Sandgate Library will close for carpet fitting on Monday 5th and Tuesday 6th December. We will re-open to the public on Thursday 8th December.
Alternative libraries include Hythe, Cheriton and Folkestone.
We apologise for any inconvenience caused.
The Boundary Commission for England (BCE) is redrawing constituency boundaries in order to rebalance the number of electors represented by each MP, and a final consultation on proposed new constituencies is now open.
A new revised map of constituency proposals, which takes into account feedback sent in by the public on the initial proposals, has been published on the consultation website bcereviews.org.uk.
The proposed revisions to Folkestone and Hythe constituency leave the seat broadly as it is, but as it now contains too many electors removes the wards of Saxon Shore, North Downs West and North Downs East which are added to a new Ashford seat. These proposals have no impact on which Council a ward relates to, just which MP they vote for / are represented by in Parliament.
Saturday 26th November between 10am – 12 noon in St Paul’s Church Sandgate John Hurd will be playing some of his own compositions accompanied by the soprano Tammy File. As usual refreshments will be provided.
Entrance and refreshments: Free.
A Flood Warden is a volunteer trained to help and prepare people in local communities that are at risk of flooding. They play an important role in the preparing a community flood plan and putting it in to practice. In Sandgate we would also ask you to meet the Parish Council annually to update us on the flood plan.
The training consists of five key modules.
We have one trained flood warden locally already, but we’d really like more so we have a small team.
The commitment
The Role
What you’ll get
It’s been a while since we’ve had a substantial flood in Sandgate, but that’s no reason not to be prepared.
You would be making a real difference to your community, helping to ensure the safety of neighbours, for a few hours a year. From https://www.kentprepared.org.uk/flood-wardens the responsibilities of being a Flood Warden include:
If you are interested in becoming a Flood Warden, please contact the Kent Resilience Team to organise a training session at krf@kent.fire-uk.org or call 01622 212409.
To register for this training visit www.trybooking.com, click buy tickets and search for ‘Kent Flood Warden Training’.
If you can book for and complete the training, please let us know you are now a volunteer warden – and thank you!
14-December-22-and-17-January-23-Training-for-new-Flood-Wardens-flierSandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 13th November: Badgers One, Strawberries Nil.
We had escaped the strong winds and storms this summer but they have been back with a vengeance this past week. The last of the seedlings for this year had to be rescued from a cold frame in danger of being toppled despite being strapped to a fence. It would have been a disaster to lose 120 broad bean seedlings but happily they were planted out over the week at Enbrook Park, and the last of our planting for this year is done. The seed trays will be put away along with the collapsible cold frames until mid-February 2023. Now is the time to take stock of what went well or did not, and to take a look at all the seeds we have for next season and see if there is anything else we need to buy.
Some things have surprised us this year. The few strawberry plants we had as a ground cover under the gooseberry bushes seem to have had a great time sending out runners all over the place and were in danger of taking over. We must have potted up at least thirty new plants, with plenty more still to be had. Having decided that because of the badgers we might not be growing them any more at the Sandgate Community Garden in Enbrook Park, they will be taken to Fremantle Park instead and see how they fare there. Of course we will leave a few plants for the badgers.
The other surprise crop was some Jerusalem artichokes which have been quietly growing up against the brick wall, flowering well in the summer, and recently just starting to die back. Now is the time to dig up the edible roots, and we were amazed that there were quite a few. The original roots were given to us by the Incredible Edible group – just a small handful. We will collect what is left and replant some for next year, then plant more in other gardens as they are decorative as well as edible.
We have been collecting a by-product of food deliveries or parcels. We had noticed that sheep fleece/wool is being used as packaging, pressed flat into wide sheets. Always keen to reuse and recycle, we have been using the wool as capillary matting under seedlings or potted plants. When it starts to break down, it is perfect for the compost heap, and will not therefore be ending up in landfill.
As you may know, we are always promoting the wonders of composting and compost bins, however this week an issue was spotted with one composting area at a garden some of us are associated with in Postling. We often have to reassure folk new to composting, that a well looked after bin should cause no problem, perhaps the biggest concern is attracting rats. It has to be said that rats are never far away from us; it is just that they are good at hiding and are seldom out during the daytime. This compost bin was showing signs of harbouring rats, which is rare, so we knew something was amiss. The compost was in fact too dry, having been started during the dry, hot summer, and therefore of interest to rodents looking for a home. Not wishing to encourage them to stay, the thing to do is to bang the side of the bin to let them know you are around, and start to unpack or turn the compost. By noticing an issue quickly, the rodents do not have enough time to make a nest and therefore scarper to find somewhere else. The only time a compost bin is left undisturbed is if there is a grass snake or slow worms taking up residence and have already laid eggs. Having turned and hydrated the compost, there should not be any interest from rodents, and an active, hot composting area is too warm for them anyway.
Last week the rainfall was 45.4 mm and this week we are at 89.1 mm, and still only half way through the month! The forecast for next week shows that more rain is on the horizon and although Sandgate was never subjected to a hosepipe ban this year, parts of Kent are still under a ban and in need of even more rain for it to be lifted any time soon.
What’s next?
This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.
The agenda of Sandgate’s Parish Council Resources Committee meeting. We will hold the meeting on 15th November 2022 at 6:30pm. It will be held in Sandgate Library.
Our Resources Committee meeting is open to press and public. Please could any member of the public who wants to attend notify us via clerk@sandgatepc.org.uk in advance. This allows us to ensure we have sufficient seats and allow reasonable spacing.
We publish our financial reporting on the “in-running” budget monthly. So at this meeting we will consider the reports since the last meeting in April, therefore April 2022.
Previous Sandgate Parish Council Resources Committee Agendas, Minutes and Financial Reports.
We use (the excellent) Scribe Accounts to manage our Council accounts and generate reports.
Sandgate Parish Council’s finances are governed by our Financial Regulations and Standing Orders, and every Town and Parish Council has similar rules. Because those rules govern our financial management, we can only amend or vary them by a Council resolution.
The Council’s Standing Orders require quarterly reporting of receipts, payments and balances. For instance, they say at 17.c:
The Responsible Financial Officer shall supply to each councillor as soon as practicable after 30 June, 30 September and 31 December in each year a statement to summarise:
i. the council’s receipts and payments for each quarter;
ii. the council’s aggregate receipts and payments for the year to date;
iii. the balances held at the end of the quarter being reported
and which includes a comparison with the budget for the financial year and highlights any actual or potential overspends.
We’re now publishing our reports monthly, exceeding that requirement. Consequently we will consider the reports at the next Parish Council Resources Committee meeting.
The agenda for the Sandgate Parish Council Full Parish Council meeting, to held on 15th November 2022, in Sandgate Library at the fall of the Finance Committee meeting or 7pm, whichever is later.
Planning-Agenda-15.11.22-docThe Planning Committee meeting is open to press and public. If any member of the public wishes to attend, please can they notify clerk@sandgatepc.org.uk in advance. This allows us to ensure we have sufficient seats and allow reasonable spacing.
Previous Sandgate Parish Council Planning Committee Agenda and Minutes. We publish agendas a few days before a meeting. We then post draft minutes in the week after a meeting.
Most of our meetings will be broadcast live on our Facebook page. Recordings of the meetings will be left on Facebook for a few months after the meeting so they can be watched back later. Comments left on Facebook broadcasts during the meeting are not be monitored and are not a way of feeding back to the Council.
We issue agendas at least three clear days before a meeting. We display them on the noticeboard in the library, Parish noticeboards on the Village Green and by Enbrook Valley shops, and on our website.
The minimum three clear days for notice of a meeting does not include:
All meetings of our Council are open to the public, except in limited defined circumstances. We can only decide, by resolution, to meet in private when discussing confidential business or for other special reasons where publicity would be prejudicial to the public interest.
Those reasons might include, for example, discussing the conduct of employees, negotiations of contracts or terms of tender, or the early stages of a legal dispute.
Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 6th November: Keeping our cabbage white butterfly caterpillars well-fed, fat and healthy.
Are you interested in your local neighbourhood, the environment and how we as residents as well as visitors, interact with our facilities and businesses? Are you interested in the impact of globalisation on us all and how the growing worldwide movement of localisation and sustainability is fighting back to become more self-sufficient, resilient and stable in an uncertain world? Then you need to come along to the Reading Room at the Old Fire Station in Sandgate, on 17th November at 7pm where the Sandgate Society will be starting work on ‘Sustainability in Sandgate’. If you are interested in looking at how localisation and sustainability has helped in many villages, towns and cities around the world then check out this website:
This fascinating collection of videos and articles cannot fail to inspire, and at the very least make you think about what is happening around the world to the environment, nature and people. It can be depressing viewing some of the videos, but there are solutions if you are prepared to get involved in your locality and join the movement. Hope to see you there.
There has certainly been some rain in Sandgate these past few days. The rainfall for all of October was 43.9 mm however by 4th November the rainfall within just a couple of days was 45.4 mm. At the Touchbase garden where some of our volunteers lend a hand, a massive 1000 litres of rainwater was saved in those two torrential days from just one large shed roof – incredible.
Below is a photo of a rather bedraggled looking Heron standing on top of the moorhen house in Enbrook Park, spotted following the downpours. All very well for us tucked up inside our cosy homes, but for nature, this week of high winds and rain must have its toll.
As for the community garden in Enbrook Park, we kept a watchful eye over how the plants fared with the battering. There was a gathering of volunteers on Wednesday, however the session on Saturday was cancelled and we all opted for the comforts of home instead.
It has to be said that we have not been quite so vigilant at looking after our plants as we might have thought, with the issue being netting over the plants concealing all that is going on underneath. Netting is a wonderful thing to keep off marauding pests of all shapes and sizes, fob off the high winds and lull you into a false sense of security that all is well. One day the cauliflower plants were looking sturdy enough and growing well, and what seems like the next day, all the leaves seem to have disappeared, leaving a straggly excuse of a plant loaded with well-fed fat and healthy cabbage white butterfly caterpillars happily feasting away obviously safe from marauding predators and high winds, all cosy under that net.
In another area of the Sandgate Community Garden, some purple sprouting broccoli had sent up a broccoli head which was missed, probably because of the netting, and was now starting to evolve into the yellow flower head. It just goes to show that out of sight is out of mind and netting over a crop can complicate matters.
One plant we do not need to net which has performed well this year is the sea buckthorn. We have used sea buckthorn as a barrier against the winds, and is a plant that can cope with the sea salt. We are trying to keep it tight against the fence so that it will thicken up with time and not take up too much space. The downside of a hedge is that it will take moisture from the ground which you need for growing vegetables, and this hedge is prickly! In this third year of growth it has rewarded us with bright orange berries, which some of our volunteers have collected to be dried and crushed into a powder, or simply used fresh in recipes. Sea buckthorn is a superfood, but is an acquired taste with a most intense flavour. We often pot up some of the runners from the hedge which are making their way either across the plot or outside, so do get in touch if you would like a plant as we will certainly be able to oblige.
We were recently contacted by a Saga employee with a gift of five seed trays complete with clear covers and reservoir trays. We will certainly be able to make good use of them; and although seed sowing is finished for 2022, it will not be too long until we reach mid-February, and the seed sowing season starts all over again.
What’s next?
This weeks update from the Sandgate Community Garden Diary.
The minutes of Sandgate’s Parish Council Planning meeting, held on 1st November 2022, in Sandgate Library.
Planning-Minutes-01-11-22You can find previous Sandgate Parish Planning Agendas and Minutes on this website. We publish agendas a few days before a meeting. The Clerk then posts draft minutes in the week after a meeting.
We broadcast our meetings live on our Facebook page. Those meeting recordings are then left live for a few months after the meeting, giving you the chance to watch it back later!
The next suitable meeting will formally approve the draft minutes of this meeting. When approved, the Chairman of that meeting then signs them.
The signed minutes of the meeting serve as the legal record of what has taken place at the meeting. Before a meeting approves the draft minutes of a preceding meeting, the meeting may, by resolution, correct any inaccuracies in the draft minutes. The attendance (or otherwise) of the Chairman or those voting in favour to amend or approve of the minutes is irrelevant.
Only if meeting minutes are found to be inaccurate after they have been signed can they then be altered. Inaccuracies in signed minutes can only be amended by resolution at a subsequent meeting.
The minutes of Sandgate’s Parish Council meeting, held on 1st November 2022, in Sandgate Library.
Minutes-council-meeting-01-11-22Previous Sandgate Parish Council Meeting Agendas and Minutes. We publish agendas a few days before a meeting. We then post draft minutes in the week after a meeting.
Most of our meetings are also broadcast live on our Facebook page. Those recordings are left on Facebook for a few months after the meeting so can be watched back later.
We broadcast our meetings live on our Facebook page (although we’re sorry: this one was not). Those meeting recordings are then left live for a few months after the meeting, giving you the chance to watch it back later!
The next suitable meeting will formally approve the draft minutes of this meeting. When approved, the Chairman of that meeting then signs them.
The signed minutes of the meeting serve as the legal record of what has taken place at the meeting. Before a meeting approves the draft minutes of a preceding meeting, the meeting may, by resolution, correct any inaccuracies in the draft minutes. The attendance (or otherwise) of the Chairman or those voting in favour to amend or approve of the minutes is irrelevant.
Only if meeting minutes are found to be inaccurate after they have been signed can they then be altered. Inaccuracies in signed minutes can only be amended by resolution at a subsequent meeting.