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The Parish Council Set out below is information about the Council, to access it directly click the relevant heading. Table of Content 1. Information required to be published 2. Functions exercised by the council 3. The way we work 4. Parish Councillors and Committe membership 5. Council Angenda and Minutes, Committee Minutes 6. Other Documents 7. Frequently Asked Questions 1. Information required to be published The Parish Council is required by the Information Commissioner under the Freedom of Information Act to publish certain information. This can mostly be found below, but he also prescribes how this should shown. To see the version for Hildenborough click here, to see the Model Publication Scheme click here. One point of explanation, reference is made to 'Quality Parish Councils' . Hildenborough has not sought this designation because one prerequisite is that all Members are elected and, despite efforts to encourage people to come forward there has not been an election for some years. The legal powers of Parish Councils are extensive, to see them click here . They are all permissive rather than mandatory and in practice few of the possible powers are used by Hildenborough Parish Council. Back to Table of Content 2. Functions exercised by the council * STREET LIGHTING (outside the built up area) n.b. Irrespective of whether the County or the Parish is responsible the Parish Clerk will action any problems reported but ideally needs the reference number on the column to do so * BURIAL GROUND, in conjunction with the Church * OPEN SPACES - Village Green off Mount Pleasant , Recreation Grounds in Riding Lane and at Westwood, some seats and involvement with the War Memorial n.b. Both Riding Lane and Westwood have playgrounds for primary aged children, plus a Ball Court at Riding Lane The Tennis Courts at Riding Lane are the responsibility of the Tennis Club. * APPOINTING Trustees to certain Charities * CONTRIBUTIONS to charities etc. and acts as a consultee on Planning Applications and Footpath matters and as the local focus when the other government tiers consult. Back to Table of Content 3. The way we work The Council has a life of four years with cycles similar to the Borough Council. It meets monthly except in August on the third Wednesday of the month and works through five sub-committees, who, together with the Council's Chairman and Vice-Chairman, are elected at the Annual Meeting in May. If necessary, the non-executive Committees may co-opt until the following April people either with special expertise, or to bring the Committee to an acceptable strength. Annually, at its first meeting , each Committee will elect a Chairman from it's non co-opted members There is an Annual Parish Meeting when all residents may speak ,on the third Wednesday of March. Committee terms of reference 1. Open Spaces a. To manage the Council's Open Spaces and Village sign, to ensure, where appropriate, their availability to all in a good, usable condition taking into account weather and agreed budgets. This includes the identification of providers of necessary services so as to make recommendations for Council approval, and their supervision if required. b. To identify and make recommendations concerning the need for additional facilities which would benefit the Parish population and how to provide them, including identifying the detail of the scheme, potential cost and contractors, and the sources and the method of funding (which can include Charities or other Governmental sources). 2. Footpaths In co-operation with the County Council and local walking enthusiasts to seek to maintain safe access to the network of public paths in Hildenborough, identifying the need for any repairs and attempting to ensure these happen. To make comment on any proposals for change to the network. To publicise the network e.g. by publishing information,and organising walks and other events. 3. Planning Responsible for considering, and making comments to the Borough Council on all Planning Applications placed before it, and any Local Plans or similar proposals. 4. Churchyard This Committee consists of two people from the Council and two nominated by the Parochial Church Council. It is responsible for nothing other than identifying and recommending for action those works which are the responsibility of the Council. These are concerned with mowing the grass and looking after the trees and boundary hedges, and some walls as detailed in the 25 year Agreement of March 1999. As a Committee it is not responsible for the management of the Churchyard or the upkeep of individual graves. 5. Finance Responsible for overseeing the Council's finances, including the performance of necessary internal audit activities. It compares budget with actual results and may make recommendations. It considers draft committee budgets and makes recommendations about the overall budget to the council together with guidance about the precept to be raised. Delegated Powers Delegated power has been given to the Chairman of the Council , in agreement with the Vice Chairman, to spend up to £1000 if necessary before the next Council meeting. Similarly the Chairman of Open Spaces Committee has a float of £100 to allow urgent action between Council meetings. The Planning Committee (which meets fortnightly) is the only Committee with executive powers, which have been delegated to it because the Council has only 14 days to respond to consultation on applications. Back to Table of Content 4. Parish Councillors and Committe membership Chairman Mr M J Dobson, 98 Tonbridge Road, Hildenborough TN11 9BT (01732 833759) Is ex officio a member of all Committees Vice Chairman Mr C Lewis, 24 Greenview Crescent, Hildenborough, TN11 9DT (01732 833867) Committee membership - Finance, Open Spaces, Churchyard Mr M F Baker, 28 Fairfield Way, Hildenborough TN11 9EU (01732 838792) Committee membership - Finance, Open Spaces, Public Rights of Way Mr A Branch, 19 Stocks Green Road, Hildenborough, TN11 9AD (01732 833319) Committee membership - Finance, Planning Mr K P Hinton, 10 Wilson Close, Hildenborough, TN11 9DH (01732 833510) Committee membership - Planning Mrs C Morris, 15 Hilden Avenue, Hildenborough TN11 9BY (01732 838299) Committee membership - Finance, Open Spaces, Planning, Public Rights of Way Mr N M C Nairne, 6 Riding Lane, Hildenborough,TN11 9HX (01732 832053) Committee membership - Open Spaces, Planning Mr C Sawyer, 24 Riding Park, Hildenborough, TN11 9JB (01732 832384) Committee membership - Open Spaces Ms C A Sheldon, Woodlands, 30 Coldharbour Lane, Hildenborough, TN11 9JT (01732 835370) Committee membership - Finance, Open Spaces Mr N D Simpkins, 5 Club Cottages, Riding Lane, Hildenborough, TN11 9LJ (01732 833824) Committee membership - Open Spaces, Planning, Public Rights of Way Mrs A J Woollett, 17 Brookmead, Hildenborough TN11 9DL (01732 832632) Committee membership - Open Spaces, Planning, Churchyard The Council also recommends trustees for several Charities Helen Georgie Hills Memorial Fund which provides grants to help in several ways concerning health or convalescence etc Leigh United which provides periodic payments for poor but only from that part of Hildenborough once in the old Leigh Parish Sir Thomas Smythe's which provides grants for the poor, aged or disabled. and appoints representatives to certain other bodies namely Village Hall Management Committee : Mr C. Lewis Parish Partnership: Mr M Dobson Crime Prevention Panel: vacant. Fidelity Working Party: Mr M Dobson Clerk Mrs. P Gow - 60 Knowsley Way, Hildenborough TN11 9LQ - (01732) 832367 you can email the clerk at clerk@thisishildenborough.co.uk Back to Table of Content 5. Council Agenda and Minutes, Committee Minutes Since January 2009, the Agenda for Council meetings plus the Minutes of the Committee meetings held since the previous Council are posted to the web site prior to the meeting, while the latest Council minutes will be posted at the end of the month. You may download the minutes of the Parish Council Meetings by clicking on the Date below. The most recent minutes shown should be treated as a draft until confirmed (or altered) at the subsequent Council meeting The documents are in PDF format and require the Acrobat Reader. If you do not have it installed you can download it here. 
6. Other Documents Click on title to access Parish Council Meeting Calendar 2010 Parish Council Budget 2011/2012 Parish Council Income and Expenditure 2010/2011 Back to Table of Content 7. Frequently asked questions Q - Who looks after Street Lighting? A - At one time the Parish Council owned and paid for the maintenance and power for all of the lights in the Parish but used the Borough Council as their Agents to do so Starting in 1993, when there was pressure to replace existing lighting which had 3 core wiring- principally to the Gough Cooper estate- the Parish Council, aided by grants from the Borough Council, replaced all of the streetlights in the built up part of the village with adoptable schemes. To be adopted the scheme had to meet County Council design criteria about lamp intervals, placing etc. and involved new columns (except for Francis Road). Once installed the new lamps were adopted by the County Council and were no longer a Parish Council responsibility. These adopted lights are periodically inspected by the County to identify where action is needed. The County have a set of criteria about speed of response with 'Keep Left' signage the highest, if a fault is discovered instant action is unlikely but the sooner a fault is reported hopefully the sooner it will be fixed. If the fault turns out to be concerned with the wiring a specialist is often called in, meaning a further delay before the repair is done. Some lights, however, do remain the responsibility of the Parish Council, namely those between the War Memorial and the Station, upgraded in 2003 to help walkers, and several isolated lamps along Mill Lane and Riding Lane and in the passageways. These lamps are maintained for the Parish Council by a Contractor. To avoid confusion any fault discovered with ANY light should be reported to the Parish Clerk . Q - Does the Parish Council have responsibility for the Burial Ground? A - Supervision of how the Churchyard is used is the responsibility of the Church. Burial in the Churchyard is available to all residents of the Parish. A Parish Council can provide or help fund a burial ground. In 1966 to meet this task an agreement was reached between the Church and the Council for the Council to assist with the cost of maintenance. A 1999 revision agreed that for the next 25 years the Parish Council would take responsibility for:- 1) Mowing and treating the grass within the area used for burials at any time. 2) Tree surgery and care of the shrubs in the same area. 3) Maintenance of the wall alongside the B245 and any hedges within the area used for burials at any time. 4) Any initial capital costs associated with the extension of the facilities for burial existing in 1999 (including that used for ashes) such as new hedges walls, fencing and drainage works so as to extend the existing areas to ready them for use. The definition means that as well as the car park , lych gate and the paths a considerable area of Church land remains their responsibility, for example the grass by the car park. After the 1999 agreement was reached, work began on the extension of the burial ground into the Glebe Field. For the last few years, the Borough Council has made a grant to the Parish Council to meet the estimated cost of mowing the Churchyard to a standard similar to that at Tonbridge Cemetery.This, together with a population based grant and one towards street lighting, is done as part of an attempt to offset the extra cost imposed on residents by the Parish Rate on the Parished areas compared to un-parished Tonbridge. Back to Table of Content |
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