Pellet Fired Through Pub Window - Hartlip

Hartlip, Newington & Upchurch Ward

Crime Number: 46/246161/19

At 8:00pm on Saturday the 28th of December, unknown persons, possibly a group of 6 youths, were responsible for firing a pellet through a pub window in Lower Hartlip Road, Hartlip.

If you have any information that could help investigators please contact Kent Police on telephone number 101 and quote the relevant crime number above.

For more information on crime prevention visit: www.kent.police.uk

Kent Community Messaging

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Merry Christmas

  Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas 🎄🎅🏼⛄️

Upchurch Matters
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UPDATE: Tuesday 24th December - Notification of Major Gas Works: A2 - High Street, Newington

Following the postponement of our work in November, we’ll be returning to London Road, Newington on Monday 6th January to continue upgrading our gas network.

In close consultation with Kent County Council from Monday 6th January, we'll be working to the east of Newington Industrial Estate, between properties 97 and 111 London Road. For everyone’s safety around our site, we’ll need to install temporary two-way traffic lights for approximately two weeks.

To guarantee gas supplies to properties in the area, we need to revise our programme of works, especially as we have entered the winter period where the gas demand increases. From Monday 20th January 2020, we'll be upgrading our network in the A2, working in Keycol Hill by Rook Lane, Sittingbourne. For everyone’s continued safety, temporary two-way traffic lights will be in place around our work area for approximately six weeks.

We have further work to carry out along the A2, Newington. We’re continuing to plan this and our revised programme of works with the local authority. We will share all the information with you once details have been confirmed.

We appreciate your understanding and patience while we carry out essential gas mains replacement work in the area.

If you have any further questions, please let me know.

Kind regards

Paige Roberts

Stakeholder and Community Manager

SGN Gas

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Swale Borough Council - More Than 50 Per cent Cut to Long Stay Parking Prices at New Multi-storey Car Park

People can now park all day at Bourne Place multi-storey car park in Sittingbourne for just £7.

Swale Borough Council has reduced the cost of parking for more than 6 hours to £7 from the £15 to provide more long stay car parking needed around the station and town centre.

Cllr Tim Valentine, cabinet member for environment at the council, said:

“We’re pleased to offer more long stay car parking spaces at the Bourne Place multi-storey car park for locals and visitors in Sittingbourne.

The more than 50 per cent reduction will open up 308 spaces at the new car park.

We know that more long stay parking is needed near the station and around the town centre, so we decided to amend the long stay charge to provide the space that users need.

The multi-storey car park offers secure and well-lit parking between 8am and 7pm every day, giving users peace of mind during the darker winter mornings and evenings. It also benefits from CCTV cameras throughout the building for extra reassurance.

The car park will be open 24-hours a day when the Travelodge hotel opens which will make it even easier for commuters to park.”

The car park will be closed on Christmas day, Boxing day and the New Years day, opening the usual times on all other days.

Bourne Place Multi-Storey Car Park
New tariff:
Up to 30 minutes	£0.50
Up to 1 hour	£1.00
Up to 2 hours	£2.00
Up to 3 hours	£3.00
Up to 4 hours	£4.00
Up to 5 hours	£5.00
Up to a maximum of 6 hours	£6.00
Over 6 hours (within 24-hour period)	£7.00
Lost Ticket	£15.00

The charge is for all parking bays including disabled and parent/child bays.

Swale Borough Council

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UPDATE: Potential Alterations to Chalkwell 326/327 Bus Services

Chalkwell Coach Hire recently announced an important consultation on potential alterations to the 326/327 bus service that links Sittingbourne to the Medway Towns via the villages of Newington, Upchurch and Lower Halstow.

Residents were invited to submit their views to the bus company either in writing or by completing an online consultation form by Sunday 15th December.

In an update posted to their Facebook page on Monday 23rd December 2019, the operator wrote:

“Thank you to everyone who responded to our 326/327 consultation. We are busy going through all of the responses in order to address how we will move forwards.

I would like to reinforce the point that the service is not being cancelled. We do however have a legal obligation to change the timetable when there are long term programmes of roadworks, such as the 42 week SGN works on the A2. These roadworks in addition to the July 2019 full closure have placed an additional financial burden on Chalkwell, which we cannot sustain indefinitely. Therefore, some elements of the service or certain journeys that are lightly used may be suspended or discontinued.

We recognise that many people are dependent on the 326/327 service for a variety of reasons, all of which will be carefully assessed before any decisions are made.

We have again approached SGN for clarification of when the roadworks will resume and asked them to meet the additional costs that we have incurred. It is fair to say that so far SGN have not been very forthcoming.

In the meantime, we will endeavour to keep our customers updated as and when we have any further information.”

Upchurch Matters

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Vehicle Damaged - Upchurch | Pig Stolen - Hartlip

Hartlip, Newington & Upchurch Ward

Crime Number: 46/242307/19

Between 4:15pm and 9:00pm on Friday 20th of December, a car was vandalised in Oak Lane, Upchurch.

Crime Number: 46/242185/19

Be careful if you are offered a pig for sale because one has been stolen from Potters Barn Farm, Yaugher Lane, Hartlip.

If you have any information that could help investigators please contact Kent Police on telephone number 101 and quote the relevant crime number above.

For more information on crime prevention visit: www.kent.police.uk

Kent Community Messaging

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Upchurch Parish Council Report - December 2019

Report of the Parish Council December 2019

Cllr Tyrone Ripley (Chairman), Cllr John Arnold (Vice Chairman), Cllr Pam Denny, Cllr Alan Horton, Cllr Gerry Lewin, Cllr Peter Masson, Cllr Janet Marshall, Cllr Gary Rosewell and Cllr Neil Sheppard. Clerk Mrs Wendy Licence.

Christmas in Upchurch

The Parish Council would like to thank Mr Bob Friend for his generous donation of a Christmas tree for the village. The Council has secured a grant from Swale Borough Council for festive lights.
As the Parish Council has made a grant to Sittingbourne Lights for the Santa Sleigh, all money collected in the parish will be given to Upchurch Village Hall.

KALC Community Awards Scheme
Upchurch Parish Council is pleased to be participating in the Kent Association for Local Councils Community Awards Scheme again and would like residents to send in nominations for the award. The KALC Community Award is to acknowledge and give recognition to those who have made a significant contribution to their local community.  

Please send nominations to the Clerk. Deadline for comments is 31st December, full details can be found on the Parish Council website.

Planning

Ref: 19/505263/FULL Address: Kaynes Farm Breach Lane Lower Halstow ME9 7PA

Proposal: Retrospective application for siting of a portacabin for residential use in association with existing smallholding and equine facilities.

Councillors considered the application and agreed unanimously to object to the proposal.

Ref: 19/505173/SUB Address: New Kaine Farm, Solar Panel Installation Holywell Lane Upchurch ME9 7HP

Proposal: Submission of details pursuant to Condition 4 (Landscaping) of application 19/502827/FULL. 

Councillors considered the application and agreed unanimously to fully support the application.

Ref: 19/505106/FULL  Address: 13 Wilks Close Upchurch ME8 8EY

Proposal: Conversion of existing garage (Retrospective) 

Councillors considered the application and agreed unanimously that they had no objections to the proposal.

Ref: 19/505211/FULL  Address: 6 Horsham Lane Upchurch Sittingbourne Kent ME9 7AL 

Proposal: Conversion of garage into habitable space with external alterations and creation of first-floor side extension. 

Councillors considered the application and agreed unanimously that they had no objections to the proposal.

Ref: 19/505177/FULL Address: 101 Wallbridge Lane Upchurch Kent ME8 7XD 

Proposal: Erection of a garden room. 

Councillors considered the application and agreed unanimously that they had no objections to the proposal.

Ref: 19/505389/PNQCLA Address: Building E1 Adjacent To Kaine Farm House Breach Lane Upchurch ME9 7PH

Proposal: Prior Notification for change of use of agricultural building to 1no. dwelling and for associated operational development. For it's prior approval to: - Transport and highways impacts of the development - Contamination risks on the site - Flooding risks on the site - Noise impacts of the development - Whether the location or siting of the building makes it otherwise impractical or undesirable for the use of the building to change as proposed - Design and external appearance impacts on the building. 

Councillors considered the application and agreed unanimously that they had no objections to the proposal.

Ref: 19/505470/ADV  Address: 3 The Street Upchurch Sittingbourne Kent ME9 7AJ

Proposed: Advertisement Consent for 1no. externally illuminated aluminium fascia with logo (only Logo illuminates), 1no. externally illuminated projector, and 1no. non-illuminated aluminium panel.  

Councillors considered the application and agreed unanimously that they had no objections to the illuminated sign and requested that there be a condition that it is only lit when the shop is open and if possible, the level of light be conducive to the village environment. It was also requested that the number of physical signs on the outside the building be limited if possible.

Paddock and Recreation Ground

The inspection of the play area will take place in December.

There is a problem with dog fouling in the village again. The Community Warden has replenished the bags in the bottles and will report owners who do not clear up after their dogs. There is a problem with dog fouling in Chaffes Lane.  

The Parish Council asks all dog owners to be responsible and clean up after their dogs. Toxocara canis can pass from dog poo to humans as Toxocariasis through contaminated sand or soil, and children are at particular risk.  

Highways

Following inconsiderate parking in Chaffes Lane during the school run, the Council is planning to install bollards to prevent vehicles being parked on the pavement and causing a hazard for pedestrians.

Overgrown vegetation along the footpath in Otterham Quay Lane, near the horses' fields, has been reported to Alan Blackburn (KCC Highways) who has spoken to the Ian Young, the Highway Steward. Mr Blackburn has confirmed that he has raised an order with the term maintenance contractor to carry out some work to clear the vegetation that is over the footway so as to reveal the full available width. The work is scheduled to be completed within the next 28 days, Mr Blackburn has apologised if this has been promised to the residents before but not delivered.

There have been reports of inconsiderate parking opposite the doctors’ surgery and PCSO Cork is looking into this.

Environment

The Council has been awarded £610 from the Swale Environment Grant Fund. The Chairman has met with Ali Corbel, Swale in Bloom Coordinator, who can offer environmental guidance. Swale Borough Council’s preference is for all-year-round planting for bees and wildlife.  

This is a precis of Council business, full minutes of all meetings can be found on the website when ratified.

Date of next meetings:

Full Council - Thursday 2nd January 2020 at 7:30pm in Upchurch Village Hall.

The Planning Committee and General Purposes Committee - Wednesday 15th January at 7:30pm in the Committee Room of the Village Hall.

All residents are welcome to attend the meetings and there is a time for members of the public to comment, raise concerns or ask questions.

Wendy Licence - Clerk to the Parish Council

Tel: 01622 739324

Email: clerkupc@outlook.com

Website: www.upchurchpc.kentparishes.gov.uk

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The Crown at Upchurch Over 70s Community Christmas Lunch

Click photos to enlarge.

Annmarie, daughter Sophie, granddaughter Leah and staff at The Crown at Upchurch hosted a FREE and friendly Christmas Lunch for 30 residents on Monday 23rd December.

Their guests enjoyed time with friends and a lovely home-cooked Christmas Turkey Lunch with all the trimmings, followed by either Christmas Pudding, Mince or Apple Pie with Custard.

Congratulations Annie for making this a Merry Christmas for everyone 👍🏼

With donations from:

G.A.F French Ltd

www.gaffrenchltd.co.uk

DGL Testing Services Ltd

www.dgltesting.co.uk

Upchurch Matters

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Temporary Road Closure - The Street, Hartlip

Kent County Council has made an order to temporarily prohibit through traffic on The Street, Hartlip from Friday 31st January 2020 for up to 1 day between the hours of 08:00 and 16:30.

The road will be closed between Swan Cottage and Valley View, to the extent indicated by signs and barriers on site.

The alternative route for any through traffic is via Mount Lane, Lower Hartlip Road, Hollow Lane and vice versa.

Access for emergency service vehicles and pedestrians will be maintained at all times during the closure.

The closure is required for the safety of the public and workforce while pole maintenance works are undertaken by BT.

For information regarding this closure, please contact BT on: 0800 800150, who will be able to assist with the scope of the works.

The KCC Highways 24hr Contact Centre helpline is: 03000 418181

For details of roadworks, see: https://one.network

Kent County Council - Highways, Transportation & Waste
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Swale Borough Council - Heritage Strategy Consultation

Artists illustration of repaired and re-purposed
Sheerness Dockyard Church.
Heritage at Risk Grade II* listed building.
Image provided courtesy of Hugh Broughton Architects
with Martin Ashley Architects.

Newington archaeological site. Remains (in-situ) of
a Romano-Celtic Temple and its 3D reconstruction.
Persimmon Homes site off Newington High Street.
Images provided courtesy of SWAT Archaeology.

People are being asked to comment on Swale Borough Council’s new heritage strategy and action plan. This outlines the council’s plan to protect and manage the borough’s vitally important heritage.

The council’s cabinet last night (18th December) gave the green light for the heritage strategy and action plan to be made available for public consultation from tomorrow, until the 31st January.

The strategy confirms the council’s position in seeking to positively manage the wide range of heritage assets in the borough. It also set out how the council will support amenity organisations in projects focussed on bringing the borough’s heritage to life. An example of this is the Sheerness Dockyard Preservation Trust’s plans for the sensitive partial re-building and remodelling of the grade II* listed Royal Naval Dockyard Church in Sheerness into a bustling enterprise centre and hub for start-up businesses.

A major focus of the strategy will be to effectively tackle the range of problems which have led to some buildings and areas within the borough being placed on the local and national heritage at risk registers. The council is aiming to work with a range of different parties to make positive strides in this challenging area.

The borough-wide strategy will work to make sure that both rural and urban heritage is given the protection and ongoing sensitive management it needs to allow current and future generations to enjoy and learn from it.

Improving the understanding and awareness of the borough’s heritage, and the benefits it brings are crucial to the success of the strategy in the long terms will be. The council is keen to work with others in making the maritime, aviation and defence heritage of the borough known to a wider audience, given that some of the heritage in question (notably the grade I listed Boat Store) is of national, if not international importance.

Cllr Mike Baldock, cabinet member for planning, said:

“We have a wide range of heritage assets across the borough including more than 1,400 statutory listed buildings, 4 registered parks and gardens, 22 scheduled monuments, 50 conservation areas, and an increasing range of archaeologically important sites.

The strategy outlines how we will review and analyse our heritage sites and areas, giving us a greater understanding of what’s needed to conserve its special character into the future. This important groundwork will also put us in a stronger position to apply for future heritage-focussed funding to achieve enhancements to parts of our historic environment”.

We successfully applied for £1.9 million heritage lottery funding last year to improve the buildings, facilities and green spaces at Faversham Rec, and through this strategy, the Council will continue to support the heritage-focussed projects of other parties which will bring about real and long-lasting public benefits.

This strategy helps us understand how we will protect and conserve the borough’s precious heritage assets up until 2032 and we want community groups, local residents, businesses and other stakeholders to have their say in how we do and prioritise this.”

The strategy and two supporting appendices (including the action plan) can be accessed online at www.swale.gov.uk/heritage-strategy

People can send their feedback by Email to HeritageStrategy@Swale.gov.uk or via post to Heritage Strategy Feedback, Planning Services, Swale Borough Council, Swale House, East Street, Sittingbourne, ME10 3HT.

Printed copies of the heritage strategy will be available to view at:

• Swale Borough Council Office in Sittingbourne

• Sheppey Gateway in Sheerness

• The Alexander Centre in Faversham

• Boughton-under-Blean Library

• Faversham Library

• Minster-on-Sea

• Queenborough Library

• Sheerness Library

• Sittingbourne Library

• Teynham Library

Swale Borough Council
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Latest POLICE.UK Crime Data for the Area - November 2019

Hartlip, Newington and Upchurch

Here is a brief summary of the crime information for the past 2 months:

	October 2019	November 2019
All crime	42	40
Anti-social behaviour	7	4
Bicycle theft	0	0
Burglary	0	4
Criminal damage and arson	8	5
Drugs	0	0
Other crime	1	1
Other theft	3	2
Possession of weapons	0	0
Public order	4	5
Robbery	0	0
Shoplifting	1	0
Theft from the person	0	0
Vehicle crime	6	0
Violence and sexual offences	12	19

Please visit: www.police.uk for more information including outcomes for these crimes and contact information for your local policing team. Lower Halstow and Iwade Here is a brief summary of the crime information for the past 2 months: October 2019 November 2019 All crime 46 37 Anti-social behaviour 12 3 Bicycle theft 0 0 Burglary 0 1 Criminal damage and arson 2 2 Drugs 2 0 Other crime 2 3 Other theft 2 0 Possession of weapons 0 0 Public order 2 3 Robbery 0 0 Shoplifting 0 2 Theft from the person 0 0 Vehicle crime 0 3 Violence and sexual offences 24 20 Please visit: www.police.uk for more information including outcomes for these crimes and contact information for your local policing team. Upchurch Matters

Swale Borough Council - Swale Council Responds to Parent’s Concern of Reported Over-crowding on School Buses

Cllr Roger Truelove, leader of the council, said he has spoken with Kent County Council (KCC) this week following a question from a concerned parent about over-crowding on school buses.

Cllr Truelove said:

“We have spoken with KCC who have assured us that although they are unable to enforce operations on commercial bus services, they will contact the bus operators to share parents’ concerns.

The school bus routes in question carry children from Sheppey and the wider Swale area into Sittingbourne schools and are commercially operated by Chalkwell, Travelmasters and Arriva.

Each bus is licensed to carry a certain number of passengers and it is an offence for the driver to permit the bus to be overloaded.

That said, it is not unlawful for passengers to stand even when there may be ample seating available although standing passengers shouldn’t stand adjacent to, or forward of, the driver’s cab.

Parents who are concerned about their child’s travel to school should contact the Department for Transports Office of the Traffic Commissioner, who are responsible for bus operator compliance.”

Department for Transport regional Office of the Traffic Commissioner:
Ivy House,

3 Ivy Terrace,
Eastbourne
BN21 4QT

enquiries@otc.gov.uk

0300 123 9000

Swale Borough Council

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Swale Borough Council - A Brand New, State of the Art Digital CCTV System for Swale?

Swale Council’s cabinet is being asked to approve the upgrade of the borough’s CCTV system, upgrading to a digital system that will bring the service back under council control.

The upgrade of the 52-camera system will be decided at council’s cabinet meeting later this week (18th Dec).

If agreed, councillors will decide who will install and maintain the system following the successful tender process with nine bids earlier this year.

The £250,000 upgrade includes new digital cameras and a control room at Bourne Place multi-storey car park that will monitored at known times of peak crime and anti-social behaviour.

The CCTV system is currently operated by the Medway Commercial Group, on behalf of the CCTV partnership with Medway, Maidstone and Gravesham councils.

The new operator would install and maintain the new system for up to five years when the current contract ends in March.

Cllr Richard Palmer, cabinet member for community at the council, said:

“We want to bring the safety of Swale residents and visitors across the borough back into our control, so the upgrade of 52 new cameras and Swale-based control room will be a key investment.

Our current cameras are coming to the end of their life span and don’t often provide clear enough images to help the police with prosecutions.

The new CCTV system will help us prevent and detect crime, provide quality evidence to the police for prosecutions and manage emergencies and major incidents.

If agreed, not only will the new system improve safety across the borough but will also provide cost savings that we can allocate to other safety initiatives.”

Swale Borough Council

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