PADDOCK WOOD TOWN COUNCIL
The Podmore Building, St Andrews Road, Paddock Wood,
Tonbridge, Kent, TN12 6HT
Telephone: 01892 837373
MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL TOWN MEETING held on Wednesday 15th May 2024 at the Day Centre, Commercial Road, Paddock Wood at 7p.m.
PRESENT: Cllr D Kent in the Chair
Cllrs R Atkins, A Mackie, R. Moon, M. Munday, B. Robichaud, C. Williams
IN ATTENDANCE: Mrs N Reay, Clerk to the Council, Ms E Small, Deputy Clerk
Mr C. Smith, Estates Manager
Mr Adrian Pitts, Chairman of the Patient Participation Group
PC C Geelan, PCSO S Stanley
Mrs D Haylett (TWBC) Mr T Hughes (TWBC Community Safety Unity)
13 attendees
- CHAIRMAN’S WELCOME AND REPORT
Cllr Kent welcomed everyone to the meeting and apologised for the sudden change of venue – unfortunately the primary school hall had not been opened for the town council as arranged.
He thanked residents for attending and all the voluntary groups who worked to improve the Town. A copy of the Council’s Annual Report was available for residents to take away and would also be on the website.
- APPROVAL OF MINUTES
The minutes of the Annual Town Meeting held on the 5th April 2023 were APPROVED. Although one resident commented that they would have liked to have seen greater detail.
- WOODLANDS PATIENT PARTICIPTION GROUP
Mr Adrian Pitts gave a presentation on the work of the Wood Patient Participation Group. A copy of which is appended to the minutes. The following questions were asked/points raised:
- Is the Medical Centre still accepting new patients?
There are still limited spaces, however KCC has recommended that the centre is not yet at capacity so there are no new doctors
- Trying to get an appointment with your regular doctor is very difficult, there is usually a 3 day delay – during which time problems could escalate
- The new parking scheme is as no cost to the doctor’s surgery. How many residents have been fined and does the surgery get a cut? The surgery does not get a cut of any fines. A request would need to be made to the company to find out how may people had been fined.
- E-consult may be the most efficient way of getting advice but not everyone is comfortable with IT.
Mr Pitts was thanked for attending the meeting.
- COMMUNITY SAFETY
PC C Geelan & Mr Terry Hughes, Manager of the TWBC Community Safety Unit
Mr Hughes explained that the Community Safety Units were set up in 2011 and comprised of the Police, Fire & Rescue Service and local councils.
Concerns were raised about the following issues:
- Speeding along Mascalls Court Road, Church Road & Warrington Road, people drive on the wrong side of the road and don’t look at roundabouts.
PC Geelan agreed that speeding was a problem and this was something he was looking to tackle. He had done speed gun training and was stopping speeders when possible.
- The use of mobile phones was driving was also a problem. This was a national problem but not tolerated.
- Mr Hughes advised that there were funds available for Speedwatch boards if a group wished to re-vitalise the PW Speedwatch
- Speedwatch was about education – and show the community cares It cannot be done at night
- There was a “near miss” reporting tool
- Turning left into Station Road – videos have been sent of the violations to the police. PC Geelan asked for details so he could follow them through.
- ANPR cameras don’t flag all cars – only those which are already on the system.
- Parking in Commercial Road is dangerous – Mr Hughes advised that a request would be made for parking enforcement teams to visit more often.
- E scooters & motor bikes were a menace – PC Geelan advised that these were illegal and should be called in – it should be reported at the time. If he was on duty he would attend immediately.
Following a first offence a warning would be given; the bike would be confiscated if caught a second time.
- Pony and traps on Commercial Road – a dispersal order had been requested for over the weekend
The Chairman thanked the police and CSU for their help and support.
- COMMUNITY GRANTS
Grants were given to the following groups over the last 12 months:
The Town Council had a grant budget of £4000 for the year 2023/24 for local groups & organisations.
Request from the following organisations were granted
PW & District Lions £500
Bereko community partnership £432
Heritage Paddock Wood £474
Vivid Streets £500
Paddock Wood Lights Up £500
The council also purchased litter picking equipment which it donated to the Paddock Wood Litter Picking Group.
The Town Council also made a separate grant of £12,000 to the Community Advice Centre. It also successfully applied for a Parish Council Community Cost of Living Support Grant and received the maximum grant of £2000. This was split between the Community Storehouse & the Community Advice Centre.
The CAC advised that they had seen 1060 clients in the last 12 months and had dealt with a total of 1300 issues. The biggest issues they had dealt with were welfare, benefits, housing & debt. Whilst they have clients from further a field they try to focus on residents. 432 clients came from Paddock Wood last year – up 20%.
It costs £40k to run the centre but they had manged to claim £1.4 m for their clients.
The Town Council was thanked for its support.
Paddock Wood Lights up thanked the Town Council for their grant of £500. It costs £10k to run the event and approximately 3500 attended the previous year. The event would take place on Sunday 24th November and will have the usual mix of live music, food stalls and activities.
- Questions/comments from electors on any other matters relating to PADDOCK WOOD.
- The map in the latest town guide was out of date – it did not include the estates.
- Need a Town plan for all the HGVs – the traffic to the Burrows goes through the residential areas.
- The town council tries to a lorry route via the HIP but was turned sown
- There is a plan to stop the HGV’s going through Brenchely & Matfield
- Need to lobby KCC for improvements
- Don’t want the new development in Queen Street until Mascalls Court Road is straightened
- Need to try to stop HGV’s coming through town
The chairman thanked everyone for attending and the meeting closed at 8.40 pm