Parish Cake Autumn 2017
Your slice of Cranbrook and Sissinghurst life - published by Cranbrook and Sissinghurst Parish Council
Your slice of Cranbrook and Sissinghurst life - published by Cranbrook and Sissinghurst Parish Council
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update<br />
News and views from Cranbrook<br />
& Sissinghurst <strong>Parish</strong> Council,<br />
compiled by Kim Fletcher<br />
What is a <strong>Parish</strong> Council<br />
for and How Does it Work?<br />
THE CRANBROOK and<br />
Sissinghurst <strong>Parish</strong> Council is<br />
the first level of getting things<br />
done in the community. Elected<br />
councillors take decisions that<br />
affect everyone’s lives in a<br />
small way.<br />
Tunbridge Wells Borough<br />
Council (TWBC) makes bigger<br />
decisions, Kent County Council<br />
(KCC) takes bigger ones still,<br />
and eventually the buck stops<br />
with Helen Grant, our member<br />
of parliament.<br />
The ‘glue’ that makes all this<br />
happen is the work of the<br />
committees in the parish<br />
council, the monthly parish<br />
meeting, and the clerks who<br />
sit in the Weald Information<br />
Centre, at the bottom of the<br />
church steps.<br />
PARISH COUNCIL<br />
There are 15 elected members<br />
of our parish council, who are<br />
elected for four years, including<br />
chairman Cllr. Bridget Veitch.<br />
The parish council has a<br />
monthly meeting to which<br />
all members of the parish are<br />
welcome. Reports are given<br />
from the various committees<br />
and a vote taken on their<br />
decisions to make them<br />
binding and for your precept<br />
money to be spent. Questions<br />
from members of the parish<br />
can be asked at the end of the<br />
meeting.<br />
We have the following<br />
committees:<br />
Planning and Preservation –<br />
chaired by Cllr. Alison Bunyan<br />
This committee meets every<br />
fortnight to give feedback to<br />
TWBC on the local view on<br />
any planning applications. As<br />
Cranbrook and Sissinghurst<br />
have so many listed buildings,<br />
the planning committee<br />
work with local groups and<br />
individuals to try to maintain a<br />
balance between modern living<br />
and the historic character of the<br />
town.<br />
The committee can only advise<br />
the TWBC planning department,<br />
not instruct it.<br />
Environmental Management<br />
– chaired by Cllr. Andy<br />
Fairweather<br />
This committee looks after<br />
playground equipment, the<br />
allotments, the car parks and<br />
street lights. The countryside<br />
in the parish is an Area of<br />
Outstanding Natural Beauty<br />
(AONB) so it balances the<br />
modern way of living with the<br />
rural nature of the parish<br />
Burial Grounds and Properties<br />
– chaired by Cllr. Brian<br />
Clifford<br />
The parish own buildings<br />
and land so this committee<br />
looks after the cemeteries,<br />
grass cutting, grave allocation<br />
and properties such as the<br />
Vestry Hall. It ensures that<br />
maintenance is done in a timely<br />
manner and that the buildings<br />
are safe.<br />
Policy and Resources<br />
– chaired by Cllr. Peter<br />
Goodchild<br />
Each sub committee has a<br />
chairman and they all sit on<br />
this committee with the parish<br />
council chairman, deputy and<br />
finance member.<br />
Members ensure the left and<br />
right hands know what is going<br />
on. It is this committee that<br />
works out finances and give the<br />
sub committees their budgets<br />
for the year. Each sub committee<br />
has a five year forward plan for<br />
expenditure, so we put money<br />
aside to pay for major projects<br />
which may occur in the future,<br />
such as painting the outside<br />
of the Vestry Hall or renewing<br />
some play equipment (each<br />
piece costs about £6,000).<br />
A reserve is also held for<br />
emergencies.<br />
Policy and Resources also looks<br />
after our most valuable assets,<br />
the parish clerks, Lori and Laura.<br />
The clerks act as the ‘do-ers’ for<br />
the parish – they report issues<br />
to TWBC, contact suppliers<br />
and contractors, and act as the<br />
front line in communication<br />
for parishioners. They work<br />
alongside Lynn from Tunbridge<br />
Wells in the Weald Information<br />
Centre, and if one doesn’t know<br />
the answer, one of the others<br />
probably does!<br />
Neighbourhood Development<br />
Plan (NDP) – chaired by Cllr.<br />
Nancy Warne<br />
The <strong>Parish</strong> Council is<br />
responsible for the delivery<br />
of the NDP. Led by Cllr. Nancy<br />
Warne, the NDP Steering Group<br />
is made up of councillors<br />
and non-councillors.<br />
Through public engagement<br />
events and questionnaires,<br />
parishioners are helping to<br />
create a shared vision for<br />
the future development<br />
of the parish. Details of<br />
how to get involved can be<br />
found on the website www.<br />
cranbrookandsissinghurstndp.<br />
co.uk<br />
The final plan will include a set<br />
of policies specific to the parish,<br />
against which future planning<br />
decisions will be determined.<br />
<strong>Parish</strong>ioners get to vote on the<br />
plan in a referendum, which<br />
will take place in late 2018/<br />
early 2019.<br />
40 <strong>Parish</strong> <strong>Cake</strong> • <strong>Autumn</strong> <strong>2017</strong>