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Dover North Neighbourhood Forum

The Dover North meeting will be held at Betteshanger Community Centre on 7 October at 7pm, and will be discussing community safety.  Representatives from Kent Police, KCC Community Safety Unit and the Community Safety Partnership will give presentations about their work. This will be followed by more in-depth group discussions and there will be an opportunity to ask questions.

 

Doors open half an hour before the meeting starts with light refreshments and an opportunity to meet your local County, District and Parish Councillors, and other Forum members.

 

I hope residents can make it along to this event.

Current mood: Cool


fusion man

yesterday I joined the people who came to watch the spectacle of Fusion Man AKA Yves Rossy make his attempt to coss the channel with his jet powered wing.

I took a picture to mark the occasion when his parachute opened as he gently descended through the clear kent sky.

Now this pic is actually useless for seeing him but it does show what great weather he had. Its a pity he didn't carry some coloured smoke to better mark his location. From memory it was between the right hand and centre towers.

A closer shot is available on the BBC website

At least I can claim to have seen the final moments of the flight which helped to keep Dover's place in the global consciousness.

Current mood: Cool


Grand Opening

This morning I went to the offical opening of The Parade in Eastry. This project has been going on for a number of years - it was originally called the Millenium Project, but now it is finished.

Mr Donald Eldridge Cuts the ribbon with Cllr Nick Kenton, chairman of Eastry Parish Council with Local school children also in attendance.

The children buried a time capsule on the site to show local life.

Current mood: Big-Smiley


Coffee break

This morning i went to the village hall in Great Mongeham

There they were doing a fundraising event for the Macmillan cancer charity.

i was only to happy to support this charity.

I also talked to residents about a number of issues in the community including Litter, anti social behaviour and the problems of debt.

Current mood: hopeful


PCT annual Report

This afternoon I went to the annual meeting of the East Coast Kent PCT in Ashford. There were presentations on the work of the trust and questions from the public and invited guests. There was a lot of discussion about GP presentation on the Romney Marsh  as well as consultaion events across the PCT area, although I was more interested in GP provision in North Deal as well as mental health services.

Current mood: Sceptical


community involvement

This morning I went to a service at one of the local churches. While there residents were complaining to me about anti social behaviour in Deal last Friday and Saturday nights. 

As I too had suffered on one of these nights I was only too happy to pass their concerns along to our anti social behaviour unit.

This is an ongoing problems and  understand that some areas have had improvements but there is still a way to go in tackling this problem.

Current mood: Sad


Deal Braderie

The late summer sunshine helped to bring out the crowds in Deal this afternoon for the annual Braderie.

This is a french tradition and I found this description of the one in Liile "La Grande Braderie is a tradition dating back to medieval times. The citizens of Lille set up shop on the street and flog their unwanted possessions in a jumble sale of epic proportions!" (eurostar).

Among the crowds I met many familiar faces and was able to chat to them about issues ranging from parking to eggheads.

Congratulations to Deal Town Council for their role in this event.

 

 

Current mood: Cool


another standards complaint

At the risk of being reported to the standards committe I must point out the error in Dr Mike Eddy's letter to First in which he asserts that DDC is planning for 10,000 homes per year rather than over the LDF planning period which runs til 2026, yet reading the LDF core strategy on the council's website indicates that the proposals are for the whole term, ie 14000, or 10000  new homes in total. Is Dr Eddy trying to mislead the public as I cannot believe that a member of such intelligence would make such an error and who is quick to highlight grammatical errors in the text of council motions unless he has no understanding of the LDF process  and the issues involved. ( I know that last sentence is probably not well worded but I hope you get the idea. I am well aware of my own shortcomings!!!)

It even sets out the annual requirement

option 1 - 305 homes per year (6100 total)

option 2 - 405 homes per year (8100 total)

option 3 - 500 homes per year (10000 total)

option 4 - 700 homes per year (14000 total)

This is set out on page 43 of the report

so I await his inevitable complaint for pointing out his error.

Or perhaps you will read his excuse as to how he is really not wrong at all on his infallible blog.

Current mood: Sceptical


Eastry Coffee Break

After the week away in St Helens it was back to the normal round of work. Today it was the Coffee Break in Eastry. I met a number of residents and we discussed the new recycling scheme. During the election last year this was a key issue for many residents so it with great pleasure that we can demonstrate our commitment to fulfilling our commitments by introducing this expanded service.

I know that it has been a difficult set of negotiations by my colleague to get this service so i feel I must pay a personal tribute to his success in this regard. Well done Nick and I hope that other readers of this blog will also extend their thanks for his efforts.

Current mood: Cool


the final session

the conference is drawing to a close with the final session on health inequalities by Martin Gibbs. He was displaying a new tool on the department of health' website which allows people to see health inequalities in their local area.

Current mood: Cool

worklessness

Cllr Steve Houghton from Barnsley is addressing the conference about his council's experience with worklessness. they have about 16000 or 12 percent on incapacity benefit . The age profile is increasing for the 25 to 49 age group. they estimate that of this group one third are permanently disabled, one third need support and one third are "on the system". He also asserted that it can be a self fulfilling prophecy.

Current mood: Sad

straight talking

last moring of the conference and David Hamilton, the scottish chair of the all party parliamentary group on coal is discussing the challenges met and missed in the last 10 years. 4e feels that there have not been enough work on apprenticeships and this will hurt british industry and our communities in the longer term.

Current mood: Cool


be POSH

this afternoon I am on a tour of St Helens . there is a tour of the glassworks and presentation on the big art project. there new slogan be posh is short for Be Proud Of St Helens .

Current mood: Cool

causes of deprivation

Andrew Lewis from The Northern Way. he asserted that the danger of falling into deprivation is not during a recession but rather during the recovery phase.

Current mood: Sceptical

regeneration through enterprise

Paul Davies from Bizzfizz in Bolsover is adressing the conference about regeneration efforts involving supporting new business in Clowne.

Current mood: Cool

Its a matter of life and death

This morning Dave Parry from the alliance launched the new reopt on health inequalities in Britains traditional areas. He claimed that the gap in life expectancy between the richest and poorest areas is widening.

Current mood: Sad

keynote address

the Rt Hon Andy Burnham MP, secretary of state for culture, media and sport came to St Helens to deliver the conferences key note addresss. He discussed the problems that deprived communities have in accessing lottery grants. He outlined the progress made but admitted there is still a way to go to achieve an equitable distribution.

Current mood: Sceptical


afternoon session

this afternoon I chaired two workshops. the first was by Ed Taylor from the Princes Foundati. this was looking at Enquiry by Design. This is a technique which seks engagement from stakeholders into the planning of regeneration projects. the second workshop was looking at routes to work, ie tackling worklessness. We had Julie Wedgewood from Allerdale council in west Cumbria. She went through a number of case studies which illustrated the impact of this work.

Current mood: Cool

the future of regional development agencies

steve broomhead, the CEO of the northwest RDA gave his views on the future of RDAs. the diversion of about 300 million pounds to housing initiatives. He also discussed the way the sub national review. He talked about new structures and the multi area agreements as well how RDAs will take on more responsibility in planing

Current mood: Sceptical

alliance conference

This morning Cllr John Devon welcomed delegates to the second annual alliance conference. My fellow blogger Cllr Mick Grant is here so there may be more than one view of the sessions. This conference is taking place in the shadow of the economic situation and will affect our regeneration efforts. Cllr Devon has already flagged the reduction in funding.

Current mood: thoughtful


best practice

todai I have travelled to st helens. this affternoon I walked around the town centre and we looked at how the local authority is reaching out to the community with a mobile office

Current mood: Happy


Feedback

Today at our service at St Martins Great Mongeham we had a visit from Father George from Madagascar. Our congregation has been supporting his work for a number of years so it was great to hear the latest from him about his work over there. Sometimes we forget how lucky we are in this country and its helful to connect with the wider Christian community and understand the constraints they operate under. Their big hope at the moment is to get a mechanized cultivator so they can grow more crops which can be sold to help buy rice which is one of their staples in their diet. 

Current mood: Love


The Big Breakfast and Friends of Kent Churches Bike Ride

This morning I was lucky enough to attend the Big Breakfast at the Eastry Village Hall. A number of residents had an early rise to take advantage of this now annual event to help support the Village Hall.

After breakfast it was time to don my lycra riding apparel

I then set off for my round of the Churches in Deal.

I met a number of familiar faces on my round and discussed a number of issues including regeneration as well as where to find the best biscuits - I felt that St Thomas in Deal won that contest!

It was encouraging to see many other particpants in this worthwhile event. Cycling seems to be growing in popularity round here and I feel that the opening of Fowlmead CDountry Park has helped this growth.

I will be interested to see my fellow councillors blog entries for their insights to this annual event.

Current mood: Happy


Eastry Coffee Break

This morning I went to the coffee Break

I was thanksed for efforts on a wall in gore lane that is in need of repair and is now due to be fixed. I was also in discussion about traffic speed through the village and the difficulties in getting a scheme accepted by Kent Highways to slow traffic in the village.

the proximity to the Sandwhich Bypass means that some traffic does not slow down down sufficiently after coming off the bypass and some residents fear a fatal accident will result.

Current mood: Sad


Thursday

This morning i went tpo  the great Mongeham drop in

there was discussion on a number of issues including crime in the village. The loss of our PCSO (police community support officer) will be keenly felt.

 

In the evening i went to the Northbourne Parish council. mThere was discussion of the agenda items including the regeneration of the Betteshanger Colliery site as well as cesspool empying and the move my BT to remove red telephone kiosks.

the move to include plastic bottles and carboard into the Kerbside Recycling collections was welcomed. 

Current mood: Cool


Council Meeting

This evening i attended the full council meeting.

There was updates from the leader about latest developments for the district such as work with other agencies on the growth point initiative as well as work with partner agencies to improve the infrastructure on roads and health care,

The council agenda is available on the council's website

there was also a discussion on cesspool emptying as the council is withdrawing from service due to the availability of lower priced alternatives.

Current mood: Cool


Great Mongeham Parish council

last night i went to the parish council meeting.

I collected a bage of litter on my walk to the meeting to demostrate to the other councillors the type and quantity of litter that is deposited around the village. The other members agreed that this is an issue which the council should be looking at.

I also briefed the council on the Merchant Navy day service and the announcement on Growth point status for the district.

The council also discussed a number of planning matters as well as finace and a report about the joint council meeting with Deal Town and Walmer parish councils.

I was also able to promote the next Neighbourhood Forum as this is coming up next month and is looking at community safety and will be held in the neighbouring parish of Northbourne at Betteshanger.

Current mood: Cool


Great Mongeham Drop In

This morning iI went to the drop in. I was thanked for efforts on footpaths and i will pass this on to the parish footpath officer Cllr Abbi Hughes-Edwards.

There was discussion on noise, litter  and immigration. I have been interested with the degree of anger about litter across the ward so I will continue to press the parishes to consider this topic. Clearly residents want local governemnt to get more active on this issue so I will see what can be done. I know my colleague Nick is also looking at ways to get the district to become more effective in combatting this problem. 

Current mood: Cool


Merchant Navy day

This morning I went to the annual Merchant Navy Day Service. The difference this year was that a memorial was unveiled to commemorate the sacrifice of this service to the nation.  Many former serving officers and others as well as representatives from Local Government and the other services came to participate in this act of worship.

The memorial was unveiled by a grandson of Britain's wartime Leader and he used excerpts from some of his grandfather's speeches to acknowledge the cost and the value of these people not only to Britain but to the wider eurpoean continent.

Current mood: Thoughtful


Sutton Parish Council

On Tuesday night my colleague and I went to Sutton Parish Council. We briefed them on a number of matters including Planning issues, The Growth Point announcement and Litter. They also discussed proposals received from BT regarding improved Broadband access. I believe that we need a coordinated approach so I will ask District council officers for their advice.

Eastry Parish Council

On monday night I went to the parish council.

I gave a report on the Merchant Navy day celebration as well as discussing Litter problems. Members of the parish council also felt that litter was an issue and are going to look at steps to take.

After the meeting i was chatting to some villagers and they too stressed the problems associated with Litter and were glad that the parish is working on the issue.

Current mood: Cool

Litter

recently the ampount of litter seems to be getting worse. yesterdy I was on a walk through the village and i collected some which looked very recent - minutes old if not an hour or two.

I was interested to read a story on the BBC website about the group the Big Tidy Up

It would be nice to see of some of the local parish councils can organise something for this  during the coming month.

Current mood: Sad