis. Mr Comber reported this to the police (ref 1552/17/8) and asked why the police do not respond. Mr Comber also asked why we have no PCSO’s. The Council will take up these concerns with the police.
3a.8 The Council needs to look at who will lock and unlock the new gates at Potyns, as this was a concern of the footballers.

4. Snodland Festival and Feedback

A letter of thanks has been received from the Deputy Mayor of TMBC, thanking the Council for a wonderful time at the Carnival.

5. Cemetery (Mrs Kenyon’s Bench)

RECOMMENDED to allow Mrs Kenyon to place a bench in the Cemetery this time as it is on her own plot, but not to set a precedent.

6. Allotments

The Council has received a reply from the water board with regard to the leak at Birling Lands. They will not reimburse any funds to the Council.

7. Chess Club - Rent

The Chess Club had the use of the Cricket Pavilion rent free for a period of one year.
Mr Neil Miners reminded us that it is now time to consider rent and has offered £130 per annum.
RECOMMENDED to accept rent from the Chess Club of £130 per annum as from 1 October 2007, subject to the Club insuring their own equipment.

8. Website

The Clerk asked if there were any ideas for expansion of the website. Cllr Miss Moloney pointed out that it should be functional and not entertaining as such with any new ideas to be forwarded to the Clerk.

9. Play Equipment

RECOMMENDED to go ahead with the scheme at Potyns suggested by the play equipment inspector.

10. Environment Agency Consultation

Details of how to view the consultation were given - www.environment-agency.gov.uk/wfd.

11. Finger Post for Carslaw’s Field (Update)

It was agreed that a public footpath sign would be adequate. Cllr Withey will speak to Mr Les Huggins at TMBC to see how the Council can do this itself.

12. Signs for Holborough

Cllr Garlick has prepared some signs for discussion.
RECOMMENDED that the background colour is green, and Cllr Garlick will look at all of the options discussed tonight and prepare some more signs. The Council needs to contact the residents of Holborough Park to consult them on opening times.

13. Staffing

Cllr King would like to recommend to Full Council that another full time grounds person be employed. Cllr Miss Moloney said this would have to be looked at very carefully as it would be costly. Cllr Atkins pointed out that the Council needs to address the problem of the workforce doing work that is the responsibility of the Borough Council, or other organisations.

It was suggested that we have a spreadsheet on the website that can be accessed and show when things are reported to the other organisations and when they are completed. Cllr Garlick will liaise with 121 Net Design.

14. Correspondence

14.1 Council has received a letter from Mrs Pearce of Halling regarding the behaviour of the youths on a Friday night outside the Community Centre. This will be passed back to the police.
14.2 An email has been received regarding an ‘Elton John’ performance for next year. The charges are £1000 plus costs. We will bear this in mind when we discuss next year’s special events.
14.3 A letter and petition has been received regarding holding a public meeting about car parking in Snodland. TMBC will hold a public consultation at a later stage and the Town Council will be involved with this at the relevant time. At the moment there are no proposals and nothing to discuss. A letter of reply has been sent.
14.4 A request for a plaque to be placed inside the Cricket Pavilion in memory of Mr Jack Hammond has been received.
RECOMMENDED that a plaque to placed in the Cricket Pavilion.
14.5 The Council has received a letter from Mr Baldwin requesting the felling of a willow tree so that he can grow fruit trees/bushes and also to place two 8’x6’ greenhouses on plots 40 and 44 of his allotments. The Clerk will inspect the tree and the committee agreed to the greenhouses.
14.6 A letter has been received from Kent Police regarding a seminar on the subject of ‘Charging for Policing Events’. Cllr King will attend the seminar.
14.7 The Council has received notification from West Kent Highways that they are carrying out an investigation in ‘sat nav’ companies due to the amount of problems experience with lorries etc.

Cllr Withey left the meeting at 10 pm.

15. Any other items which the Chairman has decided are urgent owing to special circumstances

15.1 Cllr D Keeley has arranged the 10k run for 14 October 2007. He would like some assistance with this from other councillors. Cllrs King and D Keeley will be walking the boundary to see if the walk can be carried out in the future.
15.2 The question of the safety of the Gym equipment was raised. Cllr Atkins said in the past all clubs have taken responsibility of the equipment. The Council needs to take an in-depth look at this.
15.3 Cllr Tucker has prepared a public transport questionnaire to go out with Town Talk. He has also attended Medway Valley Line meetings and there are future plans for a bus turning circle at the station and a bus route long term.

The Community Rail Festival will take place on 29 September and there will be a ‘music train’ on our line on 20 October.

Cllr Atkins asked if Cllr Tucker had looked at the various Section 106 Agreements to see what provision of public transport was in them. Cllr Tucker had not done this, basing the survey on the current transport available.

The Chairman moved that the press and public be excluded from the remainder of the meeting because of the confidential nature of the business to be transacted.