• Affordable housing. The Rural Housing Trust stated that 48% of all forms had been returned which is the best result they have ever had, 30 families had indicated a need for affordable housing.
• Pond and Playground. An S.R.B. grant of £1003.00 has been has been awarded for the playground and this with the £100 from the Parish Council will enable new fencing to be erected along the road perimeter of the pond and playground. A new waste bin will be bought and sited at the pond end of the playground and the two picnic tables kindly donated by the Bruderhof Community will also be installed.
• The risk assessment carried out by Wicksteed Leisure on the playground equipment shows the swings need to be upgraded within the next 4 years. This is confirmed by a National Playing Fielding Association report, which also requires the slide to be replaced. The swings, with mats, will be replaced first at an approximate cost of £3,200 (this price is for the Playground Committee carrying out the work). The replacement slide and mats would be £2,400, which gives a total of £5,600. If the work was carried out by Park Leisure, the company who supply the equipment, the total would amount to £8,500. The Parish Council will have to put money aside each year for this work to be done. Failure to carry out this work could mean our insurance is invalidated. Proposal to carry out the above work before 2009. Proposed Cllr Barnett Seconded Cllr Rye. Carried unanimously.
• Dog warden – notices and dog waste bin. Two notices had now been erected on the grass verge in Vicarage Lane. The Clerk received a letter from D.D.C. regarding the dog bin and giving a price of £263, which included installation. An ordinary waste bin could be placed in Vicarage Lane with a sign attached to it indicating that it was for dog waste and this would be cheaper. Dover District Council would be happy to empty the same. The residents of Vicarage Lane would be asked for their views.
• Report of meetings attended:- Cllr Rye attended the Village Hall Committee meeting on 28^th September. The committee stated that they did not know when the Parish Council meetings occur even though they are advertised on the notice board in the village, on the website and in the Parish Magazine. However the clerk will email Mrs Clayton with a list of dates. The committee also requested a key to the notice board although this had been offered in the past and turned down. Clerk to arrange for the cutting of a new key.
• Cllr Rebecca Hammond attended the Kent Dover Local Board meeting on 16^th September. Matters covered at this meeting included: Small Community Capital Projects – this is a fund created for capital project expenditure of up to £20,000. Information is available on the website www.kent.gov.uk/localboards. Dover Pride - an action plan on the development strategy for Dover including developing the potential of Dover’s waterfront and improving the town centre environment. Community Safety Report – this included local Police reporting on town centre late night policies and anti social behaviour orders. Dover Castle – is currently in dispute with English Heritage due to a proposed reduction in opening hours. Correspondence regarding this is with the Clerk for reference.
• Cllr Craggy attended the Aylesham Partnership meeting on 2^nd September but the only thing that concerned Nonington was the Vintage Bus Service which it is hoped to have running again next year. The Kent rural Community Council is conducting a feasibility study into having a shop/post office in Nonington. Crockshards Farm Shop has started a ‘Vegetable Box Scheme’ this means anyone can buy a big bag of local fresh fruit every Thursday for £1.
• Cllr Holt attended a meeting of the Aylesham Rural Area Partnership Management Committee where only 3 people out of a potential 11 attended which was disappointing. Nonington P.C. was requested to write to D.D.C. and C.C.C. Highways Departments requesting a 50 mph zone on the B2046 as a precedent had now been set on the Sandwich Deal road. It was reported that the various sub committees on Aylesham Rural Area Partnership would now be one large group.
• Cllr Barnett attended Town & Parish Council meeting where a lot of other Parish Councils were complaining about the report produced by the National Playing Fields Association in conjunction with Dover District Council. How their insurance would be affected by these ‘over the top reports’ discussions became quite heated.
• Cllrs Barnett and Holt attended the Snowdown Regeneration Meeting – The current master plan of the Snowdown site was presented to the meeting and both Councillors consider the proposals to be essentially quite good. Lizards, bats and rare insects have been discovered at the road end of the site, consequently some hard standing will be left and the proposed industrial part of the plan will be moved further back on the railway line side. The roofs of the buildings will be green roofs i.e. soil will be put on the roof and grass and plants grown on them. The high ridge running around east and south of the site will be a nature trail and the highest point, which is near the centre of the site, will become a vantage point looking towards Ramsgate.
• The road presentations were a disaster as they were a repeat of everything said two years ago. The expected increase in traffic through the village from both the new housing at Aylesham and the Snowdown site is expected to be 50% if there are not other actions taken. Any road calming will be determined on the approval of the majority of the parishioners of Nonington.
• Nonington have been asked by the S.R.B. to put down on paper potential problems that may be faced by them as follows:- Snowdown Railway bridge, which is currently inadequate for the traffic it carries. A footpath linking Snowdown station with the existing footpath in Nonington is required as even with current traffic there is an important safety issue for pedestrians. Traffic calming, or appropriate measures as advised by the Consultants, is essential in the villages of Nonington and Womenswold/Woolage with clear deterrents to additional lorry traffic, improvements to the specified HGV route to encourage its use by this type of traffic in particular, improvements to B2046 junctions, particularly from Womenswold and also the HGV route. Exit from the Snowdown site to be constructed to ensure that traffic turns left towards the A2.
• Jubilee Committee Meeting - Dick Henley reported that this would commemorate the Trafalgar weekend next year. Activities would be similar to the Jubilee weekend including the lighting of beacons, parties and Church bells being rung. More details will be forthcoming.
• SEEDA - a meeting of the East Kent Coalfields conference covered the four main coalfields but Snowdown was not really mentioned.
• Footpaths – EE306. There has been confusion regarding the rerouting of this footpath at Beechgrove. A meeting was held on site with a representative of the Parish Council, the Bruderhof Community and K.C.C. An apology was received at the start from K.C.C. due to the poor way the project had been dealt with in the past. Two definitive paths across the old sports field were agreed one going round the perimeter. The second of these footpaths had been directed up a very steep bank, which has no handrail or steps (at the moment) and the Parish Council still considered this route was too long. The Bruderhof Community have now said that they will put in a permissive path lower down. This will in effect give 3 new paths providing a good and varied choice to walkers. EE308 - the footpath on the Sandwich Road across the lower part of the Bruderhof Community land has been blocked by the building of a stock fence diverting the path round the stockyard, however, gates have now been put in the stock fence so that walkers can use the stock yard or, if wet underfoot, can walk around it. The community apologised for any misunderstandings concerning footpaths in the past. They also mentioned they were looking into adding a further permissive path from the gate at the entrance of the footpath to the old entrance to the College so that walkers would have a safer exit onto the main Sandwich Road. The Parish Council expressed it’s thanks to the Bruderhof Community for the concessions they have made.
• Grant application - requests to be received by 21^st December for a decision in March.
• Wheels 4 work in Aylesham has been abandoned as there was no organisation to run the scheme. Further investigations are needed to see if this scheme could be run in Nonington and if there would be youngsters who would use it. Anyone interested should contact the Parish Clerk.
• Prima Windows. Nothing much has happened over the summer regarding the parking on the road. The Police were contacted regarding the safety aspect of this but said they could not do much. Mr Halfpenny, of Prima Windows, stated that he is calling plumbers out regarding the cesspit and hopes to start work soon on creating a car park at the rear of his factory.
• Fly tipping. A barrier is being raised inside Share Ways Gate to stop vehicles driving into the field and unloading rubbish. P.C. Ian Foster was contacted regarding the amount of rubbish dumped in this entrance and hopefully something can be done to stop it.
• Doctor Andy Tee has expressed an interest in joining the Parish Council, he lived in Stourmouth for a number of years and was a member of the Parish Council there. A unanimous decision was taken to co-opt Doctor Tee to the Parish Council, he is very welcome.
• The pavement alongside the cricket club is covered in leaves and is very slippery. Clerk to contact Highways to ask them to clear it.
• A request was made from a parishioner to ask Highways Department to move the 30 mph signs in Church Street some 10 feet back towards Butterstreet. Clerk to write to Highways.
• Dick Henley reported for the Jubilee Committee saying that a grant had been received from the SRB enabling them to purchase a 20 x 40 ft marquee, which will be available to all organisations in the village at a reasonable rate.
• A survey is to be carried out by the Councillors regarding worn away white lines, particularly at junctions, and missing junction signs.

Next full Parish Council meeting is on 4^th January 2005 in the Dolphins Hall at 7.30 p.m.