Home » BMRA » News Archive » July 2018 Newsletter

BADGERS MOUNT RESIDENTS' ASSOCIATION

UPDATE 3/9/18

Sevenoaks District Council - Draft Local Plan Consultation
The Badgers Mount Residents' Association wish to formally record the following observations and comments relating to the various sections of the Draft Local Plan which specifically affect the residents of Badgers Mount. Obviously we cannot speak for every resident, but from our local discussions and communications, we believe we speak for the majority...
 
Read the full BMRA response (PDF)

UPDATE 29/7/18

KCC Rural Transport Public Consultation
"We want to find out if there is an innovative and sustainable way of providing transport to rural communities in Kent and we want to explore our ideas with you".

The consultation will run from 13th June to 8th August 2018

Complete the Kent County Council questionnaire: www.kent.gov.uk/bigconversation

BMRA Newsletter - Summer 2018

Giraffes in Badgers Mount? No, just the Care Home contractors using a crane to move building elements around. The building schedule has been delayed by the earlier extreme weather and they have asked if we – the residents – mind if they do some weekend work to catch up. Please contact the BMRA secretary – e-mail above – if you have any comments, either for or against. The contractors have promised to minimise noise should we agree to this extra work. A detailed summary of progress and pictures of their work over the last few months can be found at: www.badgersmount.net/care-home.htm


Sevenoaks District Council (SDC) Local Development Plan

Many of you will have seen from the Sevenoaks Chronicle that SDC has published its list of possible future housing sites. In Badgers Mount, there is the potential for 66 new houses in the area of the Calcutta Club restaurant, the Polhill Business Centre and the woodland behind them; and 190 new houses on the F M Conway site directly to the South. At present, these are possibilities and may not actually be built, but if all of these proceed then Badgers Mount would roughly double in size.
On the edges of Badgers Mount but in Halstead Parish, possible developments include 21 units on land West of the Polhill roundabout – originally a plant Nursery, now disused; 50 units at Oak Tree Farm just beyond the Polhill Garden Centre on the other (Western) side of the road; an additional 300 houses on top of previous plans for the Fort Halstead site and around 800 more on the Broke Hill Farm site opposite Knockholt Station. These sites would roughly quadruple the size of Halstead.
This is a draft plan of where development might take place up to 2035, and planners can only decide on hard facts including constraints such as Green Belt, Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), the infrastructure and transport needed to support the additional population and so on. Details will be in the SDC In Shape newsletter due to be delivered to every house on (or just after) 16 July. Consultation on these and other proposals will take place between 16 July and 10 September. This will be your chance to make your views heard.

[SEE PLANNING PAGE FOR 'LOCAL PLAN' LINKS]

HELP NEEDED!

For all of us who live in Badgers Mount ''WE HAVE A PROBLEM''. At the recent AGM of the Residents Association - which was attended by only around 40 residents - we regrettably ended up with much reduced Committee and no Chair or Vice Chair. The remaining committee members are continuing to run the Association as best as they can in order to protect our small hamlet, but with the continued bombardment of development, increased traffic, reduced public services, etc, not to mention Sevenoaks District Council's proposal for well in excess of 1000 new houses and commercial developments within a 2 mile radius of our community, we need more help and support from residents. It’s not all bad news – we welcome 2 new members to the RA committee, but we still need more.

New Secretary – Gill Johnston: I was born in Badgers Mount and have lived here virtually all my life. I attended the local village school, married ‘a local lad’ in St. Margaret’s and live in Rosemount. There are many recollections of my late father (Bert Smith) spending numerous years serving on the Parish Council and the Badgers Mount Residents Association both of which served the community well in resolving the many local issues, large and small that arose throughout the course of every year. This worthwhile tradition must continue so that our small community can have a bigger voice and for this reason I recently joined the BMRA as Secretary. I feel that it is most important that the BMRA work closely alongside the Parish Council to ensure that Badgers Mount remains a lovely, safe and friendly place to live in the heart of our beautiful Kentish countryside.


New Member – Cathy Southwood: Having lived in Badgers Mount for sixteen years I retired from full time work a few years ago and have found myself with a little spare time. I have also been able to appreciate what a beautiful part of the country we live in and realise that we all have a responsibility to help keep it beautiful and to build a vibrant community. Therefore, I decided to join the Neighbourhood Watch group and the Residents Association. I have found the existing members have made me feel very welcome and I look forward to being involved in some fun community activities, participate in maintaining our lovely surroundings and helping to convey the voice of the residents on local issues.


Local Clean-up

Many thanks to all those who participated in the recent litter clean-up at the end of April. We are hoping to arrange strimming around the paths and bus-shelters in the next month or two as these areas are getting overgrown, but the timing depends on obtaining support from SDC for collection of the cuttings.


Social Events

Following on from the successful wine tasting events, we are looking at running a beer tasting evening. This will please non-wine drinkers, however before planning this new and exciting event, we need an indication of numbers interested because the organisers would look rather lonely and a bit inebriated if no one turned up for the barrels of beer!. Please can you email Zena at socialevents.bmra@gmail.com just to register an interest. We would also be keen to hear from anyone who has held one of these events before, outside of a pub or a brewery, for ideas as to how they have seen it done!

We are planning to hold a third wine tasking evening in November, where we take a tour through sparkling, white, rose and red wines, more social than formal and certainly not serious! Look out for the date.

We are always looking for new events that would appeal to our community so please get in touch if you think there is an event or an idea of something new or different. For example, is there enough interest to run an open garden walk about?


New Data Regulations

The government have introduced new regulations covering the electronic acquisition and storage of personal data. Any organisation that holds personal data must make it clear what data is held and how it is used. You have the legal right to see all of your data and to remove or correct any part or all of your data.
The BMRA holds data on house names and occupiers. This data is held for the purpose of allocating Newsletter deliveries to committee members and keeping track of subscriptions on a paper copy only. We do not share this data with any other organisation or body. If you wish to see your data, please contact the Association secretary – e-mail secretary.bmra@gmail.com

BMRA CONTACT DETAILS

Full contact details on the BMRA Committee page.

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