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News from the Parish Council (December 2011)
Core Strategy and Local Development – Our Big Opportunity!
The Parish Council has responded to MBC’s draft Core Strategy both as a Member of the Joint Parishes Group (JPG) and as an individual Parish, in a constructive and positive way that will, Councillors, hope, give our Community the opportunity to develop in a manner that local people want rather than either having unwanted and inappropriate development foisted upon us or the Parish being left behind when it comes to sustainability, opportunities and services.
As a result of various consultations over the past few months we are advised that the most effective way forward within the emerging Core Strategy would be to conduct a ‘Visioning Exercise’ that would subsequently be followed by, and form the basis of, a full Neighbourhood Plan that Maidstone Borough Council would be duty bound to recognise under new legislation.
The primary aim would be to set out how / what / where the Parish might wish to develop (or not), how local employment, services (e.g. Doctor’s surgery), amenities, Sheltered Housing, etc. could be best achieved – if that’s what local residents want – and for the Parish to have more control in regard to future planning.
This is your opportunity to have a say in the future of Broomfield and Kingswood
To conduct a Visioning Exercise and thereafter produce a Neighbourhood Plan, whilst Parish Council steered, is entirely down to the community – to local people who would be willing to give up their time to research, consider, discuss and agree the way forward. It is envisaged that the Visioning Exercise would take 4-5 days to complete and involve a team of 10-12 volunteer residents, including Parish Council representation, and culminating in a community presentation. We are unlikely to get this off the ground until the new year but are currently seeking people, old and young alike, who would be willing to pitch in and give it a go.
Please give this matter some serious thought. As a Parish it is highly unlikely that we will ever get another chance such as this and the danger of being negative and sitting back and doing nothing is that we will likely miss out on funding and support opportunities or worse still, have little or no say in our future, particularly concerning planning and development.
If you would be willing to take part or would like further information before making any commitment please give the Parish Clerk, Sue Wotton, a ring on 842183 or e-mail: bandkparishclerk@aol.com
Super-Fast Broadband Bid
We feel sure that all residents would wish to join Councillors in expressing gratitude to resident, Peter Corfield, who has very kindly agreed to step in and become the Project Manager in respect of our Parish bid to Kent County Council for funding to improve broadband speeds.
Thanks too, to the 300 residents who have showed their support by signing the petition at the Village Shop and to the staff. The high number of people who signed certainly proves the need for improvement.
A further Parish survey will need to be conducted in this regard so please look out for details and continue to participate as and when asked.
Peter Corfield has met recently with Parish Council representatives and has already undertaken a lot of work for the benefit of us all so again a big ‘thank you’ to Peter for taking this on.
No. 59 Bus Service – Good News!
Bus users have, we know, been anxious about the previously reported intention to further reduce the 59 bus Kingswood <> Maidstone service from 1st January 2012.
There is some very good news for a change! The Parish Council is a Member of the Maidstone East Rural Transport Group and actively contributes to meetings and consultations to try to maintain the 59 service and route for the benefit of residents.
Following the Group’s consultation with MBC and KCC it has now been confirmed that ‘the need of passengers on the service have been recognised and the service will continue under the current contract unbroken to the end of this year and for 2012/13’. Undoubtedly the service and its use will continue to be monitored though, so it is still a case of ‘use it or lose it’.
Pensioners’ Outing 2012
No doubt residents will be delighted to hear that Councillors have kindly agreed to fund another Parish Pensioners’ Outing next year – I believe I am right in saying that this will be the seventh annual trip. As always, we would welcome suggestions as to where we might go – somewhere not too far distance-wise is preferable and also a venue that is wheelchair friendly and suitable too, for those who are unable to walk very far. Please give me a ring if you’ve any ideas - thank you.
Police News
From 16th November it is 'all change' once again within Kent Police as a result of which we will be losing our newly acquired PC, Marc Pennicott – thanks to Marc for what he has done during the short time he has been ‘our’ Neighbourhood Policeman. Marc’s successor is yet to be named.
The new Maidstone East Neighbourhood Inspector is Geoff Wyatt and the rural Sergeant for our Leeds Ward is Martin Foord – a warm welcome to both Officers.
News from PCSO Richard Kirby: “From the 14th November, the public should call 101 to contact their Neighbourhood Officers.
The 101 number will be the main non-emergency number for Kent Police, replacing 01622 690690.
The number will connect to our Force control room which is manned 24/7. Calls to 101 will cost 15p no matter how long the call lasts and is the same price from mobiles and landlines alike.
Now that the darker evenings are drawing in we would like to take the opportunity to remind residents to ‘stay safe and stay seen’ when they are out and about. Wear a hi-vis jacket/waist coat and take a torch when you go out after dark and we would also encourage users of pedal cycles to fit them with good
lights and check they are working”!
Crime in the Parish remains low – please help to keep it that way by reporting suspicious incidents, vehicles, etc. direct to Police using the new 101 number for non-emergency calls, but the ‘999’ system or a crime / incident is in progress and requires urgent Police attention.
Parish Neighbourhood Watch
Most will be aware that although Rose-Marie Bowker officially retired earlier in the year, she has been continuing to send out Trading Standards alerts, scams, etc. to members of our Watch scheme and has agreed to do so until the end of December 2011 when she will stand down completely.
We still have no Main Co-ordinator to take over though so if you feel able to take this on please let the Parish Clerk know as soon as possible.
In the meantime, Lorraine Hemphrey, Maidstone Police’s Main Co-ordinator, is now back in the saddle following a prolonged period of sick leave - welcome back Lorraine. She will continue to send crime details and information to those of our Street Co-ordinators who have agreed to carry on after Rose-Marie’s departure, and also via the regular Country Eye publication. Information can be found on the Parish Website too, by clicking on the green ‘Crime Information’ button on the front page, as can Country Eye, hard copies of which are also available at the Village Hall.
If you are a Street Co-ordinator but have not yet responded to Lorraine to confirm your willingness to continue, or if you might be willing to become one, please get in touch with her as soon as possible.
Lorraine can be contacted on 01622 604395 or e-mail: lorraine.hemphrey@kent.pnn.police.uk
The Parish has enjoyed a strong and effective ‘Watch’ for many years, largely thanks to Rose-Marie – please let’s try to keep it going if at all possible as we would all be far more vulnerable without it and especially in view of the aforementioned Policing changes whilst new officers settle in and get to know the area, etc.
Freighter Attendance
The next MBC freighter attendance will be on Saturday 14th January 2012 at the Village Hall car park from 1.40pm – 2.30pm. You may wish to look the dates up for yourself on the MBC website and, like me, might assume that would be easy…… The MBC website is: www.digitalmaidstone.co.uk - a simple on-line enquiry, or so I thought the first time I tried. Going to the site’s ‘A-Z option I clicked on the ‘F’ for Freighter – seemed logical, but nothing there. Next I tried ‘B’ for bulky followed by ‘R’ for refuse. Still no success so in desperation I rang MBC and waited some considerable time to be put through to Environmental Services where I was informed I should be clicking on ‘W’. Seeing no logic in this whatsoever I enquired why. The reply was that the dates, locations, etc. are recorded under ‘W’ for ‘Weekend Freighter’ – so now we all know!
Recreation and Sports Field
The recently installed 7-a-side goal posts and nets have, as Councillors had hoped, proved very popular and are well used. Following advice from the Groundsman, additional post holes will be installed in the near future to enable the posts and nets to be re-sited on a regular basis to avoid excessive wear of the grass in any particular area. Many thanks to the young people of the Parish who have been keeping an eye on the equipment and reporting any issues, etc. to the Parish Council.
Unfortunately one of the wooden seats has been vandalised again causing considerable damage, so please keep an eye open for likely or would-be offenders and report anything untoward to the Police at the time via the ‘999’ system if there is an act of vandalism or other offence in progress, or using the new 101 telephone number for non-urgent calls or to give general information. Please ask for any incident to be marked up for the attention of PCSO Richard Kirby and also to be sure and make a note of the incident report number.
To report instances of dog fouling or to give the names of offenders, etc. please contact MBC Environmental Services on 01622 602000 or to PCSO Kirby as above.
Car Sharing
Many residents of the Parish it seems, commute to/from Maidstone and/or beyond on a daily basis. Would you be interested in linking in with other members of the community to share transport? If so, you might like to consider posting your details to the Parish Forum (see separate article) to see whether your neighbour across the road or in the next street is making the same daily journey as you and you could thus share travel and associated costs.
Public Rights of Way
Kent County Council has recently announced a substantial cut in their budget in regard to the maintaining of Public Rights of Way, Bridle Ways, etc. It has suggested that local people could help out in this respect by reporting problems with access, damaged stiles, overgrowing foliage, blockages, etc. or even by carrying a pair of secateurs when they go walking, riding, cycling, etc. in the countryside. Please give it some thought and help to keep our beautiful countryside walks open and in good order for all to enjoy – thank you
Roads and Footways
Winter is almost upon us and with it the inevitable increase in pot holes, flooding and other roads-related issues.
Please do not ring the Parish Council to report defects – by reporting issues direct to Kent Highways Services (KHS) you will not only have all the information they require to hand but it will also prevent delays in communication and hopefully result in the problem being dealt with more quickly – thank you.
KHS = 08458 247 800 or www.kent.gov.uk/KHSFaults
Kent Highways Services have offered Parishes Jumbo salt bags for spreading on local roads and pavements as and when required but to take advantage of this offer we need to identify a storage facility and a method of spreading so if you know of anyone who might be able to help, please let the Clerk know – thank you.
We have been notified that there will be further road closures in Chartway Street early in the New Year and also in Gravelly Bottom Road, both in connection with drainage issues. Residents affected will be notified by KHS nearer the time of the closures, including diversion routes, etc. and the Parish Website updated accordingly.
We are promised the new ‘Duck Pond Lane’ street name plates sometime soon by Maidstone Borough Council, but then we have only been waiting since April ……
Parish Notice Boards
As a result of ever-increasing demand for space for notices, posters, etc. on the public section of the Parish notice boards, please note that from 1st January 2012, all advertisements, etc. should be no bigger than A5 size or it may not be possible, or there be room, to display them.
Please deliver anything for the notice boards (note – non-commercial) to Gail Gosden at 67 Charlesford Avenue – thank you.
Parish Website
Have you visited the Parish Website yet? If not you are denying yourself access to a lot of useful and interesting information, news, diary dates, etc., as well as Parish Council notices, minutes of meetings and the like. The site is also there to advertise community events, clubs and societies and is well used by some – are you and your organisation missing out? To have an item (non-commercial) included on the website (photos welcome) please forward your article to the Parish Clerk. So why not visit the Website today at www.broomfieldandkingswood.org.uk and see what you’re missing……
Parish Council Meetings
The Notice / Agenda, giving seven day’s notice, and Minutes of all Parish Council meetings, including Committees, can be found in full on the Parish Website and notice boards, Residents are reminded that main Meetings of the Parish Council take place on the 1st Monday of every month, commencing 7.30pm at the Village Hall unless notified otherwise – you are very welcome to attend and have your say on Parish matters and other local issues. You are advised to put in writing to the Clerk, any specific questions you wish to ask for inclusion on the next meeting’s Agenda.
Sue Wotton - Parish Clerk
And finally – We wish you all a very MERRY CHRISTMAS
and a HAPPY NEW YEAR from your Parish Council Team