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PARISH COUNCIL: The meeting of Boxley Parish Council held on Monday December 4 at St. John’s School, Grove Green. Parish Councillor Vacancy: notice of a vacancy has been advertised and the deadline to request a by-election is 8 December. If no by-election is requested than the parish council will advertise after Christmas that is will co-opt to the vacancy at its meeting on January 22. Three residents have already requested to be kept informed of when the parish council will consider filling the position. HGV signage, Sandling, has been erected, it has to be a little higher than normal (but can be seen from a HGV cab), because of the plan to have horses use the new pathway etc. Cllr Bob Hinder has had a response from Inspector Hedges who is looking after PCSOs. He apologised for what has happened in the past. He asked if Boxley Parish Council would like PCSO to attend meetings. He hopes to have 6 new PCSOs starting in January. It is hoped that Boxley will have its own designated PCSO. Crimes between October 13 - November 19: Grove Green: Criminal damage, BMW keyed - Coppice View, 13/10. Criminal damage, Corsa scratched -Tesco car park, 19/11. Burglary of dwelling, nothing stolen - Harvester Way, 2-3/11. Burglary of Public or Commercial Property, clothing stolen in first break in, second break in scared off by Security Guard - Shopping Centre, Bearsted Road. Lordswood & Walderslade: Criminal damage, side window smashed - Dogwood Close, 9-10/11. Criminal damage, damage to parked vehicle - Impton Lane, 13/10 Sandling: Helen Whately MP was contacted by Chapel Down about the thefts and damage being caused to property, the e mail asked for her help and the parish council’s help to try to get something done. The clerk was provided with the contact details and has sent an e mail to the company asking for more information and whether a representative wants to meet with the parish council. Minutes of Environment Committee meeting November 13: Traffic speeds, Boxley Road/ Beechen Bank Road, members received the clerk’s report. It was agreed that Cllr Bob Hinder would write to the Cllr Jarrett, Leader of Medway Council to see if there is any support they can give to help reduce speeding and to stop cars from driving on the pavement outside the garages on Boxley Road towards Walderslade Village. John Edwards, MBC, Street Cleansing: a discussion took place between members and John Edwards on issues affecting the parish including problems due to the removal of dog waste bins and the general cleansing of the area including litter and fly tipping. It was acknowledged that MBC has been working hard to keep the borough clean and tidy, however the rural parts of the borough do not receive sufficient attention. It was confirmed that MBC would only install comingle bins when there are new housing developments and only have a budget for 25 new bins a year. Previously enforcement against fly tipping and litter dropping was outsourced but due to costs this has been brought back in-house. At present there is only 1 enforcement officer to cover the whole borough, but it is planned that a further 3 officers will be recruited, and the borough will be split into 4 areas and each area will have a crime waste and cleaning team including an enforcement officer. A new state of the art sweeper is being purchased which will have more features than the existing sweeper. It was confirmed the schedule for when the sweeper is in the area will forwarded to the PC so that it could notify residents. Cllr Wendy Hinder gave an update of her meeting with Nick Yandle, Gallaghers. Cllr Hinder and the Clerk met with Nick Yandle to discuss 2 projects that could benefit from funding, the possible refurbishment of Franklin Drive play area and a safer crossing point at Grovewood Drive North. He confirmed that funding and manpower would be given provided that Parish Council takes over maintaining the area currently owned by MBC. In principle members liked the idea however they requested a breakdown on the annual cost of taking on the responsibility. The Safer Crossing Point would be subject to a report from DHA. Parish councillors went on a tour of the parish in November which all agreed was very useful as it showed how large the parish is and some Councillors had not visited some of the areas. Visiting Lordswood and Walderslade helped councillors understand the problems there. Cllr Bob Hinder met with Helen Whately MP on December 1, regarding the current and future problems with junction 3 of M2. The parish clerk had prepared a report to give to MPs Tom Tugendhat, Tracey Crouch, Helen Grant and County Councillor Paul Carter. The report included the impact on the junction with the new Lower Thames Crossing and new developments in the area some which have got planning permission and future developments. A report from Highways said that any proposal for improvement to the junction have been put on the back burner. An accident record on the 2 roundabouts around junction 2 and Bluebell Hill are in excess of 100 including 2 deaths. It is felt that it is so serious Helen MP is going to get the 3 MPs and Paul Carter to have a face to face meeting with the Transport Minster. There will be a 22% increase in traffic on junction 3 M2 and junction 6 M20 by the new Thames Crossing. Derek Butler reported that he had attended an exhibition last week about M20 it will become a Smart Motorway between junctions 3-5 with no hard shoulder and a few laybys. Cllr Butler is on the Heritage/ Leisure Committee and visited Maidstone Museum who have opened a new exhibition ‘Tachs Mummy’ now on display. Cllr Butler is on the Rochester Bridge Trust and historically Boxley used to pay for the bridge at Rochester. There is a new exhibition about it. Cllr Wendy Hinder reported that she had been dealing with a number of issues and whilst temporary housebound she has been continuing to chase and deal with residents queries. She recently had a meeting with MBC and have been successful in getting the Parks Department to extend the recently refurbished play area at Grovewood Drive North so that an additional piece of p[lay equipment, for slightly older children, can be installed. The issue of the play area at Franklin Drive is still unsolved, but it is hoped that its future can be assured through a bit of partnership working and with the generosity of Gallaghers. UK Power has undertaken work along Boxley Road, Walderslade but she is battling to get the promised additional maintenance from KCC completed in a more timely manner rather than March 2018. Both organisations, KCC and UK Power appear to be using delaying tactics as each organisation waits to see if the other will undertake the work. It has been made clear to KCC that