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Congratulations to Hawkinge Town.. but will its residents please now stop banging on about their 'quaint village community' being overrun with supermarkets, yobs and vandalism.

You have now joined the real world... enjoy.

So how much will the "re branding" cost?

Will the local Women's Institute, march off to a Shepway Village, or will they stay and become the Hawkinge Townswomen's Guild?

How many signs in the "old village" have village in the tiitle?

Will we be getting a Town Hall?

Will there be a Town Mayor?

A Town Crier?

Don't we need some sort of Charter?

The Councillors will now be under greater legal scrutiny, perchance?

What will happen to the assigned Village Idiot, that all villages are required to have?

In the words of the late and great Spike Milligan "What do we do now? (repeat ad Infinitum whilst shuffling along)

Yours? Aye!

Godot

Re finkle....

Aha. I had forgotten about the village idiot, but then I thought we could no longer use that term - might upset the sensitive types and cause offence.

Perhaps the new term should be .. councillor? Every town round here seems to have more than its fair share of them.

I understand that Dover (and Capel, as it comes under Dover) have their rubbish collected weekly rather than fortnightly, Also I've been led to understand that their community charge is less than Shepway. Will Hawkinge benefit from weekly rubbish collections now? Will our community charge be less next year? Oh the things to look forward to!

I think this town status was not advertised enough. I think that the people of Hawkinge should have been asked to vote on this momentous decision.

Maybe flyers should have been posted in every house giving all the reasons, benefits ( if there are any) and disadvantages ( if there are any). Maybe then more people may have attended the meeting.

I suggest the councilors wants this and didn't want objections. I for one could not attend as I was working but personally i like being a village.

Maybe the councilors of Hawkinge can let us all know the advantages of being a town ..apart from a weekly rubbish collection. I am quite happy with the way rubbish is collected and the recycling programme introduced my Shepway. Which incidently is one of the best in the country.

Nancy and Kate seem to have opposing ideas on the benefits of Town status.

One wants her rubbish collected weekly, but also wants cheaper council tax - the other thinks she should have been personally consulted before any vote took away her quaint village life, but was too busy to bother to vote anyway.

Such romanticism. Are either of you Greek or Italian by any chance? Mamma Mia.

You get the politicians you voted in, just as Shepway will find out on the parking fiasco.

Who was it that fiddled while Rome burned ? ( allegedly ) ... think about it.

I am not informed enough to say whether I agree or disagree about Hawkinge now being a town, but I was amazed that such a major decision about our area was made without a full consultation process taking place, with every household leafletted and a full public meeting arranged. The first I knew was the couple of paragraphs buried on page 34 of this week's Herald. It isn't sufficient to just advertise it in the local press - not everyone reads that, and anyway, there wouldn't have been enough room in the public gallery for a representative number of residents to attend. No wonder people are generally cynical about politicians and politics.

I agree with J James.

I was quite amazed to read that Hawkinge village has now become a town in the Folkestone Herald.

I would think a lot of residents who live here feel the same. The proposal seems to have slipped through quietly to the "approved rubber stamp" mode.

It was noted that there were not more residents present on this proposal. That is probably because the majority of residents I would think did not know that such a historic motion was taking place. 

I am sure all the right protocol and registration went by the book ie an A4 sheet of paper on the Council notice board etc,  but I would have thought communication to the residents could have and should have been better... and louder on such an important issue.

There seems to be no criteria in law for becoming a town apart from a governing local body and HM approval. So two pubs, one and half supermarkets, one fish and chip shop, one hairdressers, one chinese food shop, one florist, one saddle and horse supplies shop, one post office, two community centres, two doctors surgeries, two schools, and three garages but no petrol station probably just about makes it. Stretch the borders to add a few more pubs and farms and hey presto... a TOWN.

So if this gives Hawkinge "more clout".

How?

Will there be a better say at Shepway District Council meetings and representation? Better funding strength" Maybe next we get twinned with a French Town, become a Quality Council or a Fairtrade Town?  

I am all for progress but also consultation as a resident on major decisions that affect where I live. Maybe though I missed it by living in a sleepy village ... oops sorry town.

I agree with all the comments above but find Dave C's comments cynical. Kate R and Nancy's comments are not opposing. As I see it Kate was asking whether we would not have the same benefits as Dover. I am stating I don't mind the collection as it is. Obviously it could be improved as everything can.

The main concern is that the people of the village were not properly informed of this momentous decision. A small paragraph on an inside page of a local paper that not everyone gets or reads is not enough. in this day and age of modern technology why was it not reported on here.

As several letters above state why weren't flyers send around. Enough people showed up to object to the supermarket so why think the people of Hawkinge are complacent. Most have jobs and are busy with families. A flyer would have been a more logical approach. I still think it is ridiculous to think Hawkinge is a town when it does not have the amenities of a town. You cannot compare it to Deal and Sandwich!

I too am all for progress and agree wholly with what Teflon says.

Nancy

Agreeing with a couple of people I've spoken to on the subject, I don't know if making Hawkinge a town will improve things or not for you and I. The one thing that is certain is that once again the residents of Hawkinge have been treated like mushrooms by our council and the fact that nearly everyone I've spoken to knew nothing of this until it had gone through has to make you wonder who has actually benefitted from this. One thing is for sure, somebody somewhere is rubbing their hands together planning the "Town". I watch with baited breath as another Kent village has every available square inch of its own identity trampled on.

I agree with both J James and Teflon that one small paragraph in The Herald was not sufficient to advertise a meeting for such a major decision. No wonder so few people attended - I have yet to speak to anyone who knew about it.

There may well be benefits for Hawkinge being a town but it would be good to hear them.

Cannot believe this went though without notifying the pubic more widely .

I.e poster in the Communty Centre, Tesco and Children centre etc.

Many people came to live in Hawkinge exactly because it was a village, not a Town.

The original development brief established by Shepway for the enlargement of Hawkinge sought to retain the village character, I should be grateful if the members of Hawkinge Town Council can please detail: -

1. The quantifiable benefits (over the next 5 years) the residents would see by this change and the cost impact this would have so that we can understand what drove you to seek this change

2. The process you intend to implement to demonstratively track these cost / benefits against the plan to see that they are achieved.

3. What consultation process entered into to seek residents views was undertaken prior to embarking on this change.

4. If there are no measurable benefits to the residents is it possible to appeal the decision, if so what is the process?

See the earlier Story about KCC wanting to close the Hawkinge "Waste Transfer Station" aka Hawkinge Tip & offering Ashford as the alternative.

This would make a nice little story for BBC Southeast News or Meridian

"What a load of Rubbish"