WORKING FOR OUR COMMUNITY
Top Left: After far too long, Kent Highways finally resurfaced a 600 square meter section of Bull Lane, between Greenfield Close and Pilgrims Way. This area has been plagued by multiple deep potholes for years. This is an example of how an active local councillor can make a difference - this road was not scheduled for resurfacing until continual lobbying (nagging) by me pursuaded the former KCC Cabinet Member for Highways to add it to the list. In an ideal world these things would happen automatically, but with budget constraints and more demand than money, having a councillor with sharp elbows gets things done.
Top Right: Last year I donated 5 Unknown Tommy Remembrance Statues to our local villages. Sadly the one in Blue Bell Hill was vandalised twice (the soldier's gun was ripped off both times). It was felt this was a political protest by someone against war, so rather run the risk of a third statue being vandalised, I have donated another version to the village showing a Battle of Britain Aircraftman. While I understand those who are against war and violence (aren't we all?) to vandalise a British Legion Memorial in this way is beneath contempt. I hope whoever did this (twice) considers the consequences of their actions on the wider community.
Bottom Left: I was delighted to be invited to the Village Hall in Blue Bell Hill to the Older Residents' Community Get Together, covering Blue Bell Hill, Kits Coty and Walderslade. I made a small donation to cover the cost of hall hire and refreshments, with other cakes being kindly donated by members of the community. The average age of attendees was over 70 (and there were 50 people there) so in my vote of thanks I told the guests that there was over 3,500 years of wisdom in the room and collectively they were older than the Kits Coty Stones! It was a brave (or foolish) thing to say but fortunately they laughed politely! Thank you to Carol Park for organising this lovely event.
Bottom Right: I have just purchased £700 worth of litter picking supplies which I have donated to our four parish councils (Aylesford, Burham, Ditton and Wouldham) which can be lent to residents wanting to organise community litter pick events. If you would like to borrow these supplies please get in touch with your local Parish Clerk.
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CASH FOR GOOD CAUSES
This month I was pleased to present donations from my KCC Community Fund to the value of £2,000 to three amazing local good causes. These were:
Top: £1,000 to Burham Parish Council towards the amazing work they are doing rededicating the village War Memorial. This includes a rededication service in late October, cleaning the memorial and the surrounding gardens and adding additional names that were missed when the memorial was first engraved.
Bottom Left: £500 to the Magdelene Food Bank who distribute food parcels to local families in need.
Bottom Right: £500 to Sue Cave who runs Animals Lost and Found in Kent to support her work reuniting lost pets with their owners and rehoming those whose owners cannot be found.
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TRACEY CROUCH'S PENSIONERS' ADVICE
AND INFORMATION FAIR
This year Tracey Crouch's Advice and Information Fair for Pensioners will be held on Friday 29 October at Holmesdale School, Malling Rd, Snodland ME6 5HS from 10am - 1pm. There will be over 60 stalls and stands offering advice and support to older residents, and as always there is no charge to attend. Tracey has kindly invited me along to chat to residents about local issues - and I hope as many of you as possible will attend. It's a super event now in its sixth succesful year.
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LAND AT ECCLES (BUSHEY WOOD)
Understandably I am receiving a lot of email about Trenport's plans to build 900 houses at Eccles. Residents often ask why we need so many new houses, why they are all being built in our area and why we cannot stop.
Over the weekend I wrote the attached information paper, which I hope deals with most of these questions. By the nature and complexity of the subject it is quite long, but I wanted to provide as much detail and explanation as possible. I hope you find it of interest.
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