News

Seagulls and bin bags don’t mix. Well, perhaps they do. Too well. For the seagull.

Following an approach by Sandgate Parish Council, Folkestone and Hythe District Council have agreed to make available ‘seagull proof’ bags for households in Sandgate that have a purple sack rubbish collection (ie no wheely bin).

This will help prevent your rubbish sacks being attacked by seagulls on collection day (which should make Sandgate High Street on a Wednesday a slightly less rubbish-strewn area – we hope!). It’s not compulsory, but we hope any household that has seen their sacks attacked will take part to help keep our village tidier!

You simply put your current purple sacks, sealed, into the outer Seagull proof sack. The sack is then emptied and left for you to use again (and again, and again – they are not disposable).

We were, pre-Covid, planning to distribute sacks to qualifying households from stalls at the Sandgate Farmers Market and via Sandgate Library, but that’s clearly not possible right now.

So to order your sack email clerk@sandgatepc.org.uk or call 01303 248563 with your name and address. We are only permitted to give sacks to those with a current “purple sack” collection, so please don’t ask if your usual rubbish collection is a bin collection. We will drop the sack to your property in the next 5 working days.

Please note that bags DO NOT replace purple sacks – you place your purple sacks IN the seagull proof bag.

How to use your seagull proof bag:

• Please secure your sack outside your property before 7am on collection day;
• Please place your purple bags inside your gull proof sack and make sure that the sack is securely closed to avoid the gulls attacking your waste;
• Our waste crews will remove the purple bags from your gull proof sack on collection day;
• Please take your bag in as soon as possible after collection, any gull proof sacks left out permanently will be removed and not replaced;
• You may wish to number your sack so that it can be recognised as yours.

In line with the Government rules, the children’s playgrounds at Sandgate Park and Enbrook Valley (Fremantle Road) will be reopened for use from Saturday 4th July.

However, we ask all park users to be careful in the use of the playgrounds and adult exercise equipment. Both parks will have signs in place reminding users how to stay safe.

It is not possible to clean the equipment between use, so any surface is only as clean as the hands of the people who’ve touched it before.

• Clean your hands before and after using the equipment.
• Don’t touch your face and ensure you cover your mouth if coughing
• If you can’t maintain social distancing, wait your turn
• At busy times, use the equipment for a reasonable time only
• One family member should accompany a child in the playground

On Saturday 18th July Tony Quarrington will be bringing his award winning walking tours to Sandgate for the first time.

Tony developed the Sandgate Walking tour programme after discussions with Sandgate Parish Council earlier this year. The Parish Council are supporting the programme with promotion and a small grant.

Tony will be delivering a minimum of ten tours between mid July and late October. All tours will start at the Chichester Memorial Hall at 11am on a Saturday and last approximately two hours. 

It had been hoped that the majority of the tours would coincide with the fortnightly Farmer’s Market, but that might have to wait a little while longer.

Enbrook Park, the Castle, High Street, seafront, Old Fire Station, library, parish church and former primary school are just some of the attractions that Tony will focus on along the walk.

In addition to the history, culture and architecture of the village, he will also explain the role of many of the prominent personalities, such as H.G. Wells, Sir John Moore, William Wilberforce and Hattie Jacques, that have shaped and illuminated Sandgate over the centuries. 

Tony, who lives in Folkestone, has been conducting walking tours in the town for the past three years, focusing on The Leas, harbour and seafront, Creative Quarter and the East Cliff. He is excited to be venturing further afield and sharing his passion for the village with his guests.

Sandgate Parish Council Chairman Tim Prater welcomed the launch of the programme. Tim said:

“When I started the conversation with Tony about bringing his walking tours to Sandgate we hoped we would offer something new and different for the village and our visitors.

“We hope that this summer as many people as possible enjoy an outdoor, socially distanced tour with Tony and learn more about our village, its history and the people that lived (and live!) here.

“It would be great to see this become a regular feature in Sandgate for years to come, and we look forward to working, and walking, with Tony!”

2020 Sandgate Walking Tour Dates:

• Saturday 18th July
• Saturday 1st August
• Saturday 15th August
• Saturday 29th August
• Saturday 5th September
• Saturday 12th September
• Saturday 19th September
• Saturday 3rd October
• Saturday 17th October
• Saturday 24th October

Sandgate-tour-flyer-18-July-alt-pdf

Since Sandgate Parish Council took on the maintenance and running of Enbrook Valley Park in Fremantle Road a couple of weeks ago, we’ve already started improving the area and getting the playground ready for the post-Covid reopening that we really hope is not far away.

The playground equipment has been checked, swing seats replaced where needed and frames repainted to make sure its safe and tidy. The bench in the playground has been refurbished as well. The weeds that were growing through the matting have been sorted, and signage updated.

We’ve had the 5-a-side goals painted, and we’ve got some more works planned. we will be cutting back the overgrown area of weeds near the footpath entrance from Enbrook Valley and also doing the same down the one side of the football pitch to make it a bit squarer: that last one will need to wait until the Autumn though!

There will soon be a leaflet through local doors asking for people to get involved in taking care of the park: from keeping an eye on it and reporting problems to litter picking as required and even getting involved with new planters and beds: watch this space!

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Do you love someone who lives with Dementia, Autism or who has the possibility of walking off and getting lost?

We hope we never have to help you, but we are here if you do need our help.

One way you can prepare for such an incident (however remote) is to complete an “At Risk of Going Missing” form, it will take approx 10 minutes and will ask you lots of questions about your loved one. These are the questions Police and Search Teams will ask, they are easier to answer whilst sitting calmly with a cup of tea than in the middle of the night when your loved one missing.

We hope you never have to hand this form over to a search team but if you do having it ready will benefit the search team.

https://www.ksar.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/At-Risk-of-Going-Missing-form-v4-FINAL-replacement-file.pdf

At-Risk-of-Going-Missing-form-v4-FINAL-replacement-file

Although its still a work in progress, we’re bringing live an updated Parish Council website at sandgatepc.org.uk

We’ve tried to retain and enhance the functionality of the old site, and make it simple and more accessible to use. We publish all agendas and minutes of meetings on our website, and increasingly a variety of news and other updates as well.

To best keep in touch of the news of the Parish Council we offer two different email update options: automatic email updates each time new posts are added to the website, and our email Parish newsletters for residents and businesses. You can find out more about both and subscribe for free at https://sandgatepc.org.uk/email-updates-and-newsletters/

We are also on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/sandgatepc/ which is where we live broadcast our online Zoom Full Council and Committee meetings (which we are currently holding in place of face-to-face meetings).