Valley Conservation Society

Holder of the KCC Award for Volunteering Excellence

Supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund

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­­­­­MEMBERS’ NEWSLETTER  No 94                                                               _           December 2008

Well done

Roy!

THE Loose Amenities Association has secured a Peoples’ Millions Lottery Grant after a televised play-off against a competing conservation project from Minster. Well done Roy and a big thank you to everyone who took the time to vote for Loose.

LAA will use the £57,000 to improve the one-mile stretch of public footpath through the Loose Valley, from Brickfield Cottage at Kirkdale to Great Ivy Mill.

Although many walkers enjoy the path throughout the year, stout boots are needed in the winter because the footpath often becomes muddy and waterlogged.

The upgrade will involve laying a foundation of hardcore beneath the path and then turfing over the top, and installing drainage.

This will leave the Valley with its green look, but should enable the path to be used in all weathers. The stile at Great Ivy that has prevented access to the disabled and families with pushchairs will be replaced by a more accessible gate.

At present, the grant will not extend to improving the path up to the “40 Steps” – so called because there were once 40 steps leading up the Valley side, although now you may count 72. But who knows, that may come later.

LAA worked hard to secure their vote, but their chairman and founder Roy Hood, 78, said there was much more hard work to do now.

Under the terms of the grant, the project has to be completed within a year, and since the first stage will be clearing the scrub and felling some trees close to the line of the path, much of the work has to be done before the spring mating season.

Meanwhile, back on the ranch

YOUR Society is pressing ahead with its own conservation projects. We have taken delivery of a batch of Siltex, which we will use to break up the high levels of silt in the Reeds and Lower Crisbrook millponds.

Silt, the thick mud at the bottom of the ponds, is a mix of organic matter, sand and clay. It forms when the micro-organisms that normally feed on the organic matter are no longer present, due to low oxygen levels or increased acidity. Siltex is a chemical that releases oxygen and counters the acidity, creating the conditions for the micro-organisms to flourish and do their job – eating the silt.

We hope this will be a more environmentally friendly way of clearing the silt that has accumulated over the decades than either jetting it out with a high pressure hose – which simply pushes the problem on to someone else, or digging it out, with the consequent problems of disposal. Walkers through the Valley may observe a milky discolouration to the water for a couple of days, but this is temporary and not harmful to the fish. This method has been recommended to us by the Environment Agency.

Bryn would like to express his thanks to John Smith, David Hill and Tony Day who helped him unload one ton of Siltex from the delivery lorry at short notice.

Ahead of the Siltex distribution, the work party cleared fallen branches and weed from around the edge of Redwood Island in the Lower Crisbrook pond to encourage a faster flow of water.

A local restaurateur has also been helping – by harvesting the water-cress to serve up to diners.

The first batch of Siltex was then distributed across the top pond, using waders and the VCS boat. The second pond will be treated this week.

The work party has also taken delivery of 25 saplings of mixed native trees, including alder, beech, birch, hazel, hornbeam, oak and mountain ash, which will be planted along the northern boundary of the ponds, close to the Mount Ararat path.

*If anyone would like to join Bryn and the team for an hour or two on any Tuesday, the boys would be delighted with some assistance. Call Bryn on 01622 746514 for when and where to meet.

Chalkfoot return

THE Chalkfoot Theatre Company, who members may recall presented us with their version of The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists in October last year, return this March to give us their dramatized interpretation of The Riddle of the Sands.

Based on the exciting book by Erskine Childers – perhaps you saw the 1979 film, featuring Michael York – the story is often described as the first modern espionage thriller.

Chalkfoot manage to combine edge-of-the seat suspense with humour in a story of sailing and spying set shortly before the Great War…

Tickets are available at the advance price of  £8 for adults and £4 for children and are on sale now from 01622 751926. Tickets bought on the door and in the last week before the show will cost  £10 and £5.

Summerhouse

DAVID Knight, the owner of the Bockingford Stables, has been granted permission to add a summerhouse extension to an existing building at the foot of his garden at Bockingford Mill Cottages. Details can be viewed on the MBC website under MA/08/2031.

Joy goes green

JOY Creasey of The Headrace has agreed to be our second representative, along with Jim Williams, on the River Medway Green Spaces Group.

New Line Learning

ABOUT 50 residents attended a meeting at the Loose Baptist Church on November 25 to hear details of the building plans for the new school that is to replace Oldborough Manor.

Representatives from the builders, Carillion, assured residents they would do their best to minimise any disruption to the neighbourhood during the two and a half years of construction.

The builders had been planning to create a temporary site access that would have involved the felling of 40 trees, but it now seems that an alternative might be possible involving the loss of a smaller number of trees.

The builders are likely to submit a new application to fell those trees, which are the subject of a tree preservation order, shortly.

As a result of a personal campaign by South Ward councillor Ian Chittenden, Kent Highways officers have already carried out a pre-construction inspection of Boughton Lane, and the developers will be required to repair any defects caused during the building process.

Conservation Areas

MAIDSTONE contains 41 designated Conservation Areas. Each should have both a Conservation Area Appraisal and a Management Plan.

To date, only six appraisals and one management plan have been completed.

In August, the council set out its timetable for dealing with the remaining 35 appraisals and 40 management plans.

It includes appraisals for Bearsted, Bearsted Holy Cross, Leeds Upper Street, Ashford Road and Boughton Monchelsea Green in the year 2009/2010. And for Staplehurst, Yalding, Boxley, Boughton Monchelsea Quarries and Boughton Monchelsea Cock Street for the year 2010 to 2011.

We are pleased to see Bougton Monchelsea is on the list, but we wonder what happened to Loose Valley? When a similar timetable was set out by the council back in September 2004, Loose Valley was in the “Priority Group 2” for appraisal, and ahead of Boughton Monchelsea Quarries and Cock Street, which were both in Priority Group 3.

Appalachian Roots

THERE were mixed reactions to our show on November 22. Riley Baugus and Ira Bernstein clearly had a strong fan base – people came from Dartford, Gravesend, Tonbridge and Dover to see them. We sold out two weeks before the show and people were still trying to buy tickets on the day. Half the audience thought the performers were “magic” and “wonderful”, others felt they should have stayed in North Carolina. It seems you can’t please everyone.

However, the evening was one of our best money-spinners. The event raised more than £400 for the Society, even without a raffle.

Loose Valley Conservation Area Partnership

      THE next meeting of the partnership will be at 7.30pm on Wednesday, 17 December, at the Swiss Scout HQ in Pickering Street. The partnership has obtained information boards that will shortly be erected at Great Ivy and in Loose village. Details from Ann King on 01622 682903.

Pipkin here to stay

ONE of the Government’s latest fine-sounding initiatives – “the Neighbourhood Agenda” – suggests there should be more “localism”.

The theory is that communities and their elected representatives should have more leeway is determining council projects in their own area. Initially there was some optimism – since the leader of Kent County Council, Cllr Paul Carter, seemed quite in favour of the idea - that this might provide a way of side-stepping the much maligned Pipkin process – the evaluation procedure by which Kent Highways decides which road schemes should go ahead (or rather in most people’s experience which should not go ahead.)

However, the man in charge of Kent Highways policy, Cllr Keith Ferrin, has made it clear that Pipkin is here to stay. He said: "The fact is there are four times as many projects that people would like to see done as there is money to do them. There has to be some system to allocate priorities, if not Pipkin, some other system - unless someone wants to give me four times the budget."

Cllr Ferrin was critical of the concept of "localism". He said: "It sounds like a good idea, but I don’t think people agree what it is. What is a neighbourhood? Is it a town? Is it a village? Is it perhaps an interest group, like the local golf club?

"It’s a concept that’s being thrown around without any definition.

"At the end of the day, one section of the community is not isolated from another. You must look at the implications for the wider area.

"A road closure might be welcomed in one community, but might have serious adverse effects for the next village down the road.

"I agree that we need to give local (KCC) councillors more influence than they have at the moment, but allowing 74 members to make spending decisions is simply impractical."

*Pipkin stands for Prioritising Investment Programmes for Kent’s Integrated Network. It has been criticised by many communities seeking small highways improvements because it is difficult to gain a sufficiently high ranking for schemes unless there has already been a history of serious injury accidents or deaths at the spot.

Take a butchers

A NEW butchers shop has opened in a stone barn at the rear of the Albion pub in Boughton Monchelsea. Many people will recognise the butcher, Lee Mace, who previously worked in Sendles at Coxheath. Lee is selling meat only from Kent and East Sussex and there is also a stall selling fresh vegetables actually grown in Boughton Monchelsea. This is a fantastic initiative from the new owner of the Albion, Alister Russell, and we urge members to give the venture their support. The shop will be open from 9.30am to 6pm Monday to Saturday, and from 10am to 3pm on Sunday.

*The last butchers shop in Boughton Monchelsea, Goodwins, closed 38 years ago.

YMCA

MEMBERS may be surprised at the slow rate of progress being made at the former YMCA site off Melrose Close, where not even all the old buildings have yet been demolished. However, this has not stopped Bryant Homes from advertising the new houses at “Kings Walk” for sale.

An advert has appeared in local papers inviting the purchase of  “The Rothay – a two-bedroom coach house” for £149,995 where you can enjoy “the rolling Kent countryside.”

Encouraging crime statistics

MEMBERS have been whispering that there seems to have been less crime and vandalism in the Valley in recent months – “whispering” because no-one wanted to jinx the situation.

Now it seems that anecdotal evidence has been confirmed. Kent Police have published a crime map – where you can see exactly how much crime is going on in your neighbourhood. The figures indicate that South Ward, Loose and Boughton Monchelsea have all seen an overall fall in crime for the past year, as follows:

Summary for South Ward

Summary for Loose

Summary for Boughton Monchelsea and Chart Sutton

*To see the figures for yourself, visit www.kent.police.uk/crimestats/?district=Maidstone

Hayle Place

WE have heard that MBC has managed to get Aaron Stone, the owner of the Hayle Place Stud Farm, to sign the 106 agreement that accompanied their grant of planning permission for the redevelopment of the Stud Farm. This legal agreement should set in motion the facility for the creation of a nature reserve at the site, although whether the project will go ahead in the near future with the current climate in the housing market remains uncertain.

Membership renewal

IT IS that time of year when we must ask members to renew their membership. Subscription fees remain unchanged at £2 for full members or 50p for associate members (those aged 14 to 18).

Please complete and return the membership application form overleaf.

(Those who paid to join in November or December are deemed to have already paid for 2009.)

Website

YOU can visit the Society’s website on www.valleyconservation.org.uk

You can email the chairman on bryncornwell@yahoo.co.uk or phone him on 01622 746514.

Annual meeting

THE Society’s annual general meeting will be hold on Valentine’s Day, Saturday, 14 February, at 10am at the Eling Court Community Centre off Hilden Shaw on the Broadoak estate.

One of the chief items on the agenda will be the election of a new executive committee for 2009.

Under the terms of our constitution, all existing executive committee members will stand down, although they make seek re-election. The format is that Members will be asked to vote by a show of hands first on the appointment of the officers of the Society: the Chairman, Vice Chairman, Treasurer and Secretary. The meeting will then elect up to, but no more than, eight other members to sit on the executive committee.

Any full member (ie those over 18) is entitled to stand for office, but the Secretary must receive nominations in writing no less than 14 days before the AGM, ie by 10am on Saturday, January 31, 2009. No nominations can be taken at the meeting.

Only those who have renewed their membership for 2009 will be allowed to vote or to stand for office.

If you wish to nominate a member for the committee, please check that they are willing to stand first. It is also permissible for a member to nominate him- or herself. It is NOT necessary to obtain a seconder. Send your nominations to The Secretary, Valley Conservation Society, Bockingford House, Cripple Street, Maidstone, Kent, ME15 6DN

Meanwhile, anyone considering standing might like to attend the January executive committee meeting in order to get a feel for what their duties might involve. See below:

Next committee

ALL meetings of the Society are open to all members to attend. The next meeting of the executive committee will be on Wednesday, January 7.  We will meet at Bockingford House, Cripple Street, Maidstone, starting at 7.30pm. Call 746514 for directions.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Valley Conservation Society

doing nothing is not an option

MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION 2009

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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:

Leaflet delivery                                  work parties                           fund-raising

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Printed and published by Alan Smith, Bockingford House, Cripple Street, Maidstone, ME15 6DN.