The village of Benenden in Kent

MINUTES of the ANNUAL ASSEMBLY of the PARISH COUNCIL held on Monday 30th April 2007 in The Village Hall, Benenden.

PRESENT: Chairman – Mr. Peter Blockley, 8 Councillors, some 53 parishioners and Clerk

APOLOGIES: Angela Patrick, Chris Rhys-Jones

MINUTES:
1a: The Clerk read the Minutes of the Annual Assembly of the Council held on Tuesday 25th April 2006. The minutes were proposed by Peter Richmond and seconded by Christopher Love. The Chairman signed them as a true record.

1b: The Clerk read the Minutes of an Extraordinary Parish Meeting held on Monday 19th February 2007. The minutes were proposed by Christopher Heath and seconded by Andrew Cranshaw. The Chairman signed them as a true record.

ACCOUNTS:
The Clerk presented the unaudited Rate and Harmsworth Memorial Trust Accounts for the year ended 31st March 2007. Trisha Skilton suggested that the columns for 2006 and 2007 had been transposed. Clerk acknowledged. The Accounts were proposed by Alan Milne and seconded by Christopher Heath. A copy of this report is with the minutes.

VILLAGE CHARITY REPORTS

The Arnold Cole Trust: Arianwen Neve read the report on behalf of Helen Lewis. The income is invested in the Charities Investment Fund and the amount decided for distribution in 2006/07 was £475. Trustees agreed to keep the number of beneficiaries the same by replacing new names with parishioners who had moved to residential care or passed away. The trustees decided that 19 parishioners should receive £25 each leaving a reserve of £293.37. On the death of Beryl Cronin, who had been a trustee for many years, President Mrs. Weston suggested a donation be sent in her memory to the Guides Association as Mrs. Cronin had been Brown Owl for approx 27 yrs.

Benenden Almshouses Charity: Arianwen Neve read the report. All 6 flats and 3 cottages are rented out. All buildings require ongoing maintenance with an annual spend of £16,170. The income from rents totaled £20,286.

Gybbon & Ginder Charity: The Clerk reported that tracking down the new owners of one of the properties had proved challenging. The sum of £2.50 was collected on behalf of Edmund Gybbon and a respectable £25 had arrived in early April for Stephen Ginder. The total amount of £27.50 is to be given to the Arnold Cole Trust for distribution.

Iden Green Pavilion Trust: Trisha Skilton read the report. The report covered: Family Fun Day, Maintenance including purchase of 3 gazebos, financial and bookings statement, decision to disallow teenage parties. For the first time The Pavilion has shown a shortfall in income and expenditure of £779.00 with a balance of £7665.00. Clive Illman is the new

Booking Secretary.

Gybbon & Buckland Charity: Peter Blockley read the report. Bibles were presented to Year 6 pupils leaving Primary School. A grant of £400 had been given to the Primary School towards improvements to storage space for sports equipment. 35 grants each of £300 were given towards the costs of further education. Rent review – KCC rent received.

CHAIRMAN’S REPORT:
The Chairman welcomed parishioners to the meeting and introduced PC Gary Hastings, who spoke briefly on his role and the appointment of a PCSO to cover the area of Hawkhurst, Benenden and Sandhurst. The Chairman then spoke on the increasing workload of endless meetings and reports being devolved from local authorities to Parish level. He reported on the continued hi-usage of the Village Hall confirming its focal point in the village for social activities. The final phase of refurbishment was a new floor which unfortunately had presented a problem with the removal of the existing floor. He stressed the replacement floor enhances the hall and thanked John Clarke and his dedicated team for the hard work taken in running the hall. The Chairman outlined the Parish Council’s role in Planning issues and regular meetings with Highways department. He reported on the history of the process and development of a new primary school resulting in the Parish Poll to ascertain the views of the parishioners on where they would wish to see a new school built. He thanked Caroline Pitt, Clive Turner, Pat Dixon and her team for the production, editing and distribution of the Parish Newsletter which purpose aims to try and improve communication between the PC and Parishioners. He reported on the appointment of the new Clerk Bonny Sullivan and thanked her for her work so far and thanked his fellow councillors for their continued support.

The full chairman’s report is attached.

Chairman then opened the meeting for parishioners’ questions. Questions were asked on newsletter distribution with possible online facility, arresting powers of a PCSO.

The Chairman thanked the parishioners for attending the meeting and Mr. Bob Ogley for his “Spirit of Invicta” talk.

There being no further business the meeting closed at 9.38pm

		Minutes of the Annual Assembly Meeting April 2007 Click for minutes for March 2007 These notes are abstracted from the original minutes-for the full and proper copy please contact the Parish Clerk
		MINUTES of the ANNUAL ASSEMBLY of the PARISH COUNCIL held on Monday 30th April 2007 in The Village Hall, Benenden. PRESENT: Chairman – Mr. Peter Blockley, 8 Councillors, some 53 parishioners and Clerk APOLOGIES: Angela Patrick, Chris Rhys-Jones MINUTES: 1a: The Clerk read the Minutes of the Annual Assembly of the Council held on Tuesday 25th April 2006. The minutes were proposed by Peter Richmond and seconded by Christopher Love. The Chairman signed them as a true record. 1b: The Clerk read the Minutes of an Extraordinary Parish Meeting held on Monday 19th February 2007. The minutes were proposed by Christopher Heath and seconded by Andrew Cranshaw. The Chairman signed them as a true record. ACCOUNTS: The Clerk presented the unaudited Rate and Harmsworth Memorial Trust Accounts for the year ended 31st March 2007. Trisha Skilton suggested that the columns for 2006 and 2007 had been transposed. Clerk acknowledged. The Accounts were proposed by Alan Milne and seconded by Christopher Heath. A copy of this report is with the minutes. VILLAGE CHARITY REPORTS The Arnold Cole Trust: Arianwen Neve read the report on behalf of Helen Lewis. The income is invested in the Charities Investment Fund and the amount decided for distribution in 2006/07 was £475. Trustees agreed to keep the number of beneficiaries the same by replacing new names with parishioners who had moved to residential care or passed away. The trustees decided that 19 parishioners should receive £25 each leaving a reserve of £293.37. On the death of Beryl Cronin, who had been a trustee for many years, President Mrs. Weston suggested a donation be sent in her memory to the Guides Association as Mrs. Cronin had been Brown Owl for approx 27 yrs. Benenden Almshouses Charity: Arianwen Neve read the report. All 6 flats and 3 cottages are rented out. All buildings require ongoing maintenance with an annual spend of £16,170. The income from rents totaled £20,286. Gybbon & Ginder Charity: The Clerk reported that tracking down the new owners of one of the properties had proved challenging. The sum of £2.50 was collected on behalf of Edmund Gybbon and a respectable £25 had arrived in early April for Stephen Ginder. The total amount of £27.50 is to be given to the Arnold Cole Trust for distribution. Iden Green Pavilion Trust: Trisha Skilton read the report. The report covered: Family Fun Day, Maintenance including purchase of 3 gazebos, financial and bookings statement, decision to disallow teenage parties. For the first time The Pavilion has shown a shortfall in income and expenditure of £779.00 with a balance of £7665.00. Clive Illman is the new Booking Secretary. Gybbon & Buckland Charity: Peter Blockley read the report. Bibles were presented to Year 6 pupils leaving Primary School. A grant of £400 had been given to the Primary School towards improvements to storage space for sports equipment. 35 grants each of £300 were given towards the costs of further education. Rent review – KCC rent received. CHAIRMAN’S REPORT: The Chairman welcomed parishioners to the meeting and introduced PC Gary Hastings, who spoke briefly on his role and the appointment of a PCSO to cover the area of Hawkhurst, Benenden and Sandhurst. The Chairman then spoke on the increasing workload of endless meetings and reports being devolved from local authorities to Parish level. He reported on the continued hi-usage of the Village Hall confirming its focal point in the village for social activities. The final phase of refurbishment was a new floor which unfortunately had presented a problem with the removal of the existing floor. He stressed the replacement floor enhances the hall and thanked John Clarke and his dedicated team for the hard work taken in running the hall. The Chairman outlined the Parish Council’s role in Planning issues and regular meetings with Highways department. He reported on the history of the process and development of a new primary school resulting in the Parish Poll to ascertain the views of the parishioners on where they would wish to see a new school built. He thanked Caroline Pitt, Clive Turner, Pat Dixon and her team for the production, editing and distribution of the Parish Newsletter which purpose aims to try and improve communication between the PC and Parishioners. He reported on the appointment of the new Clerk Bonny Sullivan and thanked her for her work so far and thanked his fellow councillors for their continued support. The full chairman’s report is attached. Chairman then opened the meeting for parishioners’ questions. Questions were asked on newsletter distribution with possible online facility, arresting powers of a PCSO. The Chairman thanked the parishioners for attending the meeting and Mr. Bob Ogley for his “Spirit of Invicta” talk. There being no further business the meeting closed at 9.38pm