FPC Report for the Trident Magazine July 2020

Farningham Parish Council met via a video link on Wednesday, 1st July 2020, and present were seven parish councillors (including Sevenoaks District Councillor Philip McGarvey), Kent County Councillor Roger Gough, one member of the public and the Clerk Jane Gray.

New Parish Councillor

We welcomed Latif Oztosun as our newest Parish Councillor, and we are now up to full strength. Latif has a special interest in social media and will be working to enhance this aspect of our work.

Friends of Farningham

A bumper 15 persons attended our first meet of the season with a lot of attention paid to sprucing up the grounds of the village hall, the adjoining flint wall and the church wall. Irving's corner also received a brush up and overhanging branches were removed from the A20 footpath between King's Roundabout and Eynsford Road and the Beesfield Lane/Tilmans Mead area. Many thanks to everyone and after our meeting on Wednesday, 15th July the August dates are 1st and 12th; September 5th and 16th and October 3rd and 14th. Please wear strong shoes and bring your own gloves and any light gardening tools you use at home.

Neighbourhood Watch Schemes

Kent Police are inviting applications from residents who would like to start a Neighbourhood Watch Scheme. We already have schemes in place in Horton Way, Tilmans Mead, Beesfield Lane and Calfstock Lane. The Police Liaison Officer for this project is Adam Sackett and he can be contacted by phone on 07980 683802 or email adam.sackett@kent.police.uk

KCC Report on Recycling Centre and Road Issues

KCC Cllr Roger Gough provided a positive update on the re-opening of the Swanley Household Waste and Recycling Centre and said the pre-booked slots were increasing from 20,000 to 23,000 and visitors could now have two slots per month. Residents of Oliver Crescent will have seen drainage work completed on Friday, 3rd July and it is hoped this will provide a solution to the flooding in Eynsford Road. The drainage work in High Street, Farningham has taken longer than anticipated because many problems were encountered.

Playground open

The children's play area in Oliver Crescent has been cleaned, prepared and checked and is now open again.

Urgent Care Centres

The walk-in GP surgery provided at White Horse, Northfleet, ended on 30th June. The contract had run out and this was the first step taken towards providing urgent care services at Darent Valley and Gravesham Community Hospitals. Until these facilities are available patients in need should seek advice from their local GP surgery or phone 111. The Minor Injuries Unit at Gravesham Community Hospital, which is in Gravesend, remains open as usual.

Updates from the Council

If you would like more regular updates from Farningham Parish Council they are available on Facebook, Twitter or by email. For email updates please contact the Clerk at farninghamparishcouncil@gmail.com to be added to her circulation list; Facebook link is Www.facebook.com\farninghampc; Twitter @FarninghamPC

Possible CCTV coverage

Incidents in and around Farningham have prompted the Parish Council to discuss the possibility of re-installing CCTV coverage in the High Street. We have done some preliminary work with various companies and Chris Shepherd, a former Eynsford resident and expert in such installations, gave a presentation to the meeting in which he underlined our options. We will now carry out a consultation process with local businesses ahead of any next step.

Traditionally we do not hold a parish council meeting in August so our next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, 2nd September 2020, 7.45pm in the Farningham Village Hall with a break for public participation at 9.00pm. Should it be necessary the meeting will be conducted remotely via the Zoom website and details will be displayed on the noticeboard at the village hall and be available from the Clerk. We may now also be meeting on the third Wednesday in the month to discuss any planning issues. Notice of these meetings will also be posted on the notice board and via our social media sites.

Cllr. Carol Salmon