Malling.org.uk Where I live... West Malling Parish Council


WHILE January’s parish council meeting had a short agenda of fifteen items, the February agenda included nineteen items for report and discussion. Among these were:


The brand new salt bins installed by the parish council in 2011, were a welcome sight in the snowy weather at the end of January. As the cold spell was quite short, the bins were not put under too much pressure and came through this first test with flying colours! Please contact the parish clerk on 01732 870872 if the sand and salt mix in your local WMPC bin runs low, particularly if freezing weather is forecast. At the beginning of December 2011, KCC published a Household Waste Recycling Centre Service questionnaire. Described as “Shaping services for the future”, the review identified what should be recycled, the location of sites and how to improve their efficiency. The parish council response noted that with no local facility, the nearest is at least a 20 minute drive away, residents are restricted to recycling through the borough council’s household services and the smaller neighbourhood sites such as bottle banks. These services do not offer the range of recycling options available at sites such as Tovil (Maidstone) or Cuxton (Medway) so residents are limited to recycling a small proportion of their household waste. There was further debate on the recurring problem of unpleasant odour from the composting facility at Blaise Farm and how changes in wind direction led to different areas of West Malling being affected. Parish councillors were disappointed when it was confirmed that the site’s planning permission does not include any conditions to control odour from the site and that the most effective way of achieving control will be through continuing to notify the Environment Agency when the smell is noticeable. And briefly, discussion also included: the proposed upgrading of the car park and bus stop area at West Malling Station; that one of the wooden benches in the Cricket Ground has a deep crack and needs repair as do two of the seats on the Village Green (these are the responsibility of Tonbridge & Malling Borough Council); the forthcoming Car Parking Review for West Malling must find a balance between the need to provide free parking for shoppers with the requirements of the business user, particularly in the short term car park at the rear of the High Street. Next are short reports on some of the wide range of local events and items of community interest included on both agendas.


This year’s St Georges Day Parade in West Malling will be held on Sunday, April 29. Baden-Powell chose Saint George to be the patron saint for the Scout Association as he felt the legend of St George’s faith, courage and perseverance was an ideal inspiration for the movement. Around 800 scouts will be using the Cricket Ground and Maceys Meadow as an assembly area and meeting point, both before and after the parade.


Go to www.malling.org.uk to browse through the new website for the Malling Action Partnership (MAP). Local news, information on local events and the Malling Mail are one mouse click away! Click on the Community button (on the right hand side of the home page), create an account and log on to the current forums or take the opportunity to share personal memories. Don’t be shy! Log on now to have your say on local topics. Even if you don’t want to log your own comments, you can read what other people are saying; the more the merrier! The Malling Society’s update included information on the society’s next photographic exhibition. The society holds over 1,000 photos, taken by Freda Barton of the West Malling area and the exhibition will be from photos taken in 1841. The presentation will be held in The Clout Institute, in the High Street, opposite the Village Green. The date will be confirmed in due course but please do not hesitate to contact the society for further information or if you have any enquiries on West Malling’s history. The society confirmed that The Twitch Inn, Douces Manor, will open on Farmers Market days in 2012 and also that the Royal Engineers 36 Regt (which includes the Queens Gurkha Engineers) has expressed an interest in repairing the village pump as part of its community involvement programme. The Malling Society is also developing its own website and hopes to have it up and running in the next month or so. The next full parish council meeting is at 19.30 on Monday, April 2, 2012, in the Village Hall in Norman Road. Details on the agenda etc are available from the parish clerk on 01732 870872 or by email on carole.wmpc@btconnect.com"carole.wmpc@btconne ct.com


And finally, congratulations to West Malling CE Primary School for being voted Radio Kent’s School of the week; well done!


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