Council answers plea to help fund NhW newsletter


THE parish council agreed to pay £200 towards the Madginford Neighbourhood Watch newslet- ter after an impassioned plea by a former coun- cillor. The finance and general purposes committee


The Villager


had originally refused the request by co-ordina- tor Les Ethridge to print 390 newsletters three times a year. An alternative suggestion was to set aside a page in the parish council’s quarterly newsletter for NhW issues to ensure that all parishioners received the information, rather than just the residents of Madginford. But Mr Ethridge, who resigned from the council last year, persuaded the full council to overrule


this decision. He said: “About six months ago the police changed their policy and prevented the Downs Mail from publishing any further crime re- ports. It appears that only registered NhW areas can continue to publish such reports. “I would therefore ask you to reconsider your


decision and finance two editions per year not ex- ceeding six sides per issue – ie, not more than three pages. “The information, most of which comes from


theNhWoffice based at Maidstone Police Station, has to be distributed to all the residents in the scheme.” The newsletter includes contact numbers, po-


Venue is confirmed after farmers market success


BEARSTED Green will host all future farmers markets following the overwhelming success of the Christmas market. The market was established last summer, with


the first six taking place on the second Sunday of every month at Madginford Hall. Due to dimin- ishing interest, the December market was moved to Bearsted Green. This worked well, resulting in the council de- ciding to hold future farmers markets at The Green on the fourth Sunday of every month. Cllr Trevor Smith said: “The feedback from both stallholders and the public was all very favourable and seems to support the move to The Green. For the first three months it worked well at Madginford, but for the last three months it did- n’t. There was a dramatic improvement through having it at The Green.” Cllr PatrickWalton was dismayed at the venue change: “What worries and saddensme is that we deprive the Madginford area of an event that this area deserves. I really would like to see more done for Madginford because everything ends up on The Green at themoment. The farmers’ market was an ideal way of starting that process.”


Elders group gets


a name-change IT was agreed to change the name of the elders committee because itwas felt that it put off people from attending. It will now be called the Bearsted community support group. Cllr Fabienne Hughes, who


celebrated her 40th birthday on the day the council made the decision, said: “The name is ir- relevant. It could be called the grumpy old gits committee and people would still turn up.”


Cllr John Hughes responded: “I understand


what Patrick is saying, but Madginford is very iso- lated and a hard one to sell, while The Green is self-advertising. The chutney lady said she sold more in the first hour than in any of the complete sessions at Madginford Hall. “The fish man almost sold out and the bread


man sold out. They couldn’t believe it. They were bowled over.” Cllr Fabienne Hughes added that two stallhold-


ers who were no longer prepared to sell atMadg- inford had decided to remain as the event took place at The Green. She said: “It was going to die at Madginford.”


COUNCILLORJohn Hughes has been on a mis- sion to tidy up Bearsted – and wants others to do the same. Cllr Hughes was joined by the clerk’s husband


in installing two yellow bollard ramps and mak- ing improvements to a bench on The Green, while Cllrs Kevin Street and Bernard Carine helped him undertake leaf clearing from Church Landway ad- jacent to the Holy Cross Church car park. He asked councillors to join him in a day of lit-


ter-picking, weeding, bush clipping and any other odd jobs on Saturday, January 29. Any members of the publicwhowish to join inwould be greatly welcomed.


PARISHIONERS are being asked for their views on raising the parish precept to pay for the pur- chase of land. In recent years, Boughton Monchelsea has bought up much of the land surrounding the vil- lage to protect it from development. Nearby Har- rietsham has also done the same. Council chairman Cllr Chris Dyke said: “We would like the opinion of residents as to how they would feel if we raised the precept by £2 per household per year and put the money into a fund to buy up land when it becomes available. “We need to know before we set our budget in


lice appeals, trading standards advice, general announcements and crime reports. Mr Ethridge added that the NhW group would undertake distribution. The vote was close, however,


with chairman Cllr Chris Dyke using his casting vote to back the funding request by six votes to five.


Wall responsibility IMPROVING an unstable stonewall at the Holy Cross churchyard may not be the parish council’s responsibility. The council thought it might


have to undertake repairs, which could have cost as much as £6,500 for a like-for-like wall. But it has been suggested that the responsibility may lie with the church. The clerk was to research the matter further.


£7K save on budget PRUDENT financial manage- ment has enabled the council to save about £7,000 of its fore- casted budget for the current year. Members will decide on next year’s budget shortly.


Members lead the wayon clean-up mission


Cllr Hughes said: “When we were cutting the branches there were members of the public who actually started helping us. It was really nice of them and was also a really good advert for the parish council. It’s a good thing to be seen out there doing work.” This need for community involvement has


Public asked for views on land purchasing


mid January, so write in and tell us what you think.” To kick-start the idea, Cllr John Hughes wants


to put the £4,500 proceeds of last year’s Music on the Green event into the fund. Cllr Patrick Walton, a former chairman of the council, agreed with the sentiment, but suggested that a much larger sum needs to be generated: “We should hold something between half and one year’s spend – between £50,000 and £100,000 – in the reserve account. “When you have that kind of money, you can start doing things when something comes up.”


This page is sponsored and edited by:


Bearsted Parish Council www.bearstedparishcouncil.gov.uk


come about following the resignation of the parish handyman. However, the council will still be prepared to fund work requiring specialist skills. One example might be for the necessary de- struction of 12 self-seeded sycamore trees in the church car park due to adverse affects on the foundations of a nearby dwelling. Should the project go ahead, compensatory re-planting would take place. Cllr Michael Stark said he would be happy to be responsi- ble for the upkeep of the foot- path from Church Landway to the rear of Tesco. Parishioners have also regis-


tered interest in looking after the footpaths at St Faiths Court and Hill Brow. KCC is respon- sible for all of the parish’s foot- paths, but the council accepts that it may have to do the work itself due to current financial circumstances.


Council Office: Madginford Hall, Bearsted Telephone: E-Mail:


01622 630165 Chairman:


clerk@bearstedparishcouncil.gov.uk Chris Dyke


Clerk: Helen Elstone


MEETINGS HELD SECOND TUESDAYOFMONTH (7.30) AND THE PUBLIC IS VERYWELCOME


Have you got news for us? Phone our News Desk on 01622 734735 East 17


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48