Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Planning Application


There is one planning application this week within the Princes Park ward.
There were no applications last week involving the local area.
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posted by matt bright.

Sunday, October 28, 2007

An Evening with Rt Hon Dave Davis MP


Last week, me along with several colleagues from our local association had the pleasure of having a meal with the Shadow Home Secretary Dave Davis who was a guest of Tracey Crouch.

After Tracey introduced him during the meal to individual members he gave a fantastic after dinner speech that seemed to captivate the whole audience.

Three main subjects were addressed by Dave Davis, drugs, crime and immigration. He spoke of how simple and effective these issues can be dealt with under a Conservative run government.

I, for one was very impressed with his manner, deliverance and sheer will to succeed as Home Secretary during his speech and would feel far safer and happier living in this country with him at the helm compared to the current Labour Home Secretary.

posted by matt bright.

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Un-Fair Funding Deal



The Council is having to campaign for a Fair Funding Deal for residents as the Labour Government are giving Medway less funding compared to other Councils per head of the population.
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There are fears that in future years the settlement will be even worse then it is currently.
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The funding settlement by the Labour Government had a reduction of £4.5 million before the financial year begun (compared with previous years) with further news in the near future set to look even worse.
Compared to other Councils Medway residents get a poor deal.
All figures below are per resident per year.
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Walsall Council - £465-00
Peterborough City Council - £405-00
Medway Council - £284-00
If Medway received the same deal as Nottingham do then they would have an extra £60 million to spend with a portion of that coming to Princes Park.
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The whole funding issue has left Medway Council with a financial crisis that could have been critical. However, without affecting front line services it is predicted that £2.8 million can be saved by the introduction of a moratorium on discretionary spending, a recruitment freeze and other measures.
Despite all this, Medway Council has been judged by the Government as officially giving 'good value for money'.
It also boasts as having the lowest Council Tax in Kent (£152 lower then neighbouring Kent authorities) and the 13th (band D) lowest in the country!
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posted by matt bright.

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Farmers Market




Farmers Market


It was the farmers market again last Sunday. It is held in Rochester; the third Sunday of every month. We love to go along if we are free, all the produce is fairly local and the quality is excellent!

Now the weather is getting colder the hot spicy apple juice is on sale. It goes down really well and my husband always gets a sausage bun from one of the stalls, to eat with it. We always come away piled high with fresh vegetables, fruit and of course nice fresh eggs. This time we bought some partridges to try. I must admit I have not tried them before, but as they say 'you are never too old'.

We must be truthful and say one of our favourite stalls is the wine stall. Yes England does produce some excellent wine. The Meopham Valley Vineyard has won many prizes and it is worth going along and having a sample. Their Sparkling wine is second to none. So no need to go to France for your Champagne, just pop along to Rochester and buy English.

You can also buy cheeses, crafts, and this month some beautiful paintings.
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posted by pat

Coney Banks




LITTER PICKING ON CONEY BANKS


Tracey Crouch’s action group were out in force on Saturday. Tracey had a request from residents to try and tidy up the Coney Banks. We made quite a collection which included a “men at work” sign.
You never know what will turn up!

Some new “kissing gates” had just been installed and someone had already put graffiti on them. Never fear, Pat was out with her graffiti gun and cleaned it up. If you remember from earlier blogs the action team has also worked in Princes Park. So it was our turn to help another area.
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Posted by Pat

Thursday, October 18, 2007

This Weeks Application


There is only one application this week that falls within the Princes Park ward.
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posted by matt bright.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Safer Communities June 2007

Here are the latest statistics for reported incidents to Customer First and the council regarding Princes Park.
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Fly Tipping
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Incidents x4 - Heathfield Close.
Incidents x3 - Ryde Close, Wiltshire Close.
Incidents x2 - Fisher Road.
Incidents x1 - Shanklin Close, Sundridge Drive, Defiant Close, Emily Road, Freshwater Road, Kinross Close, Somerset Close, Spitfire Close and Vulcan Close.
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Abandoned Vehicles
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Reported x2 - Highgrove Road, Illustrious Close, Manchester Close.
Reported x1 - Aldington Close, Bilsington Close, Freshwater Road, Glenwood Close, Mermaid Close and Spitfire Close.
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There was also one reported incident of a needle that was found in Ryde Close.
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The reported fly tipping seems to mostly come from one area around the top of Heron Way. We will be contacting the local warden to make him aware of this constant problem in that certain area so he can monitor the situation.
The reason why we post these figures is to show that Medway Council do log everything that is reported to them and it then channels its way to Pat and myself.
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Again, the figures are good in comparison to other areas within Medway but there is always room for improvement to try and stamp out these anti social problems.
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posted by matt bright.

Saturday, October 13, 2007

Maundene School


PARKING!



Yesterday the local warden, Brian Mooney, asked me if I would like to pop along to Maundene school at around 3 o’clock. I was told that the PCSO had been there a few days monitoring the parking outside the school. They knew that I had been very concerned about it. Some one did tell me I should not get involved, as the people illegally parking were voters. As I said I would rather lose their vote in the next election than lose a child because of their thoughtlessness. I really think that most of it is that people do not think. They are in a hurry to pick their child up and do not think of the danger to other children they are causing.

What did upset me was to hear that the day before the young PCSO was sworn at. He is really concerned about the safety of the children at the school and did not deserve that kind of abuse! The PSCO and the warden have said that they would give up their own time to help get the walking bus going. Morrisons have said they were more than happy for parents to park in their car park. But no one seems to be taking them up on the idea.

After the children had left the PCSO Peter Rose and the warden cut back the bushes around the signs in Swallow Rise. That way people can see what the restrictions are.
They said they had both had problems themselves in other areas where they have not been able to see signs correctly.
Posted by Pat

Saturday Surgery

Surgery

Saturday 6th October I had councillor surgery at the local church. Five residents popped into see me. Next surgery we hope to have the police with us as well. This has just got to be finalised. There were residents from Highgrove about the alley, Shackleton about litter and Redwing about the rubbish left by the children on the green.
We, that’s Matt and I, have been working with the council officers, the local police,
and our local warden, on these problems. It would be nice to think we could wave a magic wand and all our ills would disappear. I am afraid though this is the real world.
It does take time and a lot of work by the police etc. But we are getting there and we hope we will win in the end.
Posted by Pat

Latest Planning Application


This is the latest planning application regarding the Princes Park ward.
There is just the single entry this week.
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posted by matt bright.

Wednesday, October 03, 2007

Police Warning


POLICE WARNING!!!!


I had a very pleasant phone call from our local PC, our PC Saunders. He told me off for not putting much on the blog lately. So here I am making up for lost time. Mind you I have been very busy, as many of you know. The leaflets for the Save Capstone Valley Referendum have nearly all been delivered now. I am sure I must be a lot shorter, wearing away at my poor old feet. There are a few roads left to do which I hope to finish tomorrow. So if you have not had one yet please be patient. If you have not had one by Saturday please let me know.

My husband had an interesting encounter. He was walking along Chatham High Street with a ballot box. It was to be delivered to the restaurant Yoons for people to put their ballot papers in. Well a women came up to him and put her ballot into the box. See people really want this ballot to do well. I have a lot posted to my house. Some people have given them to me when they have seen me delivering. This is one we really must win. If we loss Capstone Valley they will think they can get rid of all our Greenbelt.

Any way back to PC Saunders. He really did ring for a reason. It is to do with the surgeries we hold. He thought it would be a good idea if we had a joint Police and Councillor surgery. I agree as quite a few problems do overlap. That way we may have a better chance of helping.
Posted by Pat

Monday, October 01, 2007

Princes Park Saturday Surgery



It's Surgery time again and this months advice centre will be held this Saturday (6th October) at the church in Dove Close.

The surgery starts at 10am and runs for an hour. Cllr Pat Gulvin will be hosting the event this time, so if any local residents have a problem locally please feel free to drop in (no appointment necessary) to meet Pat.

Details of attendance will be posted on this blogsite next week.

posted by matt bright.

Planning Applications for this Week


These are the latest planning applications to be taken from the Medway Council website.
There are 2 applications this week from the Princes Park area.
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posted by matt bright.

Capstone Valley Deliveries


On Saturday, I (3rd from left) joined 20 volunteers who are local residents, Councillors and Association members in helping Tracey Crouch deliver 22,000 ballot papers to local homes.
The local areas included Lordswood, Walderslade, Weedswood, Chatham, Luton, Wayfield and of course Princes Park.
The ballot paper provided in the envelope asks a simple question;
Do you support the Campaign to Save Capstone Valley?
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You have 2 choices, simply either a yes or no.
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Now, I'm presuming there will be a very high percentage of 'yes' votes probably in the 90% region. However, the count of the ballot papers will be counted under independent scrutiny and the results will be announced in the local press.
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Sadly, the referendum has no legal authority, but a massive vote against the proposals will show Medway Magna the level of opposition in the Medway area. With the strength of local feeling this will help in the fight to stop the building from happening and will assist your local Conservative Council who are fighting the proposals all the way.
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This will add to the 11,000 people who have already signed our several petitions. You can find a link to one of the petitions on the right hand side of this blogsite.
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If you do receive a ballot paper, please fill it in and return it. The details on where to post the ballot paper are on the rear of the letter.
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Surely, with this level of local support and the total backing of your local Conservative run Medway Council Medway Magna will finally get the message and leave Capstone Valley for future generations.
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posted by matt bright.