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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UPDATE from SGN - Gas Network Upgrade in A2/High Street, Newington - Tuesday 31st March

I’m writing to you further to my previous Email about our ongoing work to upgrade our gas network in A2/ High Street, Newington.

We know that during the coronavirus outbreak, our communities will rely on us now more than ever to keep them safe and warm. The safety of our communities and our employees will remain our number one priority in the weeks and months ahead.

We need to continue with our safety-critical project to upgrade the gas network in A2/ High Street. This needs to continue now, rather than wait until the pandemic passes, to ensure your local community continues to receive a safe and reliable gas supply.

We’re working closely with UK Government and public health bodies to make sure we work safely and in line with expert advice during the coronavirus outbreak. We have extra safety precautions in place to protect our colleagues and our customers from catching or spreading the virus as we carry out our safety-critical project.

There’s more information about our coronavirus preparations on our website: sgn.co.uk/coronavirus

Thank you for your understanding and support during these challenging times.

Kind regards

Paige Roberts

Stakeholder and Community Manager

SGN Gas

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POSTPONED - Public Inquiry into M2 Junction 5 / A249 Stockbury Roundabout Improvements

Watch the video

The video may not be visible in our Email version of this post.

If not, you can watch it here: youtube.com

Highways England is upgrading the M2 junction 5 / A249 Stockbury Roundabout which they say will support improvements to safety and the potential for economic development and growth in the region.

The scheme includes a new flyover which will create an uninterrupted link for drivers staying on the A249 and will free up extra space on the Stockbury roundabout.

Objections

Stockbury Parish Council, MP Helen Whately, along with residents and business owners, have all raised concerns and objections over the current plans put forward. Because of these objections, the Secretary of State has now ordered a Public Inquiry to take place.

It's believed all would support the scheme providing a bridge or underpass is added to the proposed new road layout. They are concerned that as a result of the upgrade scheme, the village could be cut off and become dangerous and difficult to travel to.

They acknowledge and support the need to modernise the Stockbury roundabout but cannot support the current scheme which they believe will irreparably harm the cohesion of the community, which has small businesses and significant settlements on both sides of the A249.

Public Inquiry - Postponed

In line with latest Government advice regarding Coronavirusaa and to avoid unnecessary and non-essential travel and social contact with others, the Inspector has now postponed the 8 day Public Inquiry announced by the Secretary of State which was due to open on Tuesday 28th April 2020.

The inquiry was due to be held at Hempstead House, London Road, Bapchild, Sittingbourne ME9 9PP in the Heritage Suite.

Members of the public were invited to attend the proceedings and if they wished to make an objection, declare support or have specific questions, they needed to submit their intention of this to the Inspector by Monday 23rd March 2020.

An independent Programme Officer has been appointed. Information about how to appear at the inquiry, the programme and additional documents have been made available on their website at http://programmeofficers.co.uk/m2j5

If you have questions specifically about the inquiry you should contact Yvonne Parker directly via Email posltd@virginmedia.com

Full details of the orders and improvement scheme can be found on the Highways England website at https://highwaysengland.co.uk/projects/m2-junction-5-improvements

The Inspector notes that under the present circumstances, it is not possible to finalise and publish the inquiry arrangements in order to give notice to interested parties in a timely manner, in accordance with the requirements of the associated inquiries procedure rules. This reinforces his view regarding the need to postpone the event.

Once new dates have been arranged the website will be updated and participants notified. In the meantime, if you have an urgent enquiry, please contact the Programme Officer.

Upchurch Matters

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Coronavirus - Guidance on Access to Green Spaces

Guidance on using green spaces and protecting yourself and others.

The government’s priority is to save lives and the best way to protect yourself and others from illness is to stay at home.

However, exercise is still important for people’s physical and mental wellbeing, so the government has said people can leave their homes for exercise once a day.

Please use the following guidance in order to stay safe:

• Stay local and use open spaces near to your home where possible - do not travel unnecessarily.
• You should only go outside alone or with members of your own household.
• Keep at least 2 metres apart from anyone outside your household at all times.
• Gatherings of more than two in parks or other public spaces have been banned and the police will enforce this.
• If you have a garden, make use of the space for exercise and fresh air.
• Take hygiene precautions when you are outside, and wash your hands as soon as you are back indoors.

Please see the latest government guidance on social distancing

Please be aware that if you are experiencing symptoms of coronavirus illness (COVID-19) or at risk of severe illness if you catch coronavirus, then you must stay at home. See the latest guidance from Public Health England

Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs

Forestry Commission

Environment Agency

Natural England

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