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Bank holiday proposal for Music on the Green
THE organiser of Music on the Green is hoping to bring Bearsted a bank
holiday bonanza in 2016. Plans for a day-long festival of
Back to school
THREE members of the parish council are to speak to local school- children about British values and democracy. Roseacre Junior School ap- proached the council, along with Maidstone Council, to address their pupils about the local govern- ment system. Parish council chair Fiona Red-
man will visit the school in No- vember, along with Cllrs Dan Conner and Paul Young. The chairman has also agreed to approachMadginford School to see if it would like a similar visit. It has also been suggested that
the schools might like to get in- volved in designing a logo for the parish council.
Green facelift
THE village green is about to get a spruce up for spring. The parish council has agreed to powder coat all the metal benches on the Green once the cricket sea- son ends, provided an initial trial proves successful. It will cost be- tween £60 and £80 to powder blast each bench, which will be taken away and worked on two at a time. The council has also awarded a contract to Arbour Tree Surgery to tidy up trees and overhanging branches in the conservation area and Rosemary Road. Members are seeking advice on
the bestway to manage the willow tree, which overhangs the pond.
Lights quotes
FIVE companies are to be asked to tender for replacing the Church Landway lights. After repeated attacks by van-
dals, the parish council has decided 21 of the present 23 bollard lights will be removed, leaving just one at each end. In their place, there will be seven
evenly-spaced four-metre tall black column LED lights. It is hoped the work can be com-
pleted by mid-October, before the nights draw in.
music and fun in July had to be shelved when it was discovered it would clash with cricket club fix- tures. NowBearsted Events, the not-for-
profit organisation founded to arrange the music extravaganza, is hoping both the club and farmers’ market will jump aboard for anAu- gust Bank holiday weekend with something to cater for all tastes. Bearsted Events spokesman Joanne Conner said: “We had cho- sen the date in July without realis- ing the cricket club has first call on the Green throughout the cricket season. “There has been a lot of support
for Music on the Green and we are duty-bound to bring those support- ers an event. “It is just unfortunate that an agreement is in place that the ma- jority of the parish council was not privy to. Had they been, we would have gone about things very differ- ently.” The licence with the cricket club,
which allows the club to use a sec- tion of the Green for an annual pep- percorn rent of just £1 on each Saturday throughout the season, was only signed last year, after a three-year tussle between lawyers
Music on the Green could return for August Bank Holiday next year
acting for the club and the previous parish council. It cost the parish council £950 under a fixed fee agree- ment, while the cricket club ended up with a £6,000 legal bill. Mrs Conner said: “The licence clearly stands and must be re- spected. However, we are trying to reach a compromise which will keep everyone in the village happy. “At the moment, this looks like it
could be the August Bank Holiday weekend next year.” The provisional plan would be for
cricket as per the fixtures on the Sat- urday, music on the Sunday and, if the stallholders are in agreement,
Call to enforce drive decision
THE parish council is to chase Maidstone Council over the issue of unlawful development on a patch of “no-man’s land” adjoining the vil- lage green. Now that the council has refused
to grant the owner of 1 Smarts Cot- tages a certificate of lawful develop- ment, the parish council wants enforcement action to remove the works which have been put in place. These include two sets of gates, a fence and a block-paved drive on
land which does not belong to the property. The parish council has contacted
KCC to get the path listed as a pub- lic right ofway but has been told the backlog is so great that this could take up to two and a half years. It cannot be added to the deeds
for The Green at the land registry, as the land is not owned by the parish council, as it once thought. Cllr Richard Ash has agreed to take up the matter of enforcement.
Festive celebrations on Green CHRISTMAS is coming…to a Green near you! The parish council is considering arranging a festive event on the Green, which could include a Christmas farmers’ market, Santa’s grotto and carols sung by local choirs. Discussions have already begun with the farmers’ market stall- holders over potential dates in late November/early December.
This page is sponsored and edited by:
Bearsted Parish Council
www.bearstedparishcouncil.gov.uk
26 Maidstone East September 2015
the farmers’ market and the annual charity cricket match between the club and the Bearsted and Thurn- ham Club both taking place on the Monday. But Mrs Conner said: “We don’t
want the farmers’ market stallhold- ers to think we are pushing them out, so the decision has to be theirs.” With the market manager on hol-
iday, negotiations were ongoing as the Downs Mailwent to press. Mrs Conner said: “It seems to be
the best option on the table at the moment which will provide some- thing for everyone – music, sport and great local food and produce.”
Property fund
to be built up THE parish council has voted to put £5,000 each year into its land and buildings fund. The fund was started in 2011,
following the Kig inquiry, to build up a pocket of reserves which could be used to purchase land or property for the benefit of the village. The council increased the pre-
cept with the aim of raising the necessary funds, but failed to set anymoney aside in the fund after the first year. Members agreed to put in the
sum of £20,000 to cover the past four years and voted to add a further £5,000 each year from now on.
Council Office: Madginford Hall, Bearsted Telephone: E-Mail:
01622 630165 Chairman:
clerk@bearstedparishcouncil.gov.uk Fiona Redman
MEETINGS HELD SECOND TUESDAYOFMONTH (7.30PM) AND THE PUBLIC IS VERY WELCOME
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