Dear Residents,

The news has only just hit us that Gladman Property developers have opened a primary consultation which ends on Wednesday, 1st April (No, it’s not an April fools day joke) to build 55 houses opposite Moorstock Lane in Sellindge. Please go the Consultation board on the Gladman website where you will find the flyer that was distributed around Sellindge today, 28th March, 2019:

http://www.your-views.co.uk/sellindge

With the lockdown now in place to tackle Covid-19, it would appear that Gladman is manouvering to dodge any opposition from local Residents to the proposed scheme. We would suggest that you contact your local Councillors as well as Gladman Developments to vent your opprobrium at such a deplorable attempt to sneak this under the radar at a time when Residents focus is litererally staying alive and caring for loved ones, neighbours and friends.

Councillors details:

Jenny Hollingsbee

Home address: 

Snowdrop

Swan Lane

Sellindge, Ashford

TN25 6EB

Mobile:  07887 918458

Bus. email:  jenny.hollingsbee@folkestone-hythe.gov.uk

 

Susan Carey

Home address: 

North House

116A North Road

Hythe, Kent

CT21 5DY

Phone:  01303 670561

Bus. email:  susan.carey@folkestone-hythe.gov.uk

 

Gladmans reputation precedes them. According to the Daily Mail, Gladman Developments bankrolled farmers seeking permission to build on their fields. Will they stop at nothing or stoop so low to turn a profit?

Just to put you in the picture about Gladman, here’s just a few reviews which are currently in the public domain.

More will follow as things develop.

 

Dear Residents,

In light of the recent Covid-19 pandemic it’s heartening to see that local Parishes are taking the lead in offering local help for local people. Here is just one example of the Parish of Monks Horton taking the initiative and providing a community help line to ease the stress on our elderley and most vulnerable.

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Monks Horton Parish Meeting.

Supporting our local commmunity through the Coronavirus COVID-19 Emergency.

Dear Residents of Monks Horton,

Background

I imagine that each of us is aware of the dreadful Coronavirus COVID-19 that is having such a drastic and tragic impact on almost every country in the World at the moment. The purpose of this message is not to repeat the information nor advice that is available from many official sources but to see what we can do as good neighbours to support each other and to provide
practical help if needed.
Based on the Government advice of today (Tuesday 17 March 2020) it is clear that some members of our community will need to spend at least one or two weeks in social isolation at home and our older, vulnerable and pregnant residents may soon be advised to stay at home and to avoid all social contact for possibly at least 12 weeks. Such limitations on human contact may lead to practical needs, social isolation and emotional upset.

What some of us can do.

We should each try to be conscious of our neighbours’ situations, being particularly aware of those who may be more vulnerable and we should think about whether we are able to offer them any support. Such support could be, for instance:
• making contact with them by a phone call, regularly or now and again: “Hello, how are you – is there anything that you need?”
• perhaps leaving items of medication or shopping on the doorstep,
• or posting their mail.
Such simple acts of thoughtfulness and kindness can make all the difference and can be done
without putting either party at risk. Remember, sadly, this activity may need to continue for some months – it is a long time for people to have no social contact or to feel isolated and lonely.
If each of us is able to make contact in the next day or so with our nearby neighbours, sharing phone numbers and perhaps email addresses, we can get a practical support plan in place in good time as Government introduces these measures. Please see the attached forms.
It would be a sensible idea, where there are clusters of homes, perhaps to agree that one person volunteers to co-ordinate the contact arrangements, trying to make sure that no-one is forgotten.

Useful contacts

Listed below are a number of organisations that are also able to offer assistance in what is going to be a difficult and challenging few weeks.

NHS 111 – Telephone 111 or visit the website https://111.nhs.uk/covid-19

Age UK Hythe and Lyminge – 63 Station Rd, Lyminge, Folkestone CT18 8HQ Telephone 01303 269602 – or email co@ageukhl.org.uk

The Silver Line – the helpline for older people
Call them ANYTIME on: 0800 4 70 80 90 or visit the website https://www.thesilverline.org.uk/

The Silver Line is a free confidential helpline providing information, friendship and advice to older people, open 24 hours a day, every day of the year. They have a page on Coronavirus advice.

Government website

https://www.gov.uk/government/topical-events/coronavirus-covid-19-uk-government-response

Please, try to help. If you have any other ideas about how the community could support itself please contact me Donald Broad Chairman, Monks Horton Parish Meeting 01303 814169.  donald.broad@btinternet.com

Many elderley or vulnerable people may be reluctant to answer the door during these most extraordinary times. May we suggest a simple note through the door similar to the one noted here:

Hello Neighbour…

My name is.. 

I live nearby at…
My phone number is…
My email…
If you would like me to keep in touch with you over the coming weeks of isolation due to the Coronavirus emergency please phone me and let me have your telephone number. You are not alone.

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As for the selfish idiots queing outside supermarkets and stripping the shelves of near everything, our prayers will be for you and your greedy friends, acquaintances and accomplices tonight.

Take good care and may your God go with you.

S&DRA.

The Corporate Director at Folkestone and Hythe District Council for Otterpool Park is John Bunnett. He will be holding the £100,000,000 to spend as he, along with Andy Jarrett, thinks fit.  Is that a good move?

As we understand it, our good friends at Shepwayvox have been taking flak from certain Council employees for exposing the actions of senior Council staff.

Let’s face it, if any local Government employee being paid from the public purse kicks back against being scrutinised alarm bells should ring. Here’s what the Shepwayvox team has to say about Mr. John Bunnett:

https://shepwayvox.org/2020/01/28/john-buy-me-a-car-bunnett/

And don’t forget to read the comments.

Well done Shepwayvox.

S&DRA

 

Dear Residents,

Climate change is in the news almost daily.  With David Attenborough calling on China to take the lead as western governments stand back, or even denying that there is a climate emergency, it’s easy to be confused about what is really going on.

The event publicised below is an opportunity for you to find out what is happening behind the headlines and to find out what you can do about it, locally.

 

There’s no such thing as a free lunch, as the saying goes, but there is almost a free drink. If you’re family income is less than £16,105 per annum and your water bill is over £100.60 you should be applying for a reduction in your water bill from Affinity Water. Here’s what Affinty Water are saying:

If you qualify, your water charges will be fixed at £100.60 per year from 1st April 2019 (not applicable for the sewerage element of your bill). If your current water charge is less than £100.60 you may not qualify. Please note that the tariff is applied and calculated from the date your application is received and cannot be backdated. You will need to upload supporting documents from either your computer or smartphone. If you are unable to provide your documents in this way, please call us on 0345 357 2406.

And here’s the link to apply for the Low Income Fixed Tariff – LIFT:

https://www.affinitywater.co.uk/billing/lift-apply

Please share this information via social media, tell your friends and family or anyone that you think may qualify.

If you are outside of the Affinity Water area, please contact us for help.

Good luck.

S&DRA.

 

Georgina Treloar. Green Party.

At the last full council meeting I voted against the £100m drawdown because I could not see anything in the report that ensured that the development would be 100% environmentally sustainable and carbon zero.

Simon Bishop. Liberal Democrat.

No reply received.

Damian Collins. Conservative Party.

Mr. Collins’ views on the proposed Otterpool Park development is well known and is in line with FHDC. Build Otterpool Park over farmland, build on Princes Parade and build a truck park on Stanford West.

Henry Bolton. Independent. 

Opposed to Otterpool Park as well as Princes Parade and the Stanford West Truck Park. More information: http://www.votebolton.uk

Rohen Kapur.  Young People’s Party.

Views unknown on Otterpool Park. More information: http://www.yppuk.org/

Colin Menniss. Social Democrat Party.

Views unknown on Otterpool park. More information: https://www.youtube.com/8623d8e6-5f18-422d-800e-a812ba6b0425    https://sdp.org.uk/policies/

Andy Thomas. Socialist Party of Great Britain.

Views unknown on Otterpool Park. More information: http://spgb.net

 

Previous generations of our great country have sacrificed much to enable each and every one of us to cast a vote. Please take the time to exercise your democratic right.

 

S&DRA

We are all familiar with the expression ‘It’s a no brainer’. These were the words uttered by Councillor Ian Meyers (UKIP) prior to voting to support the motion by Councillor Monk to borrow 100 million pounds last Wednesday (20.11.19) to fund the Otterpool 12,000 dwelling Housing Estate. It should be noted that the remaining FHDC cabinet members all voted in line with Councillor Meyers except for Deputy Leader Jenny Hollingsbee who declared that she wouldn’t be partaking in the vote due to a significant interest near to the border of the planned development.

That very same evening it was the turn of the full Council to show their support for the Monk motion to borrow 100 million pounds.

It may come as no surprise to you that Cllr. Wimble (IND), Cllr. Mullard (UKIP) and all Conservative Councillors voted to support the motion. But here’s the thing; 1 Green Party Councillor, Rebecca Shoob also showed her support and voted for the motion, with John Wing (Green Party) abstaining.  It should be noted that Cllr Wing recently won the seat of Hythe Rural which includes Lympne; an area whose residents are vehemently opposed to the Otterpool development.

   

Would it also surprise you that Councillor Tim Prater (Lib Dem) also showed his support and voted with the Conservatives when previous comments made by Cllr. Prater suggested that Otterpool Park was purely a cash cow for FHDC. It was only last year that the local Lib Dem Chairman, Ross Clark, stood on a platform with us and declared the Lib Dem’s opposition to the Otterpool development alongside other representatives from UKIP, Labour and The Green Party.

So there you have it: 15 for, 10 against.

Et tu, Brute.

 

S&DRA.

For more on this, please visit our friends at:

Otterpool Park Update: The Council grants itself £100,000,000.

This coming Wednesday, 20th November at 5pm, FHDC cabinet members will be meeting at the Civic Centre in Folkestone to discuss and vote on the recommendation to borrow 100 million pounds to kick start the Housing Estate being branded as Otterpool Park.

From our discussions with constituents across the district, the borrowing of this amount of money to build an unwanted and unneeded town on farmland is unacceptable given other social issues across the district that need to be addressed.

Our friends at Shepwayvox published an excellent post on the subject below. Please click on the link to view:

https://shepwayvox.org/2019/11/13/otterpool-park-update-council-need-100-million-to-deliver-project/

In the recent District elections many of us voted for a candidate that purported to oppose Otterpool Town. Many others would have read a political party’s manifesto and felt assured that a member of that party would adhere to the manifesto pledge of building on brownfield sites and using existing sites, thereby, protecting green spaces.

It would appear, judging by the tone of the statement below, that one member of the FDHC Cabinet, Ian Meyers (UKIP) is supporting the building of Otterpool Town.

In a recent post, dated 13th November, 2019, Mr. Meyers writes:

I have spent the morning accompanying Andrew MacKey, the Customer Service Excellence assessor, who is assessing our council touring our recently purchased asset, Westenhanger Castle, and discussing our plans for its restoration as part of our “Otterpool” Garden town project.

As the Cabinet member and portfolio holder for customers part of my job is bringing forward our plans of how we will use this to promote Health & Well being for our community and how we might do so.

The possibilities this presents are just fantastic and our aspiration is to incorporate its grounds and the old Tithe Barns as part of our 100 acre country park that will be free for the public to visit.

The UKIP manifesto clearly states that:

UKIP opposes the bedroom Tax. UKIP wants to provide incentives to reuse empty homes, and to protect green spaces by encouraging new homes and business development on brownfield sites. UKIP national policy is to scrap VAT on renovations.

So there we have it. A Councillor to whom many of you trusted. As it stands, Mr. Meyers joined the majority Conservative cabinet headed by Councillor Monk, and appears to be supporting a very unpopular and controversial development against UKIP policy. Is this really the individual that you supported and voted for just a few months ago?

We will be reporting back on the 21st November.

S&DRA.

 

 

For many of us technophobes, the likelihood of us reading anything about 5G is probably  infinitesimal. Conversely, teenagers, IT mangers and those with minds attuned to the very latest technologies will welcome 5G with open arms. But is there a darker, secretive side to 5G that we are not aware of, or worse still, not being made aware of by our mainstream media.

It was not until one of our members contacted us that we realised the possible health implications for our communities.

We would recommend setting aside a few minutes of your day to read what our Member has to say and set aside even more time to view the links.

5G: A real boon?

5G , the new development in radio frequency communications, is much in the news these days, but perhaps with only part of the story.

5G is the shortened name for the fifth generation wireless communication network. It will allow not only communications between people (messages, images) and entertainment at very high speed (downloading of movies, games, etc.) but also communication to and from devices (heating systems, lighting, fridges, washing machines, self-driving cars, up to the ultimate ‘Smart Cities’ and ‘Smart Roads’).
For an introduction to what is happening in the UK look up  https://5g.co.uk/guides/what-is-5g/

While looking to find out more about this development I came across this appeal:  https://www.5gspaceappeal.org/the-appeal/
Here there is a lot of information from competent sources (judge for yourselves) , and it seems that some of these nice things we shall be able to choose to use or otherwise; however others will be imposed on us as the only way of life for the benefit of ‘the economy’ , ‘health care’ , ‘the environment’ , ‘our entertainment’, etc.
There would indeed be  some advantages, but would life improve and would this network be managed to deliver them? Could things be improved already with proper management?
Already signs are emerging of undesired effects of the use of the ubiquitous mobile phones on young generations and social life, with consequent need to control their use .
Apart from the diverse opinions and possible downsides , one of the things we shall not be able to decide upon will be being bathed in the electromagnetic fields from these various appliances and machines – that will be one of the prices to pay.
The subject of interaction between living organisms and these signals has been controversial for many years now, starting from the first signs that cases were observed of people with a strong sensitivity to electricity in  their neighbourhood intimating possible relationships between living near electric power station or electricity pylons.

Much as these effects (tiredness, organ malfunction, leukemia’s, even cancers) have been discussed at length, especially with the explosion of the use of mobile phones and although apparently  no definitely accepted conclusions have been reached, the subject hasn’t died out, and some effects have been suspected on wildlife as well.
This has partly been due to some people being convinced from their own experience that these effects were there, but also to some fortunately open minded scientists that were more curious to find out the truth behind some of these claims. Both physicists and biologists became aware that certain molecules in our cells  could be affected by radio waves of very low intensity if they were of the right frequency and present for a long time.

The usual criterion applied for many years, quite often for the benefit of the industry on an economic basis, has been that of comparing the surrounding environment to a microwave oven. If it doesn’t cook you then it’s fine, you will cool down and survive. However the story is not that simple. Since many years ago now there have been suspicions that electromagnetic signals at certain frequencies and very low levels can still have an effect if present over a long time.
With the advent of mobile phones more research has been done, and phone use and WiFi have recently been under scrutiny by researchers and some public authorities and companies, who have recommended a reduction of use or elimination in working places.

The mentioned international appeal has been launched by scientists, doctors, environmental organizations and concerned citizens  (40,346 signatories  so far) for a moratorium on the deployment of the 5G wireless network due to various serious concerns about the consequences on people, animals and living organisms in general  being bathed in these modulated high frequency fields 24/7 at various levels of intensity. This even apart from considerations on social aspects of this extremely intensive planned networking (see IoT, or Internet of Things, if you haven’t heard about it yet).

As things are now, this mega project is already on course and antennas are being deployed, see
( https://5g.co.uk/news/vodafone-manhole-covers/4644/ )
Plus we are having the first legal cases for objecting, encountered by hostility by the local authorities, e.g. : https://www.technocracy.news/the-people-won-britains-first-5g-court-case/

In fact, the remit to the latter is not to place obstacles in the way of installation of the new coming network as long as they do not infringe the present planning regulations; given that these relate only, I understand, to masts taller than 12 meters, while the new 5G transmitters will be of very small dimensions and able to be attached to various props, street lampposts possibly being some of the preferred ones, it appears that next to no consultation is required for installation. It will be a surprise.

If you are interested in this subject the link to the appeal has enough further links for you to have most of your questions answered; you can try enquiring with your local Council, but I wouldn’t expect much – I have tried and have been referred to the government ‘portal’ on planning regulations. However , from this document the situation is rather clear:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/740441/National_Planning_Policy_Framework_web_accessible_version.pdf

Of particular interest is chapter 10, p.33, which shows how local authorities should try and be favourable to applications for new installations, including 5G – notice the mention of self-certification from companies to be approved. It’s not a long chapter, but will give an idea of how the legislation will encourage this new development bypassing public scrutiny.

I am only presenting what I have found for those who like me were not well informed about the issue and would like to know more . Maybe people concerned could start lobbying various groups that might have a say in this or discuss how to be represented at legislative level.
On the other hand,  most people might  welcome the idea of having a fully controlled house with  a fridge ordering items in short supply while downloading a full ‘action’ movie in 10 seconds flat, or , perhaps more important, know that they would also have a chance of  a much faster automatic response from their surgery; nothing wrong with that, but it would be good to know what would come as collaterals , which would probably be the main reason why all this is being implemented.

For those of you with less time, 3 minutes will be enough time to question the roll out of 5G across our local communities.

 

 

Many, many thanks to all our members who contribute to our website.

S&DRA