Hospital field – village green application

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At last an update! The Regulations Committee of Kent County Council will be carrying out a site meeting of Hospital Field on 3rd December at 10.00 to view the site the subject of Brabourne Parish Council’s Village Green application.

We particularly need to show our presence on Hospital Field at the time of the meeting. Dog walkers are particularly welcome and anyone else who wishes to walk, dance or sing(!) can turn up.

The site visit is open to the public and isn’t handled with great formality. The Chairman usually asks the Members and officers to introduce themselves and invites other people to do the same. He then asks the Officer to briefly explain what is being looked at.

The Officer (Melanie McNeir) usually prefaces her remarks by saying that the actual debate on the issues will take place at the Panel meeting which will be held in Maidstone at 14.00 the same day. She will then briefly outline the application, pointing out the features that the formal discussion is likely to focus on. She usually stresses that the decision will depend on whether all the various legal tests have been met, rather than on subjective factors such as whether the land looks like a village green or whether it would be desirable for it to be one.

The Chairman then asks people if they have anything that they wish Members to be aware of – particularly anything that they wish them to see. We have asked Clare Bell, our local KCC councillor, to speak at the Maidstone hearing on our behalf. We do not think it is necessary for our legal adviser to attend as she has already made representations in writing.

Please spread the word, let your neighbours and friends know and turn up on the day come rain or shine. This is our last chance to get the field listed as a Village Green on
3rd DECEMBER 2019 at 10.00

Thank you!

Brabourne Parish Council

Operation Christmas Child

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Operation Christmas Child is the world’s largest Christmas project of its kind, and uses gift-filled shoeboxes to demonstrate God’s love in a tangible way to children in need around the world.

Be a part of changing children’s lives all over the world through the power of a simple gift!

Plain shoe boxes wrapped in Christmas paper may be used, or flat pack boxes with leaflets, detailing acceptable gifts, can be obtained from Brabourne Baptist Church, or from

Steven J Moore Lettings and Estate Agents, Lees Road, Brabourne Lees, TN25 6QB (01303 812515).

Opening hours: 9-5 Monday to Friday, 9-4 on Saturdays (closed on Sundays).

Please kindly return your filled boxes to Steve Moore before 18th November

Any further information?  Please phone Val Thorpe 01303 813152

or email val_geoff@btopenworld.com

 

Borough Council Planning Committee 31st July

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The planning applications for Andrews Garage and Church Road, Smeeth will be discussed at the meeting of the Borough Council on 31st July, 7pm in Civic Centre – the meeting is open to the public.

You can download the agenda here

Coffee Concerts

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The Coffee Concerts at Smeeth Church have offered the audience a wide range of musical styles and performers over the past four years and are returning this summer for Season Five.

The concerts, lasting about 30 minutes, will be in the church followed by refreshments in the Oak Room.  Tickets priced £6 / Season ticket for all 3 concerts £15 (including concert and refreshments) will be available on the door with a season ticket for all 3 concerts on sale at the first concert on June 15th.  Children are very welcome and there will be no charge for them – we encourage you to bring your young ones to start to introduce them to the joys of music.

Saturday 15th June The Parsonage Quintet

The Parsonage Quintet is a group of local musicians who meet as a wind quintet to informally play music at Parsonage Farm, Aldington: John Hall (flute), Hilary Sell (oboe),  John Edmonds (clarinet), Nigel Batho (French horn) and Karen Pickering (bassoon). They enjoy performing music for wind quintet – some pieces originally written for the combination in the 19th & 20th centuries – and other pieces arranged for the instruments.

Saturday June 22nd The Bourne Quintet

The Bourne Quartet – Paul and Beverly Ingleton, John Hall and Sian Hall – has been playing together for over 44 years.  They met at Cardiff University where they studied music.  They have played in the Coffee Concert Series at Smeeth on a number of previous occasions and are delighted this year to welcome their friend professional bassoonist Jane Williams from Chester for the concert.

Saturday June 29th Lowen Family

Andrew and Sue Lowen (harpsichord and bassoon respectively) are joined by their daughter Rosie Phillips (Oboe) for a programme of baroque sonatas and trios.  Andrew will be known to many as the Music Director of Lees Court Music, of which Sue is a member.  Rosie studied music at Manchester University followed by post graduate oboe studies at the Royal College of Music.

A new app – helping local families discover the fantastic activities in Smeeth

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Hoop – the UK’s #1 family app which helps families get out the house to discover all the fantastic, fun activities in their area.
 
Just as a bit of background, Hoop is a free to download app designed to help families find kid’s activities in their local area. Parents can simply enter their postcode into their phone and find all the great activities happening around them. We’ve got 1,000,000 families using our app and over 10,000 activity providers listing their own activities on our Hoop for Organisers platform for free.
 
Here’s our website if you’d like to learn a bit more about us: https://hoop.co.uk/
 
Thousands of activities are hosted around rural settlements all across the UK every day, but often it can be difficult for families to find out when they are happening. Hoop is keen to help bridge this gap! Already used by 10,000 activity organisers, Hoop offers its other platform ‘Hoop for Organisers’ for activity providers looking to reach more families. Activity organisers or venue managers can easily sign up to our Hoop for Organisers service for free and list their activities within a matter of minutes.
 
Here’s the link to our Hoop for Organisers page for more info: https://hoop.co.uk/organisers/
 
As you’ll know, many local activity providers in Smeeth may not have a functioning webpage to list their activities. Hoop for Organisers allows activity organisers to list their activities all in one place and it’s completely free to do so. Here’s an example of a ‘Hoop Page’ which organisers can use to list their activities when they use Hoop for Organisers: https://hoop.co.uk/sama-karate/
 
We’re really keen to get even more families and kids engaged in fun activities in their communities and I think the activity organisers in your area would really benefit from using Hoop, helping families discover fun activities and making sure every class is full!
[This post should not be taken as an endorsement of the app  by the Parish Council.  It is posted for information only.]
 

Lent lunches in the Oak Room

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Lent Lunches    at     Smeeth Oak Room

12noon-2pm

with an exploration of Van Gogh and his ministry featuring the film  ‘Loving Vincent’

Friday March 15th, 22nd, 29th & April 5th