News

 

STANDARDS BOARD DRAWN INTO LEISUREDROME FIGHT

Dear Ed

I read this week in the Folkestone Herald that the Hawkinge Youth and Community Sports Council (HYCSC) has made a formal complaint  to the Standards Board of England about certain Hawkinge Parish Councillors, and it all seems to be over that wretched redundant Leisuredrome building.

Who are the HYCSC, what do they do, or what have they done?

A search of the Charity Commission website revealed that their objects are: 'The promotion of community participation in healthy recreation for the benefit of the inhabitants of Hawkinge, Folkestone and its environs by the provision of facilities for playing sports'.

If that is so, then why are they griping about the Parish Council spending money on the popular local football club? Surely that is providing sports facilities.

I wondered why Peter Smith was not on the list of Parish Councillors included in the formal complaint to the Standards Board, but then I hadn't noticed that the Hawkinge Youth and Community Sports Council Charity correspondent is listed as Cllr Peter Smith.

J Cullen

LOVE HER, HATE HER - Re: Haven Drive roundabout - a disgrace

Dear Ed,

Love her, hate her!

I'm afraid that Caroline witnessed the effect of o­ne of Thatcher's "red tape" hates.  She was the o­ne who had the proper control of building site access removed from statute.

Lazarus 

IT'S PANTOMIME TIME - Lyminge Dramatic Society

Tickets, priced at £6 for adults and £3 for children, will go o­n sale o­n 5th November at Haxtons Estate Agents, Lyminge for the Dramatic Society’s new pantomime, “Rumpelstiltskinâ€?.

Stuart Hunnisett has written this pantomime based o­n the fairy story by the Brothers Grimm and it promises to be a treat for the whole family. All the usual pantomime ingredients will be there .

The dates of the panto are Tuesday November 29th to Saturday December 3rd at Lyminge Village Hall. Evening performances will start at 7.45pm and there will be matinees at 4.45 pm o­n Friday and 4.00pm o­n Saturday.

There will be a limited number of seats available free of charge to Senior Citizens for the Tuesday performance o­nly and these tickets must be collected from Haxtons in advance of the performance – first come, first served.

Book early to avoid disappointment!

The Lyminge Drama Club for 8 to 15 year olds is held at Lyminge Methodist Hall o­n Friday evenings. Sponsored by the Society, the sessions will initially be held between 6pm and 7pm and will be run by Amanda Rynston of Little Acorns Performing Arts. The sessions will increase to o­ne and a half hours o­nce the children start working o­n a script.

Various theatre visits and workshops have been arranged and the children will get the opportunity to take part in the Society’s pantomime.

The cost is £4 per session (excluding the various visits) for each of 12 sessions and the £48 is payable in advance.

For more details phone Amanda o­n 862049 or Liz Parrish o­n 862748.

 

AM I SURPRISED? Re: Disaster for Rock'n'Roll club after Community Centre loses licence

Dear Ed,

Is Lazarus surprised?

Is Lazarus surprised that the licence has expired?  Lazarus is surprised; about as surprised as when he found out that Terry Wogan is Irish.

Lazarus 

DISASTER FOR ROCK'N'ROLL CLUB AFTER COMMUNITY CENTRE LOSES LICENCE

Folkestone Rock'n'Roll club claims to have lost thousands of pounds following the failure of the Hawkinge Community Centre to renew it's entertainment licence.

Just three days before they were due to hold one of their regular events in the Centre, club organiser Pete Bradley claimed he was told by Centre Trustee Ian Reynolds that they would not now be able to use the hall as the entertainment licence had not been renewed.

Mr Bradley said: "It's disastrous, the club is now thousands of pounds out of pocket.

"We are hoping to come back, possibly in the new year but we do not know when that will be.

"The Rock'n'Roll club have built a stage in the centre and installed sound baffles, they even supplied a PA system for the Hawkinge Fun Day. We received a nice letter thanking us for the PA from the Hawkinge Partnership" said Pete.

"We were to have held a New Year dance but after agreeing a price of £680 earlier in the year, we were later told by the Community Centre the price would be over £1400" claimed Mr Bradley.

" We have to pay for bands in advance and if we cannot get a venue,  the money is lost.

"We managed to hire the Hawkinge Village Hall for one event, and received no complaints of noise.

The Club has arranged to hold two more of the events at Capel Village Hall on 19 November and 10 December.

"The whole b****y thing stinks" said Pete.

Hawkinge Community Centre Chairman of the Trustees John Heasman confirmed they no longer held an entertainment licence for the premises, but he said that the manager was re-applying and he hoped they would be able to hold events before Christmas.

Mr Heasman confirmed the Centre had the money to do any remedial work necessary to ensure Shepway Council's rules regarding noise from the hall could be addressed.

 He is hoping the annual village carol concert will still be able to go ahead.

When asked about the claim by Pete Bradley that a booking the Rock'nRoll club made for a New Years Eve event had increased from £680 to over £1400, he said he was unaware of the matter but he would be looking into it.

HAVEN DRIVE ROUNDABOUT -  A DISGRACE

Dear Ed

As a new resident to Hawkinge I am somewhat concerned that the company building the new Lidl foodstore o­n the land opposite the Churchill School is not accountable for the state of the roads surrounding this building site.

The roundabout is a total disgrace and no respect is given to the residents by these builders, who only the other day blocked the roundabout completely with deliveries and just gestured with their hands to go round it the wrong way if I wanted to go up towards Page Road.

I would also like to know what other buildings are being built o­n this piece of land as traffic will increase in the area due to this site now being developed.

It would be nice if this information was available to new residents regarding building that willplay a part on our lives.

Caroline Farnham

'IT ADDS TO THE BAD SMELL'  Re: Football club cash should not be voted by 'club' councillors

Dear Ed,

I support Mr Lawrence in his fears of the Parish Council voting - it adds to the bad smell caused by certain facets of the planning application surrounding the proposed health centre in Mill Lane.

I have to disagree about the muddled thinking - it simply demonstrates a lack of judgement either individually or collectively as the PC.

Regards to one and all,

Lazarus

 

ELDERLY LOCAL COUPLE TOLD WAIT OR PAY FOR FLU JAB

Albert Heart, 81, and his wife Edna, 76, were told by their GP in Folkestone, they cannot get jabs until the end of next month, but Mr Heart said that they were told we could go to the hospital and get a jab if we paid £22 each.

Thousands of old people's lives are at risk  because of a shortage of vaccine flu vaccine.

Vulnerable people around the country have been turned away by GPs who say they will get no new stocks until the end of November.

But many more people than normal have applied for the annual jab and the Department of Health admits there are delays of up to four weeks in some areas.

Over-65s and vulnerable people such as those with asthma or bronchitis can have free jabs.

In the Commons this week he asked Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt: "Is the natural public concern causing an excessive demand for seasonal vaccine?"

Ms Hewitt said she was also concerned about a run on vaccines but was told this was not the case.

She added: "I am assured by our experts there are adequate supplies available to ensure anybody at risk can be vaccinated."

FOOTBALL CLUB CASH SHOULD NOT BE VOTED BY 'CLUB' COUNCILLORS

Dear Ed,

I was interested to learn from the Minutes of the July Parish Council meeting (previously missing - now posted) that a representative of the Kent Association of Parish Council's (KAPC) attended. 

His talk obviously wasn't well received as the August minutes record receipt of a KAPC letter regretting the Council's decision to discontinue their membership. I too think it is regrettable that the benefits of membership are not considered worthy justification for the expenditure involved. The Hawkinge Parish Council have been KAPC members for as long as I can remember.

One might have thought that in such a rapidly changing environment the Parish Council would have viewed the advice and assistance provided by such bodies as the KAPC more important than ever in enabling them to be forward-looking, dynamic and entrepreneurial in tackling the challenging opportunities the ever increasing village population provides.

Presumably the annual KAPC membership was considered too high for their meager budget yet Councillors have managed to approve more than £2000 expenditure for the Football Club in the last three months! 

Hopefully at least some of the spending was made against income earned by the club or with funding from other sources. However, there appears to be no limit to which the Council will go in supporting the club with a continuing list of purchases, donations and promised expenditure to facilitate their activities, recorded in every month's minutes.

It's ironic that £564.40 was spent in June and another £742.64 last month on goal posts which, I feel certain with advice from the  Hawkinge Neighbourhood Partnership or dare I say even the KAPC, would have resulted in grant aid funding and made a large enough saving to cover the cost of KAPC membership!

But the minutes suggest that the Council does not welcome advice. The August minutes record their objection to the Hawkinge Neighbourhood Partnership proposing a form of protocol for dealings between the two parties. My own experience of dealing with the Parish Council leads me to believe that they need guidance and advice. Their statutory obligations for example, are a subject with which they appear unfamiliar and have difficulty appreciating.

It is encouraging to read of the Council's concern for the provision of sporting facilities in the village, but it makes their decision to dispose of the Spitfire Leisuredrome all the more surprising as that building is already capable of providing alternative indoor sports and their arguments against retaining it for reasons of high maintenance and heating costs have no credence at all in the self funded lease situation that was planned.

I was concerned to discover that so much of the Council's efforts are devoted to one project. involving the promotion and funding of the Hawkinge Football Club, which now takes such a major part in the council's agenda and time these days!

It is perhaps not surprising that the Council's Finance Group proposal to sell the Spitfire Leisuredrome included a statement regarding the need for funds to provide sports facilities elsewhere in the village and mentioned plans for the development of
existing football pitches and the provision of a new pavilion. 

The eventual decision to accept their recommendations was proposed and seconded by Councillors who hold positions as the Secretary and Chairman of the Football Club respectively. 

Another councillor is also an official of the club but none of them declared any special interest before entering the debate or endorsing the decision! 

I know there to be concern among Hawkinge residents about the off-hand manner in which the Parish Council have chosen to dispose of the Spitfire Leisuredrome, especially after the categorical statement made by the Council Chairman on your site in June that such a thing was not on their minds and the future of the premises would not be considered for a further 6 months! 

These councillors were appointed in an uncontested manner. They have no mandate from the villagers yet they have made no serious attempt to seek the views of the public or to consider those that have been collected and submitted.  

Your contributor LAZ expressed concern about the Parish Council's muddled thinking in his May letter. Muddled thinking is unfortunate but nevertheless excusable. 

Councillors supporting proposals without declaring an interest  is unacceptable and needs pursuing.


 Patrick Lawrence

Editors note: Parish Council Chairman Dave Callahan was against the
withdrawal of membership to the KAPC and is actively working to persuade the
Council to re-join.

EUROTUNNEL TO MOTHBALL ROLLING STOCK

Eurotunnel's new passenger strategy will mean mothballing rolling stock.

The plan for the cash strapped company is to only use enough rolling stock to cover the forecast traffic. 

The new timetable for the Passenger Shuttle Service will now have just three departures per hour at peak times. There will now be between seven and eight shuttles in operation against the nine currently operating.

Eurotunnel are mothballing 18 single deck carriers, 18 double deck carriers and six loaders, the equivalent of one and a half shuttles.

The company say that mothballing has two distinct advantages. It leads to a substantial reduction in costs. and also maintains flexibility, as the shuttle is always available to be brought back into service when the need arises.