MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE
HELD ON TUESDAY 19TH MARCH 2019
PRESENT: Cllr. Fairweather (in the Chair), Cllrs. Fermor, Fletcher, Holmes, Smith, Swann and
Veitch
APOLOGIES: Cllrs. Beck and Clifford.
Declaration of Interests, Dispensations, Predetermination or Lobbying:
Members are required to declare any interests, dispensations, predetermination or lobbying on items on
this agenda. Members are reminded that changes to the Register of Interests should be notified to the
Clerk.
36/18: Play Equipment:
Cllr. Fairweather advised that he had been in conversation with the contractor who had provided the
quote in August 2018, to improve drainage in the Crane Valley skate park. The contractor had revisited
the site and provided clarification on his initial recommendation. With this in mind Cllr. Fairweather
proposed the quote of £1,350 + VAT be accepted, this was seconded by Cllr. Fermor and agreed.
37/18: Issues from Inspection of Grounds:
a) Allotments:
Cllr. Holmes had inspected the allotments today and provided the Clerk with a report. There were
several that he had identified that required monitoring. These would be assessed at the site visit in June.
He also reported that some of the markers for the plots had disappeared, the Clerk would make
enquiries with the Parish Warden on availability of spares.
The Clerk had received a request from the organisers of Wellbeing in the Weald to be considered as a
group tenant for members of the community. She had also been approached by a current tenant who
would be prepared to relinquish half of her current plot for this purpose. The Clerk was seeking
authorisation for the group to be allocated a plot as a priority over the waiting list. Members agreed this
was a very worthwhile project and should be supported.
b) The Ball Field:
Cllr. Fairweather advised he had completed a recent inspection and there were no issues to report.
c) Crane Valley:
Cllr. Swann reported that the recent weather had caused some damage to trees. The Clerk advised that
the Parish Warden had made several safe and would liaise with the Kent High Weald Project regarding
any further trees which may need attention. Cllr. Swann also advised that litter was particularly bad at
the moment and asked the Clerk to remind the grounds contractors to sweep the Skate Park area as per
their specification. He was concerned that the hedge at the approach to Brookside was becoming
overgrown, it was agreed to inspect it during the site visit in June with the view to having it cut back
after the nesting season. Cllr. Swann advised that KHWP were hosting a task day tomorrow between 10
– 3pm and everyone was invited to attend.
d) The Jubilee Field:
Cllr. Fermor had recently inspected the field and advised there were no issues to report.
38/18: Issues from Inspection of Car Parks:
a) The Regal:
Cllr. Veitch reported that along with Cllr. Swann, Linda Page, Marian Cumberland (Cranbrook in
Bloom) and Vikki Osbourne (KHWP) a tour of the Regal car park had been undertaken to review the
status of the landscaping with a view to establishing a plan for improvements. She had produced notes
on the meeting which she had forwarded to Cllr. Fairweather. Suggested actions for the Parish Council
would be considered in June when the site visit is completed. It was also agreed that Cllrs. Veitch and
Swann would meet with our grounds contractors to discuss routine maintenance of the area.
The Committee wished to have it noted that this Parish Council does not remove trees without
justification. The original decision by this Committee to have the radiata pine in the Regal car park
removed was reversed at a Full Council meeting when the Members present voted for it to remain.
Concerns regarding its condition had been raised again recently when it had been necessary to remove
a limb that had partially broken off. The Clerk had taken photographs today so Members could
compare with those taken previously, to decide if any movement was evident. It was agreed the angle
of the lean had worsened so Cllr. Smith proposed it should be removed as soon as possible, this was
seconded by Cllr. Fermor, with specific reference to her role as the Tree Officer and agreed
unanimously. The Clerk would contact the tree surgeons that had been appointed on the previous
occasion to see if their quote would need to be revised.
b) Jockey Lane:
Issues of alleged poor driving and a lack of consideration from drivers had been raised at the recent
Full Council meeting by a concerned resident. It was acknowledged that as we were unable to make use
of the TWBC parking order, any enforcement would be difficult and costly. Cllr. Veitch advised she
had a meeting scheduled with the Headmaster at Cranbrook School and would bring up the issue of
student parking again. It was suggested that the school should consider creating a parking policy for
their students.
Cllr. Fletcher reported that work to install the electric vehicle charge points was ongoing, UK Power
Networks were due to return to site on 6th April to connect the points to the electrical supply. He
advised that chargepoint barriers had not been quoted for originally and would cost an additional £810
including VAT. This still fell within the limit of the grant application so the extra cost to the Parish
Council was minimal. It was proposed by Cllr. Fletcher, seconded by Cllr. Fairweather and agreed to
accept the quote of £810, 75% of which would be reclaimed from the OLEV grant.
c) The Tanyard:
The Clerk advised that we had received notification from TWBC that no objections had been raised to
our proposal to undertake work to the trees in the car park. Two quotes for the work had been received
and were discussed at length. It was proposed by Cllr. Fairweather, seconded by Cllr. Fermor and
agreed to accept the quote of £1040 from Benjamin Hatcher. Notices would be created advising
residents of the forthcoming work.
39/18: Highways Issues:
It was noted by Members that the road signs in Sissinghurst have been cleaned by Kent County
Council.
Concerns had been raised by some parishioners regarding vehicles that park on the pavement and force
pedestrians with buggies or mobility vehicles in the road to get past. The Clerk had raised it with the
PCSO today to see if any action could be taken.
There had been an incident reported outside the Milk House Public House, the landlady had since
advised all delivery vehicle drivers to proceed with caution when entering or exiting the car park.
Cllr. Veitch advised that she had spoken to the contractors that are currently undertaking the repair
work in the Regal car park. They have agreed to mark the road ’NO ENTRY‘ at the entrance to the car
park because on rare occasions, some drivers have attempted to exit the car park incorrectly.
40/18: Any Other Environmental Management Issues:
Cllr. Swann advised that we were still awaiting a date to meet with Urbaser to discuss the contract for
emptying the Parish Council owned bins.
41/18: Litter Picks and Litter Bins:
Cllr. Fairweather advised that litter picks had been scheduled for Saturday 30th March, 9.30am outside
the Milk House for Sissinghurst and 9.30am outside the White Horse for Cranbrook. It was hoped that
both establishments would provide teas and coffees for the volunteers. It was agreed the events would
be circulated via Be In the Know. Cllr. Swann offered to stand in for Cllr. Veitch if family
commitments prevented her from attending. Cllrs. Fairweather and Smith would collect the bags of
rubbish and deposit them by the wheeled bin at Golford for the borough to arrange collection.
42/18: Street Lighting:
Trial of SL8 lantern on column 126, Waterloo Road.
Members had not had opportunity to observe the trial LED lantern as yet, when they had, they would
advise the Clerk of their views via email. They were advised that supplies of the regular lanterns were
diminishing quickly, so an alternative needs to be agreed as soon as possible.
43/18: Public Rights of Way:
There is an ongoing consultation to establish whether all PROW are registered, as it appears that some
PROW that have always been used as such, have dropped off the official register. Cllr. Veitch advised
that it did not affect any in our parish.
44/18: Items for Information:
No items were raised
