Many residents will have been caught up in delays in the Folkestone area when the A20 Roundhill Tunnel is closed – as it was for a time on Friday and Saturday.
Explaining why the closure and other traffic measures are necessary is included in a letter to the district’s residents and businesses published by the Kent and Medway Resilience Forum.
How emergency services cope when cross channel traffic delays affect local roads is also detailed.
The message warns of busy weekends ahead with the beginning of the school holidays on 19 July and the start of the Olympics the following weekend. As a result Operation Brock is being put in place overnight on Wednesday (10 July).
The 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.
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.
Minimum Notice
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:
the day of issue of the agenda, or;
the day of the meeting, or;
a Sunday, or;
a day of the Christmas break, or;
a day of the Easter break, or;
of a bank holiday, or;
a day appointed for public thanksgiving or mourning.
Meeting in Public
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 30th June: Regenerative farming today, from the politics, to the science, to the everyday practicalities.
The longest day has gone and we are hurtling into July, but luckily it has begun to feel like summer and at last the summer plantings are starting to respond to the warmth and sunshine. We have stepped up the watering, and so the sweet corn, beans and squashes are putting on new growth fast. The netting previously put over the beans to protect them when newly planted has now been removed as the flowers are just starting to appear and the insects will need to get to them.
The broad beans have now been stripped and removed, then a thin layer of compost added to the surface of the now empty plots in preparation for replanting as soon as possible. We planted a few more dwarf beans, spring onions, kale and a few lettuces. The intention was to plant out the slipper gourds too but we ran out of time and that task will have to be put forward to next week.
On Monday a couple of us were invited to see a flagship composting site in Cambridgeshire run by Envar Composting Ltd. We thought that Hope farm composting set up was huge enough but this was something else again! We were grateful to some of the staff tasked with showing us around the site telling us about everything they compost there. It is so very interesting to be able to see how waste is dealt with on such a scale compared to anything we compost.
Groundswell, the regenerative farming festival, took place this week in Hitchin. There were two whole days of innovative, fascinating talks on the up to date situation with regenerative farming today, from the politics, to the science, to the everyday practicalities. It can be difficult to imagine how farming at scale can be compared with our tiny gardens, however it was entirely relevant in so many ways, and in fact there were many of our garden friends we have met along our gardening journey there too such as the farmers from Pent Farm, Rupert from Shelvin farm where we got our last delivery of compost, Rebel Farmer Ed, and plenty of other compost nerds we have made friends with. There are now many new ideas to investigate and consider trying.
One of our gardeners, Theresa, has been working extremely hard on a project to bring a festival of theatre and comedy to Folkestone. There are 33 shows with actors and stand up comics throughout the weekend of 12th-14th July at the Quarterhouse theatre and Grand Burstin Hotel. Check out www.folkestonelive.com for more information and to buy tickets. Hope to see you there!
What’s next?
Really must plant the slipper gourds
Plant out more Siberian kale
Prick out the purple sprouting
Sow more purple sprouting
Chives collected for seedsGrowth is fast in the warm sunGroundswell – the regenerative farming festival
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 Environment 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.
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.
Minimum Notice
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:
the day of issue of the agenda, or;
the day of the meeting, or;
a Sunday, or;
a day of the Christmas break, or;
a day of the Easter break, or;
of a bank holiday, or;
a day appointed for public thanksgiving or mourning.
Meeting in Public
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 Parish Council is defined as a “smaller authority” for the purposes of publication of its annual accounts and statements.
The Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014 and the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015 require that:
1. The accounting records for the financial year to which the audit relates and all books, deeds, contracts, bills, vouchers, receipts and other documents relating to those records must be made available for inspection by any person interested, during a period of 30 working days set by the smaller authority and including the first 10 working days of July.
2. The period referred to in paragraph (1) starts with the day on which the period for the exercise of public rights is treated as having been commenced i.e. the day following the day on which all of the obligations in paragraph (3) below have been fulfilled.
3. The responsible financial officer for a relevant authority must, on behalf of that authority, publish (which must include publication on the authority’s website):
(a) the Accounting Statements (i.e. Section 2 of the Annual Return), accompanied by:
(i) a declaration, signed by that officer to the effect that the status of the Accounting Statements are unaudited and that the Accounting Statements as published may be subject to change;
(ii) the Annual Governance Statement (i.e. Section 1 of the Annual Return); and
(b) a statement that sets out—
(i) the period for the exercise of public rights;
(ii) details of the manner in which notice should be given of an intention to inspect the accounting records and other documents;
(iii) the name and address of the local auditor;
(iv) the provisions contained in section 26 (inspection of documents etc.) and section 27 (right to make objections at audit) of the Act, as they have effect in relation to the authority in question.
All the required accounting statements, declarations, annual governance statement and additional statements are available in this 2024 Full Annual Return of Sandgate Parish Council. The declared period for the exercise of Public Rights is 27 June – 9 August 2024.
Scanned pdf documents do not comply with the Accessibility Regulations but the above documents can be provided in an alternative format or on alternative media, on request.
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.
Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 23rd June: The potatoes not eaten by the badgers, and the figs are swelling.
Well, it looks like we might have finally turned some sort of weather corner, and can finally look forward to a spell of decent sunshine and warmer temperatures. Of course that always means that we have to get out the watering cans so it is a mixed blessing.
On Monday there was quite a gathering at the garden when we had a large visitation from the Napier barracks to celebrate volunteer week. Luckily the ‘Friends of Napier’ brought with them oodles of lovely cake, so by the time the lads had managed to empty our two newly delivered ton bags of compost and barrow it all up the hill into the garden, the cake was out and waiting for them to finish. It must have only taken them about an hour if that! Thank goodness too as it would have taken us ages to have done, and it means we can start to empty some of the plots and put down new compost before the next crop goes in.
Apparently the badgers in the park are very active at the moment. One of our gardeners living close by has had a badger getting into her compost bin, probably after anything edible plus the worms. Badgers have also been visiting us and decided to have a go at the potato crop. They crashed about in the foliage digging up several spuds, chewed up lots and left a proper mess. So it was we decided it might be wise to take up the entire potato crop because no barrier will be enough to keep out a badger if their mind is set to get in there and make a meal of something. Many of the crop were quite small and could have done with some more time to grow but it was either harvest now or possibly lose the lot.
We were delighted to notice that the fig tree is showing a good amount of fruit which is starting to swell. We shall look forward to trying to beat the birds to them later on in the season.
We got some more beetroot planted and the first of the kale is in and netted from the cabbage white butterflies, not that there have been any to notice. In fact many folk are saying that there is a distinct lack of insects, even worse than last year.
Thinking of the state of nature, it was reassuring to see so many folk from Folkestone boarding the train on Saturday morning to go up to central London to take part in a huge demonstration called ‘restore nature now’. With an election just around the corner, it will be interesting to see if come 5th July when it is all over, if any of the protests have been heard.
What’s next?
Clear the broad bean beds and refresh with compost
Plant out more kale varieties
Plant out the slipper gourds
Weed the tomato bed – be careful of the basil in there!
Cake to celebrate volunteer weekThe potatoes not eaten by the badgersThe figs are swellingRestore Nature protest in central London
The Council meeting is open to press and public. If you would like to attend this meeting, please notify clerk@sandgatepc.org.uk in advance. Letting us know allows us to make sure we have sufficient seats for you and allow reasonable spacing.
We keep a full list of previous Sandgate Parish Council Meeting Agenda and Minutes on this website. We publish those agendas a few days before each meeting, and will also post draft minutes in the week after a meeting.
Most of our meetings are broadcast live on our Facebook page. We’ll then leave those recordings on Facebook for a few months after the meeting so you can watch them back later.
Minimum Notice
We issue agenda’s 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:
the day of issue of the agenda, or;
the day of the meeting, or;
a Sunday, or;
a day of the Christmas break, or;
a day of the Easter break, or;
of a bank holiday, or;
a day appointed for public thanksgiving or mourning.
Meeting in Public
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 16th June: Just as you are beginning to think that the weather in June could not possibly get any worse, it does.
Just as you are beginning to think that the weather in June could not possibly get any worse, it really does! There have been some interludes when the wind is calm and the sun is out, but then it starts to rain again and blow a hoolie.
We got some work done during our usual Wednesday morning session. The spring onions got put out and so did some more dwarf beans. Basil got planted out with the tomatoes and some got repotted into larger pots, more dwarf beans got sown as did yet more spring onions. We have stopped picking the asparagus and the rhubarb to allow the roots and the plants to grow strong and enable them to survive the winter. If we were to continue to harvest them it can seriously weaken them.
We spent some time potting up some donated house plants very kindly sent our way by Rita and Eddie. We do not usually take house plants, but our yearly plant sale will be at the Sea Festival on Sunday 25th August (make sure it is in the diary!), so we are preparing well in advance. We took several cuttings from our sage within the garden too, and hope to have a good variety of plants available on the day. Please do get in touch if you have any items to donate which we can sell at our stall. Fingers crossed that the weather is good for the August bank holiday and we can get some money back into the bank for buying seeds and potting compost next year.
A couple of weeks ago our newsletter mentioned a visit to a fellow compost nerd by the name of Rupert at Shelvin Farm. On Saturday, whilst the garden session was cancelled due to high winds and rain, we received a delivery of some of Rupert’s compost. Having seen how Rupert makes his compost, we know this will be good stuff, and that he tests to ensure it has the right biology that we will need to grow more great fruit and vegetables. A couple of us had spent two days this week collecting something like 12 tons of compost from Hope Farm, we delivered a little to the community garden, but most was destined for Pent Farm in the ongoing battle to get to grips with the clay soil there. So far, we think that particular plot has had something like 30 tons of compost, and we are just starting to get somewhere, making it easier for the plants to get their roots into the soil.
Last year whilst visiting the Nepalese Community Garden, we were given a couple of slipper gourds which are a bit like a cross between a cucumber and a green bell pepper. There were 10 seeds inside them which were collected and sown a couple of weeks ago. Happily they have all started to grow and we are looking forward to planting a few of them at Enbrook park soon – maybe just as soon as it stops raining and warms up!
What’s next?
Still need to clear around the tayberry
Still need to sow more seeds
Check the tomatoes for side shoots
Get some plots ready for planting out more beetroot and the first of the kale.
Potting up house plants for our annual saleAsparagus is allowed to grow nowNepalese slipper gourd plants
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