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bishop of dover comes to deal

Current mood: Happy


pet hate #43

don't you hate those people who decide to spend all morning having a conversation at the end of the aisle in the supermarket making it impossible for anyone to get past!!!

Current mood: Mad


Eastry Drop In

This morning i went to the eastry drop in.

i met my colleague nick kenton there.

we had a chat with residents there about a number of topics including recycling, planning, elections and the eastry village magazine.

we feel that we do make a difference by being accessible to residents in this manner

Current mood: Happy


elections

ash & district horticultural and cottage

local flooding

local flooding

public realm

the northern way

let them play golf

Great News about the open coing to sandwich again in 2011.

the event was a great success in 2003  and some sources claimed that it injected £25 million into the local economy.

this further builds the district repuation as a centre of sporting excellence with the events at Fowlmead and the recent archery at Dover.

 

Current mood: Happy


littering

over the past couple off days i have noticed what appears to be increased amounts of littering coming from a well know global fast food brand. it is difficult to catch the culprits of this littering but i would ask for comments as to how to reduce this problem

Current mood: Sceptical


Cider Festival

Today i went with members of my family to the cider festival at Brogdale orchard near Faversham.

While there we had a ride on the miniature railway there, tasted Cider, listened to the band playing and watched a cooking demonstration about how to cook mackerel.

 

Current mood: Happy


Dog Fouling

This is a common complaint by residents and so to try to alleviate the problems of owners not cleaning up, Dover district Council is running a responsible dog ownership awareness campaign from 24-27 September.  Wardens are providing information on patrols, and displays are being held at Tesco in Dover, the Co-op in Sandwich and the DDC Area Office in Deal.  Environmental Health and Waste Services teams are helping provide information on responsible dog ownership, including pet care and especially focussing on the need for owners to clean up after their dogs.

its not diificult to think of taking several bags for cleaning up such mess whenever one takes one dog for a walk eveni if it is just a short walk. The fine of up to £1000 may also be a good reason to clean up such mess.

Current mood: Sad


TV on the web

today marks the launch of Kent TV

i had a look at this service and was impressed by its quality. i hope this proves of real value to the residents in Kent and the wider net community.

my only grumble would be that this may be unavailable to residents who do not have access to broadband services

Current mood: Cool

Cyclists

now i see cycling as a legitimate form of transport but i must also point out the dangers especially about school students who ride dangeously especially the one who almost pulled out in front of me today without looking. Of course he had no head protection which is mandatory in some places.

i cycle myself but if this child is knocked off his bike through careless habits then i would expect there to be an outcry against the driver. The government has a campaign to think bike but it seems some cyclists and motorbike riders seem to think that this excuses them from following the same road rules as eveyone else.

Current mood: Mad

Jack and Jill

I notice Paul Rogan has a modern update on the Jack and Jill story that deserves reading

Current mood: Sceptical

Post Office campaign

today i received an email from our parish clerk about post office closures

"Kent is one of the first areas in the country to undergo a government led review of the post office network aimed at finding savings through closures.  Kent County Council is very concerned about the impact these closures will have and has launched a campaign to support Kent's post office network.   A consultation is due to be published on 2^nd October which at present allows only a six week period for response.  The Councils' concerns are outlined on their website, which also includes an online petition, a downloadable petition for use in your local community and an online questionnaire"

i hope residents support this petition

Current mood: Sceptical

post conference reflections

well the inaugual alliance conference was a useful venue for finding out about the lastest issues affecting traditional industrial areas as well as networking with colleagues and partner agencies such as South East England Development Agency, the Coalfield Regeneration Trust and the department for community and local government.

the challenge is now to use this information to make future regeneration projcets more succesul as well as looking at key lobbying work undertaken by the alliance.

its also a good opportunity to look at how other authorities manage the public realm

i was quite impressed with the flower planting around the town which was quite bright and colourful

Here my colleague Derek Garrity MBE inspects a  skate boarding bmx facility

 this is an outdoor performance space on the beachfront

 

on the last evening we had the conference dinner and during the meal we were entertained by a northumbrian piper

after  the meal we were then entertained by a comedian who had us all in stitches despite him using me as the butt for some of his jokes. still one mustn't take oneself too seriously!!!

Current mood: Happy

eastry drop in

this morning i went to the eastry drop in to find out the latest issues of concern to residents

with the days getting shorter a number of street lights not working were drawn to my attention.

another resident was concerned about housing so i will pass her concerns on to our housing team.

I feel it is important to be accessibale to residnets and this weekly event has proven to be a popular way for residents to voice their concerns over local issues.

Current mood: Happy


regional policy

david silk from HM treasury discussed the way his team is trying to reduce the economic pructivity gaps between regions in england

Current mood: Cool

hidden unemployment

prof steve fothergill from sheffield hallam university discussed the incapacity benefit and how this benefit was distorting employment rates by possibly as much as 1 million adults of working age

Current mood: Sad


save the buildings

this afternoon I am at the woodhorn colliery to see how they have accomplished their regeneration. they have managed to save some of the pit buildings to create a museum and business units.

Current mood: Happy

the effect of the olympic games on lottery funding

jonathan watson from the lottery monitor magazine described the fall of in regional distribution of lottery funding

Current mood: Sceptical

life is a beach

this morning the first session is a case study on regeneration at newbiggin on sea. part of the project involved creating a beach and associated engineering works

Now my colleagues and i were so takenwith this project that we went and saw for ourselves the location.

Current mood: Cool


community development

alison seabrooke from the community development foundation spoke about the changes in government . she discussed the inequality of service provision and how the community needs an effective way of being able to influence policy and services.

Current mood: Sceptical

train to gain

karen riley from the learning & skills council spoke about skill development. this is seen as a key component in economic development

Current mood: Cool

the role of the regional development agency

alan clarke, chief executive of one northeast spoke about the role of RDAs . he spoke about the strategic roles in economic growth as well as regional challenges such as worklessness and low productivity

Current mood: Sceptical

the other half of britain

the alliance conference started today and dave parry outlined the problems of traditional industrial areas

the alliance has published a booklet outlining these problesm which will be sent to all member authorities

Current mood: Sad


newcastle

today i have journeyed up to newcastle for the the national conference of the alliance.

this is a great opportunity to network with my colleagues about issues which afftect coalfield communities

Current mood: Cool

farewell to a queen

This evening the QEII left newcastle so i went with colleagues to the breakwater near the hotel to watch the event.

as it is raining hard we have taken refuge in a delightfull italian restaurant called Essys.

we felt priviledged being able to witness this event.

Current mood: Happy


Music Evening

There is to be a music evening at St Martins Church at Great Mongeham

this will be on saturday 6th october starting at 7.00pm

prices are :

adults £5.00

children £2.50 with tickets available at the door.

Current mood: Cool


a web page for the alliance

one of the tasks i have been working on is a web page for the alliance (formerly the Coalfield Communities Campaign).

i am pleased to say that Dover district Council is now hosting a web page for this infuential organisation.

i believe that the alliance does much good work in bringing abut improvments both for the physical regeneration of the coalfields nationally as well as trying to bring about improvement into some of the complex multi agency problems which cause social deprivation in coalfield areas.

i am pleased to see that now the general population can follow progress on these issues through this website.

Current mood: Happy


Fowlmead Park

Current mood: Happy

Eastry Drop in

this morning i went to the eastry drop in

i was asked about problem with recycling .

i also had a discussion about highways issues

after the drop in i went to the council to see what i could do about the recycling issue.

while at the council i met a number of officers to discuss a range of issues including finance, IT, Noise pollution as well as recycling.

later in the day i returned to eastry and met residents to get feedback on a number of issues, as well as deliver a Black recycling box.

 

Current mood: Happy


snowdon forum

snowdon forum

Great Mongeham Drop In

This morning i went to the drop in and there was talk on a number if issues such as speeding through the village of northbourne, whether a parish council should be helping to lobby on broadband availability and hedges

Current mood: Happy


Full Council Meeting

Tonight is a meeting of the full council at Dover District Council.

the meeting started with the sad news about the passing of sevral former members and long serving members paid tributes to them.

the leaders of the two main parties also gave their accounts of the latest issues facing the district.

Current mood: Sceptical


sutton PC

i received an email wishing me well in my condition (man flu) and asking for assitance in a number of matters

i was able to facilitate their requests and passed them on to the relevant organisations.

Current mood: Cool


Sutton Parish council

tonight was sutton parish council but i was unable to attend due to illness.

Current mood: Dead


Communication

we all need to coomunicate and at Dover we are having a consultation about our new communication strategy.

we are asking residents and other stakeholders their views on this strategy. The consultation runs until the 30th of September so why not get your views in today?

 

Current mood: Cool


friends of kent churches bike ride

Current mood: Happy


town v country

one of the issues which affects residents in my ward is the tension between the need to carry out the business of farming including the use of large implements on rural lanes as well as other farming practices such as bird scare guns and tillage operations. this sometimes conflicts with peoples expectation that life in rural areas should have plenty of peace and quiet disturbed only by the calls of the birds.

both sets of residents have their points of view so there needs to be some recognition of the others place in our society. perhaps by speaking together we can undestand the competing needs and come to agreed codes.

i welcome your views on this

Current mood: Cool


great mongeham parish council

meeting opened at 7.30pm

closed at 8.10pm

a full agenda

thats local government !

Current mood: Cool

Great Mongeham Drop in

this morning i attended the drop in at great mongeham.

i spoke with residents about the delay in fixing street lights as well as vegetation obstructing highways.

there was also discussion about immigration and the european parliament.

Current mood: Cool


end of summer

inset day

this morning I am at a development day for staff and governors at northbourne CE school. this is a chance to look at the school improvement plan. the school is keen to keep up the direction of change to ensure that progress is reinforced.

eastry parish council

cabinet meeting

this afternoon I am at a cabinet meeting. we are listening to a presentation on flood risk and the coastal management plan.

merchant navy day

Decision on the south east regional plan

ok i may be a few days late but i thought i should at least draw residents attention to this decision.

i was particularly interested in the recommendation 18.3 on page 263

"the level for Dover by 2,000 to 8,100 (para 18.54), and split the extra 30/70 over the

two halves of the Plan period (para 18.58)"

i hope this helps or development of the updated local plan.

Parish council circulation file

today i received the parish council circulation file.

this contains the background papers for the agenda for the meeting on thursday.

one item i was interested was the proposal to move to the Kent CC based website.

i would be interested in your views of the two options

option 1 which is the current provision

or option 2 which is the KCC version

your views are important!!!

 

lights action ...???

earlier in the year i was praising the work

of the kent highways team

and their online fault reporting service

so it is with  sadness

that i must highlight a problem

where lighting in parts of my village

are still out of order

months after being reported by myself

and by residents within the village.

Naturally we would like to see this situation resolved

before the nights start to shorten.