|
 Severe weather - advice and changes to refuse
collections
Information from the Sevenoaks District Council
website is
available here
SDC also use their Twitter account to publish
updates and advice - latest Tweets are displayed
below
October BMRA Newsletter
As many of you will be aware, Myra Marshall, a long
standing BMRA Committee member, sadly passed away in July 2012. Myra’s
contributions to the BMRA will be greatly missed and we extend our
sympathy to her family and friends.
COMMITTEE NEWS
Road Safety Appeal
The BMRA share the concerns of residents over the safety of the main
roads through Badgers Mount following the tragic accidents recently on the
A224 Orpington Bypass and the Old London Road. We therefore, set up a
working party to prepare a Report on the speed and safety issues of these
roads. Sue Wyatt, BMRA committee member and Eric Raven, former BMRA
Chairperson reviewed the situation on our behalf. Eric has extensive
professional knowledge of road use, and we were very fortunate to be able
to call upon his specialist knowledge in this instance. We would also like
to thank all residents who signed the Petition to support the campaign.
The BMRA have campaigned for many years to improve the safety of these
roads and will continue to do so until KCC implement suitable measures. We
send our thanks to the residents who contributed information for our
report. On the 28th September the report and petition were handed to our
KCC Councillor, Roger Gough for presentation to the Highways Department.
A copy of the appeal was also sent to our MP, Michael Fallon. Mr Fallon
has responded by indicating that he will be raising BMRA suggestions with
Cllr Bryan Sweetland, Cabinet Member for Environment, Highways and Waste,
KCC.
We will keep you updated on any response from KCC or
Michael Fallon, MP as and when we hear anything.
If you have
any information about safety issues on these two roads and would like to
discuss anything further on them with Eric, please contact him via email:
wiseowl1959@aol.com
Road Safety appeal
Elite Motors (formerly Fox’s Garage)
This site is currently undergoing a makeover! We wish the company success
with this and look forward to seeing the new façade shortly.
Entertainment
Christmas Quiz Night – 07.12.12
*CANCELLED*
Following the success of our last Quiz Night and requests for another, we
are holding a Christmas themed quiz on FRIDAY, 7TH DECEMBER in the
Memorial Hall starting at 8.p.m. This will be held instead of the carols
evening which seemed to have declining popularity. We realise that
Christmas is coming and you have lots of expenses so we have limited the
cost of tickets to £5 per person.
Tickets are now available
at Coffee Mornings or from Gordon (534279). Nibbles will be provided but
please bring your own drink and glasses. Teams will consist of 6-8 people.
Do not be put off if you cannot form a complete table team, we will put
smaller groups together on the night.
New Year’s Eve
Disco
It has been decided to hold a disco to ring in the
New Year in the Memorial Hall. Please support this event otherwise we will
have to reconsider providing such entertainment in the future. Book early
to avoid disappointment! Tickets will cost £8 each (adults and children
over 14 only). This will include a buffet supper but once again, please
bring your own drink and glasses. Tickets available as per the Quiz Night
but these must be PAID FOR in advance of the night so that we can finalise
numbers for catering purposes.
Badgers Mount Ladies
Night
Do you fancy getting together once a month for
a "girls night" in Badgers Mount. Women who live in Badgers Mount will
have the opportunity to meet and socialise with other ladies who live
here. It’s a bit like a coffee morning but in the evening and probably
with drinks as well as coffee!
The first meeting will be THURSDAY,
25TH OCTOBER 2012 8.00pm in Badgers Mount Memorial Hall. Put the date in
your diary and come along, totally informal; no agenda, no minutes and no
discussion topics. We will meet on the 4th Thursday of each month
thereafter. Contact Zena Belton on 01959 534566 for further information.
SHOREHAM PARISH COUNCIL
Bus
Shelters & Noticeboards
The new shelter in Old
London Road provided by SPC was installed a few weeks ago. We hope this
will make waiting for buses much more pleasant for our residents.
Sadly the two noticeboards in the wooden bus shelters have been vandalised
by what looks like someone punching their fist through them. This is a
completely senseless act which serves no purpose. Damage has also occurred
recently in the wooden shelter near to the Millennium sign. Remember that
you paid for these originally, and you will pay for the repairs through
your Council Tax!!
SPC have provided a new noticeboard at the
junction of Charles Road/Highland Road. Please feel free to publicise
local events on this.
Neighbourhood Plan
Badgers Mount
will shortly make a start on writing a Neighbourhood Plan in conjunction
with Shoreham Parish Council. Our section will be part of a Plan for the
whole Shoreham Parish Council area. The Plan will eventually replace the
Shoreham Parish Plan published in 2005. Neighbourhood Plans are unique in
that once they have been ratified, they are legally binding. It is
therefore in our interests to document exactly what we want for Badgers
Mount.
If you are interested in assisting with compiling the
Neighbourhood Plan, please contact Tracey (01959 534471 or
traceybmdefence@hotmail.co.uk) as soon as possible so that you can
join the Working Party for this. No experience is needed, although if you
did help out on the Shoreham Parish Plan back in 2004/2005, we could
really do with your experience. We want people from all sections of the
community e.g. young, old, middle aged, residential, commercial to help us
with this. Everyone will need to be involved as we have to be sure we get
the views of the majority of residents. Once the Plan is written and
approved by SDC, it will need to be approved by the community at a
Referendum in 2015.
A NEW PARISH COUNCIL FOR BADGERS MOUNT IN 2015!
The Electoral Arrangements Committee of Sevenoaks District Council has
recommended that Badgers Mount should form its own Parish Council. This
has been a long held vision of some of the residents. The Shoreham Parish
Plan identified in 2005 that 55% of Badgers Mount residents were in favour
of having their own independent Parish Council, as opposed to the 14% who
indicated they did not want to split from SPC. Sevenoaks District Council
started to conduct a district-wide Community Governance Review late last
year, and this provided Badgers Mount residents with the opportunity to
voice their opinion on this matter.
You will recall that the BMRA
undertook a ‘snapshot poll’ at the beginning of 2012 to gather the current
stance on this. A significant majority of those that responded were in
favour of independence. The BMRA sent the poll results to SDC, along with
evidence of all the literature we had provided to residents at the public
meetings to assist them in making such a momentous decision. The matter
was put before the Members of their Electoral Arrangements Committee and
it was agreed that the community should therefore be formally consulted on
this matter. The Democratic Services team then wrote to EVERY household
asking for their view. Again, the majority of responses were in favour of
a separate Badgers Mount Parish Council.
SDC took account of your
comments and on the 11th September 2012 the SDC Committee members met
again to consider the evidence. Cllr Grint put forward his positive views
on Badgers Mount having its own Parish Council. The Members then voted in
favour of this happening.
Once up and running, all Parish Council
meetings will be in the Memorial Hall which is far more accessible for
residents and District Councillors. We hope this will mean that people
will be able to participate more easily in local government issues. It
will put Badgers Mount on the ‘Map’ when the Council opens for business in
2015 but there is a lot of work to be done before this can take place!
District Cllr John Grint identified this as what he considered to be
the right way forward in his manifesto of 2007 and this has been something
several previous Badgers Mount Ward Councillors of Shoreham Parish Council
have wanted for decades. A working party completely independent of the
Badgers Mount Residents Association will shortly be formed and will start
work on the formation of the new Council.
If you have experience of
any local government work, perhaps having been a District or Parish
Councillor or Parish Clerk and would like to be part of this fantastic
opportunity to provide Badgers Mount with its own Parish Council, we would
love to hear from you. Please contact Tracey McCartney (01959 534471 or
traceybmdefence@hotmail.co.uk) if you would like to be a part of this
working party. Please respond no later than WEDNESDAY, 7TH NOVEMBER 2012.
It is hoped that the new Parish Council will build good relationships
with neighbouring parishes, and be in a position to enjoy mutual support
in times of need. This is ‘localism’ working within the District.
FM CONWAY LIMITED UPDATE
You may have
heard some loud industrial noises coming from the site recently. This is
the result of the bunkers being demolished. We are regularly in touch with
SDC, KCC and various agencies in relation to this work. To date, we are
advised that this is permitted development.
The
sub-committee are currently working on a Local Government Ombudsman
complaint against SDC regarding their handling of the Lawful Development
Certificate applications for the site. We will keep you informed of
developments in this matter in future newsletters.
The recent
Art Exhibition & sale held for the benefit of the Fighting Fund
unfortunately generated little interest from residents despite extensive
advertising. However, a substantial contribution was donated to the Fund
from the sales that were made – thanks to Dr. Mary Bliss and Noel Wills
for organising this.
The BMRA committee would like to
reassure residents that all monies contributed to the Fighting Fund will,
as promised at the very outset, only be utilised in relation to matters
concerning the former MoD site.
THE SEVENOAKS CHRONICLE
Bob Ogley,
Sevenoaks Chronicle has advised that he will be publishing an article on
Badgers Mount in the October 26th edition of the paper. He would welcome
comments and additional stories from residents to use as follow ups. You
can contact Bob via Editor@Sevenoaks-chronicle.co.uk if you wish to share
any stories with him.
FORTHCOMING POLICE SURGERY
Our
community PCSO, Julie Stoner has agreed to host a police surgery as part
of our weekly coffee morning. This will take place on THURSDAY, 25th
OCTOBER 2012 from 11.00 am. All residents are invited to attend and raise
any concerns or issues that they feel she will be able to help with.
COMMUNITY COFFEE MORNINGS
Please
remember that all residents are welcome to attend the weekly coffee
mornings held in the Memorial Hall on Thursday mornings. These take place
between 10.30 am and 12 noon and everyone is welcome to come along for a
chat over a cup of coffee.
The mobile library calls into the
Hall Car Park on alternate Thursdays between 10.45 and 11.20. Their next
visits are on the 18th October and 1st November 2012.
PARKING RESTRICTIONS IN BADGERS RISE
Following a Consultation, Sevenoaks District Council has decided to
introduce a single yellow line parking restriction in Badgers Rise between
11 am – 12 noon.
Double yellow lines will also be introduced on the
junction of Badgers Rise with Old London Road. We understand that the line
painting will take place shortly.
BONFIRE NIGHT CELEBRATIONS
As Bonfire
Night is fast approaching we would like to remind everyone to take care
with their fireworks and to remember that animals find this a very
frightening time. Please be considerate and try to limit fireworks to
being as close to November the 5th as possible so that animals can enjoy
the freedom of their gardens without fear of being hit by stray fireworks
– thanks.
BULK REFUSE FREIGHTER SERVICE
The
next Bulky refuse collection will take place on SATURDAY, 20TH OCTOBER
2012 between 10.15 and 11.00 am at the junction of Badgers Road and the
Orpington Bypass. Our website has a full listing of dates when the
refuse freighter will attend in Badgers Mount
and also provides details of items that are excluded from this service.
BMRA CONTACT DETAILS
Full contact details on the BMRA Committee
page.
News Archive - started Summer 2000
Local businesses supporting the Badgers Mount Residents' Association website:
|
