PADDOCK WOOD TOWN COUNCIL
The Podmore Building, St Andrews Field, St Andrews Road
Paddock Wood, Kent, TN12 6HT
Telephone: 01892 837373
www.paddockwood-tc.gov.uk
MINUTES OF A MEETING OF PADDOCK WOOD TOWN COUNCIL HELD ON Monday 21st of November ,2022 at 7.45 pm in The Day Centre, Commercial Road, Paddock Wood
Note: when recorded votes are requested the members initials of the members will be used for brevity.
PRESENT: Cllr M Flashman, in the Chair
Cllrs H Atkins, R. Atkins, (TWBC)D. Boyle, D. Kent, A. Mackie, RMoon, (TWBC) M Ridger, R Turk C. Williams
IN ATTENDANCE: Borough Cllr M Bailey S. Wakeman
One resident
Mrs C Reilly Deputy Town Clerk
APOLOGIES: Cllr Carol Williams and Rodney Atkins
BOROUGH & COUNTY COUNCILLORS UPDATE (10 minutes)
BCllr Moon asked the Council to consider ‘warm spaces’ in conjunction with TWBC. The Chairman
Said this could be considered at a later meeting.
BCllr Wakeham reported that she was continuing to try to address the problem of phones not being answered by TWBC. She had also made sure that the Paddock Wood Community Storehouse had been added to the ‘help for residents’ section of the TWBC website.
She referred to the latest information on the Draft Local Plan, the Chairman confirmed that PWTC have received the update.
QUESTIONS FROM RESIDENTS
The resident asked if he could ask a question and was told by the Chairman that as it had not been submitted in advance it would be answered in writing but not at the meeting. The question was – Noting the proposal for a short term loan from TWBC did the Town Council have a balance in reserve and are they sure that this loan is sufficient to take the building through to completion?
C78 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
There were no declarations of interest.
C79 MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING.
Copies of draft minutes can be found on the Town Council website.
a)To APPROVE the minutes from the meeting held on 17th October 2022 and of the meeting held on the 14th of November. The minutes of the meeting on the 14th of November were approved and signed by the Chairman. The minutes of the meeting on the 17th of October were approved with the addition of the seconder of the proposal under item C72 as being Cllr R Turk and signed by the Chairman.
(b) To NOTE the minutes from the Planning & Environment Committee meeting held on 7th of November 2022. These were noted.
C80 MATTERS ARISING FROM THE PREVIOUS MINUTES NOT INCLUDED ELSEWHERE ON THE AGENDA
C63 – Car Parking At the last meeting it was resolved that the Clerk write to the Borough Council regarding car parking. The Chairman had a response from the leader of the Council who asked for the matter to be resolved at officer level. The Chairman has replied that this is not currently possible and it has been agreed that a meeting will be arranged at Councillor level. The Chairman has arranged a meeting with the Leader of TWBC and the S151 officer Lee Colyer to discuss this matter. This meeting will take place at midday on the 7th of December and any Town Councillor interested in accompanying the Chairman should contact her.
C75 Highways Improvement Plan
Members discussed that Cllr Atkins in his role as a Borough Councillor had agreed to support this process for the submission in early 2023. Members expressed gratitude and respect for the amount of work done on this matter by Councillor Mackie and understood his frustration at the lack of progress. A member expressed the opinion that this process should be resident driven.
Cllr M Flashman proposed and Cllr D Boyle seconded that Cllr Mackie should set up a meeting at which any elected member or resident interested in involvement should be able to attend and that all areas of the town should be considered when looking at proposals. 11 in favour 1 abstention. Carried.
C81 ELECTORAL CONSULTATION.
Members discussed the consultation from TWBC on going to all out elections every 4 years and the letter as drafted by the Chairman with comments additional to the simple yes /no option in the Consultation. Cllr M Flashman proposed and Cllr D Kent seconded that the reply to the Consultation should be ‘Yes’ and that the letter should be sent to Jane Clarke at TWBC as drafted. 8 in Favour 4 against 1 abstention. Carried.
C82 FINANCE
- a) To APPROVE the attached payments list voucher as supplied.
- b) To NOTE the attached receipts list as supplied.
Cllr M Flashman proposed and Cllr D Boyle seconded that these should be approved/noted. Unanimous.
C83 NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN
The consultation has now closed. TWBC have appointed an examiner. The examination is expected to take place in late December/early January
C84 The Clerk attended a meeting with St Andrews Church and TWBC to support putting in a bid to the Hong Kong British Nationals Overseas Programme for
support of new Paddock Wood Hong Kong residents.
C85 Rockin in the Rec.
Cllr D Boyle proposed and Cllr R Moon seconded that the Lions have request for the event to carry on till 22.00 if required as opposed to 21.30 should be granted. Unanimous.
C86 REPORTS FROM REPRESENTATIVES
(a) Chairman’s meeting. No meetings have taken place.
(b) Paddock Wood Business Association. No meetings have taken place.
(c) Bereko Committee – They have a meeting this month to discuss fundraising.
(d) KALC – AGM too place on the 19th November 2022 and the Chairman attended. There was a presentation by Roger Gough from KCC and from Matt Scott the Kent PCC. Matt Scott confirmed there was no plan to do away with PCSO’s and that additional police recruitment was continuing.
(e) Medway Valley Line -Nothing to report.
(f) Hop Pickers Line – Planning for additional interpretation boards fiananced by developer contributions is continuing.
(g) Youth Council -They had a meeting with a skate park designer.
(h) Putlands Leisure Centre – No meetings of the liaison group have taken place.
(i) Royal British Legion – the Remembrance Parade was successful and thanks are extended to the volunteers who assisted with the road closures that enabled the event to go ahead.
C87 COMMUNITY CENTRE
- Following community consultation and a public vote the name Paddock Wood Community Centre has been confirmed.
- Members to decide if they wish a time capsule to be buried on site. Cllr D Boyle proposed and Cllr D Kent seconded that youth groups, and schools should be contacted and asked for suggestions of what to include. 10 in favour 1 against. Carried.
- Members to considered whether to pass a resolution 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 is 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).
Cllr H Atkins proposed and Cllr D Kent seconded that items d and e should be held in public. A member requested a recorded vote. SH/HA/DK in favour MF/DS/MR/RT/TB/RM/DB/AM AGAINST. The motion failed.
Cllr S Hamilton proposed and Cllr H Atkins seconded that members should not pass a resolution 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 is 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). A member requested a recorded vote. SH/HA/DK in favour MF/DS/MR/RT/TB/RM/DB/AM AGAINST. The motion failed. Cllr D Boyle proposed and Cllr R Moon seconded that 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 is 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) items d,e and f should be exempt from press and public. 7 in favour, 1 abstention 3 against. Carried. The resident in attendance was asked to leave accordingly and the Borough Cllrs Wakeham and Bailey also left the meeting.
- Proposal of short term loan Cllr R Atkins who was not present had submitted questions to the Chairman which were answered by Cllr Flashman and were noted. The Project Manager was present and answered questions from members. Cllr H Atkins proposed and Cllr D Kent seconded that this matter should go out to consultation. This proposal was discussed. A member requested a recorded vote. SH/HA/DK in favour MF/DS/MR/RT/TB/RM/DB/AM AGAINST. The motion failed Cllr M Flashman proposed and Cllr D Boyle seconded that the offer of a loan should be accepted. 8 in favour 2 against 1 abstention. Carried.
- The next Board meeting was due to take place on the 23rd of November. The Town Clerk is resigning as a director.
- To approve the Draft Lease for the building between PWTC and the Board and it’s successor CLBG. Lease is subject to small final amendments from the KC to be approved by the Board in consultation with the Deputy Town Clerk. Cllr Flashman advised that the Board of Directors had been appointed for a 6 month term from the 12th of October.Cllr Boyle advised that he is progressing the process to find Trustees for the new CLBG. Cllr H Atkins proposed and Cllr D Kent seconded that the approval of the lease should be deferred until the next meeting as members had not had a chance to read it prior to the meeting due to the absence of the Town Clerk. Unanimous.
C88 DATE OF NEXT MEETING:
The next meeting will take place on Monday 19th of December 2022, at 7.45 pm in The Day Centre, Commercial Road.
The meeting closed at 9.55 pm
