PRESENT: Chairman – Mr. Peter Blockley, 8 Councillors, some 43 parishioners and Clerk

APOLOGIES: Janet Greenroyd, Celia Kayakan

MINUTES:
The Clerk read the Minutes of the Annual Assembly of the Council held on Monday 30th April 2007. The minutes were proposed by Brian Holmes and seconded by Alan Milne. The Chairman signed them as a true record.

ACCOUNTS:
The Chairman reported that the Harmsworth Memorial Trust Accounts including B.V.H Accounts were not ready to be presented. Colin Burns the Auditor for many years had indicated an interest in retiring and Tom Dawlings had agreed to replace him. Tom Dawlings introduced himself and explained that the structure of the accounts was being simplified and there were no financial implications in the delay in presenting the accounts.
The Chairman confirmed that when the accounts are finalised they would be displayed and available at the Community Office. To be adopted at a full Parish Council meeting.
The Clerk presented the unaudited Rate Accounts for the year ended 31st March 2008. The Rate Accounts were proposed by Nicholas Barnett and seconded by Angela Patrick. A copy of this report is with the minutes.

VILLAGE CHARITY REPORTS

The Arnold Cole Trust: Ken Potter read the report. The income is invested in the Charities Investment Fund and the amount decided for distribution in 2007/08 was £570. The trustees decided that 18 parishioners should receive £25 each, and a donation in memory of Mrs Cronin to Benenden Brownies £20, Friends of Guiding £50 and 1st Benenden Guides £50 leaving a reserve of £304.58.

Benenden Almshouses Charity: Arianwen Neve read the report for year ending December 2007. Each time a flat or cottage is vacated repairs required. All buildings require ongoing maintenance including hedge cutting and mowing with an annual spend of £16,614. The income from rents totaled £18,652.

Gybbon & Ginder Charity: The Clerk reported the sum of £2.50 was collected on behalf of Edmund Gybbon and a respectable £25 had arrived after the books closed on 31March08 for Stephen Ginder. 2 properties are required to pay a nominal annual 50 shilling peppercorn rent. Unfortunately one cheque stated the incorrect payee and was returned. The total amount of £30 is to be given to the Arnold Cole Trust for distribution. This includes £27.50 received for 06/07

Iden Green Pavilion Trust:
No report received

Gybbon & Buckland Charity: David Harmsworth read the report. Bibles were presented to Year 6 pupils leaving Primary School. A grant of £3832 had been given to the Primary School towards the costs of lap top computers. 40 grants each of £300 were given towards the costs of further education. Rent reviewed – KCC rent received.

CHAIRMAN’S REPORT:
The Chairman welcomed parishioners to the meeting. The Chairman then spoke on a small change in composition of the Council this year. Vice Chair Caroline Pitt had resigned and Roger Lake was elected Vice Chair. He expressed his thanks to Caroline for her contribution to Parish affairs. A bye election took place and Andy Fogg was elected. Introduced and welcomed. The Borough Councils move to devolve more responsibilities to Parishes leads to endless meetings and reports. He reported KCC had opted for Site 8 as the preferred location for the proposed school. He reiterated the Parish Council’s full support for a new Primary School. He outlined the process of the next phase of the project and confirmed it was not the wish or intention of the Parish Council or the Trustees of the Harmsworth Trust to obstruct the development of the proposal but hoped through sensible negotiation the Trustees would be able carry out their responsibilities in safe guarding the interests of the Parish and protect the assets held by the Trust. He reported on the continued hi-usage of the Village Hall confirming its focal point in the village. Maintenance repairs required to large stanchions and planning permission granted for a storage room. 200 new chairs purchased by B.V.H.M.C. Thanked John Clarke and his dedicated team for the hard work taken in running the hall, making it the best facility in the area. The Chairman outlined the Parish Council’s role in Planning issues .He thanked Roger Lake for his role as Planning Coordinator. He thanked Joan Hagens for taking on the role of Neighbourhood Watch Coordinator and asked if anyone wishes to become involved speak with Joan. He reported how Janet Greenroyd, Community Warden carries out her duties with interest. He thanked Colin Burns for his many years carrying out the annual audit and welcomed Tom Dawlings, our new auditor. He thanked Clive Turner, Pat Dixon and her team for the production, editing and distribution of the Parish Newsletter. He announced Maureen Lake would be the new editor. He expressed his thanks to Bonny Sullivan, Clerk for the extra hours put in, and thanked his fellow councillors for their continued support particularly Roger Lake, who took over the Chairman’s role in his absence.

The full chairman’s report is below.

Chairman then opened the meeting for parishioners’ questions.

Anne Evans asked if Parish Councillors could wear name tags. Clerk noted.
Peter Jempson expressed concern over the closure of the Cranbrook Council Offices. TWBC Peter Davies agreed that provision of services are on hold but improved facilities were required, to seek improvement on all services being provided for all local villages.
KCC Roger Manning spoke on Highways restructure, new traffic management act hopes to minimize congestion throughout the county.
Alan Milne expressed concern over increase in size of containers from 40ft to 53ft, and the impact these large vehicles would have on our infrastructure.
KCC Roger Manning is aware, with 2 million vehicles passing through Dover, 82% foreign, small villages can not cope.
Michael Patrick thanked the Clerk for the refreshments provided.

The Chairman thanked the parishioners for attending the meeting and Derek Johnson, Meridian TV Features Producer and Alex Ward, Radio Kent Producer for their interesting talk on “daily life within the media industry”.

There being no further business the meeting closed at 9.40pm

BENENDEN PARISH COUNCIL
Chairman’s Report 2008

Parish Council
There has been a change to the composition of the Council during the year. The Vice Chair Mrs Caroline Pitt resigned on moving out of the village. Councillor Roger Lake was elected Vice Chairman in her place. I would like to take this opportunity to record our thanks to Caroline for her contribution to Parish affairs during her time in office.
Her resignation resulted in a bye election at which three candidates contested the vacancy. Andy Fogg was elected and we welcome him to the Council.
The Council continues much as in previous years but with an ever increasing workload. The Borough Councils move to devolve more and more responsibilities to Parishes leads to an ever increasing request for attendance a meetings and what seems to be an endless stream of reports and consultation papers.

The Primary School
The County Council have opted for Site 8, The Ridge, as their preferred location for the proposed new school. I would be being disingenuous if I did not say that a clear majority of the Parish Council are disappointed with this decision. I also wish to make it clear that, despite rumours to the contrary, The Parish Council have fully supported the need for a new Primary School from the outset. The location has been the only point of difference in the long debate. The Council believe that the Parish has missed the one off opportunity to have a new school in a good location and at the same time retain the openness of the village, which has always been one of the special features of Benenden and this view was endorsed by Parishioners in the Village Poll.
However we now move to the next phase of this project which I understand will involve the KCC appointing consultants to take the project forward. This will involve discussions with the various land owners, negotiations with the Borough and County Planners, The Highways Department and those bodies responsible for the infrastructure needed to support the school. Eventually a full planning application will be submitted and it will be at that time that Parishioners and any other interested bodies will be able to comment on the final proposal.
It is not the wish or the intention of the Parish Council or the Trustees of the Harmsworth Trust to obstruct the development of the proposal. Whilst we have a duty and responsibility to safe guard the general interests of the Parish and protect the assets of the Trust we hope that by sensible negotiation both these objectives may be achieved.
In the mean time we await developments and until we know precisely what is planned the Council and Trustees reserve our position.

Planning
This continues to be one of the main responsibilities of your Council. We have dealt with 86 applications during the year. This year they have mainly been for extensions to buildings, new and replacement garages and a bat roost in the grounds of Benenden School. Their have been 9 Appeals against Borough Planning decisions. There have been no particularly contentious applications although the erection of large farm buildings continues to cause concern. Our thanks are due to Roger Lake, our planning co-ordinator, for all the work he puts into this task; visiting every application is time consuming.

The Village Hall
The Hall continues to be the focal point in the village for most social activities and demand for use at popular times continues to increase. It is now over 30 years since it first opened and not surprisingly maintenance is an increasing burden on costs. The large stanchions require some work, the new floor was completed last year but half of the cost was met from this year’s precept.
We have been granted planning permission to build a storage room at the South West corner of the Hall and hopefully this will overcome one of the problems we have faced over the years – lack of adequate storage space. We have already received a grant towards the cost and are researching other sources of funds. The Hall Management Committee purchased 200 new padded chairs and I hope you are feeling the benefit of them this evening.
We are grateful to John Clarke and his team for the work they put into running the hall and making it the best facility in the area.

Neighbourhood Watch
When our last Co-ordinator, Rob Mills, left the village some years ago the scheme fell into disuse. Despite many attempts to restart it, it didn’t get off the ground. That is until Janet Greenroyd our Community Officer and Carey Amor the Borough NW Liaison Officer set about revitalising the scheme. Many, if not all of you will have received and completed their questionnaire. The response was very good and a lot of Parishioners express willingness to be active in the scheme. A follow up meeting was not particularly well attended. Nevertheless we now have a new Co-ordinator, Joan Hagens, and ten who are prepared to act as link people. If any one here would like to be involved please speak to Joan. Thankfully we are a low crime village but an active Neighbourhood Watch Scheme will help to keep it that way.

Community Warden
I am pleased to see our Community Warden here this evening. She is our visible policing and it is reassuring to see here patrolling the village and taking a great deal of interest in community affairs. Janet thank you for the work you do on our behalf and congratulations on recently being selected as Community Warden of the month.

Highways
As I reported last year we meet regularly with representatives of the Highways department and report the numerous problems with collapsing verges and particularly potholes. The latter have been the cause of damage to the wheels and tyres of a number of cars and the owners are negotiating compensation. The latest problem is the names attributed to various lanes by the Department which are at odds with local usage. It remains an up hill struggle but we will keep up the pressure.

Account Audits
For many years Colin Burns has carried out the annual audit of both the Precept and Harmsworth Trust accounts, But all good things come to an end and this he has handed over this task to Tom Dawlings I would like to record our thanks to Colin and to welcome and thank Tom for taking over this duty.

The Parish Newsletter
The letter was started by Patrick Conway and Caroline Pitt took over the task when the Council make up changed. It has been well received and we propose to continue to produce a magazine but the number of issues per year is under review. We don’t want to produce a newsletter just for the sake of doing so – it has to be interesting and include topics of interest to Parishioners which is not always easy to do. We have a new volunteer Editor, Maureen Lake and Clive Turner will continue to do the clever stuff, putting the material into a readable format. Our thanks to them both and to Pat Dixon and her team for distributing the Newsletter.

The Clerk
I would like to express my thanks to Bonny Sullivan for all the work she does on behalf of the Parish affairs. She puts in many more hours tan the official figure requires and ensures the smooth running of Council business.

I am most grateful for the support I have received from Councillors and Parishioners, Particularly Roger Lake who took over my duties in my absence.
Thank you for attending this meeting and if you have any questions we will be pleased to answer them.

Pjb
28.4.08