Draft Minutes of the Meeting of the Ash Parish Council held in Ash Village Hall Library
on Tuesday 30th October, 2007 at 7pm.

497 Present: Mr Foat (Chairman), Mrs Bilham, Mr Cooper, Mr Darvell, Mr Gregory, Mr Lambie, Mr Palmer, Mr Whitburn and Dis Cllr Chandler.

498 Apologies for absence - Mr Pratt, Prof Swingland

499 To Consider the Purchase of the Kent County Council Land on the north side of the A257.

After a full discussion, it was proposed by Mr Whitburn, seconded by Mr Cooper and unanimously agreed that the Parish Council would not bid for the amended Plot 43 put up for sale by Kent County Council at auction on 2 November, 2007.

The Council in reaching their decision considered information on insurance costs, available money, costs of purchase, possible uses of the land including as a resource for educational and recreational purposes and wildlife. With the information available at the time of the meeting, the Council did not agree that the over-all benefit to the parish was sufficient to justify the expenditure and the on-going use of public resources, taking into consideration that the site:
- would not be suitable for recreational purposes
- there was not sufficient time to obtain an opinion on the wildlife value prior to the auction
- the design of the drainage lagoon and the covenants attached required no change to its size, purpose or shape
- the retention by KCC of the access area to the plot.

This being the only agenda item the meeting closed at 7.15pm.