KENARDINGTON PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of the meeting held on Tuesday 6th February 2024 at 7.00pm 
 In the Village Hall 
Present:			
Parish Cllrs:		Cllrs. S. McIntyre, B. Hedley, R. Stone, E. Brown
Borough Cllr:		Cllr J Shilton
KCC Cllr:		0
Members of Public: 0
PC:			
Clerk:			A Beach

Minute No		ACTION	
964	Apologies & Reasons for Absence
Cllr M Hill – Conflicting meeting
Cllr T Coombes 
		
965	Declaration of Councillor’ Interests
	a.	To approve or reject any application put to the meeting by the Chairman in respect of Members seeking a dispensation under the Localism Act 2011, section 33.
	b.	Request that Councillors’ or any other persons’ present declare if they intend to record any of the proceedings using any video or audio recording device or camera
		
966	Approve the Minutes of the Meeting held on 2nd January 2024
The minutes were approved by Councillors’ and were signed by Cllr McIntyre.
		
967	Public Session
At this point the Meeting will be adjourned.  This session is for the public to express a view or ask a question on relevant matters on the agenda.
		
968	Borough Councillor Report
Cllr Shilton reported that ABC are currently discussing their budget for 2024/25, this is available on-line to allow residents to read and make comments and he recommends that people do this. 
The Rural Prosperity Fund is available for grants purely for rural areas, these are available until early 2025 when any unallocated funds will then have to be returned to the Government, one of the items grants can be requested for is electric car chargers.
During recent surgeries and Parish council meetings he has been made aware that reported housing maintenance issues are not being completed by the relevant ABC departments and asked that any resident with issues contact him if they have any issues.
Apologies were given as he was unable to stay for the whole meeting
		
	Cllr Shilton left the meeting at 7.20pm.		
969
	  Finance
	a.	Payments
DPC Payments made during January
Madison Moakes (Hedge Cutting) - £650.00
Strictly Tables & Chairs - £1,095.60
Rock Awnings - £638.00
Rutland County Furniture - £584.98 
Direct Debit
HugoFox, Monthly Website fee £11.99
For Authorisation
Chq No. 446 Roadware Ltd – Salt Bin £206.34
	b.	Receipts                                                                                                                        
Ashford BC – D-Day Grant - £500.00
Business Reserve a/c – Interest Dec 23 - £17.32

The current account has a balance of £4,776.72 and the business reserve a balance of £15,053.33 giving a working balance of £20,036.39 of which £5,833 is allocated to the proposed play area and £730.17 allocated to outdoor furniture and equipment for the Village Hall
		
970	Matters Arising
	Å|	The Wish Hedgerow
The hedge cutting is now complete at a cost of £650.00 and the Caretaker has been asked to keep it trimmed through the growing season to keep costs down for next year.  
In future years the hedge will be flail cut, as this will be more cost effective.   Cllr Hedley agreed to investigate possible contractor’s and confirmed that the caretaker will now just need to keep the hedge cutback to the edge of the footpath throughout the growing season.
	Å|	Church Lane Footpath
Cllr Hedley had asked who was responsible for keeping the entrance clear, the Clerk made enquiries and confirmed It is the responsibility of the landowner to keep the access and the footpath passable as stated on the Government website.  The Clerk was asked to report it to KCC and request a new fingerpost.  Post meeting a new sign was order.
	Å|	Overgrown Hedgerow – Appledore Road/Warehorne Road Junction
The matter has been reported to KCC to urgently cut the hedgerow to avoid accidents. Councillors discussed the matter and as the hedgerow is owned by the adjoining property and therefore, they are responsible for its upkeep, it was agreed that Cllr McIntyre will visit the owners and explain the situation.
	Å|	Date of Annual Parish Meeting
Councillors agreed to hold the meeting on Wednesday 10th April 2024 at 6.30pm in the Village Hall
		
972	Planning
Planning Applications
None received

Planning Advice/Training
Cllr McIntyre had previously asked the Clerk to contact the Planning Department and ask if a member of staff could attend a meeting to discuss the planning process.
The Clerk contacted Cllr Shilton to discuss this and he confirmed that it this would definitely be available, although he felt any meeting would have to be within normal working hours. 
Councillors discussed the possibility of a daytime meeting and providing ABC can let us have a selection of dates to find one all or some could attend would be acceptable.  Post meeting the Clerk contacted Cllr Shilton and asked if he could either arrange this or give us a name to contact.
 		
973	Village Matters
	Å|	Updates of Community Emergency & Flood Risk Planning
Cllr Stone explained that Flood Risk planning is a large project and outside the ability of a small parish such as KPC.
Therefore, it was suggested that we concentrate on prevention, this will involve discussing it with local land owners to get their support and make them aware of their responsibility to keep ditches clear of brambles, fallen trees etc. this will allow for water run-off from fields to drain into ditches rather than the road.
Cllr McIntyre confirmed that this worked alongside Community Emergency planning and it is important to have a list of contacts who can support the village, one area to concentrate on is identifying vulnerable residents which can be difficult.
	Å|	Youth Activities
Cllr McIntyre raised this following a discussion with a resident, if we considered running a youth club or other activities it is important to remember that safeguarding is a major issue and any people involved would have to be DBS checked.  Cllr Hedley will ask residents, via social media, what they would like to see being held in the Village Hall and once received other councillors will find out what is available in the area.
	Å|	Speedwatch Update
Included within the next item
	Å|	Highway Improvement Plan (HIP)
Cllr McIntyre has been in contact with KCC Highways and confirmed, that after consultation with the village Speedwatch team, agreed the following: -
	Å|	30mph proposal is still on the table.
Highways will go ahead with the sign and road marking improvements to try and achieve better speed/ hazard awareness whilst retaining the 40mph limit.  This includes road markings on B2067 on the East to West approach and either side of Appledore Rd blind bend plus new gate on B2067 West to East approach.  Highways have agreed to fund this work.
It was clarified that continuing with the 40mph related work does not in any way affect the ongoing case for a reduced 30mph zone.
Highways will go ahead with and pay for the ATC traffic Survey in March 24 as part of the 30mph proposal.
The 30mph proposal document with your planning and advice team for consideration.
If the 30mph was agreed Highways would be unable to fund. 
A plan for 40mph traffic calming initiative, and the outcome of 30mph ATC and conversations with planning and advice team will be forwarded.
The time line for the 40mph enhancements and the outcome of the 30mph proposal will be March/April.
	Å|	D-Day 80-year Anniversary
The Clerk confirmed that we had received Cllr Shilton’s grant for £500 towards the cost of the celebrations.
The Big Help Out event falls at the same time and it was agreed that we would consider things which could be incorporated into the event.
	Å|	Planning Application to Re-position the Lamppost at Village Hall
Cllr Hedley is going to produce the drawing to go with the application.  
	Å|	Play Area – No reply has been received from ABC regarding the lease for the ground.  Cllr Shilton is attempting to progress it.
		
974	Village Hall
	Å|	Refurbishment Update
Nothing to report
	Å|	Financial Update
EDF – Direct Debit Payments Sept 2023 – Jan 6 2024 totalling £109.98 (please note account is still in credit to the sum of £12.94)
	Å|	Village Hall Working Group
The next meeting will take place on 6th March 2024
	Å|	Village Coffee Morning
Further to discussions it was agreed that Cllr Stone would take full responsibility for this item and donate any profits to the Village Hall
	Å|	Village Hall Chairs & Outdoor Furniture
The new chairs, picnic tables and gazebos have been delivered, the balance of the grant remaining is £730.17.  Cllr McIntyre suggested purchasing two waterproof, external extension leads and two 3-metre floor cable protectors, the cost for these; via Amazon; is £95.98, if purchased the remaining amount will be £644.19.

	
975	Green Energy
	Å|	Cllr Stone contacted Osprey Electrical again to arrange an appointment for them to do a survey for the EV chargers in The Wish.
Following the meeting they are going to provide us with a quotation, once received it will be discussed further and if agreed apply for a grant from the Rural Prosperity Fund.
		
976	Correspondence
Previously emailed
KALC
	•	NALC CEO Reports 
	•	KALC CEO Report 
	•	D-Day update
	•	Ashford Branch minutes of the Meeting held on 4th January 2024
	•	KALC News January 2024
Ashford BC
	•	Minutes of the Planning Meeting held on 17th January 2024
Kent Police
	•	Ashford Rural South Newsletter

	
977	Future Agenda Items/Items for Information

Cllr McIntyre closed the meeting at 8.50pm

Dates of Future Meetings
2024
5th March; 2nd April; 7th May; 4th June; 2nd July; 3rd September; 1st October; 5th November; 
3rd December
Annual Parish Meeting
10th April 2024 starting at 6.30pm
2025
7th January; 4th February; 4th March

Meetings start at 7.00pm