Watch on the Weald Newsletter of the Weald of Kent Protection Society [email protected] July 2020 No: 164
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Watch on the Weald Newsletter of the Weald of Kent Protection Society www.wkps.org.uk [email protected] July 2020 No: 164 What a Wonderful Weald and COVID-19 Not long before going to press we eased out of lockdown, shops, pubs and restaurants opened, and holidays were permitted, then the wearing of face-coverings became mandatory in certain places. These are unnerving times and we can only carry on taking the necessary precautions to protect ourselves and others. There have been some amazing stories of surviving the virus, and extraordinarily sad stories of those that haven’t. The usual events of village life and of communities have been cancelled and we need to keep our distance from, well…almost everyone. While we humans fight an invisible enemy, nature and wildlife gets on with doing what it does, our landscape changes with the seasons, everything continues - blissfully unaware. WKPS strives to protect and enhance our wonderful Weald and yet, the Weald and the rural landscape seems to have protected and nurtured its inhabitants throughout the COVID crisis. How many of you, like me, have thought about how lucky we are to feel relatively safe in our environment, to be able to go outside, walk in the woods and countryside, and to feel ever so slightly removed from it all? It’s a remarkable place to live at the best of times and in one of the worst of times, it is all the more remarkable and more precious than ever. We take the opportunity here to thank all those in our villages and communities who have kept us fed and watered, the volunteers who have set up action groups to take care of people in need, all the unsung heroes, and, of course, all those fighting to save lives. Peta Grant Planning Committee Secretary 1 Producing wine in the Weald of Kent Woodchurch Wine celebrates its 10th birthday this year. It was established when Graham and Donna Barbour decided to set out on a venture to create their own wine from vines grown in the beautiful Kent countryside. The Weald of Kent’s landscape is blessed with warmer and drier weather than most of the country and grapevines thrive under these conditions. So, when Graham and Donna found a piece of land for sale on the edge of the picturesque village of Woodchurch set on hills looking south over the ancient Romney marsh down to the Channel, they knew instantly this was the site they had been looking for. In May 2010, 10,000 Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier vines were planted and the journey was begun. The first harvest was in October 2012 bringing in a small 2 tonne crop. To put that in perspective those same vines produced 40 tonnes in 2018! Since the first two sparkling wines were released in 2015 the range has now increased to 3 sparkling and 3 still wines. Woodchurch has won many international awards for their wine over the years including 2 gold medals and their sparkling Rosé was recently voted Kent’s Best Wine in the 2020 Taste of Kent Awards. This is testament to the delicious grapes grown in the perfect location in the Weald of Kent. Woodchurch is an eco-friendly operation. They love to encourage wildlife with nesting boxes for owls and kestrels and the vineyard makes a home for a host of other animals including rabbits, badgers, foxes, pheasants, and partridges. No insecticides have ever been used and any other chemical use is kept to a minimum. The grasses around the vineyard are left to grow long to promote wildlife and wildflowers too. The philosophy of low impact and natural vineyard management is carried through to the winemaking process as well. A minimum intervention approach means the wines retain as much of their natural fruit flavours as possible and the unique essence of fruit grown in Kent is preserved. Why not come and visit Woodchurch vineyard? The cellar door shop has now re-opened after the lockdown and is currently open every weekend. Customers can purchase wine to take home, they can also walk around the vineyard at their leisure or do a self-guided tour. https://woodchurchwine.co.uk/pages/visit-us 2 Planning News WKPS Planning Committee has continued its work throughout the lockdown period and comments have been submitted in the usual way to the LPAs, though these have been few in number. TWBC Local Plan Timetable - The public consultation to the Draft Local Plan, last autumn, yielded over 8,000 individual comments resulting in a revised timetable to give additional time to consider the contributions made. The next consultation stage will now take place in March/April 2021. MBC Local Plan (adopted 2017) - Garden Community Developments for housing. MBC received nine proposals for garden communities, the sites are the subject of a review as part of the Local Plan process. Public consultations are due in October 2020 and February 2021. See the attached newspaper article. Kent Messenger Maidstone Edition 11th June 2020 3 Upper Beult Farmer Cluster The formation of Farmer Clusters is a new initiative Cluster members are working towards a better designed to bring farming and conservation closer understanding of exactly what they have in terms of together. Farmer Clusters are groups of farmers with habitat structure and vegetation dynamics and they the shared interests of a defined geographical area, willl work on a landscape scale, which is vital in working collectively to benefit soil, water and wildlife making more space for nature. The overall objective at a landscape scale. They are a great forum for will be for farmers to find ways of putting back more sharing best practice, and for trialling innovative than is being lost and in the new world they can only farming techniques. The groups set their own be expected to be paid for goods and services that programmes of learning events and workshops and are wanted – space for nature, soil conservation, clusters can help signpost funding opportunities, or carbon storage, watercourse improvement, Natural shape future strategy. Flood Management and enhance public access. The Upper Beult Farmer Cluster runs through the east In the wildlife context, farmers will be encouraged to WKPS area, taking in the seasonal and feeder think about the wildlife they want to see on their own streams of the River Beult which rise around Great farms, arriving at priority species lists and developing Chart, Shadoxhurst and High Halden. These streams habitat accordingly. The cluster area will be surveyed form two main stems to the river, the northernmost and mapped to identify objectives and optimise running below the Greensand Ridge and joining the conservation impact, so that we then learn to love our southern stem at Haffenden Quarter. The Beult then own backyard. leaves its upper catchment at Smarden running on through Headcorn and Staplehurst to eventually join Members of the cluster will focus on outcomes, and the Medway at Yalding. experience has already proved that the more neigh - bours work together, the more benefits will result. Outcomes will come from processes, and processes take time. Members are en - couraged to enhance anything - field corners, scrub, ponds, ditches, boundary trees, hedges and archaeology. With enhancement of habi - tats will come the op - portunity to create new, having identified the baselines and in - creased awareness to improve habitat man - agement. The Upper Beult Cluster was initiated a little over six months Southern Water are looking to invest in the Upper ago and, despite Covid, we already have over 5,000 Beult Cluster to enable them to work with farmers acres signed up. An interesting journey lies ahead. towards the end goal of a reduced incidence of pesticides and other pollutants reaching the watercourse. Beyond that, the Government’s evolving Mike Bax Environmental Land Management Scheme is likely to recognise farmer clusters as an important means of justifying public money for public goods in new schemes for farming subsidies. 4 The Amelia The former Tunbridge Wells Museum & Art Gallery is at an exciting stage in its long history, even though it currently has less of a visible presence. The display galleries closed in November 2018 in preparation for a National Lottery Heritage Funded (NLHF) project to create The Amelia. Tunbridge Wells’ new and exciting Cultural and Learning space will bring together books, objects, documents, photographs, and visual art housed in a vibrant and revitalised building, named after the suffragist and Tunbridge Wells resident Amelia Scott. This integrated service will be housed in two of Tunbridge Wells’ most important Grade II listed buildings which are currently undergoing major renovation, including a beautiful extension to link them. The new audience-centred building will bring alive unexpected stories about Tunbridge Wells and will challenge perceptions of the town with an ambitious and exciting programme of exhibitions and events. The original museum was founded in 1885 by medical doctor and philanthropist George Abbott and was managed in its early days by the grandly named Tunbridge Wells Natural History and Philosophical Society that Dr Abbott also set up. As well as featuring the history, archaeology and natural history of Tunbridge Wells and the surrounding High Weald area, the rich and diverse collections also reflect the enthusiasms of the three earliest curators, who together spanned 80 years and added costume, toys, and the local craft of Tunbridge ware to the mix. George Abbott and his supporters – who included photographic pioneer Henry Peach Robinson and maverick clergyman, Darwinian and marine biologist Thomas Stebbing – were also involved in the development of library and adult education services in the town. It is appropriate that the Amelia Scott building will bring these services back together in the integrated fashion that their founders envisaged.