Upchurch 50 Years Ago in April 1970 by David Wood

In a month which proved very busy for the parish council, the main point of discussion in the village concerned the construction of a new school to replace Holywell School in Holywell Lane which had existed since 1847.

At the monthly parish council meeting chairman Ted Tress read out the financial report for 1969/1970 which he had drawn up and a discussion about action with regard to a new school took place. The new Holywell School in Forge Lane eventually became reality in 1976.

The parish council also discussed the condition of the entrance to the recreation ground that had become overgrown but which had been recently cleared and looked tidy. Unfortunately, the football club had left a half completed pavilion on the recreation ground causing an eyesore. The parish council then wrote to the club giving it until August to complete the job otherwise permission to play football on the ground for the oncoming season would be refused. The football club agreed to take action and continued using the ground for home matches in the Rochester & District League. The other problem concerning the recreation ground continued to be the riding of horses by local equestrian enthusiasts on the area which the council found difficult to prevent.

A problem arose involving the delivery of mail in Horsham Lane as letters were being delivered to the wrong addresses. Some houses shared the same number while part of Horsham Lane had Sittingbourne addresses and half had Rainham addresses causing confusion. Furthermore, one resident discovered building materials meant for a different house dumped in his garden. The parish council referred the matter to Swale Rural Council who asked the postal service to introduce a new numbering system for houses in Horsham Lane and this soon happened.

In village club affairs the Women’s Institute held its 38th birthday celebration in the village hall with a buffet and a short comedy performed by the village drama group. Members also performed two dance routines while club president Mrs Ambrose cut the birthday cake. Mrs Thompson won the competition for the Best Decorated Egg and Mrs Nelson won the Best Flower of the Month competition. The manager of Riceman’s store in Canterbury gave a talk early in the month and members of the institute visited the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury.

Cricket club members prepared their Poot Lane ground for the coming season and made plans for their annual Tramp’s Supper in early May. Playing membership decreased compared with previous seasons and the club struggled winning only one match during the entire season.

A Glamorous Granny competition organised by the parochial council took place in the village hall with fourteen entrants. Ellen Godman aged 79 from Lower Halstow won the competition. Mrs Godman had 22 grandchildren and 9 great grandchildren. After the competition, the parochial council held a Spring Fayre in the village hall to raise money for church repairs. Three whist drives were also held in the village hall as fundraising events in April.

The church register for the month recorded the baptism of Marie Ann Lewin from Drakes Close and the marriage of George Burchill from Forge Lane to Janet Murr from Drakes Close. Funerals also took place at the church for Lawrence Kirby aged 72 from Oak Lane and Gladys Chapman aged 59 from South Bush Lane. This brought April to a close and as spring had arrived the fruit orchards around the village burst into a mass of white and pink blossom adding colour to the landscape.

David Wood

About David

David Wood was born, raised and still lives in Upchurch today. He is able to write from personal experience about village life and the changes that have taken place over the years, making ‘Memories of Upchurch’ a very readable and detailed historical study of the village.

David's book is available from David at david3702001@yahoo.co.uk or from us here at Upchurch Matters. Price £12 + postage and packing.

Swale Borough Council - Maintaining Essential Council Services

We know that there has been much discussion and debate about what is deemed an essential worker or service, and the same has been happening with our operations. 

We have been following government guidance and where possible staff have been working from home. However, certain jobs and services simply can’t be done from home and in these cases, we have been adhering to social distancing guidelines as much as we can.

We have been working with our contractors and have received assurances that they are assessing the risks and providing staff with the right level of protection, so in many cases, we feel it is right to continue with our key services.

Some examples of contractors continuing to work include:

Waste collections - Our contractors are following government guidelines and the recently issued Waste Industry Safety and Health principles.

We are prioritising waste collection services to ensure every household continues to get a basic collection service.

Public toilets - While footfall is reduced we feel it is vital to continue to offer this service for those that need it, especially key workers that need to be out and about.

Our cleansing contractor Monitor is taking the precautions needed and doing a great job with increased cleansing regimes.

Grounds maintenance - Grass cutting or tree work may not seem essential to some, but it is important that we keep on top of this health and safety work, especially in areas where people will be doing their daily exercise or in our cemeteries which remain in operation.

Along with our own staff, our grounds maintenance team are also keeping an eye on the closed playgrounds and fitness equipment.

Parking enforcement - Despite the changes to parking restrictions which has seen reduced enforcement, it is important that we maintain safety and clear traffic flow for emergency vehicles and waste collection vehicles.

We have reduced staff patrolling key areas to focus on double yellow lines, school keep clear zones and loading bays to allow for critical food deliveries.

We know everybody is working hard to get through this situation and we are especially proud of our staff and contractors that continue to deliver key functions for everybody in the borough.

Swale Borough Council

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Latest POLICE.UK Crime Data for the Area - February 2020

Hartlip, Newington and Upchurch

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

	January 2020	February 2020
All crime	42	30
Anti-social behaviour	7	4
Bicycle theft	0	0
Burglary	2	1
Criminal damage and arson	11	3
Drugs	0	0
Other crime	1	0
Other theft	3	2
Possession of weapons	0	0
Public order	1	0
Robbery	0	1
Shoplifting	2	5
Theft from the person	0	0
Vehicle crime	4	4
Violence and sexual offences	11	10

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: January 2020 February 2020 All crime 25 21 Anti-social behaviour 10 3 Bicycle theft 0 0 Burglary 4 1 Criminal damage and arson 1 2 Drugs 0 0 Other crime 0 0 Other theft 0 0 Possession of weapons 0 0 Public order 1 3 Robbery 0 0 Shoplifting 0 0 Theft from the person 0 0 Vehicle crime 1 7 Violence and sexual offences 8 5 Please visit: www.police.uk for more information including outcomes for these crimes and contact information for your local policing team. Upchurch Matters

UpARA - April 2020 Newsletter & Latest Programme of Events

John Wishart - Chairman

Tel: 07971 511956

Email: john@togthedog.co.uk

Website: www.upara.club

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Medway Council Takes Immediate Action to Provide Financial Support to its Businesses and Residents

The Leader of Medway Council has used Urgency Powers to ensure immediate work is carried out to further support residents and businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Government has set out its latest financial packages to support residents and businesses most in need of help with council tax and business rates. Since the announcements, Medway Council has been working hard to identify those eligible of the financial support and implement the financial changes.

As part of the Urgency Powers, the Chief Finance Officer, in consultation with the Leader and the Portfolio Holder for Business Management, has been granted delegated authority to implement the following measures. Decisions, such as this, would usually be taken to a Cabinet meeting for portfolio holders to discuss and decide on. However, to ensure that Medway is responding quickly to support those most in need of financial support during the pandemic, this change has been approved.

Cllr Alan Jarrett, Leader of Medway Council, said:

“I am pleased the government has put measures in place to enable us to provide additional financial support to the Medway residents and businesses who need extra help during the pandemic. We recognise the importance of quickly getting these national measures in place locally and I have used Urgency Powers to allow this work to be immediately carried out. We will continue to do all we can to support Medway’s economy during this difficult time.”

Council tax reduction scheme

Medway Council has been awarded £2,056,371 of the Government’s £500million hardship fund, which will provide council tax relief to vulnerable people and households to help those affected most by coronavirus. In Medway, this will provide a reduction on council tax bills to lower income households, taking account of income and savings.

Residents who are currently part of the council tax reduction scheme will automatically receive a reduction in their annual council tax bill of up to £150.

Business rate relief

Retail discount: Retail ratepayers who have recently received a new annual bill showing a 50 per cent discount will now receive a revised bill showing a 100 per cent discount.

The 100 per cent discount has been extended to include properties completely or mainly used for leisure, hotels and assembly, such as public halls. Additionally, the previous cap restricting discount to those properties with a rateable value less than or equal to £51,000 has been removed.

The service is working hard to identify eligible properties and will issue notices to them.

Public houses

Where pubs do not qualify for the 100 per cent extended retail relief, their bills will be discounted by up to £5,000.

Medway had already issued business rate bills based on the original level of relief, and will send amended bills to those affected once more details are issued from the Government.

Small business grants

The Government has allocated around £39.7million to Medway Council (due on 1st April) to fund grants to support small businesses through this period. Ratepayers are being invited to provide information to check their eligibility for business support grants and ensure that bank details are correct, so that the funds can be distributed quickly.

Letters are being sent out to businesses and an online form has been created on medway.gov.uk for businesses to complete.

Emergency grant funding

Medway Council has also received £6.628m COVID-19 emergency funding from the Government to help support the local authority respond to the pandemic and address the pressures local government is facing.

Urgency powers will also be used to add this funding to the council’s revenue budget. Government has suggested spending the funding in the following areas:

• Meeting the increased demand for adult social care and enabling councils to provide additional support to social care providers.

• Meeting the cost of extra demand and higher business-as-usual costs of providing children’s social care.

• Providing additional support for the homeless and rough sleepers.

• Supporting those at higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19, who may be asked to self-isolate in their homes for the duration of the pandemic. 

• Meeting pressures across other services, as a result of reduced income, rising costs or increased demand.

Medway Council

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Swale Borough Council - Garden Waste Collections Suspended

A council spokesperson said:

“We are extremely grateful for the kind words we’ve had about our waste collection crews. They really appreciate them, and the thank you cards and messages left on bins, as they work hard to maintain the service.

Unfortunately, due to reduced staff levels, we have taken the decision to suspend garden waste collections to prioritise collecting general waste, food waste and recycling.

This means that if your garden waste brown bin is out for collection, please take it in off the street until we are able to restart the collections - please check our website and social media for updates.

If you don’t already, and you have the space, you could start home composting your garden waste.

We will continue to collect your blue, green and food waste as planned, however if your bins are not collected on your usual allocated day, please leave them out and we will get to them as soon as we can.”

Swale Borough Council

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