News

Tit for tat...

The fight to save the Leisuredrome has recently gained a new momentum with a petition doing the rounds of the village. But isn't it all a bit too late. The Charity running the Leisuredrome should not have let the centre fall into disuse for such a long time. I appreciate there are some well meaning trustees who would just love to get the Leisuredrome up and running, but their track record fails to inspire confidence. Given another chance, another failure would be the bookies favourite I reckon.

And the Leisuredrome and Parish Council spat continued this week  with news that Parish Council Chairman David Callahan has been reported to the Standards Board for England in by Hawkinge Youth and Community Sports Council (HYCSC) in a letter  written by Trustee Chairman Rev Stewart Wardell. I have been informed the complaint has been thrown out, but the HYCSC  still have two weeks to lodge an appeal.

So after just one year as secretary of the Hawkinge Community Centre, Jan Doyle is quitting, I am told. This could be a long drawn out affair if the Executive Committee don't get their act together and sort out when they can hold the much delayed AGM when secretary Doyle is thought to be leaving.

Imitation may very well be the sincerest form of flattery but it's being whispered about the village that some of the stories appearing in another local periodical bear a remarkable similarity to some of those that have first appeared on this very website. To anyone foolish enough to remark on this amazing coincidence to my face I would have no alternative but to respond: "You may think that, but I couldn't possibly comment." It is of course well known in journalistic circles that news, once published, is considered to be in the public domain and therefore freely available to all to do with as they will.

Thanks to the reader who came up with the suggestion we run a Big Brother house of parish councillors on the site. We did in fact do as they suggested, some three years ago to be precise, and I can reveal that it was won convincingly by Hawkinge's very own Joan Brisley. We know our smart Joan could never be compared to Jade Goody but who knows what would happen if possibly the most famous of all the housemates tried to steal Joan's crown, and worse still her seat on the parish council. Jade is the woman who thought horseradish comes from horses, peacocks had eyes in their feathers, East Anglia was abroad and Portugal was in Spain. "You decide!"

I predict an about turn in the thinking of where to site the  footpath between the Community Centre and  Canterbury Road, which would leave Hawkinge ratepayers footing a hefty bill. Reliable sources have indicated to me that the footpath will no longer be running in a straight line from the existing footpath/cycle track as planned. This route was also recommended in a recent report commissioned by the Parish Council, but some councillors think they know better and the path will instead be built running along the rear of the car park to the path at the side of the Village Hall. Unfortunately  this re-routing will cost the Parish Council, and in turn me and you lots of dosh. The straight  route however, which was in the Shepway budget last year will not cost the ratepayer a penny I have been told . If it does go through, it will be interesting to hear the council's reasons at Wednesday evening's Extraordinary  meeting for spending our money on what would appear to be a totally unnecessary re-routing of the footpath.

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