Valley Conservation Society
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Holder of the KCC Award for Volunteering Excellence
www.valleyconservation.co.uk
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MEMBERS NEWSLETTER No 104 _ late October 2009
LAA pulls plug
on footpath
IN A shock decision, committee members of the Loose Amenities Association have decided to abandon the footpath project for the Loose Valley, for which they had been awarded a £57,750 lottery grant.
The money had been intended to upgrade the public footpath through the Valley, which runs across LAA land from Brickfield Cottage in Kirkdale to Great Ivy Mill, both to enable disabled access and to assist ordinary walkers since some parts of the path frequently become too waterlogged to use.
Many VCS members and ordinary residents of Maidstone voted for LAA in the TV play-off for the Peoples Millions lottery award last November and we were all delighted when the Loose scheme triumphed over a rival bid in Minster by a significant margin. But the footpath project has subsequently proved too controversial and difficult for the committee after the resignation of founding member Roy Hood.
There was anger from some members at the associations AGM at the King George V Pavilion (Wednesday, October 14), when it was announced that the committee had taken the decision to cancel the project THE DAY BEFORE the AGM without waiting to ask the membership.
The decision was also not announced to members until AFTER the committee had been re-elected for the coming year.
Chartered surveyor Terry Davis, who has taken over from Roy as chairman, said that he had been appointed project manager for the footpath just a few months previously. Having examined the scheme in detail he had advised it should not go ahead.
He said: Disabled access regulations required that the path should be two metres wide, constructed of a firm, permanent surface and for safety reasons have handrails, ramps and decking constructed along some sections. In addition, if we were to follow the existing footpath, a large number of mature trees would need to be felled.
In a presentation made with the committee member Catherine Kenny, he said he had looked at an alternative route higher up the valley where the path was not narrowed by mature trees, but said that although the path could be laid with grasscrete, which could ostensibly retain the appearance of the meadow, wear on the path would inevitably result in a visible track being forged. He also said that revised estimates of the costs of such a project had risen to in excess of £90,000.
This explanation was somewhat undermined by the earlier report of the outgoing treasurer David Scrivener that the Association was currently sitting on £63,000 in cash in the bank of its own money, aside from the Lottery money.
One member questioned how the project had suddenly become more expensive, surely the Lottery Fund had required robust figures to begin with?
Mr Davis then confessed that the submitted estimates had been based on very rough generalised cost figures for footpaths that he had given Roy.
He said: At that time I didnt know the route that was being proposed. I didnt walk the valley. I didnt take an awful lot of interest at that time.
Mr Davis said the footpath project was probably ill-conceived and possibly quite amateurish.
He said: Rather than push on and cock it up completely, weve decided to call a halt.
When challenged why the decision had been taken by the committee, who were officially due to retire the next day, instead of leaving the question for members to decide, it was said that the committee was elected by members to make decisions.
He said: If we left it to the members, we could have been arguing over it for four or five hours and still not got anywhere.
It was clear that a large number of the 50-odd LAA members in the audience were pleased to see the footpath abandoned, although the chairman did not conduct a proper vote on the issue.
However, it may have been that a large number of LAA members who would have supported the continuance of the footpath project did not attend because they were misled into believing that the project was going ahead.
At this point we apologise to our members for reassurances that we made in good faith to this effect in our last newsletter, issued only a week ago.
The notice of Loose Amenities AGM was contained in the September edition of their newsletter Loose Leaves. That contained the following:
The main project the committee has currently running is the Footpath, for which we were granted £57,000 from the Lottery Fund run by Meridian Television. The Countryside Act allows us to continue with the work already commenced at the start of the year, in compliance with the planning permission we received from Maidstone Borough Council. We have appointed a project manager, Terry Davis, to oversee the new footpath work. He resides in the village and has vast knowledge and expertise in this field of work, which is of great value to everyone connected to this work being undertaken. This project is large and time consuming for those volunteers involved ...
With the new footpath project being undertaken to provide a beautiful safe area for walkers to experience, we aren't going to buy replacement cows in the foreseeable future .
We would like to see the footpath project completed and enjoyed by all by the Summer of 2010.
VCS chairman Bryn Cornwell said after the meeting: Quite apart from being angry that the footpath is not going ahead, Im worried how this will affect VCS and any other groups in the Loose Valley that want to apply for lottery grants.
Were all going to get tarred with the same brush. No-ones going to look favourably on grant bids from this area anymore.
They havent done the locality any favours, and they effectively took that money away from someone else.
Loose beat a project from the village of Minster in the televised play-offs. Minster had hoped to renovate some public toilets, add showers and picnic tables nearby to create a rest area for cyclists and hikers in a popular tourist spot. On Friday the Minster project manager Roy Wade confirmed that after losing to LAA they had not been able to go ahead because of a lack of funding.
Buy your tickets now
PLEASE order your tickets for Beauty and the Beast asap. The show this Saturday will be our last show before Christmas.
There is one change to our normal routine. We have been advised by the theatre company this week that they wish to perform in the round ie in the body of the hall and not on stage.
Unfortunately this means that there will not be room for us to set out tables this time.
You are still welcome to bring your own drinks and nibbles, but it will be less convenient for you to do so.
The hall has disabled access and a large car park.
Work party: A reminder that the work party meets every Tuesday. For times and location, call Bryn on 01622 746514.
Membership
OUR current membership stands at 467, some way short of 2008s end-of-year total of 511. We would like to match that figure if we can. If you can persuade neighbours, friends or family to sign up we would be most grateful. Those registering in the last two months of this year given 2010 membership for free.
MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION 2009/2010
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Name: 1) ........ ..
2) ....... ...................... .......
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Signature(s)
Membership is £2 per year (or 50p for young people aged 14 to 18). Send your application form and your cheque made payable to Valley Conservation Society to:
Colin Holman, Membership Secretary, Flat 3, The Manor,
Hayle Place, Cripple Street, MAIDSTONE, ME15 6DW
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If you are able to play an active role in the Society, tick the box you are interested in:
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Printed and published by Alan Smith, Bockingford House, Cripple Street, Maidstone, ME15 6DN.