Notice Board

Monday, 9 September 2019

Swale Borough Council - Sittingbourne's New Multi-Storey Car Park Now Open

Sittingbourne’s new 317 space car park is now open for drivers visiting the town.

Bourne Place Multi-Storey Car Park has been built as part of the town centre redevelopment and includes 21 disabled and 4 parent and child parking bays.

The car park has 10 motorcycle bays, space for seven bicycles, and there will also soon be four electric vehicle charging bays to help support the growing number of electric vehicles using local roads and reduce vehicle emissions.

From today (Monday, 9th September) the short stay car park will be open from 8:00am until 7:00pm, seven days a week and will eventually be open 24 hours a day when the hotel and cinema open.

Cllr Monique Bonney, cabinet member for the economy property at the council said:

“I’d like to thank local people for their patience while we have been working on the car park.

We weren’t entirely comfortable with a few aspects of the design, so we’ve had to spend a bit more time getting these sorted out before we were happy to open.

The extra spaces will help ease some of the pressure on other short stay car parks, and I hope this encourages more people to visit the town centre and support local businesses.”

Parking charges for the car park are in place between 8:00am and 6:00pm. These are:

Duration	Charge (£)
Up to 30 mins	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 6 hours	6.00
Over 6 hours	15.00

There will also be FREE parking on Sunday’s for visitors to The Light cinema when it opens next year.

For more information about car parking in Swale, visit: www.swale.gov.uk/car-parks

Swale Borough Council

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Saturday, 7 September 2019

Upchurch Village Hall Improvement Project - Update

The Village Hall Management Sub Committee thought it time we brought you all up to date with our progress. Firstly the disappointing news, our bid for Lottery funding failed. However we have other fund raising available and we are well on the way to seeking a grant from the Garfield Weston Foundation, so keep your fingers crossed.

We have completed parts of the project using our own funds. For example, the emergency lights have all been checked, the guttering and roof gullies have been cleaned and redirected so that the hall no longer floods when it rains hard. The kitchen lights now meet modern lighting standards and are safe to use. We have also replaced some plug sockets in the chair store that were dangerous.

Shortly (in late September and October) the rear hall will get a coat of paint. It is hoped that in the new year the main hall will also be painted. Unfortunately this will mean the hall will be closed, for perhaps a week, we will let you all know these dates when we have them.

The extractor fans in both the rear hall and main hall will we hope be connected to a time on/off switch so that next time we have a heat wave (yes we did have one) those using the hall will be able to turn them on and extract the hot air from the ceiling.

The Friends of Upchurch Village Hall are taking a year off (having raised over £6,000.00 so far) as UpARA has nominated the Village Hall as their chosen charity for this year.

Lastly, despite the setback with grants, we are moving ahead as planned, it is just going to take longer than we had hoped.

John Tutt
For the Upchurch Village Hall Project Sub Committee

Website: www.upchurchvillagehall.weebly.com

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Friday, 6 September 2019

Upchurch Short Mat Bowls Club - House Singles Bowls Competition

Congratulations to Peggy Lightfoot, winner of the house singles bowls competition held at Upchurch Village Hall on Thursday 5th September 2019.

Competitions organiser, Peter McGibbon presented Peggy with the Brian Glover Memorial Trophy.

Malcolm Groves

Upchurch Short Mat Bowls Club

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National Hate Crime Awareness Week Event

A FREE community cohesion event in Medway

On Saturday 12th October from 4:00pm until 9:00pm

Exhibitions, networking, entertainment and more

At St. Mark's Church, Canterbury Street, Gillingham, Kent ME7 5JA

For more information contact: bobby.mahay@kent.police.uk

Kent Community Messaging

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Medway Council Receives RSPCA Award for the Sixth Year Running

Medway Council’s outstanding work with stray dogs has been recognised by the RSPCA for the sixth year in a row.

The stray dogs team has been awarded the RSPCA Gold PawPrints Award for the sixth time.

The awards recognise and celebrate the council’s continued work with stray dogs.

The team has been very successful in reuniting lost pets with their owners in the last year as well as finding new homes for abandoned dogs.

Between April 2018 and April 2019 the community wardens picked up 237 dogs, luckily 130 were scanned for microchips on the street and were returned directly to their owners. The team also reunited 57 dogs with their owners. The team also found forever homes for a number of dogs and placed some in longer-term foster care until homes could be found for them.

Medway Council’s community wardens also have their own Facebook page which is dedicated to the stray dogs service. They use social media to help find the owners of stray dogs, find new foster carers and to rehome abandoned dogs.

The team also attend community events and encourage dog owners to follow the Medway canine code which includes keeping your dog under control at all times, ensuring your dog’s vaccinations are up to date and treating your dog with love and kindness.

Cllr Rupert Turpin, Portfolio Holder covering Community Wardens, said:

“We are delighted to have once again been recognised by the RSPCA for our work with stray dogs. Our team works tirelessly to help reunite stray dogs with their owners and to rehome those that have been abandoned. I would like to thank our community wardens for all their hard work.”

Rachel Williams, senior parliamentary advisor for the RSPCA, said:

"It's great to see Medway Council achieving our prestigious Gold award. This is a real testament to the hard work of Medway's staff, their commitment to animal welfare and the health and happiness of their residents."

To find out more about the council’s stray dog service visit: www.medway.gov.uk/dogs

Medway Council

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M2 Chatham Bypass Resurfacing - Update to Closures

I am writing to advise that A-one+, on behalf of Highways England will be carrying out works on the M2 carriageway in both direction from junction 1 to junction 5.

In order to carry out these works as efficiently and as safely as possible, work will be carried out overnight under full closures of the M2 carriageway between junction 1 and junction 5, including all associated entry and exit slip roads.

During these works, there will be various closures of the slip roads between junction 1 and junction 5 of the M2.

Diversions: clearly signed diversions will be in place during all closures utilising local routes, suitable for all types of vehicles when full closures of the carriageway are in place.

M2 London Bound: Traffic will be diverted at junction 4 of the M2 onto the north bound Hoath Way (A278), then at Bowaters Roundabout, traffic will take the first exit to join the London bound A2 until Will Adams roundabout where traffic will then turn right onto Ito Way and then left onto Pier Road (A289). Traffic will remain on the A289 to re-join the London bound A2 at Shorne.

Whilst the closure is in place from junction 5 of the M2, 2nd September 2019 to 5th September 2019, London bound traffic will be diverted at junction 5 onto the south bound A249 to join the London bound M20 carriageway at junction 7. Traffic will continue on the London bound M20 until the next junction. Traffic will depart the M20 at junction 6 to join the north bound A229. Traffic will then re-join the M2 at junction 3 where the closure ends.

During these London bound M2 closures from junction 5 to junction 3, M20 traffic looking to join the London bound M2 from junction 5 onwards will join the above diversion route from the M20 at junction 7.

A2 Coast Bound: Traffic will be diverted from the A2 in Shorne to join the north bound A289. Traffic will remain on the A289 towards Gillingham where it will turn at the roundabout to join the south bound Yokosuka Way. At Will Adams roundabout traffic will take the first exit to join the coast bound A2. Traffic will exit the A2 at the junction for the south bound A278 where it can join the M2 at junction 4.