News

The Sandgate Parish Council Action Plan 2015-2018 has been reviewed and updated to check on progress.

You can find a copy of the reviewed and updated plan at http://sandgatepc.org.uk/action-plan/

I write to advise you of the publication of the Places and Policies Local Plan Submission Draft for public consultation. This is the final consultation before the Plan is considered by an independent Planning Inspector at the Examination in Public.

The purpose of The Plan, supported by an up to date evidence base, is to allocate sufficient land for future development to meet the outstanding requirements set out in the Core Strategy (2013) for residential, employment and community needs. It also includes a series of detailed planning policies to be used to consider the suitability of future development proposals.

This draft follows the previous public consultations for the ‘Issues and Options’ (2015) and ‘Preferred Options’ (2016) stages.  The District Council would like to thank all who have made representations and comments in the past which have helped shape the Plan.

After this consultation we will submit the plan to the Government’s planning representative, a Planning Inspector, who will carry out a public examination.

The Inspector will consider if the plan:

• Complies with the legal requirements;
• Complies with the duty to cooperate and;
• Meets the tests of soundness.

We will collate and summarise your comments and pass them on to the Planning Inspector.

To further explain, a local planning authority should submit a plan for examination which it considers is “sound” – namely that it is:

• Positively prepared – the plan should be prepared based on a strategy which seeks to meet objectively assessed development and infrastructure requirements, including unmet requirements from neighbouring authorities where it is reasonable to do so and consistent with achieving sustainable development
• Justified – the plan should be the most appropriate strategy, when considered against the reasonable alternatives, based on proportionate evidence
• Effective – the plan should be deliverable over its period and based on effective joint working on cross-boundary strategic priorities
• Consistent with national policy – the plan should enable the delivery of sustainable development in accordance with the policies in the Framework

During the publication stage representations can be made to the council over a six week period between 5^th February and 23.59 on 19^th March 2018.

Your comments for this consultation should be based on whether or not you agree that the plan complies with the legal requirements, complies with the duty to cooperate and is sound, as outlined above.

If you don’t think the plan meets a requirement you should be prepared to explain why and support your reason with evidence. It will also be helpful if you say how the plan should change to meet the relevant requirement.

We will collate and summarise your comments and pass them on to the Planning Inspector.

The plan, Sustainability Appraisal, Habitat Regulations Assessment, public notice, timeline of work and other evidence base documents are available to view on the District Council’s web site at www.shepway.gov.uk/places-and-policies.

Copies of the Plan (and representation form) are also available to view at all local libraries within Shepway, the New Romney One Stop Shop and the council office in Folkestone (a list of opening times can be seen below).

You can make a representation by submitting the standard representation form on the Council’s consultation portal, which is the preferred way of making a representation as this allows you to decide which paragraph you want your comment to relate to and summarise in your own words.

Alternatively the standard representation form can be downloaded from the Council’s web site and sent via email (to planning.policy@shepway.gov.uk) or by post to the address above.

If you do not wish to be notified of any further stages of the Local Plan, please contact the Planning Policy team.

If you have any other queries please feel free to contact the Planning Policy team at the above email address.

Yours sincerely

Adrian Tofts

Planning Policy Manager

Shepway District Council Offices & Libraries and Opening Hours

*New Romney Library will be closed for three days for redecoration from Monday 19 February to Wednesday 21 February inclusive. The library will re-open as usual on Thursday 22 February 2018.

Graham Turnill would like to welcome local resident who wishes to attend his mother’s funeral to be held on Thursday 15th February at 2pm at Barham Crematorium.

You may have seen that bad weather is on the way and we are likely to see high winds in some areas this evening through to tomorrow morning.

Our electricity network is built to be resilient but extreme weather can damage overhead power lines resulting in some customers losing their electricity supply.  Where this happens we work to restore power as quickly and safely as possible. We have organised for additional staff in our contact centre to help customers whose electricity supply might be affected by the predicted weather, and we have called up additional engineers to carry out repairs to overhead lines and poles as soon as the wind reduces to a speed at which it is safe to work.

Both you and your local residents will be able to find regular updates on our website www.ukpowernetworks.co.uk and social media @UKPowerNetworks throughout this period.

Anyone experiencing a power cut should:

• Call 105 to report power cuts and damage to the electricity network, or 0800 3163 105 (from a corded phone or mobile phone if you have no power)
• Visit www.ukpowernetworks.co.uk for the latest updates
• Visit www.ukpowernetworks.co.uk/powercut and type in their postcode to view our live power cut map
• Tweet @ukpowernetworks to report a power cuts or to receive updates

We advise people to stay clear of power lines and report damaged power lines immediately by calling 105 free from either a landline or a mobile phone. If they see electricity lines that are down or causing significant risk to the public they should call 999.

We provide extra help to customers on our Priority Service Register during a power cut.  Households with older or disabled people, those with children under five, or where someone uses medical or mobility equipment that requires electricity as well as other reasons can join the register.  You can find out more information about our Priority Service on our website: ukpowernetworks.co.uk/priority.

Many of us were shocked and saddened to hear of the death of well known and respected resident, and driving force of the Tower Theatre, Peter Heselden in December.

There will be a celebration of Peter’s life at the Tower Theatre on Monday 8 January 2018 at 17.30 following a private family service.

The Chairman and Trustees of the Shorncliffe Trust cordially invite you to the annual commemoration for Sir John Moore taking place at his Memorial on Sandgate Esplanade on Saturday, 13th January 2018 at: 09.45am.

Sandgate Parish Council have been greatly impressed by the efforts of the shop owners in the parish in decorating their premises. This has made Sandgate a truly lovely place to shop, walk and drive through.

On this year only Cllr Robert Bliss, Chairman of Sandgate Parish Council decided to personally award a prize for the most festive shop front.

It is intended that in future years the selection will be undertaken by an independent body during the first week of December. So, for this year, Cllr Bliss’s choice for the most festive shop front in Sandgate is The Dog House.

Cllr Bliss congratulated proprietors David and Karen Watson and presented them with a framed certificate and a bottle of champagne.

The English National Concessionary Travel Scheme (ENCTS – also known as the older persons bus pass) is a statutory national scheme providing free bus travel for individuals of a pensionable age or some pass holders who qualify on the basis of disability. There are approximately 290,000 pass holders across the County.

The scheme is managed by Kent County Council through our Contact Centre and Libraries who complete much of the day to day customer service and administration.

KCC inherited responsibility for the scheme from the District Councils in 2008. Passes are issued with a 5 year expiry and as a consequence, every 5 years the Council experiences a significant peak in renewals which needs to be managed. In March 2018, 195,000 passes currently in circulation expire.

Approach to renewals:

To manage this process efficiently with the minimum disruption on pass holders, it has been agreed that the Council will adopt an approach of ‘intelligent auto-renewals’ whereby the majority of existing pass holders, if using their pass recently, will automatically be sent a new pass in advance of their current one expiring i.e. the pass holder does not need to reapply. However, it has been identified that a significant proportion of passes have not been used in the last year and so these will not be automatically renewed. It should be clearly understood that this is in no way the removal of a right to hold a pass but we will be seeking confirmation from the pass holder that they still wish to be issued with one. Instead therefore, these pass holders will be written to and advised of their continued right to hold a pass together with instructions as to how to renew.

What happens next?

We are already promoting our approach and advising pass holders and bus passengers through various means including notices on buses which will start to appear throughout December.

We will then be cleaning the data by checking it with Royal Mail and National Mortar records to try to ensure that all of the detai that we hold is up to date and accurate.

Letters will be sent out throughout January, February and the first week of March and all automatically renewed or renewals applied for on time will be sent to pass holders before the expiry of current passes on 31st March.

A summary of the key events is shown below.

• Week Commencing Activity
• W/C 4th December 2017 Notices on buses and media campaign
• W/C 1st January 2018 Renewal reminders sent for surnames : A – B
• W/C 8th January 2018 Renewal reminders sent for surnames : C – F
• W/C 15th January 2018 Renewal reminders sent for surnames : G – K
• W/C 22nd January 2018 Renewal reminders sent for surnames : L – O
• W/C 29th January 2018 Renewal reminders sent for surnames : P – S
• W/C 5th February 2018 Renewal reminders sent for surnames : T – Z
• W/C 12th February 2018 Auto-renewals sent : Ashford, Canterbury & Dartford Districts
• W/C 19th February 2018 Auto-renewals sent : Dover, Gravesham & Maidstone Districts
• W/C 26th February 2018 Auto-renewals sent : Sevenoaks, Shepway & Swanley Districts
• W/C 5th March 2018 Auto-renewals sent : Thanet, T&Malling & T/Wells Districts
• 31st MARCH 2018 CURRENT PASSES EXPIRE

Further information is available at www.kent.gov.uk/roads-and-travel/travelling-around-kent/bus-travel/bus-passes or contact us at buspass@kent.gov.uk

A television company called Shiver Productions are developing a new television programme for a major broadcaster. They are looking for vibrant, fun and outgoing grandparents who want to spend more time with their adult grandchildren (who must be 18 plus).

With a lot of grandparents reportedly only seeing their grandchildren on average twice a year, it’s not surprising the two generations often know little about each other’s lives. In the programme, grandparents will spend one-on-one time with their multiple grandchildren in an attempt to get to know them better and see if they can offer any help.

Along the way they will learn about the pressures their grandchildren face, the lifestyle choices they make, their hopes for the future and what, if anything, is standing in their way of achieving them.

The programme will allow grandparents to share their knowledge, advice and practical help while learning more about the lives, hopes and aspirations of their grandchildren.

Local councils in Kent have been asked to see if there might be any grandparents (or grandchildren) who would like to get in touch with us.