Winner of the Fairtrade Hamper at Upchurch’s Co-op - Raising Money for MIND

Congratulations to Beryl Freeman, winner of the Fairtrade Hamper at Upchurch’s Co-op.

Thanks to everyone who bought tickets 🤗

You helped us raise another £30 for our chosen charity this year, MIND - the mental health and support charity.

Please keep a lookout for future raffles and events to come.

Read more about MIND at: www.mind.org.uk

Nik - Upchurch’s Co-op

Swale Borough Council - Waste and Street Cleansing Survey

People can now take part in Swale Borough Council’s waste and street cleansing survey.

The survey gives people the opportunity to tell the council how the waste and street cleansing service can be improved before the current 10-year contract ends in October 2023, and will help guide the council’s future contracts.

The service is responsible for how residents’ bins are collected, how often the streets are cleaned, and how littering and fly-tipping offences are tackled.

The survey asks whether people prefer mixed or separated recycling if the streets are being cleaned often enough and if vehicles that reduce the impact on the climate are important to them.

Cllr Julian Saunders, cabinet member for environment at the council, said:

“We want to know what we can do to improve the waste and street cleansing service we offer to residents.

“We want to know if residents are happy with their bin collection if the roads are being cleaned enough, and if we’re tough enough on fly-tipping and littering offences.

“One of the questions we’re asking is if residents could pick one thing that is the most important for us to improve on - what would that be?

“With the contract coming up for renewal in the next few years, this is the perfect time for us to look at what’s going well and what we can improve on.

“Possible improvements were discussed at the latest area committee meetings, so now it’s important that we hear from residents and understand their priorities as we put together the new service contract.

“Ultimately our goal is to offer a green and energy-efficient service that helps us meet our climate and ecological emergency obligations while delivering a consistent and reliable service for residents in the most affordable and cost-effective way possible.”

The waste and street cleansing survey is open until 19th April.

To take part visit: www.swale.gov.uk/waste-and-cleansing-survey

Swale Borough Council

Temporary Road Closure - Breach Lane, Lower Halstow

Temporary Road Closure & 20 and 40 mph Speed Limits - Various Road, Swale (Surface Treatments) - 9th March 2021

To allow carriageway patching and preservation works to be carried out, Kent County Council has made an order to temporarily prohibit through traffic on various roads in Swale.

This order takes effect on or after 9th March 2021 for a period of up to 18 months or until works have been completed.

It may be necessary for some of the roads to be closed for up to 3 occasions for each phase of the works.

Planned dates will be published in advanced of the works on one.network and indicated by signage displayed on site 14 days before they start.

After the Surface Treatment works, a temporary speed limit of 20 mph may need to be imposed in place on certain roads for a period of up to 7 days. Where the 20 mph Speed Limit does apply, this will be clearly indicated by relevant signs displayed on site.

These works are subject to weather and other factors which may potentially cause changes at short notice; every effort will be made to keep as close as possible to the planned dates that are notified, and any changes will be publicised.

For information regarding this order please contact Kent County Council on: 03000 418181, who will be able to assist with the scope of the works.

For details of roadworks see: https://one.network

Kent County Council - Highways, Transportation & Waste

Medway Council - Update on Changes to The Older and Disabled Residents Bus Pass

An opportunity which allowed free bus travel in Medway before 9:00am during the Coronavirus pandemic will come to an end later this week.

Medway Council offered disabled and older people the chance to use their pass for free travel before 9:00am to enable them to make an earlier essential journey, such as food shopping.

Residents who have passes will continue to be able to travel for free on buses after 9:00am when the scheme comes to an end on Sunday, 7th March.

The changeover will come into place on Monday, 8th March when school pupils return to the classroom, and passes will only be able to be used from 9:00am Monday to Friday and at all times at weekends and on bank holidays.

Medway Council has a statutory duty to provide passes for free bus travel throughout England for older and disabled people under the English National Concessionary Travel Scheme (ENCTS).

More than 34,000 Medway residents have a bus pass including 30,000 for older people and 4,000 for disabled people.

Medway Council

Please Help Our Co-op Key Workers Keep You Safe

Please help our Co-op key workers keep you safe 😷

Thank you

Nik Clements

Manager - Upchurch’s Co-op

March News from Upchurch Horticultural Society - From the Potting Shed

Sponsored by Upchurch River Valley Golf Course Ltd

March has arrived and it’s time to get going in the garden. After the “Beast from the East” put in another unwelcome appearance, the weather has improved (at least at the time of writing) and things are looking spring-like. The first crocus to flower in the garden was on 5th February this year which is the earliest I have known. Snowdrops, Hellebores, Daffodils and Dwarf Iris have flowered and it looks like a good start to the year and hopefully a harbinger of things to come. Hopefully, you are getting jabbed (by vaccination that is, not by a Labour politician) and generally feeling much happier.

The lawn can get a bit of attention this month with scarification and possibly the first cut with the blades set high. Hold off until April before weeding and feeding and doing patch repairs with seed. Give the vegetable patch a good digging over, remove all weeds and winter debris and apply a general fertiliser. Your soil will probably be very stony as a lot of Upchurch sits on a bed of compacted stone that slopes downwards towards the Medway. Stones can be raked off, lifted with a shovel, put through a sieve to reclaim any soil and bagged up for disposal.

The Exhibition Longpod Broad Beans will be planted in March which provide a bumper crop, in fact, there are still some leftover in the freezer from last year. Also, the Rocket Early Potatoes will go in at the end of March. Dig a hole about 6” deep and fill with 3” of sieved soil mixed with compost and dry pellet manure (6X is my favourite, available from Amazon). Push the seed potato into the mix and then fill the hole with a final small fistful of manure on the top. The rain will wash that down and the tubers will start forming.The end of March is also a good time to get the seedlings going. Moist compost is best, not too wet and keep them covered with transparent covers which can be lifted when germination starts. Label the seedling trays if your recognition is not too good. On mild days they can go outside to start hardening off or placed in a cold frame.

If you didn’t manage it last month, tidy up all the borders and containers, remove weeds and leaf litter and fertilise or dig some compost into the surface. Also mulch fruit trees and berry canes.

It will be interesting to see if last year’s tadpole husbandry has produced more adult frogs as March is a month of happy ribbeting. If we get a lot of spawn this year we will probably separate some of it into a suitable container to prevent the high levels of predation in Spring. The good thing about frogs is that they like slugs and a healthy colony in the pond is good for the garden.

This time of year always causes me a frisson of excitement as things are about to start happening and life will hopefully get pleasantly busy again. A bit of high morale is starting to bubble to the surface so it’s time to finish off the Xmas Prosecco while I knock up the evening meal.

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