Latest News - (updated 16/09/2011)
 
INFORMATION FROM KENT HIGHWAY SERVICES

EGG PIE LANE CLOSURE:
Closure from Monday 25 July to Sunday 7 August to install a 200mm dia steel oil pipeline.
ALTERNATIVE ROUTE: Scabharbour Road and Philpots Lane

SCABHARBOUR ROAD CLOSURE:
Closure from Monday 8 August to Friday 19 August to install a 200 dia. Steel oil pipeline.
ALTERNATIVE ROUTE: Egg Pie Lane (light traffic), HGV B245.

Flood warnings have been revised see: www.environment-agency.gov.uk/fwd

CRIME REPORTS
Find out what has happened near you on http://www.westkentwatch.com/register.php

Vandalism
There continue to be incidents of vandalism around the Pavilion, play area in the Recreation Ground and in West Wood. If you have any suspicions that people are causing damage or exhibiting anti-social behaviour please contact our community neighbourhood policing team on the number below or mobile nos. 07772226146 or the ASB Hotline if it is during the evening Tuesday to Sunday on 07890248768.

** Your Neighbourhood Policing Team are: PC Andy Sargeant and PCSO Toni Matthew. They are based at Tonbridge police station and can be contacted on 01732 379232 or by email on Tonbridge.neighbourhood@kent.pnn.police.uk PCSO Toni Matthew PCSO Matthew is based at Tonbridge Police Station
 
Refuse Collections
For details of the Bulky Refuse Collection service click here
 
_______________________________________________________
CENTRE PIECE FOR AUGUST KEYS
 
The summer holidays are once again upon us with the prospect that many of us can relax and regenerate our energy. There has certainly been a lot of energy going into damaging property around the village. The Parish Council has been the victim of some of this but more about this later.
 
The latest meeting of the Parish Council, held on Wednesday 20 July, was long, but very productive. There were many issues covered and a number of decisions taken.
 
Consideration was given to the way the Recreation Ground field should be maintained. It was decided to have the ditches cleaned out to ensure all the drainage channels were clear as well as other treatments to help drain the water away from the surface. The Council were told by their contractor it would help to make the area more usable during the winter.
 
Two special events on the Recreation Ground were agreed during the course of the meeting, that of a football tournament in October and the Scout's bonfire and firework event in November.
 
The Parish Council notice boards are now beginning to look very tired with the backing beginning to disintegrate, in fact notices in one or two of the boards are difficult to read due to the discolouration of the frame. It was agreed to have all four of them renovated and this will done in the near future. So if you notice they are missing, they haven't been stolen just dismantled in order to be renovated.
 
Thank you to those who fed back to me their experiences of early morning buses. It appears there is quite a problem with overcrowding on the first bus which accepts concessionary fares. The Parish Council were told that representations have been made to the authorities and following discussion of the matter it was decided to see if improvements had been made with the revised timetable to be published in September. Some people have discovered that the 9.11am Go Bus will allow concessionary pass holders to pay £1 to travel to Tunbridge Wells.
 
Beware, those using the bus timetable at the bus stop opposite the church, as currently this is out of date, advertising buses which no longer run. If you are using this and it is advertising buses to Blue Water it is out of date. The Parish Council have requested this to be changed but to date this has not happened.
 
The Parish Council has received a pack from Digital UK giving information about the switch over to digital tv for this area. It all happens here next year during May and June. There will be advice on what needs to be done by the householder, coming to everyone in due course.
 
Talking about next year, progress is being made on preparations for a celebration of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee in the Village. At this month's meeting the Parish Council agreed to take over the overall management of the event. A sub-committee, lead by Colmar Lewis and Malcolm Baker, together with other co-optees from various village organisations, will undertake all the arrangements.
 
Kent County Council, as you know, have had to make significant cut backs to their services and one of the departments taking the largest reduction (30%) is that covering the management of the highways. It will no longer be known as Kent Highway Services but will become a department within the County Council. In order to stay within budget they have had a staff reorganisation. Notification of problems, potholes etc. can still be made in the usual way by phone or via their website but for things such as blocked gullies they will be dealt with according to the schedule and not cleared when reported.
 
Following many incidents of vandalism in the Recreation Ground and at West Wood, the Parish Council has decided to investigate the installation of cctv. This will be undertaken in the next few weeks, taking advice from the police over a suitable system. It was also agreed to investigate replacing the wooden fencing around the play area in the Recreation Ground with metal similar to that in West Wood.
 
The good news is that members agreed to the replacement of the very troublesome gates at West Wood with self closuring ones. They will endeavour to get these installed as soon as the contractor is able to undertake the work. The main problems with the gates have been, according to the supplier, mis-use by people swinging on them resulting in one of them not closing sufficiently to allow the bolt to secure it. However there have been many difficulties with movement of the ground leading to misalignment resulting in the bolts not meeting the hole in the eye. Recently the basket swing has also been out of action as one of the links failed - again due to mis use. This should be repaired before you read this.
 
During this meeting members decided not to proceed with the project to provide youth facilities in the Recreation Ground. If you remember they had agreed to look for funding to provide a youth shelter, zip wire and swings for older youths in the village. They decided that due to the high level of vandalism to equipment already provided they could no longer give support to its development. It would be reconsidered when and if equipment is no longer abused.
 
Another topic covered, raised in the Consultation at the Farmers' Market this month, and at the meeting is the perennial problem of flooding on the Village Green. Following several attempts to obtain advice from Kent Highway Services the Council have decided to have their own engineer develop a feasibility study to recommend action to be taken to address the problem. This will be presented at the September Parish Council meeting.
 
Looking towards the winter, salt bags have again been offered to the Village and an opportunity to purchase salt bins. The bag of salt did prove to be extremely useful around the church area last year but the lack of any provision for the Brookmead area was raised as a concern. The location of salt provision will be discussed at the September meeting.

A reminder in case you ever want to contact me on any of the above issues (or anything else of concern) my phone number is 01732 832378 or email me at clerk@thisishildenborough.co.uk
 
Pam Gow