New Planning Applications

Here are the latest planning applications for Princes Park.

Barleymow Close
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Thrush Close
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Hopewell Drive
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posted by matt bright.

Whatever Happened to "No More Boom & Bust" ?

Tea

You may remember that Tracey and I went along to Princes Park parish church. We went to have tea with other local people to raise money for SSAFA. That is the charity that helps our servicemen and women and their families. I am pleased to say they raised over £150. Well done. Also a big thank you to all who went along.

Posted by Pat

This may look like a bit of fun. In truth it is not. Matt and I spent ward funds on barriers to safe guard the residents walking through Princes Park. What has happened? Mindless thugs who just think of their own fun have removed them. So I am sorry to say some of the projects we had planned will have to be put on hold while we get these replaced. If you know the culprits and you hear them complaining about things not getting done by this council tell them from me that it is people like them that cost the honest hard working tax payer money. It is not fair that others, and that is the silent majority suffers because of them.

posted by Pat

Dinner With Fellow Conservatives

I have just returned from a very enjoyable dinner. It was the Chatham and Aylesford Conservative Association annual dinner. We were very lucky to have as our guset speaker the Hon Nicholas Soames MP. He made a wonderful speach and said also how very lucky we were in our candidate (Tracey Crouch). We all know how hard working she is,but it is nice to know that people higher up the party appreciate her as well.

posted by Pat

November Surgery 2008

Thanks to the one resident who braved the rain and attended the Princes Park surgery a couple of weeks ago.

He arrived to thank us for re-installing some barriers there were destroyed a few weeks previous. It was nice to receive some positive feedback.

We had Tracey Crouch and the local PC (Dave Saunders) co-hosting the surgery with Cllr Gulvin but it was a quiet morning all round.

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posted by matt bright.

New Planning Application

Here is the latest planning appilcation for Princes Park. This was posted a couple of weeks ago and there are no other applications to date.

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Ryegrass Close

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posted by matt bright.

REMEMBRANCE WEEKEND – 8 AND 9 NOVEMBER 2008

REMEMBRANCE WEEKEND – 8 AND 9 NOVEMBER 2008


Saturday 8 November

10:45 hrs The Royal Marines Association: Annual Remembrance Service and Turning the Page Ceremony at Rochester Cathedral. Attended by the Mayor and Deputy Mayor.


Sunday 9 November

09:00 hrs Royal Naval Service at the War Memorial, Great Lines, Gillingham: Mayor and the Chief Executive will attend a short service and wreath laying ceremony. Attended by the Mayor.


09:55 hrs Black Lion War Memorial: Act of Remembrance and wreath laying ceremony followed by a procession to St Mark’s Church for a service of remembrance. Attended by the Deputy Mayor.


10:15 hrs St Margaret’s Church / Rainham War Memorial: Remembrance Service and wreath laying ceremony.



10:45 hrs Victoria Gardens, Chatham: Act of Remembrance and wreath laying ceremony.


10:40 hrs Rochester Cathedral: Mayor, Leader, Chief Executive and Members to process from the Guildhall Museum to Rochester Cathedral to arrive at 10:45 for a Service of Remembrance followed by a wreath laying ceremony at the Rochester War Memorial. Salute and march past will take place in the High Street (at Precinct near City Wall Wine Bar, High Street, Rochester).

Remembrance Sunday in Princes Park
Princes Park parish church (Church of Christ the King) will have their normal monthly Holy Communion Service starting at 10am. The service will be organised so that at 11am there will be the 'Act of Remembrance' including some prayers and the "They grow not old ...' speech, with two minutes silence followed by the National Anthem.

I hope you will be able to make one of these.

Posted by Pat

Help others this Christmas with the shoebox appeal

Help others this Christmas with the shoebox appeal
Bring joy to others this Christmas. That was the message today when Tracey Crouch, Matt Bright and myself joined in with the church’s shoebox appeal. We joined the local vicar Rev Keith Foot to give our donations.

The annual shoebox appeal, organised by Blythswood Care, sends thousands of donated shoe boxes filled with gifts to people around the world who are less fortunate then ourselves. Since 1993, the scheme has delivered over 500,000 boxes to countries such as India, Romania and Albania.

The Church of Christ the King in Princes Avenue is one of many churches and charities that collect shoe boxes which have been kindly donated by local people.
Details on how to organise and get involved in the shoebox campaign can be found on their website at http://www.shoeboxappeal.org/.

The shoebox appeal is a great way to give to others who cannot afford a Christmas. I would urge local residents to fill their own shoebox or donate to the appeal on their website www.shoeboxappeal.org/donate.

Parliamentary Candidate for Chatham and Aylesford Tracey Crouch said:
“At Christmas we should remember those who are less fortunate than ourselves and we should do what we can to help them. The shoebox appeal is an excellent way for local people in Medway to bring joy to others this Christmas.”
Posted by Pat

Planning Applications

Here are the latest planning applications submitted to Medway Council from the Princes Park ward.

Sundridge Drive

Swallow Rise

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posted by matt bright.

Oh! Where,Oh! Where Have They Gone

Chatham & Aylesford MP Loses 20,000 Cows!

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Government officials have been forced to admit that they have lost more than 20,000 cows.

Officials at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) admitted in Parliamentary questions that 20,979 of the animals had been mislaid. The livestock should have been logged on Defra's Cattle Tracing System, devised to protect public and animal health after the BSE and foot and mouth epidemics. However the cattle have disappeared from the system, while another 1,039 are believed to have been loaded onto cattle trucks and never heard of again. Jonathan Shaw, Defra minister, was forced to admit the embarrassing blunder in response to a Parliamentary question. Peter Ainsworth, the Shadow Environment secretary, said he was astonished at the loss. "Laptops, data, and now cows, is there anything this Government can not misplace?" he told the Daily Star. "Defra's performance would do credit to Little Bo Peep."

PS. Jonathan Shaw has been reshuffled and is no longer Defra minister.

Posted by Pat

SSAFA

Tracey Crouch, the Conservative Parliamentary Spokesman, went along this morning to Christ the King to have a cup of tea. As I put on the Blog the other day the church was raising money for SSAFA which is the charity for our service men and their families. It was lovely to see a really good turn out.

Tracey spoke to a few people from the church who informed her about some of the projects they are working on. I will try to let you know more about those another day.

Posted by Pat

More Motorbike Prevention (Hopefully)!

Here are the latest barriers to be installed in our fight against the motorbikes and mini motorbikes across Princes Park.
These have been installed in the alleyway at the rear of Highgrove Road which is a common cut through for the motorbike menaces from Princes Avenue to Walderslade Road.
There are some more older barriers placed at certain points along the alleyway due to the length of the pathway.
The problem with Princes Park is the amount of alley paths cutting across the ward, however we are tackling the problem head on and we and other people have noticed it being significantly quieter from the motorbike pests.
Hopefully they will start to get the message and stop acting anti socially and dangerous towards pedestrians who use these paths often..
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posted by matt bright.

A Morning Stroll

This morning had a run round Princes Park. The idea was to clean up the graffiti on some of the street signs. While I was cleaning the signs my poor long suffering husband thought he would use the time to do some litter picking. Even though there are still some very bad areas we were really pleasantly surprised some areas have improved. So a big thank you to those unsung hero's who have been doing their own clean ups. I know you will probably not get any personal thanks but it is appreciated and Princes Park is looking better for it.

Posted by Pat

SUPPORTING OUR ARMED FORCES

This Saturday coming 11th October our local Princes Park church Christ our King is running their usual morning tea morning. This time though it is special it is in aid of SSAFA, that is the charity that looks after are armed forces and their families. It is a very good cause so I hope to see you all there.

Posted by Pat

Difficulties of Blogging

Difficulties of Blogging

If you wander why some weeks I do not do a lot on the blog this picture may explain it. But joking aside I cannot always come up with local news so please if there is a news item from Princes Park or something that may interest the residents please let Matt or I have it and we will try and run it.

Posted by Pat

Mystery in Princes Park

Mystery in Princes Park

At the councillor’s surgery, yesterday, a gentleman came in about the safety barriers outside Morrisons. Brian, our Safety Community Officer was able to let him know that they had been reported and would be replaced. The mystery is we know about one barrier that was damaged, as there was a collision with a car. But it is the safety barriers around the pedestrian island coming out of Morrisons car park. That is a puzzle. If a car had hit it would still be there and those barriers are bit on the tough side for your average vandal. So detectives what are your views? Did you see it happen?

Posted by Pat

October Surgery 2008

The next surgery will be held this Saturday (4th October) in the usual place.

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Christ the King Church

Dove Close

Princes Park.

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I will be there between 10-11am to deal with any local issues, no appointment is necessary.

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posted by matt bright.

Latest Planning Application

This is the latest planning application being considered in Princes Park by Medway Council.

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Shanklin Close

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posted by matt bright.

Success at Last

At last, we have had some alleygates installed between Coverdale Close and Freshwater Road.
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There have been problems in the alleyway for several months and despite the good work the local Community Safety Officer and the Police do it was obvious the alley was a problem area.
After several months of hard work with the Council Officers we managed to obtain a closure notice from the local courts and the gates were installed within days.
Gates have been installed at either end of the alley with keys left with just the two neighbouring properties.
This is a good example of local issues getting dealt with, the residents spoke and we (Pat and I) listened, responded and have hopefully resolved the issue.
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Top photo - me and Pat
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Middle photo - Brian Mooney (Local Safer Communities Officer), me, Roger Emmerson (Council Officer)
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Bottom photo - gate just before it will be locked shut!
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posted by matt bright.

September Surgery

Thanks to the residents that attended the surgery a couple of weeks ago.
Your queries are being dealt with and if you have not had the answers you require then they will be with you very shortly.
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posted by matt bright.

Disgusted of Princes Park

There are no photos to go with this blog. I was too disgusted to take any. The other day I did a blog about the path above Morrisons being cleared. Now, just a few days later, the path looks absolutely disgusting with litter everywhere. Sorry this is not the wind blowing it there. This is litterlouts, of all ages. When I think how hard the residents in Spitfire worked to make their environment so much nicer people in other areas are just not interested. The trouble is it cost us all a lot of money. The money it takes to clean up the rubbish from just a few very selfish people means the youngsters locally will miss out on some of the amenities they would like. Plus it means our council tax will have to pay for it. Sorry but like a lot of you we have had to work hard for our money and I hate having to pay for these selfish people.
posted by Pat

Spitfire Clean Up

I thought I would share with you a couple of extra photos. The children may look small but they did work very hard. They seemed to enjoy themselves. What came out most on that day was the sense of community. It was really lovely to see as in many ares today it seems to have gone for ever.

Posted by Pat

Meet-on-the - Street

I was sorry to say not many people came out to see us last evening. The police MHS and myself went out to meet the residents. The one good thing as you can see from the photos the youngsters came out and had a lot of fun talking to Dave Saunders our neighbourhood policeman. They were shown around the police van and asked to be locked up in the back where all the prisoners go. The children learnt in a lovely way that the police are only human and the children can always talk to them. I can see Dave now as he walks around Princes Park getting children yelling out greetings to him. I think their parents were a little wary to start with but soon realised the children were safe and having a lot of fun.

posted by Pat

A Wet Day in Deal

Yesterday, I braved the bad weather, and visited Deal . I went to watch the Old Comrades play. They are a band made up from retired Royal Marine musicians who live in or near Deal. They were formed in 2005 for a one off concert to play at the Memorial Bandstand. As they said, they went there to play (without rehearsal) to see if they could remember what they learnt while they were with the Marines. They expected just a few people to turn up but they ended with an audience of thousands.
Yesterday, because of the really bad weather only a few hundred turned up. Those of us who did brave the weather still had an enjoyable afternoon.

The Memorial Bandstand was built in memory of the eleven Marine Bandsmen who lost their lives, on 22nd September 1989. A terrorist bomb killed them.

As you will know, from my profile, I grew up in Deal. So the sound of the Royal Marine Band was around all the time I was growing up. My excuse for putting this in a blog for Chatham people is that I know the strong links Chatham and all parts of Medway always had with the Royal Marines. They are one band that could always fill the Central Theatre.
Posted by Pat

Recent Planning Applications

Here are the latest planning applications that are within the Princes Park ward.

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Barleymow Close

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Ryegrass Close

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Princes Avenue

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Freshwater Road

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These applications date back to the previous couple of weeks.

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posted by matt bright.

Meet-on-the-Street

Just a reminder that the next meet on the street will be on Tuesday 26th August. It will be in Ryde Close, from 6pm to 7pm . Present will be the police, MHS, local councillors, Safety Community Team. So if you have an issue please come along. There will be other chances to air your views, when the team visit other areas in Princes Park. I will keep you posted via the blog.
Posted by Pat

Spitfire Clean-Up Continues

There was a fantastic turn out of residents this morning in Spitfire Close, Princes Park. Many children, who attended seemed to enjoy helping with the clean-up which made the morning more enjoyable. This was a project completely organised by the residents, Matt and I just went to help and give our support. The pile of rubbish in the picture above was just the start. We ended up with garden benches, a bed, 40-50 bags of rubbish and of course a cuddly toy. The two collection lorries turned up about 12:30pm and we filled them both!

Remember; this was day two of the clearing so you can see how hard everyone worked. There are a few thank-yous I would like to make.
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* Cllr. Dennis McFarlane, who lives in Princes Park , who got the ball rolling.
* The probation service who worked so very hard on Thursday.
* The Young Offenders Unit who came and helped with the heavy work.
* MHS and Morrison for their generous refreshment donations which the children appreciated.
(Well alright the adults did as well.)
* Last but not least our Safety Community Team who put it all together who we could not have managed without.
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posted by Pat

Spitfire Close

The probation services were out in force on Thursday starting to clear the piles of rubbish and fly tipping in Spitfire Close, Princes Park. These were the vanguard for the big clean up on Saturday. On Saturday we are hoping to see many residents out to help the big clean up. So come on, put on your old clothes, a pair of gloves and let us all get stuck in.

See you all around 10:00.
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Posted by Pat

Pathway Clearing

I was glad to see that the pathway above Morrisons was being cleared. The trouble is as fast as these young men clean the area people mess it up again. I know some of it is blown there, but bottles and cans don't. So please help us all have a nice place to live. TAKE YOUR LITTER HOME.

Posted by Pat

Save Capstone Valley

Matt and I were up at Capstone today with other Conservative councillors and supporters. We were there to gather continuing support for our petition to stop anyone developing Capstone Valley. Being up there today on a nice sunny day you can really appreciate the beauty of the valley. It has to be saved at all costs. There enough areas in Medway designated for building on, to cover what the government say we need to do, so there is no need to touch our beautiful valley.
Posted by Pat

Kites Over Capstone

I spent most of today up at Capstone Park. It was the second day of Kites over Capstone. Unlike last year, the weather was really good and the kites were out in all their glory. I tried to get some pictures of the main batch of kites, but my photography was not up to it. I know everyone who went had a lovely time and it was so nice to see so many families enjoying the simple joy of flying a kite. I remember flying kites with my parents when I was little, then the fun of kite flying with my own children.
Posted by Pat

Meeting With Residents

The Police,MHS, the local Community Safety Officer and I meet up with residents in Freshwater Road. There were not many residents out but we did talk to a few to find out what the local problems were. What was nice to know was that the barriers we had installed to stop nuisance bikes had made a difference.

The meeting was worth while and we are planning more such meetings shortly.

The residents in that area will be notified and I will let you know when on this blog.

Remember if you do have a problem please let us know.

posted by Pat

Chatham South School Public Meeting

The Council has arranged a number of public consultation meetings regarding the proposed merging of Chatham South School and Medway Community College. At these meetings there will be a short presentation following by an opportunity to ask questions and give the Council your views.
The meetings are open for anyone to attend and there is no need to make an appointment.
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The meeting which is taking place in Princes Park is on:

Wednesday 1st October 2008
Kingfisher Primary School
Kingfisher Drive,
Princes Park,
Chatham
7.00 – 8.30 pm
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posted by matt bright.

August Surgery 2008

It's surgery time again (these come round very quickly) for Princes Park and it will be between 10-11am tomorrow (02/08/08).

Normal place at Christ the King Church in Dove Close.

I will be there to answer any local issues.

No appointment is necessary.

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posted by matt bright.

Ann Widdecombe

A few weeks ago Anne Widdecombe MP attended a local constituency event to help raise money for future election campaigns.
During her visit she managed to speak to everyone who attended ranging from Politics, TV work and celebrity fit club!
She is exactly the same in a one to one conversation as she is in the public eye, very direct, to the point and very truthful.
Near the end of the afternoon she held a questions and answers session, anyone could ask her anything. This, combined with her very direct answers made for an interesting 20 minutes.
If every Member of Parliament had the same attitude and approach to politics we would have some very interesting debates in the chamber.
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posted by matt bright.

New Planning Applications

Here are the latest planning applications for the Princes Park area.

Rear of Gatcombe Close/Princes Avenue

Stanley Road

Ryegrass Close

Freshwater Road

Scotby Avenue

Wiltshire Close

These applications date back the last four weeks.

posted by matt bright.