Catching Up

It seems to have been a very busy week. But I thought I should try again to catch up with the blog.
The major thing this week is Tracey Crouch's maiden speech in the House of Commons. if you log on to her site you can find out all about it. It is really good that she made the House realise that not everyone in the South East is rich. She spoke about the deprivation in some areas of Chatham. These do need to be looked into and I know Tracey is eager to see that those ares are not forgotten.
Matt and I went to a meeting with business people, police, neighbourhood watch and the local church. We were descussing the needs of the area. We used to have a very good PACT in Princes Park but it ended up folding last year. So the new neighbourhood police team ( Mat and Sue) got a few people together to see if it can be reformed. As well as Mat and Sue we were pleased to meet the new Inspector in charge of neighbourhood policeing. His name is Insp. Cherry. Some of the older residents of Princes Park may remember him. He used to be our local neighbourhood policeman about 20 years ago.
On Friday I spent most of the day in Maidstone. I went to County Hall with a council colleague Cllr Avey. We are both on the Health and Adult Services Commitee. K.C.C. were having a Health meeting. The first part of it was about Mental Health. Kent and Medway work together on this so Cllr Avey and I agreed that it was important to find out as much as we could. That way when we have a meeting in Medway with the NHS we already know what response they received in Kent.
Sunday ( yes today) was the dedication services at the Cathedral. It was lovely to see so many Mayors from over areas coming to Rochester for the occasion. It was nice the sun came out as we have a procession through Rochester from the Guildhall to the Cathedral. I think the tourist found it very interesting. Some of the Mayors I had meet last week. I was very lucky to be asked by our Deputy Mayor Cllr Hewitt to be his escort for the day last Saturday. The Deputy Mayoress was unable to accompany him that day.So we went to Tunbridge Wells to be their guest at the cricket. I was spoilt as I love cricket. It was nice meeting leaders of councils from different parts of Kent. It was interesting to see and hear different points of view about problems around the Kent.
posted by Pat

New Police Team

Now the election is over it is time to try and get the blog up to date. The photo is of our two new Neighbourhood Police team. We now have PC Mathew Booth and PCSO Susan Kemsly. Many of you may have already met them. Those who have will I am sure feel we are in safe hands.

Pc Dave Saunders is still in Medway, but I believe he is now with a special task group. So we may still bump into him. Pcso Jess Read is now in the police force, well now in training. I know all who knew her will wish her all the best. I am sure she will make a great PC. Nic Simmonds is still a PCSO but has been moved to another job. Nic was not with us for long but she was sadly missed when she went as she made a big impact on all who met her in Princes Park.

We have also had some other changes to our small community. The vicar, at Christ the King, Keith Foot retired and has moved away to Tunbridge Wells. He was given a really lovely send off. We all wish him and Jenny and long and happy retirement.

That is not the end of it. Mrs Priest, the very popular head at Kingfisher school, has also decided she is going to retire. She does not go until January but she will be a hard act to follow.

Posted by Pat

More canvassing

Yet more canvassing today. This is just one of many groups that have been around Chatham and Aylesford canvassing for Tracey. Matt was with another group that we met up with later in the day. I think by the time the election is over we should be super fit. I know at the moment I do not feel it. At the moment like many others it is sore feet and aching back. If you want to save money on the gym come and join us.

Posted by a very tired Pat

Canvassing in Princes park

Today we were out canvassing in Princes Park. We were very lucky to be joined by Michael Howard and his wife Sandra. He has been a politician for a very long time, but he is now retiring. I think he will be greatly missed. We have been very lucky in the people who have been to our area to support Tracey.

posted by Pat

More litter picking

When I was driving up Swallow Rise I noticed two of my neighbours litter picking. I did know, as I have mentioned before, that some residents do go out and tidy up. Today I caught two of them.

These are just two of our local residents who take pride in the area. How about we all follow their good example. As I have said many times if we all looked after the area where we lived and also took our litter home we could turn Princes Park into a neighbourhood to be proud of.
posted by Pat

Litter Pick

Some residents complained of a camp that had been erected in the tree area. It was the rubbish that was left behind that was the biggest complaint. Brian (Safety Community Officer) dismantled the camp. Them Adrian,my husband, and I went along to help pick the rubbish up. as you can see it was more than a dozen sack fulls. In the photo you can see Brian and me, Adrian is taking the photo. well someone has to.

Posted by Pat

Age Concern is coming to Princes Park

Age Concern
Age Concern will be relocating from its Chatham premises ( where it has been since 1969) to its new premises in Hopewell Drive, Princes Park from March 2010.
The new facilities will be much larger therefore able to cater for more residents from the wider community.
Cathy Steinmann (Chief Officer for Age Concern) contacted Cllr Matt Bright in the early part of January asking if there was any local funding that could help with new equipment. Luckily Matt and I still had some ward funds available and a cheque of over £2,000 was presented to Cathy at their existing premises.

The money will be used to purchase new tables, chairs, dementia signs, toilet facilities and many more worthwhile items.
posted by Pat

Working with the PCSOs

I had a very interesting and rewarding evening on Wednesday. I joined the local PCSOs, Jessica Read and Nicola Simmons, at Morrisons. We were doing a survey of the problems residents feel we have in the neighbourhood. It was a surprise to find that most had little or no problems. What was most rewarding was that they all said that they liked living here. One young man said he had moved from a Kent village and had been really nervous of moving here. But he has been a resident now for a couple of years and is really happy.

The problems that did come out were what I think you would all imagine. Litter, and nuisance motorbikes. The graffiti problem is not quite so bad. It has not gone away, in fact I have been out lately cleaning it off. The really large areas are still being reported and the graffiti busting team at the council are doing a good job. Even though there are improvements in the area the only way to keep improving is for us to know what problems people are having. So please let the police or Matt and I know. We cannot work miracles but we can try and help.

Our two PCSOs are really nice and very hard working girls. So when you see them please say hello. Most local children know them as they pop into the schools and introduce themselves. They have helped raise money for Sure Start at Kingfisher School, so you see they are very much part of our community.
If you need to contact the PCSOs there is a link on the blog.
posted by Pat

November 2009 Surgery

It is the Princes Park surgery tomorrow (7th November).

Cllr Pat Gulvin will be your host and she will be available between 10-11am.

The surgery is in the usual venue: Christ the King Church, Dove Close.

No appointment is necessary, if you have a local issue you need to discuss, just turn up!.

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posted by matt bright.

Brendon Avenue Re-surfacing

Letters have been sent to local residents of Brendon Avenue informing them that the road is due to be re-surfaced.

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The details are as follows;

• Work will commence on Friday 13th November.
• Works are programmed to be completed within 2 working days.
• The road will be closed between 9-30am to 3-30pm.
• On street parking will be restricted during the working hours.

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posted by matt bright

Planning Applications

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

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Hopewell Drive

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Highgrove Road

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Princes Avenue

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Brendon Avenue

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Broadlands Drive

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posted by matt bright

Housing Advice Drop In

Housing Advice Drop in at the Sunlight Centre, Richmond Road, Gillingham.

Are you privately renting or a home owner?

The team from Private Sector Housing are coming to The Sunlight Centre, Richmond Road, Gillingham for two days to help answer any question and offer advice.

On 24th and 26th November 2009 - 9am - 4pm

Council staff will be available to give advice and information on the following subjects:

Financial assistance for housing repairs for home owners

Advice and assistance for tenants of privately rented accommodation

Energy Efficiency in the home

If you are unable to attend but would still like some advice please contact Private Sector Housing Team on 01634 333066 (Maggie White)
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posted by Pat

Ridge Meadow School

Ridge Meadow school has been proposed to be closed, the decision will be made by the Cabinet on Thursday 17th September.

The reason for this proposal is the surplus spaces (and future predicted surplus spaces) within the school and therefore (the argument) is the school is un-viable.

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A consultation period was introduced and the results of that consultation have now been produced to Councillors. During that time Cllr Pat Gulvin and I had a meeting with the head teacher and the school governors and was treated to a guided tour of the school and the facilities.

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Also, residents in the local area signed a petition card (above) asking for this school and 2 others to remain open.

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Now that the consultation period is over, reviewing the evidence, peoples opposition and looking at the schools facilities and the potential facilities we (Cllr Matt Bright & Cllr Pat Gulvin along with Luton & Wayfield Cllr Tashi Bhutia) believe Ridge Meadow should not close and should remain open. There are other alternatives within the Wayfield area to deal with the surplus spaces and closing Ridge Meadow should not be one of them.

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Due to the strength of our opposition we sent letters out (above) to all of the residents that had taken the time to sign the petition card.

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We are not Cabinet members, so we do not get to vote on this issue, but we have and will continue to urge Cabinet members to keep Ridge Meadow school open.

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posted by matt bright.

New Planning Application

Here is the latest planning application involving a property in Princes Park.

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Hopewell Drive

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posted by matt bright.

Our Battle

Our Battle Against the Motorbikes
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These are the latest barriers to be installed (along Highgrove Road) to prevent the unruly motorbike. On all three sites there remained 2 barriers that were previously installed before we were elected. However, only having 2 barriers did little or nothing to stop motorbikes going through at speed. So we have added a third barrier to all 3 sites to try and prevent the problem.

We will probably never stop the motorbike completely because they can simply de-mount the bike and walk it through but it will harm their enjoyment and hopefully they will go elsewhere.

The barriers have to be a certain width apart from each other to allow push bikes, push chairs and disabled access.
If you know of any other part of Princes Park that could benefit from such an installation please contact us.

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posted by matt bright.

September 2009 Surgery

Thank you to the 2 residents who expressed a local concern when they visited the surgery last Saturday.

Both local issues are currently being dealt with and should be completed in the next couple of days.

If you are a resident of Princes Park and you have a local issue you can visit the surgery or get in contact by email of phone to either Cllr Pat Gulvin or myself.

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posted by matt bright,

Luton & Wayfield Results

Here are the final results of the Luton & Wayfield by-election last Thursday;

Conservatives - 1042 (Tashi Bhutia elected)
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Labour - 1038
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Lib Dems - 223
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UKIP - 200
BNP - 186
Independent - 87
Greens - 51
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The turn out was 29.78%.
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posted by matt bright.

The Hero of the Day

Matt and I with many Conservatives were out in force yesterday. We were doing the final work to get Tashi Bhutia as our new councillor for Luton and Wayfield. We had a nail biting finish. We had three re-counts and Tashi won by 4 votes.

This was a fantastic win for the Conservatives as Luton and Wayfield was one of the five safest seats in Kent. There was a swing of over 11%.

We would like to welcome Tashi to the council and I know that Luton and Wayfield will have a very hard working councillor.

posted by Pat

New Surface for Popular Footpath

New Footpath From Heron Way to Kingfisher School Via Kingfisher Road

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A few months ago myself and Cllr Pat Gulvin were meeting with residents in Ryde Close and we were discussing local issues that affected them and what could be improved.

One main concern kept being repeated, and that was the state of the footpath that runs from Heron Way down to Kingfisher Road through the Heron Banks.

This was officially a footpath but didn't have a decent surface, the surface was in fact chalk and mud which had been created by all the pedestrian traffic over the years.
This clearly was not acceptable as this path was used by many parents taking their young children to school (some with push chairs) from the Ryde Close area down to Kingfisher School.

After speaking with residents, the first thing we done was to contact the Highways Department within the council and try to get a resolution.

Due to the path already being designated an official footpath this made it easier to secure the necessary funding and the job started in July.
I'm sure this will be a welcome addition to the residents who take this route when the schools re-open in September.

Another job completed by your local Conservative Councillors, we listened to residents concerns and two months later the job has been completed!

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posted by matt bright.

New Barrier

Here is the latest addition in our war against the motorbikes in Princes Park. It may look like an ordinary boring barrier but for the residents of Scarlett Close and the surrounding areas it has hopefully added to the misery of the local motorbike culture using the footpaths and alleyways to cut through at their will.

Residents were having problems with youths using the path from Scarlett Close onto the path adjoining North Dane Way.

Although there were already two barriers installed it didn't actually stop the speeding bikes, hopefully this third edition will stop the problem.

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posted by matt bright.