KCC - Kent Community Warden Service Review - Have Your Say!

To help meet the financial challenge Kent County Council is facing, the Community Warden service has been asked to reduce its annual budget by £1 million by 2024-25.

To achieve this level of savings, the council will need to redesign the service.

The Consultation document provides information on:

• The current Community Warden service, including what it does and how it operates.

• Why KCC is proposing to make changes and how they have developed their proposals.
• The proposed changes to the service and details of other options that have been considered.

The proposals presented in the consultation have been developed with information from service users and input from staff and partners.

Most of the service’s £2.4 million budget provides the salaries of community wardens. To reduce the service budget by the required £1 million, staffing reductions are needed. In summary, KCC is proposing to:

• Redesign the service, ensuring there is a core Community Warden presence across the county, with teams covering 2 districts.

• Reduce the service by 32 warden posts and 2 management posts.

• Retain the remit and community-based way the service currently works but cover fewer communities.

• Use data and information to identify where to place wardens for the most impact.

The service is currently structured with: 

• 70 wardens, including 6 team leaders.
• 2 area managers.
• 1 volunteer and apprenticeship scheme manager.
• 1 business coordinator. 


Have your say!

Before any decisions are made, the council wants to hear your views on:

• How the proposed reductions and approach to allocating wardens could impact you.

• Any additional information that you think they need to consider.
• Any alternative suggestions for how the service could make the savings.
• The assumptions they have made in the draft Equality Impact Assessment (EqIA)

Please read the Consultation document first before completing the online questionnaire below. 

The council is keen to hear your views on its proposals and how any changes may affect you and your family.

You can answer all or as many of the questions as you like. If you would rather not provide feedback on a section or question, just move on to the next one.

The consultation closes on Tuesday the 3rd of October 2023.

Complete the questionnaire at >> https://letstalk.kent.gov.uk/community-warden-service/survey_tools/questionnaire

Upchurch Matters

Christmas Market at Upchurch Village Hall - Stall Holders Wanted

The Christmas Market at Upchurch Village Hall was very well supported and enjoyed by all last year.

The market was a fundraising event for the St Mary’s Church Bell Tower Restoration Fund with refreshments provided by Upchurch WI, and it raised a fantastic amount of £602 on the day!

The village children were very excited to meet Santa in his sleigh with giant reindeer, and the good news is that he will be returning this year to see if they have all been good again, courtesy of Upchurch Parish Council.

If you would like a stall this year, register your interest at: upchurchvillagehall@yahoo.com

Thank you 

Upchurch Matters

Residential Property Damaged - Newington

Hartlip, Newington & Upchurch Ward

Crime Number: 46/128426/23

Between 00:01 on Sunday the 1st of January and 11:49 on Thursday the 13th of July, somebody damaged a residential property in Playstool Road, Newington.

If you have any information that could help investigators, please contact Kent Police on telephone number 101 and quote the relevant crime number above.

For more information on crime prevention visit: www.kent.police.uk

Kent Community Messaging

New Members Wanted for the Doctors Surgery Patient Participation Group

Ray Kemsley

Chair - Surgery Patient Participation Group - Upchurch & Rainham

Email: raykemsley@btinternet.com

Urgent Road Closure - Wallbridge Lane, Upchurch

It will be necessary to close Wallbridge Lane, Upchurch from Thursday 20th July 2023 for up to 1 day.

 

The road will be closed in its entirety.

 

The alternative route is via Oak Lane, Horsham Lane and vice versa.

 

This is to enable carriageway repairs to be carried out by Kent County Council.

KCC 24hr Contact Centre: 03000 418181

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

Kent County Council - Highways, Transportation & Waste

48 Homes Planned for Land on the Northern Side of Canterbury Lane, Upchurch

Click map to enlarge.

SJM Planning Ltd has submitted outline planning application 23/503028/OUT to Swale Borough Council with some matters reserved (access, layout, and scale sought) for the erection of up to 48 new dwellings, including new access onto Canterbury Lane and associated road widening, provision of open space, and hard and soft landscaping on land on the northern side of Canterbury Lane, Upchurch, Kent, ME8 8QW.

You can find out more about the application and make representations by visiting: https://pa.midkent.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=summary&keyVal=RWYXZ3TYMTO00

Comments can also be made in writing to:

Mid Kent Planning Support

Maidstone House

King Street

Maidstone

ME15 6JQ

Email: planningcomments@midkent.gov.uk

Quoting reference number: 23/503028/OUT

Upchurch Parish Council has been granted an extension to the deadline for submitting comments so they can consider the application at their full council meeting on Thursday the 7th of September 2023.

Upchurch Matters