Woldingham Parish Council

MINUTES of a Meeting held at Woldingham Village Hall, Woldingham on 29 May 2008 at 7.30pm.

Present: Greg Meekings (Chairman) Nicola Howe
Andrew Barton Alistair Pirie
Frank Myers Rodney Fuller
Sally Marks Nigel Cohen

Karen Newman (Clerk)

The election of Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Council took place at the Annual Parish meeting held on Thursday 8 May.

The Chairman, Bobby Johnson asked for nominations for Chairman. Nigel Cohen nominated Greg Meekings and Alistair Pirie seconded. Cllr Meekings accepted the position of Chairman.

The new Chairman, Greg Meekings asked for nominations for Vice Chairman. Sally Marks nominated Bobby Johnson and Andrew Barton seconded. Cllr Johnson accepted the position of Vice Chairman.

1. Apologies: Cllr Johnson

2. Minutes.
The Minutes of the meeting held on the 24 April had been circulated and were signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

3. Declarations of Interest
Cllr Marks - member of another authority Surrey County Council
Cllr Meekings - owner of the domain Woldingham.com
Cllr Barton - Craigmyle Glebe

4. Matters arising
The Action list was discussed and will be updated for the June meeting with the following:

Slines Oak Island: The Clerk contacted Jeff Jeffery for an update. Jeff advised that due to the very wet weather the planting had been delayed but hoped as the weather was improving for the weekend that work would start.
Improved Signage: The Clerk contacted Jeff Jeffery for an update. Jeff had passed a picture of the wooden finger post to the Clerk who circulated it to all members. It was agreed that until final costs were obtained nothing could be progressed.
Bus Stops: Cllr Marks advised that she had spoken to SCC but it is not moving forward until the matter of the live cable is resolved.
Overgrown Hedges Woldingham Golf Course: The Clerk apologised that she had not contacted the manager of the Golf Course and will chase up and report back.
Dead Beech Tree: Rodney advised that he had contacted Highways and had a reference number but had not checked whether the work had been carried out.

Cllr Fuller mentioned that he had been in contact with Steve Cullen of Highways Maintenance regarding where hedges should be cut back too. Mr Cullen is looking into the matter and Cllr Fuller will report back at the June Meeting.

4.
5. Planning Matters:
A copy of Appendix A was circulated to all members before the meeting. Cllr Myers read through Appendix A. The Council voted to ratify the recommendations of the Planning Group.
Land rear of Gable Cottage: Cllr Myers advised the meeting that the Parish Council had taken advice from Counsel regarding whether it was prudent to appeal to the planning inspector against his decision but the Council had been advised against doing this. Cllr Myers had also spoken to TDC who confirmed that they will not be pursing this either so it was noted with regret that the Parish Council will not be appealing against this decision. It was agreed that Cllr Pirie will draft a letter expressing the Parish Council's concerns to TDC.

Cllr Myers advised the meeting that two appeals had come in during the week:
Highlight, Upper Court Road and Oakwood, Butlers Dene Road.

b. Infringements: Cllr Pirie thanked the Clerk for sorting out the infringement report this month. Cllr Pirie read through the infringement report which had been circulated to all Councillors before the meeting.

6. Finance:
a. Payments: The payments as Appendix B were signed and approved.

7. Highways & Rights of Way:
a. Highways Monitoring and Reporting:
Cllr Fuller advised the meeting that the old Parish Council used to report on the state of their roads ie. Pot holes so that he could issue a report. Cllr Marks advised that if Cllrs let her know too, but she needs to know the exact location. Also pot holes can be reported direct on the SCC Website and The Chairman advised that he will put a link on the website.

8. Reports:
8/5 Extraordinary Meeting of Tandridge Local Committee to discuss Chalkpit Quarry: Cllr Marks reported that a large number of people turned up and the meeting was deferred for another decision on the 20 June. Cllr Marks advised that no application had been received for a Quarry Road and the Highways Agency has confirmed that a link onto the M25 would be to costly and not enough room for this to be carried out.

Cllr Marks reported that there is going to be a traffic lights/delayed system at Junction 6 of the M25 during peak times and that the M25 is going to be enlarged by one lane either side.

WAG: Cllr Pirie updated the Council. "A WAG-led petition with 1250 signatures from 9 local Parish Council areas was presented at the extraordinary meeting of the Tandridge Local Committee on 7 May. That meeting then overrode the advice of Surrey County Council highways officers and the police against a proposal for a one way system at the top of Chalkpit Lane to enable 30 ton lorries to leave the quarry up the steep hill and turn right on to The Ridge. SCC officers were instructed to consider amelioration measures, including a detailed feasibility study for a one way system, for prioritisation within available resources, and include the results in a report for the next meeting of the Local Committee on 20 June. Cllr Marks argued strongly against this, but the large majority of the Committee were Oxted county and district councillors who were keen to find a quick solution to the concerns in Oxted, but paid insufficient regard to its unacceptable consequences for other communities.

5.
Cllr Johnson wrote again to parish councils in other communities likely to be affected to alert them to this regrettable development. So far the WAG group, with WPC representation, has had useful meetings with representatives of the PCs in Limpsfield and Westerham. Both are supportive. The latter are in contact with Sevenoaks DC and Kent CC about the traffic implications for them, and WAG plans to be represented at a meeting of their Highways Committee on 9 June. Following further discussions with the solicitor engaged by WAG, a letter will be sent to SCC to draw attention to WAG's legal support and to its strong opposition to the one-way proposal. WAG is engaging specialist advice on the feasibility of alternative solutions, such as road improvements between the quarry and the A25. More generally, WAG is seeking to build on comments by some participants at the 7 May meeting that an objective, 40 year, win-win solution is needed rather than hasty stop-gap measures which transfer the Oxted problem to other communities."

APM 8 May - the Chairman reported that it was well attended. A note of thanks to Kris Jeffery for doing the food on the night.

9. Miscellaneous Matters:
a. Airports: Cllr Myers confirmed that he has been emailing Alan Simmons Act and that the flight path meeting scheduled for 30/5 had been postponed.
b. Station Car Parking: After a long discussion it was agreed that a sub group, headed up by Cllr Barton would be set up to look at the previous work that had been carried out by the Old Parish Council and to look at and consider all the options.
c. School Parking: The minutes of the School Governors Meeting had been circulated to all Cllrs before the meeting but Cllr Marks mentioned that her suggestion of the school using some of their scrub land to make a drop off circle is not minuted. Cllr Barton confirmed that Craigmyle Glebe are happy in principle for the School to use their piece of land as a drop off zone and then a walking bus to school as long as there is no cost to the Glebe. The Chairman mentioned why the Crescent couldn't be used as a drop off zone and then a walking bus to school and this would not involve any monies. Cllr Marks confirmed that the Crescent parking restrictions will be in place soon and the Chairman agreed that he will contact the Chairman of Governors Charles Bradshaw about the drop off zone.
d. Speedwatch Cllr Cohen advised the meeting that he had spoken to Jeff Jeffery who had expressed a keen interest to stay involved. Cllr Cohen will contact Jeff Jeffery to discuss whether more volunteers need to be recruited and to arrange training for any new recruits.
e. Village Event: Cllr Marks is the Parish Council representative and will speak to Julie Moylan for an update and report back at the next meeting.
f. WAG: covered above.
g. Village Hall Representative: The Chairman asked for a volunteer to represent the Parish Council on the Village Hall Committee - Cllr Marks agreed with Cllr Howe as back up. The Clerk will speak to Jeff Jeffery and Simon Aggiss regarding the Parish Council's representation.

10. Meetings to attend:
None

11. Correspondence:
Correspondence received during the month was circulated to all Councillors during the meeting.

Discussion took place regarding the suggestions received from the APM: Cllr Barton will speak to Julie Cornish regarding the playground area and Clare Court steps. Cllr Marks advised that she had spoken to Highways regarding the steps and they had confirmed that there was no safety issue.

6.

A letter had been received from Lynda Boland regarding the pathway along North Down Road towards the junction bend with Gangers and the Ridge. The Parish Council agreed that they would go and look at the pathway and make a decision at the next meeting.

12. Any Other Business:
a. Diary: All Councillors completed diary dates for May 2008.
b. Cllr Marks advised that she had requested the Community Gang to cut growth back around the new speed signs.
c. The Chairman mentioned that he will be contacting all the different groups in the Village to set up a meeting to discuss ways of working together.

Meeting ended at 9.32
2 members of the public present part of the time

Next Meeting to held in the Peace Hall, Garden Village on Thursday 26 June at 7.30pm.

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