News

Minutes of a meeting of Hawkinge Parish Council

Held at: The Village Hall, Hawkinge

Date: 8 October 2008

Present: Councillor D Callahan (Chairman), Councillors Ms J Brisley, Mrs P Meloy and T Ollerenshaw

Apology for Absence: Councillors J Heasman (unwell), G Hodgson, T Hutt (holiday) and C D Tearle (holiday)

Officer Present: Mrs Tina Wiles (Clerk)

OPEN MEETING

PUBLIC QUESTION AND ANSWER SESSION

There were no questions from the public.

639. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

There were no declarations of interest.

640. MINUTES

Minutes of the meeting held on 10 September 2008 were submitted, approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

641. FINANCIAL MATTERS

The Clerk circulated the schedule of payments to be made following the meeting. A copy of the schedule is attached as Appendix 1.

Proposed by Councillor Ms J Brisley

Seconded by Councillor T Ollerenshaw and

RESOLVED:

1. To receive and adopt the schedule of payments attached at Appendix 1.

(Voting: For 4; Against 0; Abstentions 0)

642. APPOINTMENT OF REPRESENTATIVE TO THE COMMUNITY SERVICES ADVISORY COMMITTEE AND THE PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE

Proposed by Councillor Ms J Brisley

Seconded by Councillor Mrs P Meloy and

RESOLVED:

1. To appoint Councillor T Ollerenshaw to the Community Services Advisory Committee and the Planning and Development Committee.

(Voting: For 4; Against 0; Abstentions 0)

643. MINUTES OF THE FINANCE AND GENERAL PURPOSES COMMITTEE – 22 SEPTEMBER 2008

The minutes of the Finance and General Purposes Committee of 22 September 2008 had been circulated with the agenda. Minute 82, Provision of Changing Facilities at the Football Ground, made recommendations to the Parish Council in respect of the provision of a sectional building for changing rooms at the Football Ground. The information being sought would be a fully detailed scheme of options that the Parish Council could consider and decide upon. The Committee;

RESOLVED TO MAKE THE FOLLOWING RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE PARISH COUNCIL

1. To agree in principle to a sectional type building and to continue to work with Shepway District Council to progress the project to the planning stage.

2. To agree in principle to release funds estimated to be in the region of £1,000 plus VAT for the project to be project managed.

Proposed by Councillor Ms J Brisley

Seconded by Councillor T Ollerenshaw and

RESOLVED:

1. To receive and note the minutes of the Finance and General Purposes Committee of 22 September 2008.

2. To agree in principle to a sectional type building and to continue to work with Shepway District Council to progress the project to the planning stage.

3. To agree in principle to release funds estimated to be in the region of £1,000 plus VAT for the project to be project managed.

(Voting: For 4; Against 0; Abstentions 0)

644. PLANNING MATTERS

1. The list of planning applications received since the last meeting was reported giving details of the responses sent to the District Council by the Planning and Development Group for endorsement.

2. An addendum was circulated at the meeting regarding the progress of planning permission at the Spitfire Leisuredrome.

REPORT: The Council’s agent has advised that he has now received the Section 106 from the District Council. This 106 agreement has caused a significant delay in the release of the Planning Permission which was granted on 22 April 2008.

The Section 106 agreement was recommended by the Planning Inspector who conducted the Planning Appeal in respect of the District Council’s decision to refuse to grant planning permission at the Spitfire Leisuredrome. It requires the Parish Council to use £84,000 from the capital receipt from the sale of the Leisuredrome, to be spent on improving the inadequate lighting and high level wall insulation including the project costs in the main hall of the Community Centre. A report has been received from the Parish Council’s agent and this has been submitted to Shepway District Council. A copy is available by contacting the Parish Clerk.

The District Council referred the wording of the agreement to Vertex Law who prepared the wording on the District Council’s behalf. The agent has sent a copy of the invoice from Vertex Law to the Parish Council for payment. The amount of the account is £2,290.50 excluding VAT of £400.84, which Shepway District Council has agreed to pay.

The Parish Council and its agent are concerned about how much the invoice has come in at, as this is much higher than expected. Vertex Law has further requested payment of the account to be made before the planning permission is released. There is a procedure in place for the amount of the invoice to be challenged. For the Parish Council to implement this it would mean employing a solicitor to work on its behalf to prepare the documentation. If the case were lost the Parish Council would effectively be doubling its bill as it would then have to pay costs. The practical way forward is to pay the account and obtain the planning permission certificate.

The other professional costs associated with the sale of the Leisuredrome become payable at the time of the sale of the property.

Proposed by Councillor T Ollerenshaw

Seconded by Councillor Ms J Brisley and

RESOLVED:

1. To receive and endorse the responses of the Planning and Development Group detailed appendix 2.

(Voting: For 4; Against 0; Abstentions 0)

Proposed by Councillor D Callahan

Seconded by Councillor Mrs P Meloy and

RESOLVED:

2. To receive and note the update report on the Spitfire Leisuredrome.

3. To authorise the payment of the invoice from the Reserves to enable the planning permission to be obtained.

4. To write to the District Council and the Ward Councillors expressing the Parish Council’s concerns that the system being used by Shepway District Council to obtain information is detrimental to the Parish Council.

(Voting: For 3; Against 0; Abstentions 1)

645. CORRESPONDENCE

The Report of the Community Warden for October 2008 was circulated at the meeting.

There were no other items of correspondence.

Other correspondence is in the correspondence folder which is available to all councillors in the Hawkinge Community Office.