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Railway Swing band

This evening I went to the village hall in Eastry to hear East Kent's own Railway swing band. They gave a concert in aid of th Village hall fund. It was a pleasure to listen to them and to share in their obvious enthusiasm for their music.

Many other members of the community were there too to enjoy the experience.

Current mood: Happy

parking charges

this morning while using the parking in Deal i was chatting to a resident about the new parking charges. He was quite positive about the changes and felt that in fact made it cheaper to park in Deal. As he only required about 30 minutes he felt that the linear charging method made it more effective as he could pay for the parking he wanted to use rather than the previous time blocks.

He also spoke about the problems facing those on fixed incomes when paying council tax so i suggested that perhaps people need to check if they are entitled to council tax benefits.

Current mood: Happy


catch them doing something right

the website development team at the council is celebrating a national top ten.

my congratulations to all involved however we still need to keep a focus on getting broadband access across the whole district so all residents can take advantage of the the sevices offered online.

Current mood: Happy


Dover Priory Station

This morning I went to an event to outline the regeneration taking place at Dover's railway station. This is a joint project with the county council, the district council and SEEDA. This is a part of the exciting list of projects underway at the moment but there still seems to be lack of public awareness of the progress that has taken place. From the comments received it seems that while the public agrees with the direction of travel, that do not believe that anything will result. I hope this attitude is changed soon by the achievements that will be evident in the short term. 

Current mood: Cool


Practical Theology

This morning i was reading the April copy of Outlook which is the monthly newspaper of the Diocese of Canterbury. I was interested in the headline article which was about Bishop Stephen Venner's initiative to support local communities facing post office closures.

it is a mark of the modern church that it is embaracing issues facing local communites and an expression of obedience to the second of Jesus' two great commandments, to love your neighbour.

Current mood: Happy


consultation on the LDF

In my daily life i meet many people i often take the opportunity to remind them about the local deveopment Framework and how it might impact on them. There seems to be an idea that all the development will take place immediately.

I was also concerned about how much the youth in the district are involved in the LDF consultation. the planning period is for the next 20 years so naturally the youth of today will be heavily influenced by the option selected by the LDF process.

 

Current mood: Cool


Eastry Coffee Break

This morning i went to the coffeee break. While their i spoke to the rural comunity warden about crime issues. I also spoke to residents about ICT issues and council tax issues. I will follow up on these and let residents know next week. 

Current mood: Happy


Village Design Group

This evening i attended a meeing of the village design group for Great Mongeham. The document is progressing well and I am hopeful that it will provide residents in the village a meaningful influence over future planning decisions in the parish. The group is also submitting a response to the Local Development Framework consultation.

Current mood: Cool

Great Mongeham drop In

This morning i wnt to the drop in. There was a good crowd in attnedance. There was discussion about road maintainenace with potholes being a complaint. there were also questions about the roadwork going on along the A20 in Dover. 

Current mood: Cool


Queen street surgery gets national recognition for patient services

One local surgery recently was highlighted in a national newspaper for advances in patient management. I feel that the surgery in question must be awestruck at its achievement. One wonders what their next innovation will be.

Current mood: Sceptical

St George's day Breakfast

This morning I went to a St George's day beakfast in Tilmanstone. A number of villagers and other residents from the surrounding villages came along as well to help celebrate today.  There was discussion on a number of issues about both the village and the district.

I enjoy the opportunity to meet people and hear their concerns.

Current mood: Happy


does the BBC have 2 standards?

I noticed a story on the BBC website today about a local authority taking legal action to recover the non payment of a fixed penalty notice.  The authority in question sets out a detailed history of this case on its website.

Now the story on the BBC website seems to miss out many of the points raised on the councils website. My question is would the BBC be so forgiving for non payment of the TV licence fee?

Current mood: Sceptical


Tilmanstone Parish Council

This evening I attended Tilmanstone Parsih Council. the meeting discussed a number of issues including the Local Development Framework and Broadband unavailablity.

I was able to brief members of the council on some of the work of The Alliance ncluding the Coalfield Regeneration Trust Lobbying and an inquiry by the audit commission on coalfield regeneration.

My colleague Nick Kenton and I contine to support the good work of the parish Council in representing the needs of the residents of the parish.

Current mood: Happy


What will they tax next

i was perusing the dalyi mail this morning and came across this story. Knowing the government's fondness for tax raising i was speculating about whether this represents  a new avenue for the chancellor's tax raising efforts. It seems many pleausrable pursuits are already under attack so perhaps this will be a world first for the Labour Government.

Current mood: Sceptical


Men's day of prayer

This morning i went to a local men's day of prayer.

We not only prayed about loca and personla issues but also discussed local news including the new parking fees in Deal and the local development Framework. I was able to tell them that there are christians on both sides of the political spectrum and that while we may disagree on some topics we draw strength from each other.

There was also discussion about outreach projects in Deal to speak to the youth in the town about Christianity.

Current mood: Happy


Alliance meeting

Today I am up in Motherwell for the alliance meeting. There is a discussion on a number of key issues concerning traditional industrial areas in the England Scotland and Wales.

i was particularly interested in agenda items on the Coalfiled Regeneration Trust, English Partnerships and the brownfield sites initiative.

While here I was able to meet fellow blogger Mick Grant and exchange experiences of blogging.

Current mood: Cool


Traffic calming

this evening i am in motherwell

 

Current mood: Cool


Neighbourhood Forums the LDF part II

This evening i attended the second consultaion evening for the neighbourhood Forums this time in Deal. There was a wide range of views expressed from the "nothing has changed therefore we don't need any development" to the view that "of course Dover needs regenerating but not Deal" all the way to, "yes Deal could do with more development but only if we get the roads right"

clearly this debate has some way to run but an overall consensus from those i spoke with seems to be that aims and objectives of the LDF seem to be OK but that there needs to be fine tuning of the output particularly in reagrds to roads infrastructure. Also the identity of villages needs to be preserved and not swallowed in larger urban expansions.

I hope the participants found the exercise useful and that their views will be taken into account in the ongoing refining of the LDF documents.

Current mood: Sceptical

Joint Council Meeting

This afternoon i attended a joint council meeting between the councils of Deal, Walmer and Great Mongeham.

There was discussion on a number of key issues including the Local Development Framework, Policing and Youth actiivities.

It was agreed that this is a turning point for the district and that councils and residents need to be involved in the LDF consultation. 

Community Policing is seen to be an evolving area and all 3 councils are watching for new developments. The issue of PACT - Police and Communities Together was seen to be a new initiative which was not fully understood yet.

Youth activities was seeen to be problematic as there are many agencies involved which need better coordination. 

Current mood: Sceptical


what the people are saying (well some of them anyway)

In my day to day activities i try to talk to people about the LDF consultation. I find that there is a lot of support for the councils agenda for growth but that the individual sites listed for new housing especially the greenfield sites can cause unease. In fact in detailed discussions many see the need for using some of the greenfield sites especially in light of the constraints of potential flooding risks and the ability to deliver infrastucture improvements. 

i encourage people to send in their views and still hope to see a large volume of responses to the consultation process.

Current mood: Cool


The R word vs. the D word

With all the uncertainty on the financial markets at the moment i had a briefing session with the chief fincial officer of the council and we discussed some likely impacts of this crisis on the council's finances. I am most concerned that the council does not suffer the fate that has befallen some australian councils as reported in the Australian press.

We discussed some of the ramifications of the current finance environment and i expect officers to minimise our risks at this time.

Current mood: Cool


Deal Pier

This evening I went for an after dinner stroll along Deal Pier.

There was much activity in the cafe at the end of the pier. Talking to the pier attendant revealed that this is the beginning of the work on the regeneration of the cafe.

I was also able to see examples of some photographs of the weather over the pier.

He also told us about the website about the pier although i was a bit amazed to see a link to Dover County Council 

Current mood: Happy


Eastry Coffee Break

This morning I went to the coffee break. While there I met a number of residents and one of the main topics of conversation was the improvements to the parade. This is a part of the high street through the village. The parish council has been developing plans for this regeneration project for a number of years so it is gratifying for the parish to see this work underway. 

Current mood: Happy


Northbourne Parish council

This evening i attended the meeting of the parish council.

there was a presentation by a representative from

Charlton Athletic Community Scheme Solutions.

This was an initiative aimed at tackling anti social behaviour.

There was also a report from the local PCSO.

Other items discussed included the local development framework and planning issues

 

Current mood: Happy

Great Mongeham Drop in

This morning I went to the drop in. I took some of the information from last night's event to share with local residents.

I am trying to encourage residents to participate in this consultation and to look at the underlying issues rather than some of the  headline grabbing site allocation proposals.

Current mood: Sceptical


LDF consultation

Tonight I am attending  a joint meeting of the Dover neighbourhood forums. This involves members from the Dover west, Dover town and Dover north neighbourhood forums. The topic is the consultation on the local development framework. There was some criticism of the event as it was felt it was too prescriptive as the event looked at some of the core strategy issues such as the aims and objectives as well as the four growth options.

The group I was in had healthy discussion on these issues. There were representatives of all 3 levels of local government in the district.

I look forward to residents engaging with this consultation.

Current mood: Cool


cabinet meeting

This morning I am attending a meeting of the council's cabinet. There is a copy of the agenda on the council's website. A number of members of the public have shown up to observe the proceedings.

Current mood: Cool


Comment?

recently i have been informed by a number of readers that comments posted by them are not getting through. i will contact the website hosts to tell them of this problem so if you have left a comment plese contact me

 

Current mood: Sceptical


Friends of St Martins

This morning i went to our local church for a coffee morning.

the Friends of the church are raising money for work which needs doing to the building.

While there i met one resident who was less than enthusiastic about my blog entry on the annual parish meeting . The entry was described as too sanitised as there were some aspects of the meeting i had left out. This was to do with the proposals for housing growth described in the Local Development Framework. The particular area in question has been used for village fairs. One local Historian  has described how the field was used from about the 13th century up till the 19th century for these fairs.

Another area of controversy was the apparent splitting of the parish into two parts, an urban part which is within the urban confines of Deal and a rural section. Some residents feel that this distinction between the two parts of the village is divisive and causes confusion to residents.

Current mood: Cool


Eastry Coffee Break

This morning i went over to Eastry. while i was there i was chatting to a resident about the local development framework and some of the information which has led to the current situation as well as some of the proposed ways forward.

i try to encourage residents to participate in this consultation looking at both the core strategy as well as the sites involved.

Current mood: LDF, Eastry


Annual Parish Meeting Great Monegahm

tonight i went to the Annual Parish Meeting of the Great Mongeham Parish Council. All residents in the village were invited yet only a handul turned up.

as part of the district councillors report we showed a short video on the regeneation of Dover which was well received.

There was also muach discussion about the LDF document.

Other people involved with the villlage gave short presentations including the Village Magazine, The village design group, the local PCSO and the village Fun Day committee. The chairman of the council gave her report before residents had their opportunity to discuss issues of their choice.

after the meeting there was an opportunity for residents to informally chat about these issues roadside litter was agin important.

Current mood: Cool

Governors meeting

This evening i went to a meeting of the full governing body at Northbourne school.

there was discussion about the new stucture of the governing body.

there was also an extensive report from the headteacher.

The school is undergoing a rebuilding project .

it is good to se so many parents involved in the administration of the school.

Current mood: Cool

Great Mongeham Drop In

This morning i went to the drop in.

there was discussion on issues such as council housing and planning.

People were also concerned at rising levels of litter on roadsides around the village. it would be good to catch some of these culprits.

Current mood: Mad


Dover District Council website continues to grow its audience

The website statistics continue to show growth in people accessing the wbsite, up to 1,146,777 hits which eclipses the previous high of last May of 1,050,402 hits. I welcome these results but still maintain that all residents need access to broadband so that all residents can use services which are offered electronically through this site.

Current mood: Cool

the crime of being clever

with the debate that surfaces from time to time about selective schools i was interested in a recent article about what it feels like to be a child who is clever in non selective schools. This seems to bring a new understanding to attempts by some to axe selective schools

perhaps the makers of the film Idiocracy were onto something. I sometimes think that a culture of mediocrity is starting to pervade some of our institutions.

Current mood: Sad


sutton parish council

Current mood: Sad