tenterden town council autumn 2012 newsletter

COUNCILLOR PROFILE - Justin Nelson

From one extreme to the other: the Deputy Mayor was

profiled in the last town council newsletter, now it is

my turn, though I am the most junior and

inexperienced councillor of all.

I am 56 years old, with a wife and two adult children. I

live and work - as a solicitor - in Tenterden. I am a

governor of the (now federated) Tenterden Infant and

Junior Schools, a member of the residents association

and of the chamber of commerce, and I give blood. De-

spite all this, I felt I could contribute more to the com-

munity, and the ideal way (according to my wife) was to

become a member of the town council in May 2011.

It was surprisingly easy: I put myself forward for one of

the four available seats for the North Ward in

Tenterden, where I live; as there were only three candi-

dates standing for that ward, I was "elected" without

the need for a vote. Now that there was no turning

back, I had to prove myself!

My 18 months on the council so far has certainly been

an education: I have learnt a lot about procedures and

protocols, and even more about obstructions and

obfuscation (from other authorities, I hasten to say). I

have not tried to join every committee and

sub-committee, but I feel I have taken an active part in

the council's activities: I am a member of the Finance &

General Purposes, Highways & Amenities and Public

Buildings Committees. Inevitably, as a lawyer, I am a

member of the sub-committee that deals with the

council's standing orders, as well as those for staff

issues, emergency planning and the public toilets (a

particularly relevant sub-committee now), and am one

of the town council's representatives on the Localism

Task Group with Ashford Borough Council. I have

recently been appointed chairman of the newly-formed

Community Engagement sub-committee (perhaps

because, though other councillors are on Facebook, I

think I am the only councillor on Twitter - or perhaps

not, as I suspect most of my fellow councillors do not

realise this); this sub-committee could have an im-

mense positive effect on the council's dealings with lo-

cal residents, businesses, etc. I am also jointly responsi-

ble, with Cllr. Mrs. Hickmott-Arnold for progressing the

council's bid to achieve "Quality Council" status - of

which more information can be found below.

One way and another, I am kept

busy - especially as I have a day

job to do, as well. So far, while

the role of a councillor has not

been without its frustrations

and irritations, I feel it is both

w o r t h w h i l e a n d

(masochistically, perhaps) en-

joyable.

BECOMING A “QUALITY TOWN COUNCIL” The Quality Parish Council scheme is designed to en-

courage local councils to "up their game". It is said that

'Quality status will equip Parish Councils to take on a

stronger role in their communities and should be

achievable by a Parish Council, regardless of its size,

location or current activities'. Quality Council status is

awarded to councils that satisfy a range of specific

tests: some amount to little more than stating the obvi-

ous while others are hard to achieve, depending on cir-

cumstances.

Achieving Quality Council status not only enables the

council to "wear the badge"; the idea is that the council

should improve its service to its community as an end

in itself, Quality Council status being a way of identify-

ing improvements that are feasible. The status has to

be earned each year, and it is likely that the standard

will be raised ever higher, though it should never be-

come unachievable. The tests are broken into 10 main

sections, each with their own components;

1: The council must have a mandate from its electorate

- at least two thirds of the councillors must be elected,

not co-opted.

2: The clerk to the council must undergo specified train-

ing and achieve specified qualifications to fit himself or

herself for the role.

3: Council meetings must be held regularly, with the

public allowed to participate, and agendas and minutes

must be published.

4: Communication: this section covers a lot of ground,

but is intended to ensure that the council communi-

cates well with its residents, and enables them to

communicate with it. You will be hearing more about

this aspect.

5: The council must publish an Annual Report which

must contain specified information.

6: The council must be financially accountable.

7: The council must adopt a legally acceptable Code of

Conduct for its members to abide by.

8: The council must promote local democracy: again,

more on this soon.

9: The council's staff must be employed on proper

terms and conditions of employment.

10: Members and staff must undergo appropriate,

periodical training to ensure they can fulfill their roles.

Most of this is already done by Tenterden Town Coun-

cil, but we are drawing everything together and filling a

few remaining gaps so that we can shortly apply for

Quality Council status - we will let you know whether

we achieve this! More information can be obtained

from the Town Hall, or from Justin Nelson:

[email protected]

TENTERDEN TOWN COUNCIL NEWSLETTER - AUTUMN 2012

We are trialling the delivery of our new-look quarterly

Town Council Newsletter to every household within our

bounds. We’d love to know what you think when you

receive it, in terms of usefulness and value for money.

We believe it is the best possible way to keep the whole

town informed of the Tent1 Southern Extension’s

progress. But it is an expensive exercise, and printing

and delivery of four issues will cost about £5,000 per

year – or about 80p per household. The alternative is to

continue to rely on our website and handouts in public

places, plus press coverage. We do recognise that many

residents don’t have easy access to the internet. If

judged a success it might be possible to offer space in

the publication to other community groups whose

newsletters don’t presently reach every household.

Please call the Town Hall on 01580 762271, or email

[email protected] if you have any queries,

comments or suggestions.

The Tent1 public presentations in July were well-

attended and we all learned a lot. A video of the event is

available to view via the Town Council website. It was

very reassuring to hear that the stated number of

homes, currently 300 for Phase A, is not actually a

‘target’ at all. Instead the master planning process will

work through all the issues and together we will decide

how many houses, and of what quality mix, can

reasonably fit on the site. Therefore I believe it is highly

unlikely to total anything like 300. We also learned that

Phase B may never in fact proceed. The public

consultation process will begin in November. A Steering

Group, comprising Town and Borough Councillors, plus

members of the Residents’ Association, Chamber of

Commerce and Save Tenterden Action Group, will meet

in October, with the role of ensuring that public

consultation is properly achieved. In terms of timescale

for the development, we expect the planning application

to be submitted in 2013 and, if passed, first ground

broken in 2014.

We have now agreed the details of the transfer of our

three public toilets from Ashford Borough Council and

we assume the freeholds and responsibility from April

2013. We will deliver a far higher standard of cleanliness

and much longer opening hours than at present. We will

shortly be inviting tenders from local companies for the

cleaning contract. We will also be

inviting tenders to cut grassed

areas around the town, to

establish whether we can do this

more efficiently and at lower cost

than at present.

Our Park Warden scheme was

reviewed and judged a success. It

clarified that there are two distinct issues we should

address. Firstly, very low level anti-social behaviour and

littering on our two Recreation Grounds, and secondly a

more serious problem of drunken yobbish behaviour

around pub closing time in the High St and the lanes on

weekend evenings. Below you will see I am calling for

volunteers to help on our Recs. We are also working

closely with Churches Together in Tenterden to help set

up a volunteer scheme for the High Street and we hope

this may be mentored and led by the very successful

Ashford Street Pastor organisation.

It is frustrating that our Police Shop is has just closed

due to budget cuts. Our local Chief Inspector, Hayley

Speddings, has assured us that we will not see a

reduction in the police presence in the town and we will

monitor this.

The Town Council has agreed a new volunteer policy and

will shortly be inviting public-spirited enthusiasts to

assist us with keeping our flower borders and displays in

perfect order. Currently this is done on an ad hoc basis

by kind individuals, and it is much appreciated. But we

felt we should formalise the arrangements so that

volunteers are protected by our insurances, and so that

we can offer them proper support and recognition.

UPDATE FROM THE MAYOR, COUNCILLOR ROBIN WADE

FRIENDS OF THE REC—

A CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS! Our Mayor hopes to recruit and lead a team of

volunteers to act as Friends of the Rec. Not vigilantes or

substitute police - just visible, responsible adults whose

presence should help ensure the whole community can

enjoy our recreation grounds. Supported by our police

and Community Warden, volunteers will receive training

and equipment. If you can offer a couple of hours per

week to help keep our Recs safe and tidy, please phone

the Town Hall on 01580 762271 or email

[email protected] to register.

The role of the Council’s Public Buildings Committee is

to care for the various buildings that the Council owns –

the Town Hall itself, The Pebbles building in the High

Street and the Pavilion on Tenterden Recreation Ground

– and to plan for adapting those buildings or creating

new ones to meet the needs of the town.

The Committee has just taken on the responsibility of

running the three toilets in Tenterden and St. Michaels

when Ashford Borough Council ceases to run them at

the end of March 2013. Whilst Ashford Borough Council

is making a payment to the Town Council to assist in the

initial costs of running the toilets, it will be a challenge

for the Committee to make the toilet buildings self

funding in the long term. To that end, the Committee

has started planning how to make more efficient

provision of public toilet facilities in the town.

We have many options to consider in our deliberations

on making our toilets fit for purpose. Paramount for our

service provision is the requirement for cleanliness,

followed very closely by efficient financing, so that these

facilities will stand the test of time.

As part of our plans, we will be looking to use environ-

mentally friendly eco products and systems: Why have

electric lights on all day, when a skylight can provide

natural daylight? Rainwater harvesting can be used to

reduce costs - the water supply and sewerage (based on

the metered water supply) represents some 20% of

expenditure on the toilets. Solar thermal hot water

heating would mean no mains electricity is used, again

making a saving in the long term. The Town Council is

committed to making these toilet buildings an asset for

the town, and of course the provision of public toilet

facilities is almost a basic human right!

The Pebbles building at 55 High Street has been the

home to The White Stuff since 21st

October 2011,

ensuring that the Town Council has a much-needed

income to supplement that provided by the Council Tax,

that can be used for the benefit of the community.

A condition survey has been undertaken on the Town

Hall, and sadly it has been found to be showing the

inevitable signs of age and wear and tear. Over the

coming years the committee will be working towards

repairing and restoring it to its original grand state.

The Pavilion on the Recreation Ground has also been

closely inspected, and requires continual repair and

maintenance to keep it fit for use. The committee will

ensure that essential maintenance work and

refurbishment is carried out on the building in the near

future, while looking to the Master Planning process for

the Tent 1 for a more permanent solution.

PUBLIC BUILDINGS COMMITTEE

Chairman: Councillor Mike Carter Vice-Chairman: Councillor Alan Sugden

Committee Members: Philip Carley, Jennifer Crickmore-Porter, Roger Finniss, Matthew French, Justin Nelson,

Mike Pearson, Pam Smith, Robin Wade and Janette Wilson.

Committee meets every 6 weeks.

GETTING IN TOUCH WITH TENTERDEN TOWN COUNCIL

The Town Hall is open for enquiries from Monday to Wednesday, 9am until 2.30pm, and Thursday and Friday, 9am

until 5pm. You can telephone the office on 01580 762271, or email using [email protected]. You can

contact Councillors and officers via the website www.tenterden.gov.uk or using the numbers and email addresses

shown below. On the website you will also find agendas, minutes and all the latest news from the Town Council.

P.E. CARLEY (North) 33 Wealden Avenue, Tenterden, Kent. TN306NN 764367 [email protected]

M.C. CARTER (South) 27 Ashford Road, Tenterden, Kent. TN306LL 761920 [email protected]

MRS. J. CRICKMORE-PORTER (South) Quill House, High Street, Tenterden, Kent. TN306HT 765630 [email protected]

H.H.O. EDWARDS (North) Eastwell Farmhouse, East Cross, Tenterden, Kent. TN306AD 763428 [email protected]

R.G. FINNISS (South) 2 Ashenden Bungalows, Smallhythe Road, Tenterden, Kent. TN307NF 763649 [email protected]

M.M. FRENCH (West) The Annexe, Holly Hey, Ingleden Park Road, Tenterden, Kent. TN306NS 765103 [email protected]

MRS. E. HANNETT (St. Michaels) Sylvania, Shoreham Lane, St. Michaels, Tenterden, Kent. TN306EG 764843 [email protected]

M.J. HICKMOTT (St. Michaels) High Force, Grange Road, St. Michaels, Tenterden, Kent. TN306EE 766496 [email protected]

MRS. C.R. HICKMOTT-ARNOLD (South) 53 Priory Way, Tenterden, Kent. TN30 7BX 763946 [email protected]

MRS. B. MISSELBROOK (St. Michaels) 21 Grange Crescent, St. Michaels, Tenterden, Kent. TN306DY 766606 [email protected]

J.P.H. NELSON (North) 66 Rogersmead, Tenterden, Kent. TN306LF 765313 [email protected]

M.J. PEARSON (South) 155 High Street, Tenterden, Kent. TN306JS 764413 [email protected]

MRS. P. SMITH (St. Michaels) The Old Malthouse, Swain Road, Tenterden, Kent. TN306JS 765081 [email protected]

A.E. SUGDEN (St. Michaels) Orchard House, Swain Road, St. Michaels, Tenterden, Kent. TN306PJ 765581 [email protected]

R.P.A. WADE (North) Birds Isle, Grange Road, St. Michaels, Tenterden, Kent. TN306TL 762169 [email protected]

MRS. J WILSON (West) 6 Gybbons Road, Rolvenden, Kent. TN174LL 241170 [email protected]

TOWN CLERK, MRS. H. DEACKES

DEPUTY T.C., MRS. A. PATRICK

ADMIN ASSISTANT, R. PARHAM

SITE MANAGER, A. CLIFTON

MTCE WORKER, D. BOURNER

Town Hall, 24 High Street, Tenterden, Kent. TN306AN 762271 [email protected]

DIARY OF FORTHCOMING EVENTS

WAR MEMORIAL The War Memorial is located on the south side of the High

Street, on Tenterden’s famous greens. The inscription on

the front of the memorial reads: “To the men of

Tenterden who gave their lives during the great wars. Live

thou for England, we for England died”.

The Memorial is the focus of the annual service on

Remembrance Sunday, which this year falls on Armistice

Day, the 11th of November.

29th

October

2012

Full Council Meeting and Public Buildings

and Planning Committee Meetings, Assem-

bly Room, Town Hall, 7.00pm.

11th

November

2012

Remembrance Sunday,

War Memorial, from 10.30am.

12th

November

2012

Planning and Highways & Amenities

Committee Meetings,

Mayor’s Parlour, Town Hall, 7.00pm.

17th

November

2012

Tenterden Residents’ Surgery,

Assembly Room, Town Hall, 10.00am.

26th

November

2012

Finance & General Purposes and Planning

Committee Meetings,


1st

December

2012

St. Michaels Residents’ Surgery,

St. Michaels Village Hall, 10.30am.

3rd

December

2012




7th

December

2012

Late Night Shopping,

Tenterden High Street, until 9.00pm.

17th

December

2012

Planning and Optional Highways &

Amenities Committee Meetings,


7th

January

2013

Planning, Highways & Amenities and Op-

tional Public Buildings Committee Meetings,


21st

January

2013


Committee Meetings,


4th

February

2013




18th

February

2013

Planning and Highways & Amenities

Committee Meetings,


4th

March

2013


Committee Meetings,


TOWN HALL CHRISTMAS OPENING

The Town Hall will be closed over

Christmas, from the 25th

of December

2012 until the 2nd

of January 2013. We

would like to wish you a very merry

Christmas and a happy new year.

EMAIL SUBSCRIPTION

If you would like to have future issues of the quarterly

Tenterden Town Council Newsletter delivered directly to

you by email, please send your request to

[email protected] to be added to

our mailing list, and you will receive each edition as soon

as it is released. If you have any suggestions, ideas or com-

ments, please email [email protected].

VOLUNTEER GARDENERS

The Town Council has agreed a new volunteer policy, and

has invited Tenterden’s Horticultural Society to coordinate

enthusiasts to assist us with keeping our flower beds and

borders in perfect order. Currently this is done on an ad

hoc basis by kind individuals, and it is very much appreci-

ated. But we felt we should formalise the arrangements so

that volunteers are protected by our insurances, and so

that we can offer them proper support and recognition.

COUNCILLOR PROFILE - Justin Nelson

From one extreme to the other: the Deputy Mayor was

profiled in the last town council newsletter, now it is

my turn, though I am the most junior and

inexperienced councillor of all.

I am 56 years old, with a wife and two adult children. I

live and work - as a solicitor - in Tenterden. I am a

governor of the (now federated) Tenterden Infant and

Junior Schools, a member of the residents association

and of the chamber of commerce, and I give blood. De-

spite all this, I felt I could contribute more to the com-

munity, and the ideal way (according to my wife) was to

become a member of the town council in May 2011.

It was surprisingly easy: I put myself forward for one of

the four available seats for the North Ward in

Tenterden, where I live; as there were only three candi-

dates standing for that ward, I was "elected" without

the need for a vote. Now that there was no turning

back, I had to prove myself!

My 18 months on the council so far has certainly been

an education: I have learnt a lot about procedures and

protocols, and even more about obstructions and

obfuscation (from other authorities, I hasten to say). I

have not tried to join every committee and

sub-committee, but I feel I have taken an active part in

the council's activities: I am a member of the Finance &

General Purposes, Highways & Amenities and Public

Buildings Committees. Inevitably, as a lawyer, I am a

member of the sub-committee that deals with the

council's standing orders, as well as those for staff

issues, emergency planning and the public toilets (a

particularly relevant sub-committee now), and am one

of the town council's representatives on the Localism

Task Group with Ashford Borough Council. I have

recently been appointed chairman of the newly-formed

Community Engagement sub-committee (perhaps

because, though other councillors are on Facebook, I

think I am the only councillor on Twitter - or perhaps

not, as I suspect most of my fellow councillors do not

realise this); this sub-committee could have an im-

mense positive effect on the council's dealings with lo-

cal residents, businesses, etc. I am also jointly responsi-

ble, with Cllr. Mrs. Hickmott-Arnold for progressing the

council's bid to achieve "Quality Council" status - of

which more information can be found below.

One way and another, I am kept

busy - especially as I have a day

job to do, as well. So far, while

the role of a councillor has not

been without its frustrations

and irritations, I feel it is both

w o r t h w h i l e a n d

(masochistically, perhaps) en-

joyable.

BECOMING A “QUALITY TOWN COUNCIL” The Quality Parish Council scheme is designed to en-

courage local councils to "up their game". It is said that

'Quality status will equip Parish Councils to take on a

stronger role in their communities and should be

achievable by a Parish Council, regardless of its size,

location or current activities'. Quality Council status is

awarded to councils that satisfy a range of specific

tests: some amount to little more than stating the obvi-

ous while others are hard to achieve, depending on cir-

cumstances.

Achieving Quality Council status not only enables the

council to "wear the badge"; the idea is that the council

should improve its service to its community as an end

in itself, Quality Council status being a way of identify-

ing improvements that are feasible. The status has to

be earned each year, and it is likely that the standard

will be raised ever higher, though it should never be-

come unachievable. The tests are broken into 10 main

sections, each with their own components;

1: The council must have a mandate from its electorate

- at least two thirds of the councillors must be elected,

not co-opted.

2: The clerk to the council must undergo specified train-

ing and achieve specified qualifications to fit himself or

herself for the role.

3: Council meetings must be held regularly, with the

public allowed to participate, and agendas and minutes

must be published.

4: Communication: this section covers a lot of ground,

but is intended to ensure that the council communi-

cates well with its residents, and enables them to

communicate with it. You will be hearing more about

this aspect.

5: The council must publish an Annual Report which

must contain specified information.

6: The council must be financially accountable.

7: The council must adopt a legally acceptable Code of

Conduct for its members to abide by.

8: The council must promote local democracy: again,

more on this soon.

9: The council's staff must be employed on proper

terms and conditions of employment.

10: Members and staff must undergo appropriate,

periodical training to ensure they can fulfill their roles.

Most of this is already done by Tenterden Town Coun-

cil, but we are drawing everything together and filling a

few remaining gaps so that we can shortly apply for

Quality Council status - we will let you know whether

we achieve this! More information can be obtained

from the Town Hall, or from Justin Nelson:

[email protected]

TENTERDEN TOWN COUNCIL NEWSLETTER - AUTUMN 2012

We are trialling the delivery of our new-look quarterly

Town Council Newsletter to every household within our

bounds. We’d love to know what you think when you

receive it, in terms of usefulness and value for money.

We believe it is the best possible way to keep the whole

town informed of the Tent1 Southern Extension’s

progress. But it is an expensive exercise, and printing

and delivery of four issues will cost about £5,000 per

year – or about 80p per household. The alternative is to

continue to rely on our website and handouts in public

places, plus press coverage. We do recognise that many

residents don’t have easy access to the internet. If

judged a success it might be possible to offer space in

the publication to other community groups whose

newsletters don’t presently reach every household.

Please call the Town Hall on 01580 762271, or email

[email protected] if you have any queries,

comments or suggestions.

The Tent1 public presentations in July were well-

attended and we all learned a lot. A video of the event is

available to view via the Town Council website. It was

very reassuring to hear that the stated number of

homes, currently 300 for Phase A, is not actually a

‘target’ at all. Instead the master planning process will

work through all the issues and together we will decide

how many houses, and of what quality mix, can

reasonably fit on the site. Therefore I believe it is highly

unlikely to total anything like 300. We also learned that

Phase B may never in fact proceed. The public

consultation process will begin in November. A Steering

Group, comprising Town and Borough Councillors, plus

members of the Residents’ Association, Chamber of

Commerce and Save Tenterden Action Group, will meet

in October, with the role of ensuring that public

consultation is properly achieved. In terms of timescale

for the development, we expect the planning application

to be submitted in 2013 and, if passed, first ground

broken in 2014.

We have now agreed the details of the transfer of our

three public toilets from Ashford Borough Council and

we assume the freeholds and responsibility from April

2013. We will deliver a far higher standard of cleanliness

and much longer opening hours than at present. We will

shortly be inviting tenders from local companies for the

cleaning contract. We will also be

inviting tenders to cut grassed

areas around the town, to

establish whether we can do this

more efficiently and at lower cost

than at present.

Our Park Warden scheme was

reviewed and judged a success. It

clarified that there are two distinct issues we should

address. Firstly, very low level anti-social behaviour and

littering on our two Recreation Grounds, and secondly a

more serious problem of drunken yobbish behaviour

around pub closing time in the High St and the lanes on

weekend evenings. Below you will see I am calling for

volunteers to help on our Recs. We are also working

closely with Churches Together in Tenterden to help set

up a volunteer scheme for the High Street and we hope

this may be mentored and led by the very successful

Ashford Street Pastor organisation.

It is frustrating that our Police Shop is has just closed

due to budget cuts. Our local Chief Inspector, Hayley

Speddings, has assured us that we will not see a

reduction in the police presence in the town and we will

monitor this.

The Town Council has agreed a new volunteer policy and

will shortly be inviting public-spirited enthusiasts to

assist us with keeping our flower borders and displays in

perfect order. Currently this is done on an ad hoc basis

by kind individuals, and it is much appreciated. But we

felt we should formalise the arrangements so that

volunteers are protected by our insurances, and so that

we can offer them proper support and recognition.

UPDATE FROM THE MAYOR, COUNCILLOR ROBIN WADE

FRIENDS OF THE REC—

A CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS! Our Mayor hopes to recruit and lead a team of

volunteers to act as Friends of the Rec. Not vigilantes or

substitute police - just visible, responsible adults whose

presence should help ensure the whole community can

enjoy our recreation grounds. Supported by our police

and Community Warden, volunteers will receive training

and equipment. If you can offer a couple of hours per

week to help keep our Recs safe and tidy, please phone

the Town Hall on 01580 762271 or email

[email protected] to register.

tenterden town council autumn 2012 newsletter

Documents

quality town council

quality council status

town council newsletter

parish councils

quality parish council

councils activities

quality status

w o r t h w h i