Home » BMRA » News Archive » January 2018 Newsletter
BADGERS MOUNT RESIDENTS' ASSOCIATION
BMRA Online Newsletters
JANUARY 2018
There are approx. 4 newsletters
published each year.
View Badgers Mount NEWS ARCHIVE
Browse or search 17 years of local news...
View
LATEST NEWSLETTER
12/2/2018
UPDATE
Committee changes.
Useful contacts and information about the Care Home development on the old
Fox's Garage / Elite Motors site on the A224 Orpington Bypass.
Let the
BMRA know if you have any problems or feedback.
READ
MORE...
BMRA Newsletter - Winter 2017/2018
The recent cold snap was made worse by a leaking
water-pipe on Badgers Road near the junction with the A224 Orpington Bypass and
a lack of road salt in the nearby bin. The Parish Council have asked KCC to
refill the salt bin and Thames Water have repaired the pipe, so here’s hoping
we’ll have fewer unplanned skids in the future.
PLANNING
New Care Home. Works are proceeding on schedule and a monthly update from
the Project Manager is published on the village website
www.badgersmount.net. Let the BMRA
Secretary or a BMRA committee member know if you want a paper copy and we will
provide it. A letter was circulated before Christmas outlining the agreed
complaints procedure should you be affected by site traffic. You can complain
directly to the site manager, Steve Wheeler on 07500 803095 or by e-mail at
steve@lawrencebaker.co.uk In all cases, give the time, date and place of the
problem; please also let the BMRA know via e-mail or phone. The BMRA
co-ordinator is Will Withecombe, e-mail
wwithecombe.bmra@gmail.com or the BMRA
Chairman, chairman.bmra@gmail.com or phone 0777 336 3147. We need to maintain a
log of all problems which will be invaluable in fighting our corner in any
future disputes.
Sevenoaks District Council future development plans
The
Broke Hill Golf Course land opposite Knockholt Station has reportedly been sold
and is understood to have been submitted to SDC for consideration for
development for housing. Whilst this site is not in Badgers Mount Parish, any
development will significantly affect us. Our Parish Council (PC) is talking to
Halstead PC, and SDC should announce their proposals for consultation sometime
this Summer.
Jenkins Neck
Woods
This is the area of woodland between the M25 Motorway and the fields to
the East of Highland Road. SDC propose to sell this area off in order to
maximise the return on their assets. The Residents Association believes that
this woodland provides a barrier to noise and pollution from the M25 and should
desirably be retained as it is; however, the asking price appears to be
unaffordable by our community. The PC has written formally to SDC and we
understand that their position will be set out in the next Parish Newsletter.
ROAD SAFETY
The Care Home Site Cabins have been positioned with the
agreement of Kent Highways Department, although you might wonder about their
map-reading skills given that they block crucial lines of sight for pedestrians
crossing the Orpington Bypass from the direction of Old London Road.
The
safest course is to use the road island near Christie’s Avenue when crossing the
road. A few years ago, there was a fatal accident near here due to blocked lines
of sight; let’s not suffer another casualty.
Parents – perhaps you could
persuade your school buses to pick up and drop off further South along the road
towards Sevenoaks in order to avoid children being tempted to cross at the Care
Home site.
ROADS
The Queen's Highway or Not? There is a belief by
some residents in Badgers Mount that the people who live 'On the Mount' ie in
Badgers Road, Johnsons Avenue, Highland Road and Milton Avenue are somehow - the
words sometimes heard are - "privileged and living in a Farnborough Park".
Yes we are privileged, but all of Badgers Mount residents are privileged as
we all live in a beautiful Hamlet.
The only difference between the
residents is that the upper roads are narrow with very limited on road parking
and the residents have to maintain the grass verges and pay for the upkeep of
the road surfaces themselves. There is no council tax reduction for this. It
could be said they pay more for less, but we all live in a great place, Badgers
Mount.
Unfortunately, as we've mentioned before, with regard to roads
there is a continual and ever growing problem of on-road car and van parking,
together with increased heavy goods traffic. We would therefore repeat our
request that wherever possible, could all residents please park your vehicles
within your property and not on the roads and that where this is not possible,
could we ask you to please take care where you park, ie avoid parking opposite
or across neighbour's driveways, close to junctions and in the case of Old
London Road, and Orpington By Pass on the pavements or grass verges.
For
residents undertaking any building works, wherever possible, all workforce vans
and trucks should be parked within the property curtilage and for those living
on the upper roads, could we ask that you and your contractors request
deliveries be made in smaller vehicles. Most merchants and supply companies
operate alternative size vehicles. Small is good. The manoeuvring of the very
large and long vehicles on the upper roads is causing damage to the road
surfaces and invariably the grass verges as well. The offending trucks then just
drive away leaving the bill for the repair and maintenance of their damage to be
picked up by all the contributing residents to the Road Maintenance Fund.
Badgers Mount is a beautiful place to live; let's hope we can all help to
keep it so.
F M CONWAY UPDATE
The BMRA representative and a
resident continue to meet regularly with both the site and management personnel
to discuss any local issues or concerns raised by residents concerning FM Conway
operations
We would remind all residents that in accordance with Health
and Safety rules, FM Conway will not tolerate any of their staff making any loud
noises (eg tailgate banging). So if you hear these, please inform the BMRA with
the date and time.
PARISH COUNCIL
Defibrillator. The PC has
recently purchased a defibrillator which is kept in a cabinet by the Memorial
Hall entrance. It is available in emergency by dialling 999; the operator will
provide the key code to open the cabinet. An Awareness afternoon has been
organised for Saturday February 3rd; see page 3 for details.
Parish
Councillor Vacancy. Following a recent resignation, there will be an election
for the resulting vacancy. It is understood that formal notice will be posted by
January 18th; potential candidates then have until January 26th to submit their
candidature to the Returning Officer at SDC and the election will be held on
Thursday February 22nd. If only 1 candidate appears, they will be deemed to be
elected without an election.
Parish Council Clerk. The Parish Council
Clerk has recently resigned. The full vacancy details will be published soon.
The post is paid and mentoring can be organised for inexperienced applicants.
WHEATSHEAF HILL FOOTPATH
The footpath up Wheatsheaf Hill has had to
be diverted at its upper (Roundabout) end. A revised map is on the last page of
this Newsletter.
SUBSCRIPTIONS
BMRA subscriptions are now due and
Committee members will be calling to collect them whilst they deliver your
Newsletter. Your subscription also includes the Neighbourhood Watch scheme.
There has been no increase – single occupancy dwellings are £2, otherwise £4 per
dwelling.
SOCIAL EVENTS
Congratulations to Zena for a very
successful wine-tasting evening last November. 24 people tasted 12 different
wines in 4 categories with amusing and entertaining facts being bandied about.
BADGERS MOUNT WOMENS INSTITUTE
Badgers Mount Women's Institute (WI)
Invite you to join them for a friendly afternoon with interesting speakers and
always tea and cakes. Meetings are held in the Badgers Mount Memorial Hall on
the second Wednesday of every month at 2pm. We offer a warm welcome to new
members and visitors. We also meet for Knit and Natter at 2pm on the last
Wednesday of the month at the Memorial Hall.
2018 WI Programme
14
February. Bermondsey and Rotherhithe Villages - Lesley Broster
11 March.
Working in Wardrobe - Sheila Farmer
11 April. Medical Detection Dogs
- Sharon Lynn
9 May. Annual Meeting
13 June. Garden Outing
11 July. It’s Your Duty to be Beautiful - Anna Astin
8 August.
In-house
12 September. Silks and Cottons of India - Julia Davies
10 October. ‘Shhhh It’s a Secret’ - Rod Leeming
14 November.
Seasonal Flower Arranging - Maureen Evans
12 December. Christmas
Celebrations
Contact: Liz Drysdale (01689 853865) or Lesley Salmon
lesleysalmon55@aol.com
Defibrillator Awareness
afternoon
Saturday February 3rd, 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Badgers Mount Memorial Hall
If your heart stops
beating, you have only a few minutes before oxygen starvation turns your brain
into a vegetable or you die. A defibrillator is designed to re-start a stopped
heart. You have probably seen it used in medical dramas where a medic applies a
couple of paddles to the casualty and shouts ‘Clear!’
The defibrillator
we now have is a fool-proof device for use by untrained people. It provides
instructions for use, but prior knowledge and awareness of the device will
minimise confusion and delay if you ever have to use it ‘for real’. It will only
give a shock to the patient if it is necessary. Our Parish Council have bought
one and it has been installed in a weatherproof cabinet outside the front door
of the Memorial Hall. We will be holding a first aid awareness event to
introduce you to the defibrillator, and other light-hearted first aid type
activities. Soup and a roll will be available at a nominal cost and this event
will be suitable for all the family.
If there are any qualified first
aiders who would like to help run this event please contact Zena on 01959534566
or via email at socialevents.bmra@gmail.com or Dave Woledge at
dave_eileenwoledge@yahoo.co.uk
THINK – YOU COULD LEARN HOW TO SAVE A
LIFE
Wheatsheaf Hill Footpath
BMRA CONTACT DETAILS
Full contact details on the BMRA Committee page.
NEWSLETTERS
News Archive - started Summer 2000 17 years of archived local news.
Local businesses supporting the Badgers Mount website:
Please visit these local businesses who support this website.