COUNCIL TAX

Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council collects all Council Tax. It does this for itself and for all the other local service providers. These include Kent County Council, the police, the fire authorities and your local Parish Council.

The amount each village pays varies because of the different tax asked for by your parish council.

The break down of the tax for an average Band D property is:
Kent Police £122.18
Kent & Medway Towns Fire Authority £61.65
KCC £964.17
TMBC £151.98

This all amounts to £1299.98 – but then you have to add on the Parish Council tax as follows:

Burham Parish: £ 23.12 (making a total for a Band D property in Burham of £1323.10)

Aylesford Parish: £38.23 (making a total for a Band D property in Eccles of £1338.21)

Wouldham Parish: £43.79 (making a total for a Band D property in Wouldham of £1343.77)


Note that KCC need most tax as they have much bigger commitments such all schools, the roads and the disposal of all waste collected by the borough councils.

It is worth noting that TMBC have limited their Council Tax rise to 4.95% in spite of:

• Increased compulsory commitments from central government to be paid for by Council Tax.
• A reduction in real terms of Central Government funding to effectively 1.2%. Leaving TMBC to raise this money from its Council Tax payers.
• TMBC received one of the lowest Central Government financial grants of all boroughs in Kent.
• A rise in the inflation rate of TMBC services of 3.7%.

The motion, agreeing the Council Tax, was unanimously passed by TMBC at the Council Meeting on the 22 February with Lib Dem and Labour Councillors supporting the Conservative Budget.

SOUTHERN WATER

AYLESFORD SEWAGE WORKS APPEAL

Further to our post of the 28th November below, we understand from John Walrond and Gilly Hurley, of the Eccles Village Co-Ordination Secretariat, that Southern Water has now just lodged its appeal against KCC's decision to reject their planning application for the Wastewater Treatment Works in Bull Lane.

Your letters of protest against Southern Water's plans should be addressed to:

The Planning Inspectorate
Temple Quay House
2 The Square
Temple Quay
Bristol
BS1 6PN

Quoting Appeal Number: APP/W/2275/A/07 2035709

LIST OF PLANNING APPLICATIONS
SINCE 1 JANUARY 2007

The following planning applications that affect Burham, Eccles and Wouldham have been received by Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council since 1st January 2007.

Details can be viewed by linking to the TMBC Search Form and inset the Application Reference at the beginning of the application below eg 07/00045/FL

• 07/00045/FL ; 13 Mackenders Lane Eccles Aylesford Kent ME20 7HX; Erection of a rear conservatory

• 07/00022/FL; 7 Cork Street Eccles Aylesford Kent ME20 7HG; First floor rear extension

• 06/04141/FL; Land East Of 11 School Lane Wouldham Rochester Kent; Erection of 4 no. two bed terraced houses together with garaging and parking spaces.

• 07/00194/A10; Unit 15 Stirling Park Laker Road Rochester ME1 3QX; Article 10 Consultation by Medway Council for installation of internal mezzanine floor including partitioning to form office.

• 07/00293/A10; Land Between A228 On West Bank Of Medway And Peter Hall Road Wouldham Rochester Kent; Article 10 Consultation by Medway Council: Details of water voles, construction programme, acoustic ...

• 07/00337/A10; Land Between A228 On West Bank Of Medway And Peter Hall Road Wouldham Rochester Kent; Article 10 Consultation by Medway Borough Council for: Details of Contamination Assessment submitted...

• 07/00414/FL; 28 Rochester Road Burham Rochester Kent ME1 3SQ; Front drive reconstruction and extended vehicular crossover

• 07/00532/FL; Scarborough House 40 Pilgrims Way Wouldham Rochester Kent ME1 3RB;
  Conversion of outbuildings to provide annexe for elderly relative, with alterations to existing building

• 07/00529/LB; Scarborough House 40 Pilgrims Way Wouldham Rochester Kent ME1 3RB; Listed Building Application: Conversion of outbuildings to provide annexe for elderly relative, with alterations to existing building

• 07/00270/RD; Former Peters Pit And Peters Works Site Hall Road Wouldham Rochester Kent; Details of site investigations and remediation strategy submitted pursuant to condition 8 of planning permission TM/05/00989/OAEA (Formation of development platforms and creation of new community including residential development, mixed-use village centre (including A1; A3 and B1 use), community facilities and primary school and associated highways works) and to condition 6 of planning permission TM/05/00990/FLEA (Construction of a single carriageway road crossing incorporating segregated pedestrian and cycle way)

Fly Tipping Bad News

A lorry load of house building waste dumped on Hill Road on the North Downs Way above Wouldham.

One of the most beautiful walks in the county.

We reported this to Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council (TMBC) on Sunday last week.

The Good News
The same site on Tuesday morning.

Well done to the TMBC officers and contractors who sorted the mess out. Hopefully the healing hand of nature will finish the job off and the North Downs Way will look stunning again as the catkins come into full bloom: they are beginning to come out there now.

What it Cost Us:

This clear up operation cost us, the Council Tax payers of TMBC & KCC, about £200. Though expensive, think of the resources involved. The cost of the lorries, the cost of the people and the cost of the equipment. A number of resources were deployed and there is the management time. Looked at that way it is lot cheaper than we expected. TMBC try and keep costs down but we still all have to pay for fly tipping like this.

Each year we, in TMBC, have to pay about £50,000 for clearing fly tipping. That is about £0.70 for each of us in the Borough.

How to Help:

Please help by reporting fly tipping to TMBC on 01732 844 522 or click here to go to the online Litter Reporter