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The first meeting of the Council was on Wednesday 19th December 1894. The Members present at that
first meeting were Thomas Launcelot Archer, William Campbell Bayley, Samuel Clark, George Kemsley, Thomas John Lurcock, Rev. Charles Edward Nepean, George Offen, Thomas Powell and George Town.

After the required declarations were made by the elected Councillors upon taking office, the assembly appointed Thomas Powell as provisional Chairman so that the formal election of a Chairman for the Council could proceed. It was then proposed by the Rev. C E Nepean and seconded by Cllr. George Town that the Right Hon. A. Akers-Douglas be elected to be the Chairman. There being no other nominations the Right Hon. Akers- Douglas was appointed Chairman and joined the meeting. In subsequent elections the Rev. C.E. Nepean was appointed Vice Chairman and T. J. Lurcock was appointed Treasurer

The only other business conducted at that meeting was to agree that;-

(1) The next meeting of the Council would be held at the Lenham Board School at 7.30 pm on a
Wednesday

(2) A copy of the “Practical Ready Reference Guide” published by Philips & Son be obtained and
supplied to each Member of the Council

(3) The question of the desirability of adopting the Allotment Act be considered at the next meeting of
the Council

(4) The Council retain the services of Mr F. Day, assistant overseer, as Clerk to this Parish Council and that the question of remuneration for his services was deferred for future consideration.

Many of the family names will still be remembered today and of course the Right Hon. Akers Douglas, originally Aretas Akers who changed his name in 1858 after inheriting the Chilston Estates from James Stoddard Douglas and later,in 1911, received his peerage from King George V to become the first Viscount Chilston of Boughton Malherbe and Baron Douglas of Baads.

You will see that the original Council consisted of ten Members. Meetings were held quarterly and the tradition of meetings on Wednesdays commencing at 7.30 has continued until the present day. From the records still available it appears that even though the meetings were held quarterly there was not a lot of business – certainly not by today’s standards. Also, and sadly, we note that Councillors attendance at meetings was generally poor. On some occasions only three members were present. Nevertheless some of the highlight of those early days may be worth recollection.

A large measure of the activities related to the maintenance of roads – which is perhaps more than can be said today. The technique for the upkeep of main roads was the application and steamrolling of locally purchased flint, typically costing eight shillings per per cubic yard. The Council’s Surveyor frequently complained that the good work of his road maintenace gangs was ruined by other steam rollers hauling wood and agricultural produce.

Also during the Chairmanship of Cllr. Underdown the Council received complaints about the nuisances caused by traction engines and steam lorries staying overnight in Lenham Square. At dawn when these vehicles were getting up steam and starting they caused the involuntary awakening of local residents
Another cause for concern at that time was the lack of a public toilet. A Mr W Kendall complained “that during the Summer Char-a-banc invasion it was not sanitary or decent, women were often in a queue waiting to use the Chequers lavatory”. The Council resolved to support a petition and seek the advice of Hollingbourne RDC.

Upon receiving a letter of complaint from a Mr Bates about the state of the footpath by the side of the road leading from Ham Lane to Lower Ham Lane the Council appointed a Committee of two, Cllrs. Lurcock and Clark to determine the responsibilities of the Council in this matter.
Apparently blockage of drains was another common problem and there appears to have been a standard charge of £1. 14s. & 11p for clearing such blockages.
In 1919 it was announced that the Council would pay one penny per tail for every rat killed under the “Rat Orders” of 1918 – 19, in January of the following year the Parish Council were instructed by Hollingbourne UDC to post a notice in the village to the effect that HRDC were prepared to support Rats Clubs to the amount of twopence a tail of rats destroyed. In December 1920 the Council resolved not to employ a Mr Albert Still as a Rat Exterminator as he “did not appear to be a desirable man for the position”

In July 1940 the Council received a request from Mr H W Jordan for the old Lock-up* to be adapted to be used as an Air Raid Shelter for the old people of the village. The Council agreed “that permission be given

but that the Council could incur no expense in the adaptation” Also that year the Council received a Circular from the Ministry of Health concerning the registration of War Graves and the Members resolved that a section of the cemetry should be reserved for War Graves only. Later in the year responding to an enquiry from the R.E.M.E. about fees for a temporary Temporary Memorial in Wood to be erected at the cost of the comrades of the REME personnel buried in the Common Grave at Lenham Cemetery, them Coucil resolved that no fees should be payed on this occassion

In 1945 the Council decided that it should persue a possible option to purchase Vicarage Meadow as a venue for a Playing Field. At the same meeting it was proposed and agreed that a Whist Drive should be run by the Parish Council for the benefit of the Welcome Home Fund.

In more recent times it seem that the Council on two notable occasions failed to avail itself of opportunities to benefit the village. When the Village (Church) School became surplus to educational requirements the site was offered for sale to the Council who declined the offer. When the land was purchased for the new schools in Ham Lane a condition of the agreement for the sale was that part of the land was to be used for a new Village Hall. Despite the acknowledged need for a new hall this opportunity was never persued. The main positive initiative in the 1980s was the purchase and development of the public car park in Maidstone Road at the rear of the Dog & Bear Hotel.

In 1988 because of their growing concerns about the inability of the young people in the parish to rent or buy property and remain in the community where they were born and raised the Council decided to undertake a survey to establish the extent of this need. Over 1100 questionnaires were delivered to houses.

Throughout the parish and 560 were returned completed. Thus a need was established and as an exception to the planning policies restricting building in the countryside the Council were able to comminssion the building of twelve houses on the edge of the village specifically for local people. These houses were finally occupied in 1993.

The 1990s were perhaps the busiest time for the Council since its beginnings. The two major problems were the ever increasing traffic and demand for parking in the village centre and the increase in crime coincidental to the withdrawal of the two resident policemen. Dealing with traffic/parking issues the Council embarked on a public consultation exercise relating to the layout of the village square, then with assistance and funding from the KCC’s Highways Dept. laid out the Square in its present form.

Regarding Law & Order, in 1993 the Council held a public meeting to guage support for the Home Office proposal for Village Special Constables and decided to bid for funding for a CCTV installation. Both of these initiatives were overwhelmingly supported by the public. In 1995 the Council decided to promote an exercise to produce a Village Appraisal. In the Summer of 1966 the Appraisal was published to co-incide with the Lenham Carnival

Probably the most significant setback in recent years to the intentions of the Council occurred in 1998 with the obstructions of their proposal to site a village hall and medical centre on KCC land abutting Maidstone Road. Their scheme, that would have provided these new facilities at the residential centre of the village and had the overwhelming support of the local population and both Maidstone Borough Planners and the County Councils Education Department, was brought to nothing by the opposition of the then School Governors. Nevertheless the Councillors have set this disappointment behind them and after many years of frustration and battle led by the Vice Chairman Nick Osborne it is now only a few months before the new Community Hall and Medical Centre will be open, albeit on the extreme and most remote edge of the village.

At the present time the CCTV scheme, now being updated with digital cameras is still proving a valuable aid in crime reduction, but sadly we no longer have a Village Special Constable – who is sorely missed – and there appears to be little enthusiasm for the current KCC and Police initiatives for auxilary support for the regular police officers. We must wait and see.

At the time of writing the Council is engaged in the enquiry stage of a possible exercise to produce Village Plan and/or Village Design Statement in an attempt to influence future development that will surely impinge on our various communities. Much will depend on the level of active public support.

Chairmen of LPC

Notes
The author would be grateful for any additional information about significant events relating to the
history of Lenham Parish Council and ammendments or alterations to the dates and detials of the
Chairmen

• The Lock-up was built close by the Workhouse in Faversham Road originally as a mortuary but later toward the end of the 19th and the early part of the 20th centuary was used as a lock-up for petty criminals. For several years now and with the permission of the Parish Council the building has been used as a base and for storage by Village Special Constables and the local Neighbourhood Watch organisation

June 2003