A poll for the election of District Councillors for Sandgate and West Folkestone Ward will be held on Thursday, 4 May 2023 between the hours of 7am and 10pm.
The number of District Councillors to be elected is 2.
The situation of Polling Stations and the description of persons entitled to vote thereat are as follows:
Wards Hotel – (Grimston Gardens Entrance), 39 Earls Avenue, Folkestone. Poll numbers: SWF1 1.000 to 742.000
St Georges Church Hall, Audley Road, Folkestone. Poll numbers: SWF2 1.000 to 1048.000
Sandgate Library, Sandgate High Street, Sandgate. Poll numbers: SWF3 1.000 to 2660.501
A poll for the election of Parish Councillors for Sandgate Valley Ward of Sandgate Parish Council will be held on Thursday, 4 May 2023 between the hours of 7am and 10pm.
The number of Parish Councillors to be elected is 3.
The situation of Polling Stations and the description of persons entitled to vote thereat are as follows:
St Georges Church Hall, Audley Road, Folkestone. Poll numbers SWF2 1.000 to 1048.000
Both as good practice and to ensure we meet the terms of our public liability insurance, Sandgate Parish Council have an annual Tree Inspection Report undertaken in the areas we manage with trees (Sandgate Park and Fremantle Park).
The 2023 Inspection of both areas is now complete, and the reports are below.
As you’ll see, there are works recommended to a number of trees, some as “Priority 2” (do them within the next couple of months) and some “Priority 3” (do them in about the next 6 months).
The Parish Council clearly need to make sure the Priority 2 works are done soon. They have been commissioned from qualified contractors. Those contractors will, of course, pay due regard to checking for and avoiding and nesting birds. The Priority 3 works we’ve asked them to schedule outside the nesting season, despite there being a little extra cost in doing so.
So if you see works to trees in those areas over the next couple of months, that’s the reason – they are required for safety. Removed trees (and there are a few) will be replaced in due course where possible.
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.
Sandgate Community Garden Team Diary Entry for 16th April: Quickly planting the turnips and lettuces before the next downpour.
Crikey! Just when you are beginning to think that the weather could not possibly get worse, what with below average temperatures and copious amounts of rain – it really does! Storm Noa rip roared through this week with gale force winds followed by rather impressive hailstones and yet more and more rain.
Our Wednesday gardening session at Enbrook Park was a case of quickly planting the turnips and lettuces before the next downpour. We left early as apart from the rain it was simply cold. The Saturday morning session was cancelled completely when rain which was not featured on the weather Apps suddenly materialised and put a stop to any catching up there was to be done.
This was the week to sow the courgette seeds, so they will have to wait a while, along with the leeks, although they will most likely appreciate some warmer temperatures anyway to be fair. It has been decided to stop trying to bring on seedlings in mini greenhouses on the patio as they are simply too flimsy, and having lost so many of them in high winds, it was decided to take all seedlings to the greenhouse at Pent farm instead. This is a much safer environment but means they are further away.
This was a week of courses for me (Leonie). The most mind blowing of all was a course looking at soil on a microscopic level with Eddie at Rhizophyllia in Wootton Bassett. Eddie explains that unfortunately the principles of ‘no dig’ gardening are only half of the solution to good healthy living soil, and that basically we need to reproduce the right conditions in our compost for the beneficial microscopic life to thrive and take care of our plants. The lack of this life is why plants are prone to being attacked by pests and disease, and as a result the nutritional value of our fruit and vegetables is compromised. So now it is that as gardeners we will be disappearing down another rabbit hole to understand how to remedy the situation – it will take some time.
On Saturday there was a delightful course held by the Sandgate Environmental Action Group with the Bumblebee Conservation Trust. This course was a beginner’s guide to identifying bees, starting with the most common to be found here in Kent. Of course the practical is usually harder than the theory, and a picture below shows a sample of five deceased bumblebees which we had to identify. Fortunately they were easier to deal with than live samples which were unlikely to be making an appearance anyway in this weather. However as some were missing legs, antennae or sometimes even heads, it proved something of a challenge to work out if they were male or female at times! It was a most enjoyable session, and we are looking forward to going out on future walks with the Trust soon. The Trust will be taking a trip out to Pent farm next week to carry out a survey of the bees there which will be really interesting.
Talking of bees, the community garden beekeepers were deep in discussion this week following a report from the British Beekeepers Association that an Asian hornet has been discovered in Folkestone. This arrival can spell disaster for beekeepers, and so there is a need to consider how to best protect the hives.
On Friday, I (Leonie) had the absolute privilege of being invited to the Nepalese New Year celebrations. It was a real joy to have been included, to share some amazing Nepalese food and meet even more of the Nepalese community. It was such a colourful, happy occasion and I was made to feel so welcome. The Nepalese follow a lunar calendar and so it seems we are now in 2080. Happy New Year!
What’s Next?
Sow the courgette and squash seeds
Sow the leek seeds
Plant the mange tout and put up the net frame for them
Dismantle the compost compound
Happy New Year – it is 2080Asian hornet now in FolkestoneIdentifying bumblebeesLooking at soil samples under a microscope
We have previously issued PWLB Reports quarterly alongside committee reports. We will aim to do so from now using this standalone format.
The PWLB loan reserve was formed following our receipt of a loan of £500,000 from the Public Works Loan Board in August 2018 for the purchase of land which then fell through. Despite lobbying Government, the PWLB (a branch of the Treasury) refused to cancel the loan and take the money back from us without requiring a six figure penalty fee. They did, however, confirm the money could be retained and invested by the Council.
The Council has committed that the costs of the loan will not fall on taxpayers through increased Council Tax without a consultation on doing so. We have held no such consultation to date.
As such, we placed the full loan amount in a defined PWLB Loan Reserve.
All payments for that loan (capital repayments, interest payments) come out of that reserve.
All income from that loan (currently interest payments on the loan amount) we put into that reserve. The value of the reserve is published regularly (quarterly).
At this time, while the costs of the loan exceed the income (due to historically low interest rates), the value of our PWLB Loan Reserve is dropping. Although we seek investments with the best return, we want security for the money (so it is all currently in accounts backed by guarantee up to £85,000 per account) and some investments are not open to local authorities, so there are limits on what we can do.
Sandgate Parish Council uses (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. 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.
Our 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.
Sandgate Parish Council uses (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. Every Town and Parish Council has similar rules. Those rules govern our financial management, and we can only amend or vary them by a Council resolution.
The Council’s Standing Orders require that we report quarterly on 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 are now publishing our reports monthly to exceed that requirement. We then consider those reports at the next Parish Council Resources Committee meeting.
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.
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.
You 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.
Report a Highways Issue
Kent Highways are responsible for maintaining and repairing roads and pavements.
Let Kent Highways know about highways problems via their online reporting tool, to help them schedule repairs.
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
