Hever Residents Association
Annual General Meeting
Monday 19th October 2020
7pm via Zoom
Present: John Adkins (Chair), Laura Palmer (Secretary), Jo Cockerill (Treasurer), Committee members: Lisa Cowell, Peter Leppard, Joanna Wade (PC Liaison), Mahala Turnbull, Philip Lindsay.
Guests/members: Liz and Tony Whitmarsh, Gerry Ryan, Jan Ryan, Claire Longley, Richard Mason
Chairman’s Welcome.
The Chair opened the meeting at 7.00pm noting that we had a quorum of 2 officers and 6 members joining the meeting.
The minutes of the last AGM were accepted.
Tribute was paid to committee member John Grace who has sadly passed away. John played a big part in the Hever Fireworks Displays.
Chairman’s Report
2019
The March AGM was postponed due to Covid and the restrictions that have followed have led us to our first AGM on Zoom.
Our bank balance is healthy primarily due to the successful sale of the Hever Fireworks equipment. It was purchased in 2013 for £3771 and sold in 2019 for £2800.
Our members are now paying by SO which has given stability to our subscriptions and will free up committee time going forward.
At the beginning of 2019 we continued to run our family friendly events schedule. We organised an Easter Egg Hunt at St Peters with a good turnout despite the weather.
The Scarecrow Competition proved popular with 45 excellent entries, with support for the winners from Hever Castle, Hever Golf Club and The Greyhound pub.
Hever Primary School entered several scarecrows, and the winning class were presented with a special scarecrow cup.
A highly successful and popular Children’s Halloween party took place in Hever Village Hall with 68 children taking part. Numerous residents helped to entertain the children and decorate the hall. The event was ticketed with a token entry fee. Hever Horticultural Society kindly helped erect their marquee.
The Henry provided mulled wine and mince pies before our family Christmas Carol event at St Peters, which was decorated inside and out with hundreds of fairy lights. Music from the Edenbridge Town Band set the scene for a now popular community event.
We helped pursue an opportunity to make improvements to Hever Station when funds of £30,000 were made available by GTR (Govia Thameslink Railway). In conjunction with HPC, we spoke to Hever commuters to gather their ideas. We hope the results that were submitted will be implemented by September next year.
We reviewed the SDC controls for the Neverworld Festival in August, particularly concerning traffic and noise would be kept to a minimum. The event is now quite popular with local residents attending.
In 2019 we made representations to SDC during the consultation stages of the Local Plan. The Local Plan is now in dispute with SDC taking legal action against the Secretary of State. It is in no ones’ interest to not have a working plan for the area outlining where development will be allowed and where it will not. SDC and HRA remain frustrated by the turn of events.
On behalf of our members we posted objected to
· a request for a Lawful Development Certificate at Little Buckhurst in Hever Lane
· a Planning Application for 16 houses at Newtyehurst Farm between Markbeech and Chiddingstone Hoath.
· a Planning Application at Park Farm, Uckfield Lane, and
· a Planning Application for road access to land adjacent to a property, Tanglewood, also on Uckfield Lane.
We continue to work with our local MP Tom Tugenhadt and HPC to seek clarification around what development should be allowed in AONB.
We are delighted to welcome our new committee member Mahala Turnbull who has previous experience of running a resident’s association.
2020 Update
In 2018 and 2019 our events focused on children but this year we wanted to find something for adults and families alike. To that end the VE75 anniversary and bank holiday, on May 8th, presented an opportunity to get everyone in the village together. So Hever Parish Council, HRA and Hever Castle got to work on planning and booking an event similar to the Queen’s 90th, an afternoon/evening picnic and dancing to a Swing Band, overlooking the lake at the Castle.
The event was cancelled due to Covid but we hope that once allowed we will be able to resurrect a village party of some form.
Hever Help was created with the HRA secretary bringing together an overwhelming number of residents who wanted to help those that are vulnerable in the area, with shopping and collecting and delivering medication.
We decided to begin the Scarecrow competition early. We imagined it would keep us occupied in lockdown and be something nice to see when we took our daily exercise. However, there were not many entries this year. The School however made a huge effort and several classes entered the competition. The winning class were awarded a cup and we gave the school some book tokens as a prize. The other participants all received a prize and the Winner, The Hall family were presented with the cup. Special thanks was given to Jane Higgs, last year’s winner for helping produce the wonderful Scarecrow newsletter.
Questions
Liz Whitmarsh asked for an update on Newhouse Farm. An article 4 is in place which will protect the land no matter how the land tries to be packaged and sold.
It is a good reminder that we all need to be vigilant to protect our village.
Mahala Turnbull asked for an update on Little Buckhurst. There are a couple living at the property currently and they have submitted a written appeal.
Unfortunately, our contact in Planning at SDC, Stephen Whitehead has moved on. Tom Fry is his replacement while the position is advertised.
Treasurers Report for 2019.
HRA will continue to pay the electricity bill for the parish field to continue to support the community and Hever School.
Some expenses were incurred for last year’s Halloween party, but these were considered one time set up costs as the items purchased will be used every year.
Balance £9723.90, Income £4877.36, Expenses £2756.58
There were legal costs for planning at New Buckhurst Farm.
We paid a deposit to the VE75 Swing band that we will seek to have refunded.
The Chair asked if all present were happy to adopt the Chairman’s and Treasurer’s reports. Agreed.
Elections
The current Committee were elected on mass..
Any other Business
Mahala Turnbull brought to our attention that Network Rail had failed to reinstate the verges following their work. She will chase.
Laura Palmer will follow up the dangerous ditch at Chippens Lane which Highways have failed to remedy. A skid rail and signage should be made available.
Gerry Ryan was very concerned about the appearance in the village centre following the addition of oak and reflector posts to deter people parking on the verges. Gerry would like to know who was consulted and that Highways should be working with HRA on these projects. Laura Palmer to follow up.
The Hever Village Hall Oak tree was debated as it is leaning over the road. The tree has already been given a clean bill of health by Kevin Agate. Lisa Cowell to follow up.
Hever Bus Shelter is looking uncared for. It is maintained my HPC. Philip Lindsay will follow up
Claire Longley asked for assistance with the Footpath that runs along Hever Parish field. The No Horse riding sign is missing and riders are using the path and it is narrow and overgrown so dangerous for those on foot. Jo Cockerill will follow up.
The meeting closed at 8.15pm