CHESTFIELD PARISH COUNCIL
MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 14 DECEMBER 2015
Present: Parish Cllr Steve Bailey (Chairman)
Parish Cllr Chris Brealy (Vice Chairman)
Parish Cllr Neal Fowler
Parish Cllr Tricia Chapman
Parish Cllr Chris Ellis
Parish Cllr Eileen Watkins
Parish Cllr Adrian Young
Parish Cllr Andrew Rabey
1 x vacancy
Ms Amanda Sparkes, Clerk to the Council
16 x residents
PCSO Jade Hoyle, Kent Police (for part of the meeting)
KCC Cllr Mike Harrison (for part of the meeting)
140. CHAIRMAN’S WELCOME
Cllr Bailey welcomed everyone to the meeting.
APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE - Apologies for absence were received from city councillor Jenny Samper.
141. MEMBERS’ INTERESTS – Cllr Chapman and Cllr Watkins declared an interest in the Grasmere Pasture agenda items as they lived in close proximity. They would not therefore take part in any discussion of this.
142. VACANCY ON THE COUNCIL
The Chairman explained that there are now three candidates who have formally put themselves forward for the vacancy on the council. The three people were in attendance and he welcomed and thanked them for coming to the meeting. He commented that to have three was very flattering, there had been a previous time when the council had run for several months with more than one vacancy. The three candidates had all provided some written information about themselves which had been circulated to all councilors prior to the meeting. In light of the number of residents at the meeting wanting to speak, the parish council felt it better to give the candidates due consideration after the meeting, and make a decision on who to invite to be co-opted afterwards.
143. MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 09 NOVEMBER 2015
Cllr Rabey proposed and Cllr Brealy seconded and the Minutes were accepted as a true record of the meeting and the Chairman duly signed them.
144. ACTION LIST APPENDIX 1a - The list was presented to Cllrs prior to the meeting.
145. POLICING
146. PCSO report
PCSO Jade Hoyle explained that on 27 November there had been a burglary of £1,000 worth of tools from a vacant property in Clover Rise, there has been theft of wood taken from the Reeves Way industrial estate, and reports of nuisance vehicles there too. On 9 December 2015, there was a prowler in Richmond Road, staring in through windows.
There is a fraud currently, where a caller claims to be from Talk Talk asking for bank details to pay compensation and subsequently taking control of the person’s computer.
Graffiti on the Radfall underpass bridge
Cllr Raby advised that the graffiti on the bridge is highways responsibility and Jade is chasing this.
Speedwatch support – Cllr Rabey advised there had been some Kent Police support given to the village this month.
Police Seminar – Cllr Rabey advised that he attended the Police Crime Commissioner’s austerity measures seminar. Priorities for proposals going forward were presented. The Police need to grow their firearms officers by 50% so Kent will need another 37. Cllr Rabey also advised that Kent Police have been allowed to increase their share of the council tax by £5 per year per household (above the 1.9% cap) for the next year.
147. NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH
Cllr Fowler gave his Neighbourhood Watch update:
- Monthly Newsletter - The local monthly NHW newsletter (kindly compiled by Maralyn Whamond) has been distributed to our village coordinators.
- There has been a spate of burglaries in Whitstable/Tankerton within the last two weeks - 14 to date. Most have been targeting commercial premises in and around the High Street area, albeit some residential property has also been affected.
- Theft from a Motor Vehicle at Radfall Road, Chestfield, between 10:40 and 13:40 on 3rd December. A Kia Ceed had the front door Lock ripped out to gain entry. A Pair of Trainers and an Apple Macintosh Computer were stolen.
- At least 10 scams have been reported during the last month, many of which have affected residents in the Kent area - and one specifically in the village.
a. Roofing scam - Three men called at the home of a vulnerable adult in the village on 8 December, despite there being ‘no cold caller’ notices displayed on his front door, and convinced him that his roof needed repair. They claimed to be registered with "Check A Trade” and drove a ‘larger than normal’ enclosed white van, carrying two or three ladders on the roof. The van hada coloured motif on driver and passenger doors. The initial charge for the work that they considered necessary amounted to £150. Having no access to a cheque book the householder was driven to the bank to withdraw the money. When he was returned to his address, one of the men advised that there were a number of broken tiles also needing attentionand that it would cost a further £300.00 to deal with that.Theytried totake him back to the bank to get more money but the resident instead said hewould go to the ATM at Sainsburys. Fortunately before he returned home the resident’s brother drove by, noticed men on the roof, found out what was happening and got the police involved. They arrived in time to speak with the contractors, who were sent on their way without payment and told not to return to the area.
b. Tax Scam - A co-ordinator from Shepherdswell area has been contacted by e mail and advised that he is due a tax refund and that he can access it by clicking a link in the message which purports to come from HMRC services.
c. Telephone scam - male rings calling from a courier company, possibly Express Couriers. He asks if the resident is going to be in as a package is due to arrive that needs a signature. A courier then arrives with flowers and wine and requires a "delivery/verification charge" which has to be paid by credit/debit card. The card is then swiped into a machine. Details are then used to withdraw funds fraudulently from the account.
d. DVLA Scam email purporting to be from the DVLA asking for update of personal and credit card details following a database problem, which it is claimed are necessary to avoid a lapse in your licence.
e. Barclays Bank Scam -Requiring completion of an account verification process to free up an account that has been restricted for security.
f. Telephone Scam - Caller claimed to be from a firm of solicitors and sought personal information to settle a claim.
g. Text Scam - Referring to motor accident claim - seeking bank details.
h. Police Scam - Fraudsters either phone or attend the home address of elderly members of the public, claiming to be police officers. They claim to be investigating a fraud and request the bank cards and personal identification numbers (PIN) of the person for investigation purposes. If the first contact was made by a phone call, the fake officer/s will tell the victim that someone will be over to collect the evidence.
i. Electrical Goods Sale Scam - Website advertising various electrical goods and domestic appliances at below market value. The fraudsters request card details via the website. Following a ‘purchase’ an email states that the payment failed and they must pay via bank transfer. The fraudsters use the widely recognised Trusted Shop Trustmarks to aid the deception.
j. Bogus roofers - operating in East Kent. Man in a black Audi estate car with ladders on the roof offers roof check. The company, called CityBuild, claims to be listed on Rated People.com and is supported by Help for heroes. Research shows no such company exists on facebook, internet, and trade sites.
Cllr Ellis commented that the parish council could circulate notices on the parish council and other residents associations noticeboards about the scams etc and encourage people to join the neighbourhood watch schemes to get the alerts. Cllr Fowler commented that the difficulty in this suggestion is keeping the information up to date. Cllr Rabey reminded councillors that there are websites that keep details of scams up to date and the council could signpost people to those and encourage them to share them.
Cllr Bailey said he would prepare a flyer for the noticeboards.
148. ADJOURNMENT OF THE MEETING – A resident introduced himself as Robert Jackson, the Chairman of Grasmere Village Residents Association, which covers both properties on and off the unadopted section. He explained there is mounting concern about the inclusion of Grasmere Pasture in the Canterbury District Local Plan, and there are ongoing efforts to mount opposition to Canterbury City Council. The Grasmere Village Residents Association will write to local councillors, there is a facebook page and an online petition which has received 240 responses in a week. They have done door to door literature drops and at 11am on Sunday 20 December 2015 they are calling for residents to join a demonstration on Grasmere Pasture to remove the site from the local plan. Kent County Councillor Mike Harrison interjected and suggested that for the planned demonstration people should stick to the public footpaths as the land is private land since it was fenced in 2004. He suggested that they have a press release prepared to give to the newspaper reporters.
Mr Jackson explained he had liaised with the Clerk and drawn up a list of concerns including traffic, flooding, the loss of an established green space and biodiversity considerations. He stated that the Grasmere Village Residents Association feel that any Grasmere Pasture development will harm the village in the same way as the Bodkin Farm development would have done.
Another resident reinforced concerns about flooding of the Grasmere Pasture site and around.
Any development could worsen flooding that already occurs at B&Q and Sainsbury – the Grasmere Village Residents Association could bring the application to their attention and raise this concern with them, as this could cause the stores to have to undertake flooding alleviation measures.
The Clerk’s draft response letter had been circulated around the meeting to residents, this was 100% supported and well thought out. Another resident commented that they were pleased that Chestfield Parish Council will also object to the planning application and the site being included in the local plan for housing. A question around whether the site could actually contribute to the housing supply within the next five years was raised.
Cllr Bailey advised that the inclusion of the site is out to consultation until the end of January, it has not yet been confirmed by the Inspector; there are other approved strategic sites, and there are other omission sites still that developers are forging forward with currently, so the situation around housing numbers is changing all the time.
Cllr Bailey commented that when comparing Grasmere Pasture to Bodkin Farm, although there are similarities, Bodkin Farm was in Chestfield and is designated as green gap. He advised that residents could learn from the parish council’s response to the Bodkin Farm development (available to view on the city council’s planning portal, reference CA/14/01319/OUT) – and for example, the parish council had led a traffic survey count, although this would be harder for the Grasmere Pasture site.
A resident commented that he had spoken to city councillor, Cllr Jenny Samper, who had classed the Grasmere Pasture proposals as ‘infill’ and protests as ‘nimbyism’, and that she could not get involved as she sits on the planning committee. (KCC Cllr Mike Harrison advised he had to defend the city councillor, commenting that she does know about planning. Cllr Bailey also endorsed that, commenting that she is knowledgeable and professional.)
Cllr Bailey commented that logistically any development would be a nightmare and advised there would need to be a great deal of pile work at huge expense, prior to any development of the Grasmere Pasture site – developers could not currently even get vehicles on to it - this is in favour of excluding the site – as it may make the site unviable and the cost per foot too expensive to sell.
A resident reminded everyone that The Ridgeway is a bridle way with no vehicular rights.
Grasmere Pasture is not a brownfield site, and brownfield sites should be considered first.
Cllr Brealy suggested that residents identify other housing sites to the city council, that can be deliverable within the next five years, as a best defence.
The meeting continued.
149. KCC COUNCILLOR REPORT
Kent County Councillor Mike Harrison wished everyone a Merry Christmas. He advised that a Hotel had opened up at the top of Wraik Hill two years ago, and asked Cllr Harrison for one of the brown road signs denoting local facilities – but this request has taken two years for these signs to be put up. Similarly, and damaged signs also seem to take age to reinstate.
For the repeat flytipping site in Molehill Road, on the boundary of Chestfield parish, Cllr Brealy found out that the land is owned by KCC. Since Cllr Brealy put two bollards in himself there has not been any more flytipping. Cllr Harrison has been copied in to emails recently and commented that he was pleased to see that Kent Highways Services are going to get quotes for the installation of four bollards. Cllr Harrison advised he would be happy to contribute to these bollards from his highways Member fund. Chestfield Parish Council could also match fund by 50%.
Cllr Rabey commented that if it were easier to dispose of building materials then the problem may not occur so much. Cllr Harrison suggested that a KCC waste officer could attend a future parish council meeting and address the council.