Upchurch Horticultural Society - October Show Cancelled

Upchurch Horticultural Society regret to inform you that due to circumstances beyond their control the show scheduled for Saturday the 24th of October has been cancelled.

We hope to see you at the Village Fete next year in the mean time apologies to all those villagers who were looking forward to the show in October.

Steve Laming

Email: slaming@tycoint.com
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Winter Tea Room Aboard Edith May

Edith May Tea Room reopens for the winter season on Friday the 30th of October.

Homemade Cakes, Scones, Soup and a selection of Light Lunches available all day.

~ Tea Room Staff Required ~ 

Please contact: 07813 368137

We look forward to welcoming you aboard.

Edith May Trading Company

Email: info@edithmaybargecharter.co.uk

Website: www.edithmaybargecharter.co.uk

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Robert Smith Book Signing of "A Dockyard Matey Makes Good"

Lower Halstow resident Robert Smith will be signing copies of his latest book "A Dockyard Matey Makes Good" on Saturday the 17th of October at Sunburst Books, 21 Station Road, Rainham, between

10:00am and 12:00pm.

Nigel Randall

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Swale Borough Council Community Safety Questionnaire - Tell Us What Matters to You?

Swale Community Safety Partnership is seeking the view of all members of the community to help us to establish what our local priorities should be. Whether you feel more attention should be paid to anti-social behaviour, burglary or deliberate fires to name just a few categories. Your views and the views of residents in your community are vital to help us to decide how to target our resources to make Swale a safer place.

Please complete our questionnaire by visiting ☞ here ☜ to tell us how much of a problem you feel certain issues are in your area and what your top 3 priorities are. If you would prefer a paper copy or for paper copies to share with your residents, these can be requested from: csu@swale.gov.uk or calling: 01795 417336. The deadline for responses is Friday 30th October 2015.

Many thanks

Stephanie Curtis | Safer and Stronger Communities Officer | Swale Borough Council

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Latest News from Upchurch WI

Hello Readers. Many of you will have seen in The Gabriel that to celebrate the Centenary of the WI we have been raising money to provide a Defibrillator for the Village.

We have been greatly helped by donations from village organisations and individuals for which we are very grateful. It is to be sited on the outside wall of Snaffles at the junction of Oak Lane and Chaffes Lane. The launch will be next Saturday, 17th October at 10:00am at the site and it would be lovely to see as many of you there as possible to celebrate with us as we officially hand over the Defibrillator to the Parish Council and the Village.

Councillor John Arnold already working to site the new village Defibrillator.

Please note: The Defibrillator will not actually be on site and operational until the day

of the launch on October 17th.

This will be followed by a Coffee Morning in the Village Hall at 10:30am (with lots of our renowned cakes and scones!) where there will be people available to answer any questions you may have about the Defibrilator and its use. We will also have a training session at a later date and you can sign up to register your interest at the Coffee Morning.

The talk at our next WI Meeting on October 13th is by Chris McCooey, entitled "Scandals - Sensational, salacious and sad" it would be good to see some new faces and you can be sure of a warm welcome.

Have you booked a table for our Quiz Night on Friday 23rd October starting at 7:30pm in the Village Hall? Tables of 6, food provided but bring your own drink and glass. You don't have to be a WI member, you don't even have to be female! Just get a group together and join us! Phone Chris on: 07796 860940 or Joyce on: 01634 232346 to book your table.

Christine Stevens

Upchurch WI

Website: www.thewi.org.uk

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Upchurch Parish Council Report - October 2015

The monthly Meeting of the Parish Council took place on Thursday 1^st October at the Village Hall where 5 Councillors were present and 6 members of the public including Ward Cllr Wright and Ward Cllr Baldock.

Minutes of the meeting held on 3^rd September 2015 – It was proposed by Cllr Horton and seconded by Cllr Masson that they be accepted as a true record. All agreed.

Public Time– KCC Grants – Ward Cllr Baldock advised that next year would possibly be his last year as a Councillor and therefore Parish’s should start looking into any major projects that they would like to undertake with a view to Cllr Baldock providing a quarter of the funding with the other three quarters being worked into the precept. Bus Timetable update – Ward Cllr Baldock reported that leaflets had been distributed throughout Upchurch and so far a very good response has been received. Lower Halstow are still awaiting a leaflet drop. The next stage will be to collate the results and put a case forward to the KCC transport cabinet.  

Correspondence – Letter of resignation – Cllr Tucker advised the members that a letter of resignation had been received from Cllr Maria Rose and all agreed that she would be missed and that she had been a committed member of the Parish Council.  Village Hall price increase – The Clerk advised the members that she had received notification of minimal price increases for the hire of the village hall.

Planning – 15/507464/FULL -  3A Upchurch Poultry Farm, Poot Lane – It was agreed that there appear to be no issues with this application. Cllr Tucker will forward a response for the Clerk to submit before the 14^th October 2015. 15/502716/FULL – Breach Farm Paddocks, Newington – Cllr Lewin reported that permission was granted for this application at the Swale planning meeting on 23^rd September 2015. Both Cllr Lewin and Ward Cllr Wright objected strongly to this. 14/505230/FULL Jack Russell Place Cllr Lewin reported that permission was granted for this application at the Swale planning meeting on 29^th September 2015. Horsham Lane Garage – The Clerk reported that the she had received a demolition notice for the garage. The demolition will be controlled by the conditions set out by the planning department. These conditions are available from the Clerk or via the website.

Other Planning - Traveller Sites – Cllr Lewin reported that the Government have produced a new policy on traveller sites. This policy is applicable from August 2015 although Swale Borough Council are still awaiting guidance on this. Bearing Fruits – Cllr Lewin reported that the draft was submitted in April 2015 to the Inspector, following this the Inspector has asked for further information and commented that the number of housing being submitted at 540 is distant from the objective assessed and has asked that this be reassessed. Following the reassessment a figure of 776 will be published but Swale will be meeting with the Inspector in November to defend its initial figure of 540.

Finance – The Clerk reported that she had received a cheque for £125 from Allianz insurance in respect of the excess paid when a vehicle collided with the allotment fence. Finance meeting update – It was agreed at the finance meeting that following the playground inspection, the removal of the old play equipment and rubber matting would need to take priority. It had also been agreed that the Parish Council would donate £500 to the village hall towards painting costs.

Casual Vacancy – As there are currently three vacancies on the Parish Council, it was agreed that a leaflet drop would take place throughout the village to promote these vacancies.

Allotments – An allotment rent increase for next year was agreed.

Recreation Ground – The Clerk reported that a bench had been vandalised and that this had been reported to the PCSO John Cork. The Clerk was asked to speak to the insurance company regarding making a claim for this. The Clerk also reported that a large amount of household rubbish had been disposed of in the Recreation Ground.

Paddock – The Clerk reported that there had been further vandalism to the rubber matting under the round swing in the Paddock and this had also been reported to PCSO John Cork. This was thought to have been damaged by an individual sleeping rough in the Paddock and PCSO John Cork asked that people be vigilant. Cllr Tucker reported that due to the GPC meeting not taking place the way forward with the removal of the old play area equipment was still awaiting discussion. Cllr Arnold reported that the new parts have been placed on the climbing frame. Cllr Arnold also reported that the Paddock gate is broken and that he will be looking into costs for fixing this.

Bus Shelter – The Clerk reported that she is still awaiting an appointment for a pre planning site meeting with Swale Planning. Following the Swale West meeting on 14^th September the Clerk reported that Ward Cllr Baldock had agreed to provide a £5000 match funded grant next year towards the bus shelter.

Burial Ground and Churchyard – The Clerk reported that she has begun sending the revised rules and regulations to plot owners requesting that they return the signed statement to confirm they have read and agree to the rules.

Highways – Cllr Lewin reported that the enforcement officers have had a degree of success with regards to the parking outside of Holywell School.

Other Matters not yet arising – Remembrance Sunday Service – This will take place in St Mary’s Church on 8^th November at 10.15am. Cllr Lewin has ordered the wreath. Defibrillator – Cllr Arnold reported that this cannot be placed in direct sunlight and therefore Snaffles is not a feasible site for it. It was agreed that Cllr Arnold would look into a place to temporarily site this until it can possibly be moved to the Bus Shelter next year.  

Please note the full Minutes from the Meeting can be seen on the Upchurch Parish Council website.

The next Parish Council Meeting will take place on 5^th November at 7.30pm in the Village Hall.

Julia Cura, Clerk to the Parish Council.

Tel: 01634 363906

Email: clerk@upchurchpc.kentparishes.gov.uk

Website: www.upchurchpc.kentparishes.gov.uk