A calendar of all meetings and the latest published agendas are available here.

Public meetings are held at Lenham Community Centre, Groom Way, Lenham, ME17 2QT

April 2025

Sand extraction off Lenham Heath Road

You may have read in the local press recently that Kent County Council (KCC) is consulting on an aspect of the Kent Minerals Plan at a site in Lenham adjacent to Lenham Heath Road, south of the railway and between the solar park and the water treatment works. This site has long been earmarked for the extraction of fine sand once the existing sites in Charing and off Lenham Forstal Road are finished. That time has now come and KCC is formalising the details relating to the site ahead of works which are expected to begin in 2027.

This date has slipped somewhat, so the impact of this slippage on the proposals by Homes England and Maidstone Borough Council (MBC) to create a so-called “Garden Community” at this site and others adjacent to it around Lenham Heath are currently unknown.

The plan for the new extraction site is that all the traffic will be directed over the existing railway bridge, in the northeast corner of the site, and then eastwards around a new road constructed in the adjacent field and out onto the A20 via a new exit close to Lenham Forstal Road.

Lenham Parish Council will be sending its view to KCC emphasising that no HGV traffic should be directed along Lenham Heath Road or through the village. We are also concerned that once completed there are no plans to infill the space created by the extraction activity. The arrangement at the site off Lenham Forstal Road, operated by  Brett’s, was supposed to return that area to a public country park, we understand due to the Heathlands proposal this reparation has now been abandoned.

Lenham Parish Budget and Precept for 2025/26

The parish council’s financial year runs from 01 April - 31 March. The budget is prepared in the autumn and set in January, in advance of the new financial year. The parish then applies to the borough council for agreement to the budget and the parish precept, which has now been received. 

The Budget estimates the resources required to fund the services the parish council provides, deliver its strategic aims and objectives, and meet community and local taxpayer needs and priorities. It is split into two sections: revenue (to pay salaries, bills and services) and capital (to pay for things as set out below).

The revenue element of the budget has been developed on the principle of maintaining existing service levels whilst keeping the required increase in Council Tax as low as possible. It has considered likely changes in costs and income associated with the running of LPC services between the two years (2024/25 and 2025/26).

We have had to make provision for several unavoidable budget increases such as officer pay awards and inflation on running costs. However, where possible these increases have been offset, for the most part, by efficiency savings, budget reductions and income increases which will be assisted by the favourable budget position at the end of 2024-2025 where there is a projected underspend.

However, one negative factor in setting the revenue element of the budget has been the unexpected reduction in “qualifying band D properties”. This is the figure, provided by the borough council, that determines the individual cost per household. This figure has reduced because the number of single occupancy properties in the area, those which qualify and so get a discount on their council tax, has increased. In 2024/25 this increased over the previous year which provided us some financial “headroom” to absorb increased costs, but for 2025/26 it has reduced. This has removed a significant amount of flexibility the parish council has available to maintain the current precept figure.

While savings have been achieved without cutting services for the parish council to maintain services at 2024-2025 levels this means the precept will have to increase in the region of 5%. However, this increase does not fully cover the expected revenue spending for 2025/26 so the parish has taken the decision to supplement with funds from its financial resources to the tune of £20,000 to balance the budget. This is covered by an anticipated underspend in the current financial year.

Items in the capital part of the budget forecast do not impact of the parish precept and there is no current need for LPC to borrow funds to deliver any of these improvements. The project programme will be funded by earmarked reserves, income from s106 and Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL), budgetary provisions, and other grants, and for the financial year 2025/26 includes provisions for the following:

• CCTV development and upgrades
• road repairs in the Cemetery
• extension to the Maidstone Road car park
• a new Lenham Nursery School
• upgrade to Defibrillators around the village
• improvements to play equipment

Upgrade to the public toilets

The work to upgrade the toilets has begun and will take around six weeks to complete. During this time there may be some disruption in the area and we apologise for that in advance. Any disruption will be kept to a minimum.

During the works the toilets will remain closed, although we are mindful of the dates for the market and will endeavour to work around those.

Repairs to the Parish Office

Repairs to the ground floor at the parish office are also underway.

During this time the parish office will be closed to visits from the public but the Parish Clerk and Deputy Parish Clerk will be available as normal via telephone and email - contact details are here on the website.

We apologise for any inconvenience during this essential repair. 

The Lenham Cross

We have had a few questions, recently, about the state of the Lenham Cross.

The Lenham Cross is one of only two chalk memorials in the south of England, the other being at Shoreham. Maintaining the Cross, which is registered with the War Graves Commission, has been a constant for the parish council. The parish council gets no outside assistance, whether financial or in terms of physical support, so is reliant on the assistance of volunteers to undertake maintenance. 

The changes in climate, especially milder, wetter weather, have an impact on the chalk-based memorial. The parish council is aware of this and also cautious of asking volunteers to undertake heavy duty work to maintain it during inclement weather and on the steep scarp slope. As we get no financial assistance we include an amount for works within the parish precept and will do so again for the financial year 2025/26. 

The spring revamp of the Lenham Cross took place over the weekend of 5/6 April with a number of volunteers giving up their time to make sure that our cherished local landmark continues to stand out. Huge thanks to all those involved and to Cllr Andy Ratcliff who organised everything - see the article in "news" for pictures.

Maidstone Local Plan - rollout

The ups and downs of the Maidstone Local Plan continue to overshadow much of the parish council’s thinking. You may have seen the recent article in the KM (here’s the link to it: https://www.kentonline.co.uk/maidstone/news/it-will-be-so-upsetting-to-see-everything-i-ve-loved-comple-314434/ ) which gave the impression that the battle is over,

I can assure everyone that it is not!

We intend to ensure that all the cracks in the plan which were papered over during the inspection are now dragged into the spotlight to show how implausible the whole scheme is.

One battle may be lost, the war continues.

A20 Maidstone Road

We are still working with KCC in the role as Highways Authority following the recent meeting organised by our KCC Divisional Member Cllr Shellina Prendergast, . The report, which will go to the Joint Transportation Board as a recommendation, shared the outcome of a recent review of the A20, not just as it passes Lenham but almost into Maidstone. This identified several “hot spots” from Turkey Mill right through to the known issues we have here in Lenham, specifically at the Faversham Crossroads.

Some of the suggestions along the route and through main settlements like Bearsted will involve minor changes to the infrastructure (through the construction of traffic islands, etc.) and making the access to the more rural bus stops along the route safer for pedestrians. There are also plans to extend a west-bound cycle route into Maidstone.

The one specific change which affects us is a speed reduction from 50mph to 40mph on the A20 as it approaches the Faversham Crossroads.  The speed checks which KCC has carried out indicate that this reduction is do-able and would be within what is termed the “compliance margin” (in that most traffic is already doing around 40mph now). Following a recent meeting with officers from KCC Highways, organised by Shellina Prendergast our County Councillor, we understand that this initiative is already costed into KCC's budget for 2025/26, so work on it will be able to start in the new financial year, which begins in April.

… and finally

The parish council has a vacancy for someone to be co-opted onto the council to represent North Ward for the remainder of its term.

Anyone wanting further information should contact our Parish Clerk, Lisa Westcott or our Deputy Parish Clerk, Sarah Newell.

Cllr John Britt

Chair, Lenham Parish Council - (Lenham South ward)

What does Lenham Parish Council do?

Parish Councils are the tier of local government closest to the people. Although the parish council covers the Parish of Lenham it is not linked to the church in any way. All parish councillors are volunteers who dedicate their free time to enhancing their parish as best they can by utilising their individual skills and experience.

Those putting themselves forward to serve as a parish councillor have to submit to the regular election process, or, if filling a vacancy mid-term, can be co-opted for the remainder of that electoral term. Electoral terms are four years. The elections for a parish council will only go to a public vote if there are more nominations than there are spaces on the parish council. Lenham parish is currently represented by 13 parish councillors: four representing South Ward (everything south of the railway) and nine representing North Ward (everything north of the railway). All parish councillors have to agree to abide by the Nolan Principles of Public Office. Parish councillors receive no remuneration for their time.

The responsibilities of Lenham Parish Council include looking after open spaces, such as the William Pitt field and Cemetery, maintaining playgrounds and other amenities, providing Maidstone Borough Council with a view on planning applications within the Parish and undertaking projects to benefit the Parish. Lenham Parish Council also has a Neighbourhood Plan which was adopted as part of the Maidstone Local Plan in July 2021. This Neighbourhood Plan is active until 2031. For more details of the Lenham Neighbourhood Plan please refer to the information tab "Lenham Neighbourhood Plan" on this website.

In addition to holding a full council meeting monthly, Lenham Parish Council has two specific sub committees which also meet monthly: Finance and General Purposes (F&GP) and Planning and (Neighbourhood Plan) Implementation (P&I). Both these sub committees focus on specific issues of work and in some cases do the detail which is then referred back to full council as recommendations to be discussed and agreed.

Both of these sub committees are open to the public and can be attended by all parish councillors, however, while all nominated attendees and visiting parish councillors can participate in the discussions only those parish councillors nominated as attendees to that subcommittee are able to vote on recommendations that will go forward to the full parish council meeting for discussion and agreement.

Finance and General Purposes Committee (F&GP)

The F&GP subcommittee consists of six nominated parish councillors and addresses the financial issues which the parish council is responsible for: dealing with contracts for maintenance of open space; maintaining and upgrading play equipment and other financial matters as and when these arise. The committee oversees the preparation of the annual budget and also discusses all other non-expenditure related matters and makes a recommendation to the full parish council for discussion and agreement. The sub committee is quorate when at least four parish councillors, including the Chair, are present.

Planning and (Neighbourhood Plan) Implementation (P&I)

The P&I subcommittee consists of six nominated parish councillors as well as three members of the public (who are non-voting) and the parish's planning consultant (also non-voting). The subcommittee carries out two important functions: it is a statutory consultee for all planning applications in the parish and it is responsible for overseeing the implementation of the Lenham Neighbourhood Plan ensuring that the parameters and policies within the plan are actioned and reflected in the parish responses to planning applications. All recommendations from the subcommittee are referred to the next full meeting of the parish council for ratification. The subcommittee is quorate when at least four parish councillors, including the Chair, are present.

Our Mission Statement 

The Lenham Parish Council (LPC) is dedicated to enhancing the lives of all the residents of Lenham and its surrounding hamlets. LPC aims to maintain and protect the Parish environment and amenities. LPC strives to be pro-active in identifying and completing projects, large and small, that will benefit the Parish as a whole, with value for money always being sought. LPC aims to help keep Lenham Parish a unique and special place for residents and visitors alike as the world around us changes.

 

​Council Officers:

Parish Clerk & RFO: Lisa Westcott

Contact details Email: clerk@lenhamparishcouncil.org.uk            Telephone: 01622 829034

Deputy Parish Clerk & RFO: Sarah Newell

Contact details Email: deputyclerk@lenhamparishcouncil.org.uk        Telephone: 01622 829034

Registered office: 1A High Street, Lenham, Kent ME17 2QD Open: Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday 10:00h - 13:00