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MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE PADDOCK WOOD TOWN COUNCIL held on Monday 19 December 2022 at 7.45 p.m. in the Day Centre, Commercial Road.
Cllrs Present: H. Atkins, R. Atkins, T. Bisdee, D Boyle, M. Flashman (Chairman), A. Mackie, R. Moon, M. Ridger & D Sargison,
Also Present: K. Bell (Locum Clerk) & Borough Councillor S Wakeman
Cllr Apologies: D. Kent, S, Hamilton & R. Turk
Cllr Flashman opened the meeting and welcomed all present.
C89 PUBLIC FORUM: No members of the public present
C90 BOROUGH & COUNTY COUNCILLORS UPDATE
- County Councillor Report: Cllr Flashman read out an email received from Cllr. Hamilton in which she had answered questions regarding her involvement with Highway Improvement Plans (HIPs) and Traffic Surveys, repeated her offer to use her members grant to fund a SID (subject to Highway Officer approval) and advised that KCC Tree Officers were monitoring the situation regarding the pine at the Memorial Field entrance.
- Cllr. Williams requested it be minuted that Cllr. Hamilton had earlier berated PWTC for not producing when in fact PWTC had and that it should be PWTC who leads on the HIP and decides which projects to take forward. It was noted that the 2023 HIP would be an agenda item for the next P & E Committee and interested residents would be very welcome to attend.
- Borough Councillor Reports
- Cllr Atkins drew attention to TWBC consultations on Housing Allocations, budget, and Pembury NP. He also drew attention to the recent decision by TWBC on the Electoral System Consultation which considered whether to continue electing Borough Councillors by thirds or move to “all out” elections.
- Cllr Moon expressed his disappointment with the Electoral Consultation decision and felt that the thoughts of rural parishes had not been heard by TWBC
- Cllr Wakeman was welcomed to the meeting; she too expressed her disappointment with the TWBC Electoral Consultation decision. She also expressed her frustration with the recent SE local water outage situation.
C91 APOLOGIES: Apologies had been received from Cllr. Hamilton (unwell), Cllr Kent (unwell) and Cllr Turk (overseas). It was proposed, seconded and:
RESOLVED: To approve the apologies and reason. Unanimous
C92 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST / LOBBYING: There were none
C93 MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETINGS
- Minutes from the meeting of the Full Council held on 21 November 2022: A minor amendment was made to the attendance list to include Cllr. Bisdee who was present following which it was proposed, seconded and:
RESOLVED: That the minutes be approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record of the proceedings. Unanimous
- Minutes from the meeting of the Community Centre Board held on 23 November 2022. Questions raised by members were answered by Cllrs. Boyle, Flashman and Williams.
- Draft Minutes from the meeting of the Planning & Environment Committee meeting held on 05 December 2022. Noted
- Draft Minutes from a meeting of the Estates Committee held on 12 December 2022. Noted
- Draft minutes from a meeting of the Finance Committee held on 12 December 2022. Cllr Moon expressed his disappointment that misleading statements had been posted on Facebook.
C94 MATTERS ARISING FROM THE PREVIOUS MINUTES NOT INCLUDED ELSEWHERE ON THE AGENDA
- TWBC had rescheduled the parking meeting to early 2023.
- Warm Spaces Update: Attention was drawn not the following
- According to the website, Warm Welcome UK, the nearest venue was at Matfield Pavilion
- Members were of the opinion that PW should have a Warm Space and Cllr Moon volunteered to investigate this initiative
- Chairmans Letter to TWBC regarding the electoral consultation: Theletter was to be amended prior to being read out at a full TWBC meeting
C95 FINANCE
- Payments: It was proposed, seconded and:
RESOLVED: To approve payments 784 – 840 and for the listing to be appended to the minutes. Unanimous
- Receipts: It was proposed, seconded and:
RESOLVED: To approve receipts 204 – 224 and for the listings to be appended to the minutes. Unanimous
- Bank Reconciliation: The bank reconciliation as at 30 November
2022 which had been copied to members was RECEIVED AND NOTED. The reconciliation statement was signed by the Chairman. It was noted that the balances at 30 November 2022 were as follows:
Cambridge Building Society £75,017.26
UT Wages Imprest £9,210.40
UT Liquidity Account £173,189.49
UT Current / Business Account £217,853.77
Less unpresented payments £9,088.20
TOTAL £466,182.72
- Bank Statement: The bank statement at 30 November 2022 which
had been copied to members was RECEIVED AND NOTED.
- Van Acquisition: Following a discussion, it was proposed, seconded and:
RESOLVED: That whilst the acquisition of an electric vehicle remained the preferred choice, owing to the difficulties in readily sourcing a vehicle members would now be willing to consider a petrol vehicle on purchase or lease options.
Unanimous
It was further
RESOLVED: That costs of suitable vehicles would be obtained and considered by the January 2023 meetings of the Finance Committee and Full Council. Unanimous
It was further
RESOLVED: That whilst an alternative to an electric vehicle would be considered this did not mean that the purchase of an electric vehicle would not be considered in the future
Unanimous
C96 NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN: It was reported that TWBC had appointed Andrew Ashcroft as the independent examiner of the Paddock Wood draft Neighbourhood Plan and that as part of the process, he was due to visit Paddock Wood on 12 December 2022 so that he could better understand some of the issues raised by the documentation and the representations made as part of the formal consultation. It was noted that in early 2023 a series of questions would be sent to PWTC prior to the examiner deciding whether a hearing was required.
C97 REPORTS FROM REPRESENTATIVES
- TWBC Chairman’s meeting: The meeting took place on 06 December 2022. Items discussed included the draft budget, local plan update, electoral arrangements, and the cost-of-living support hub.
- Paddock Wood Business Association: At a recent meeting, issues discussed included parking, a draft website, and possible future events.
- Bereko Committee: New fundraising initiatives would commence in the new year.
- KALC Area Committee. At a meeting held on 29 November 2022, the key items discussed included the electoral review and items for inclusion on the agenda for the Chairmans meeting.
- Medway Valley Line: There had not been a recent meeting.
- Hop Pickers Line: It was hoped to install an interpretation board on land adjacent to the John Brunt Public House.
- Youth Council: Ways to increase youth council membership were being explored.
- Putlands Leisure Centre: There had not been a recent meeting
- Royal British Legion: It was noted with disappointment that the Secretary Mr R Wakeling was stepping down thus there were two officer vacancies..
- Members who attended any other meeting on behalf of PWTC were invited to report: No further reports were received.
C98 Wesley Centre, Commercial Road: It was reported that a letter had been received from two individuals who had expressed concern regarding the future of the Wesley Centre. Having made enquires it had been ascertained that the letter appeared not to represent Heritage Paddock Wood. Following a discussion, it was proposed, seconded and:
RESOLVED: That receipt of the correspondence be noted. Unanimous
C99.1 PADDOCK WOOD COMMUNITY CENTRE: To receive new information and to consider and agree any actions.
- Insurances: The information from the insurer was RECEIVED AND
NOTED.
- Appointment of Community Centre Manager: It was reported that
The position had been advertised on the KALC and PWTC websites and locally with a closing date of 31 January 2023.. Following a discussion, it was proposed, seconded and:
RESOLVED: That applications would be considered at the next meeting on 16 January 2023. Unanimous
It was further
RESOLVED: That depending on the number of applications received it might be necessary to advertise through Indeed and an update would therefore be provided to the Finance Committee on 09 January with the view that any spending decisions be ratified by full council on 16 January 2023. Unanimous
- Finances: Attention was drawn to the following
- There was no financial report as the project manager was on annual leave. A financial report would however be presented to the Finance committee on 09 January.
- The project manager had been asked to clarify whether any of the proposed funding provision for 2023/2024 could be a loan to the Community Centre and repaid once it started receiving income.
- The project manager had also been asked to clarify the existing capital from the precept of £60K.
It was proposed, seconded and:
RESOLVED: Under Section 100(A) (4) of the Local Government Act 1972 to exclude the public from the remainder of the meeting on the grounds that consideration of the items of business was likely to involve the disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A, Access to Information: Exempt Information to the Act (as amended). Unanimous
C99.2 PADDOCK WOOD COMMUNITY CENTRE
- Leases: Update provided. It was noted that revised leases were
awaited. Several questions were raised which would be referred to the council’s legal representation.
- Contracts: Following a discussion, it was proposed, seconded and:
RESOLVED: To approve the Facilities Management contract as copied to members. By Majority 8:2
Cllrs H. Atkins and R. Atkins voted against the motion and requested that their vote be recorded.
C100 STAFFING ISSUES
Town Clerk: Update provided
Recruitment of Community Ranger / Allotment Officer. Following a discussion, it was proposed, seconded and:
RESOLVED: To defer the recruitment to 2024. Unanimous
C101 DATE OF NEXT MEETING: Confirmed as Monday 16 January 2023 at 7.45 pm in The Day Centre, Commercial Road
There being no additional business, the meeting concluded at 21.38 hours.
These minutes are not verbatim but a summary of discussions and decisions made at the meeting
Chairman: Date:
