General Election 2017 - Sittingbourne and Sheppey

Upchurch residents will be voting to elect a Member of Parliament for the Sittingbourne and Sheppey constituency in the Parliamentary Elections taking place on Thursday the 8th of June 2017. Residents can vote for only one candidate in this election.

The candidates are:

Mike Baldock - Independent
Gordon Henderson - Conservative (MP from 2010 - 2017)
Mark Lindop - Green Party
Lee McCall - Independent
Keith Nevols - Liberal Democrats
Mike Rolfe - Labour
Mad Mike Young - The Official Monster Raving Loony Party

Upchurch Village Hall will be our Polling Station and will be open from 7:00am until 10:00pm.

Residents need to be on the electoral register to vote in elections and referendums.
You don’t need to register again if you’ve already registered.

It is now too late to register to vote in the General Election on June 8th 2017.

You can still register for future elections online at www.gov.uk/register-to-vote
It usually takes round 5 minutes.

After you’ve registered, your name and address will appear on the electoral register.

You may need the following, if you have them:

your National Insurance number.

Your passport if you’re a British citizen living abroad.

Voting in person - Your council will send you a poll card just before an election telling you where and when to vote.

If you haven’t received a poll card but think you should, contact your local Electoral Registration Office

You can still vote if you have lost your card.

If you haven't posted your postal vote yet, don't worry. You can hand it in at your polling station until 10:00pm on June 8th

Whatever way you vote, make your vote count on June the 8th!

Upchurch Matters
space

Attempted Burglary - Playstool Road - Thefts from a Shed - School Lane - Barge Entered - Lower Halstow Yacht Club

Hartlip, Newington & Upchurch Ward

Crime Number: XY/024529/17

Between 12:30pm and 6:30pm on 29th of May, an attempted burglary took place in Playstool Road, Newington.

Iwade & Lower Halstow Ward

Crime Number: XY/024991/17

Between 00:30 and 8:00am on 28th of May 2 hedge cutters and a petrol strimmer were stolen from a garden shed in School Lane, Lower Halstow.

Crime Number: XY/024922/17

Between 5:30pm and 7:30pm on 28th of May a barge was entered illegally at Lower Halstow Yacht Club, Sheerness Road, Lower Halstow.

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
Space

Purse Stolen - Bishop Lane

Hartlip, Newington & Upchurch Ward

Crime Number: XY/025045/17

Between 31st of May and 1st of June, a Ralph Lauren purse was stolen from a vehicle in Bishop Lane, Upchurch.

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
Space

Newington History Group

Hear stories of historic interest based on people's photographs at Newington History Group's 'Show and Tell' on Thursday, June 8th (7:30pm) in the Methodist Hall, Church Lane.

Guests are invited to take part and whether you want to talk for five minutes or 15, notify your interest to 01795 842405 or newingtonhistorygroup@outlook.com

Find out more about the group's activities by visiting its stall at the Village Festival on Saturday, July 15th (Noon-6pm) on the school field. The focus will be on Roman finds and the group will be joined by experts from Canterbury Archaeological Trust.

All villagers, and people living outside Newington, are welcome to the attend meetings, which are on the second Thursday of the month. The group seeks to unearth, preserve and promote the history of the village and neighbouring areas. An annual subscription is £15.

For more details contact 01795 842711 or thelma@newingtonhistory.co.uk

Follow the group's activities on Twitter @newingtonhg

Richard Thompstone - Newington History Group

Space

June News from Upchurch Horticultural Society - From the Potting Shed

Sponsored by Upchurch River Valley Golf Club - www.rivervalleygolf.co.uk

By June most of the hard work is over and you can really enjoy your garden pottering around looking after everything and of course getting the BBQ out and having some friends round and showing off what you have done.

The lawn should be at its best but dry weather will soon start to brown it off so keep it well watered. Sprinklers are easy but use a lot of water and most of us in the village are now on meters.

It’s been a cool spring so you may have held off from planting out, but now is the time to do so with the risk of frosts passed. Plant out your annual summer bedding and containers and hang up the baskets which should all be nicely hardened off. Lift and divide overcrowded clumps of spring bulbs and remove the foliage once it has died back naturally. Pinch out the tips of Fuchsias to encourage a bushy habit and more flowers, pick sweet peas to bring on more growth and dead head the roses. Continue to tie-in and support tall and climbing plants as they really get going.

Start light pruning of plum and apple trees to remove dead, damaged or weak growth and prevent overcrowding. Do not worry if your fruit trees shed some fruit (called the June drop) this is natural, but If your crop is looking bumper then thin out the fruits before branches are ripped off or you end up with a mass of small fruit. This will also help to prevent biennial bearing where the crop is very light the following year as the plant has exhausted itself. You may wish to protect developing fruits from birds and squirrels by netting your trees. Now is also a good time for a high potash liquid feed which encourages fruit to form. Keep an eye out for the many pests which plague fruit trees and start spraying in June. This may take a bit of research to identify the pest and how to deal with it, alternatively come along to the Horticultural Society and we can help you. Remove strawberry runners or peg them down to encourage propagation for next year.

Tie-in outdoor tomato plants to supports which should now be strong enough to resist wind, remove side shoots when they show and starting feeding when the first truss is setting fruit. Potatoes should be up and running and continue to earth up if you wish to. Some early potatoes will be ready for harvest when the flowers drop. Also start taking salad crops even if they are a bit young, especially lettuce or else it will bolt before you can pick it all. Successive sowing and planting will keep you going throughout the Summer and into the Autumn. Climbing beans should be under way but if not plant seed straight into the ground. Keep watering marrows, courgettes and pumpkin.

Keep watering everything in hot weather and use a liquid feed every 4 weeks. Be generous and allow the water to sink deep into the soil, just wetting the surface does more harm than good. If you haven’t done so already think about a water butt, they come in all sorts of ingenious designs these days and a bi-metallic disc inside will keep the water bright. Watch out for blackfly and greenfly and start spraying before you get an infestation and start battling the slugs. A good old Winston’s cigar can devastate tender plants. Think about nesting boxes as Blue Tits will cleanse a garden of bugs when feeding chicks and a frog pond will produce the best slug killer known to man. Top up bird baths it’s a delight to watch them splashing around.

One last thing to do.......that’s right.......Good Health!!

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

space

Newington Festival

Richard Thompstone

Tel: 07719 942782

Email: sepr@hotmail.co.uk

Twitter @NewingtonFest

Space