Minutes:
(1) The Chairman announced that it was with great regret that he had to inform Members of the sad death of Mr John Muckle on Thursday 14 August and he and other Members had attended Mr Muckle’s funeral in early September.
(2) Mr Muckle, had served as the Labour County Councillor for Dartford North, between 1988 and 2009. During this time he had served on the Planning Applications Committee, Highways Advisory Board, Environment & Regeneration Policy Overview Committee, Kent Transport Board and Superannuation Fund Committee. Mr Muckle had been appointed as an Honorary Alderman in December 2013.
(3) Mr Muckle was also one of the longest serving members of Dartford Borough Council and had served on its predecessor authority from 1967.ago. He had been Mayor of Dartford in 1973/74, the year that Dartford Borough Council was formed and he had also been Leader of the Borough Council from 1998 to 2003.
(4) Mr Maddison, Mr Kite, Mr Vye and Mr Harrison paid tribute to Mr Muckle.
(5) At the end of the tributes, all Members stood in silence in memory of Mr Muckle.
(6) After the one minute silence, the Chairman moved, the Vice Chairman seconded and it was
(7) Resolved unanimously that the Council record the sense of loss it feels on the sad passing of Mr Muckle and extends to his family and friends our heartfelt sympathy to them in their sad bereavement.
(8) (b) Long Service achievement
(9) The Chairman stated that it gave him great pleasure to advise Members that earlier this month, a member of staff in the Finance and Procurement division, Mr Adrian Richardson, celebrated 50 years of working full-time for Kent County Council; a truly astonishing achievement.
(10) Mr Richardson had been with KCC all of his working life from leaving school at the age of 17 and starting work in the former County Treasurer’s Department in 1964. He had remained in Finance, working in the Insurance Team for the last 42 years. During his 50 years at work, Mr Richardson had not taken a single day off work sick.
(11) The Chairman asked on behalf of all Members, the County Council formally record our sincere thanks for Mr Richardson’s dedication and loyal service to KCC.
(c) Chairman’s East Kent Reception
(12) The Chairman stated that he was delighted to report that his programme of Area Networking Receptions was now complete with the last reception taking place at the beautiful Knowlton Court Estate near Canterbury.
(13) He advised Members that the Reception had raised over £500 for his nominated charities this year, bringing to total raised to date to over £1300.
(d) NijmegenMarches
(14) The Chairman reminded Members that at the last County Council meeting he had announced that the Kent Wing of the Air Training Corps were taking part in this year’s Nijmegen Marches in Holland, which involved some 52 Kent air cadets walking 40 kilometres or 25 miles a day for four consecutive days. He was pleased to be able to tell you that all of cadets completed all four marches. They survived the heat and were extremely buoyant when they arrived home to England. Many of the cadets plan to return next year.
(14) On behalf of the County Council, the Chairman congratulated the cadets and volunteers on this achievement.
(e) Last Post under the Folkestone Step Short Arch.
(15) The Chairman drew
Members’ attention to the playing of the Last Post under the
Folkestone Step Short Arch every Sunday until the 9 November 2014
in commemoration of the millions who died in World War One.
(16) Horn player
Bryan Walker, who served for 26 years in the Royal Marines Band
Service, will play the Last Post followed by a two minute silence
and then Reveille, under the memorial arch every Sunday evening at
7pm. These performances would echo the ceremony held at
Menin Gate Cemetery in Ypres,
Belgium.
(17) Kent County
Council has organised the performances as part of the legacy work
surrounding the Arch. The Arch was a project organised by WW1
charity Step Short and funded by a range of trusts, individuals,
public bodies and corporate sources, including the Roger De
Haan Charitable Trust, Kent County
Council, Shepway District Council and Folkestone Town
Council.
(18) The Chairman
encouraged all KCC Members, staff and their families to attend one
of these performances.