Changes to Chalkwell 326/327 and 328 Bus Services - Beginning 8th April 2019

A new 326/327 and 328 timetable for buses running through Upchurch, Lower Halstow and Newington will come into operation on Monday the 8th of April 2019.

The 326/327 bus route provides a very important link between Sittingbourne and Chatham. Chalkwell say the new timetable changes are nothing that should cause alarm, with no loss of service between Sittingbourne, the villages and Medway, and that overall they think this is a much better offering.

From Monday the 8th of April 2019 there will be a number of service improvements that should benefit current and potential users, of particular benefit will be parents whose children go to school in Medway because the changes take into account the revised school finishing times for Rainham Mark Grammar School and Chatham Grammar School for Girls.

Chalkwell has highlighted what they believe to be the main benefits of their new timetable as:

• Improved connections with the Arriva services from Sheppey and Iwade, meaning that customers have a greater choice of journeys from the Island to the Medway Towns.

• The 326 journey that starts in Sheerness will commence from Sittingbourne, although will connect with the Arriva 334 service.

• Improved 327 and 328 journeys for pupils attending Sittingbourne schools.

• Improved journey times for pupils attending school in Medway, such as Rainham Mark Grammar School, The Howard School and Chatham Grammar School for Girls.

• More consistent and memorable departure times from Sittingbourne and Chatham.

Managing Director Roland Eglinton commented:

“We have taken a long time to plan these changes, and we think they will benefit a lot of people. We also plan to make some vehicle investment in the coming months, updating what is currently used on these services”.

The new timetable can be viewed and downloaded from the Chalkwell website at the link here >> http://bit.ly/2Fdfe0l

Upchurch Matters
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Upchurch Parish Council Report - March 2019

Report of the Parish Council March 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

Memorial Plaque

The Historical Research Group of Sittingbourne wants to install a memorial plaque at Oak Lane railway bridge to commemorate those who lost their lives when the bridge was hit by a doodlebug. The Society has spent a lot of time researching the centenary of the end of the Great War and is now looking at the 75^th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. One of the casualties was sheltering under the bridge when the bomb exploded. The Society has permission from the authorities and is now seeking approval from the Parish Council for the plaque.

Councillors agreed unanimously to support the project but consideration must be given to safety at the location.

Upchurch Fete

The Parents & Friends of Holywell School will run the Annual Village Fete and this will be held at the school on the same day as the School Summer Fayre. If the field next to the school is in a fit condition, parking will be there. Councillors agreed that if the field is not suitable the Recreation Ground could be used for parking for the fete.

Planning

i. Ref: 19/500370/FULL Address: Twinney Acre Susans Lane Upchurch ME9 7HA

Proposal: Change of use of part of residential garden for the siting of 3no. shepherd huts with associated parking and access, for use as holiday lets.

Councillors considered the application and noted the huts had moved slightly from the previous proposal and were concerned that there would still be an issue of noise at night which could cause a disturbance to neighbours. The proposal does not meet the criteria of bringing employment or income to the village as there are sufficient B&Bs in the area.

Councillors agreed unanimously to object to the proposal.

ii. Ref: 19/500522/FULL Address: 2 Church Farm Road Upchurch ME9 7AG

Proposal: Single storey side extension with pitched roof.

Councillors considered the proposal and noted that there were no objections on the planning portal. Councillors agreed unanimously to support the proposal.

iii. New Kaine Solar Farm

The New Kaine Solar Farm is seeking an extension of the lease from twenty-five to forty years. The company wants to talk to the parish Council and seek its views. Councillors considered that the solar farm is on Grade 1 agricultural land; the land has to be re-instated when finished; the solar farm has only been online for a few years and has about another twenty years left under its present lease; solar panels have a twenty-five years life span although the inverters have a shorter life span.

Councillors agreed that the company be asked to give a presentation to the Annual Parish Meeting where more people will be in attendance.

Allotments

Four more plots have been rented over the past few weeks and anyone else interested in having an allotment garden should contact the Clerk.

There has been a request for a disabled area with raised beds and proper pathways. There are grants available to facilitate this and the project will be properly managed.

Burial Ground and Churchyard

The Burial Ground Fees and Policy have been revised and can be found on the Parish Council website.

Church Clock 

The updates to the winding mechanism were carried out a year ago and the clock has been working well. The atomic clock went off air for two weeks and when it came back on it sent an erroneous signal although the operators do not accept responsibility for it. The mechanism has been taken out of the clock for a software update and was refitted last week and the time has been out of sync since. The clock has been restarted twice and it seems to be keeping time and this is being monitored. If necessary, the clock repairer will come out to help.

Highways and Street Lighting

There will be some road closures over the next few weeks to repair potholes in the parish

The street light tenders have been sent out.

Date of next meetings:

Full Council - Thursday 4^th April 2019 at 7:30pm in Upchurch Village Hall.

The Planning Committee and General Purposes Committee - Wednesday 17^th April at 7:30pm in the Committee Room of the Village Hall.

Annual Parish Meeting - Thursday 18^th April at 7:30pm.

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: 01634 363906

Email: clerkupc@outlook.com

Website: www.upchurchpc.kentparishes.gov.uk

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Rescheduled - Overnight Road Closures - Lower Rainham Road, Rainham

Lower Rainham Road, Rainham will be closed for carriageway resurfacing, starting on or after Thursday 28th March 2019, for 2 nights between 7:00pm and 6:00am.

The Lower Rainham Road will be closed between the junction with Station Road and No: 742.

The diversion route for through traffic is via Otterham Quay Lane, A2 - High Street / London Road, Ito Way and Yokosuka Way.

Parking will be restricted for the duration of the works.

Delays likely.

The Medway Council phone number is: 01634 333333

Website: www.medway.gov.uk/resurfacing

For details of roadworks, please see: www.roadworks.org

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March News from Upchurch Horticultural Society - From the Potting Shed

Sponsored by Upchurch River Valley Golf Course Ltd

March normally means the arrival of spring and it looks as if it will come early this year unless the weather has a surprise for us. I normally write these articles about two weeks before they are published and distributed so plenty of room for an Ooops, but at the moment the forecast remains mild. The list of gardening jobs goes stratospheric in March and normally doesn’t ease off until June.

One of the main tasks that will be facing most gardeners this spring will be lawn recovery following last years hot summer. This has resulted in a lot of bare patches which may have allowed weeds to get established. I will tackle the bare patches first and then get rid of the weeds when the new grass is established.

Dig over the bare patches with a handfork and go at least 2” deep, 4” if you can manage it. This will remove the weeds but fresh weed will get established as the new grass grows. Break up the soil so that it is nice and friable and firm it down by foot and rake over. The next task is to select a suitable mix of grass seed which can be an adventure in itself. Grass seed used to fall into 3 basic categories, Ryegrass which is hard wearing and vigorous and ideal for a sports pitch. Fescue, which makes a good utility lawn without looking like a sheep meadow. Bent, which is a fine quality grass which can be found on a bowling green. The proportion of grass seed will be shown on the box and will be largely Ryegrass, but look for a mix which has a high Fescue content. This seed is rhyzomous and spreads to fill gaps and also does well in shade. Other types of seed have also become available like Bluegrass and Bermuda but these are almost certainly not present in your lawn and introducing them will create patches, so best to avoid them. Spread the seed generously over the prepared soil and lightly rake in, gently firm and lightly water. Now let the grass and the weeds grow together.

Finish off tidying the borders and prune roses fuchsia and clematis when you see signs of growth. Deadhead hydrangeas by cutting back stems by about two thirds otherwise they quickly get very large. Use a general fertiliser (7-7-7) or just dig in some compost to help get things started. Fertilise fruit trees and shrubs and similarly tidy up the vegetable patch and fertilise. Keep filling up the runner bean trench with leaves, weeds, prunings and kitchen cuttings. I also empty the fire pan into the trench as wood ash is a good fertiliser. Top dress your containers with 2” of compost lightly turned in with a handfork.

One of the main tasks in the vegetable patch is to get the early potatoes in by the end of March. I will use Rocket again this year as it lives up to its reputation as being the earliest of earlies. I lift mine after 13 weeks to get some size, but they are easily ready in 11 weeks. In the Telegraph last week Monty Don has been looking at the benefits of chitting potatoes and his conclusion is that it only benefits early potatoes and has little effect on Maincrop. He also said that only 4 new shoots are required and the others shouldbe rubbed off. So I will follow Monty’s advise and plant my potatoes with 4 new shoots, if possible, at the rose end, facing upwards. Dig over the potato patch so the soil is friable, dig a generous hole and line it with a fine mix of sieved soil and compost with a general fertiliser. I use 6X which is a dried concentrated poultry manure and available on the internet. Place the seed potato about 8” deep and cover with the soil/compost mix until 2” from the surface, then add a generous fistful of manure on top, above the seed potato, which will soak down over time. Level off with soil and water in.

It is also time to get the seedlings going so check the packets for sowing times and line them up in order. The first sowing will be a tray of Little Gem lettuce followed by a second tray a month later and so on until July to keep a succession of lettuce coming through the summer. Also try for a second sowing of beetroot in May which can be planted out after the first sowing has been lifted in June/July.

That will be plenty to keep us busy through March, but never lose sight of the fact that we do this for fun and there is still time in April and plenty of beers in the fridge.

We are always looking for new members and try to encourage a fun attitude towards friendly competition. So if you want to grow your own fruit, vegetables and flowers or even enter any of the 3 shows we hold each year, then please get in touch, we would be happy to hear from you.

If you are interested in becoming a new member, (all ages are welcome), please contact Rosey on: 01634 377812 (evenings) or Email: rosemary@ringwoodaccounting.co.uk

Sean Barry - Upchurch Horticultural Society

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Upchurch Village Fete Presented by the Parents & Friends of Holywell School

Saturday 22nd June 12-4pm on the School Field

The school were very sad to hear that the Village Fete this year had been cancelled.

The PFHS have decided to step in and save the Village Fete and combine it with the School Summer Fayre, but instead of running it in the Paddock it will be held at Holywell School.

All village organisations are invited to come and run their own stall as usual (pitch fees apply).

Please get in touch with the PFHS pfhs@holywell.kent.sch.uk to register your interest.

Let’s ensure this fantastic event continues for our village!

Tracey Snellings

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The Oast Community Centre, Rainham - Our History

The Oast in Rainham is a very special community centre, and on Monday 25th March, their event, 'Our History' will finally tell their untold story... their history for local people.

What was the land used for before The Oast was built?
Who farmed the land and built The Oast?
What was The Oast used for?... perhaps not what you expected?
How did it become a community centre?

The event is an exciting opportunity to learn what history researchers have discovered about The Oast, with the chance to meet some of the contributors and hear from lead history researcher, Maggie.

Starting at 10:00am in the Granary Bar, on floor 1, they will be serving soft refreshments and cake.

Suggested donations of £5 per ticket will go towards the upcoming project to present the photos and information in the Tea Room for everyone to enjoy.

Tickets can be booked via PayPal: secretary@oastcentre.org - PP address only or cash by direct arrangement, or pay on the door.

For all booking info, please Email: fundraising@oastcentre.org

There is a limit of 50 tickets available, so advance booking is advisable.

All money raised will go towards our history interpretation fundraising appeal.

The Oast Community Centre
Granary Close, Rainham, Kent ME8 7SG

Website: www.oastcentre.org

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