BU South Jan 14_Layout 1 08/01/2014 12:47 Page 1 Maidstone Borough Council Borough UpdateSouth, January 2014 www.maidstone.gov.uk BU South Jan 14_Layout 1 08/01/2014 12:47 Page 2 2 Maidstone Borough Council Free bulky rubbish service Most Saturdays Maidstone council refuse lorries collect bulky household rubbish from locations in your area. Take your refuse to the Saturday Freighter Service at the times shown: Saturday 25 January 07:45 — 08:30 Teston. By the green 08:40 — 09:30 Nettlestead. Bishop’s Close 09:45 — 10:25 Yalding. Village Green 10:35 — 11:15 Yalding. Lyngs Close 12:15 — 12:45 Laddingford. Cleavesland 12:55 — 13:30 Collier Street. Church Farm 13:40 — 14:10 Hunton. Village Hall 14:20 — 15:05 East Farleigh. Gallants Lane 15:15 — 15:45 Coxheath. Village Hall Saturday 8 February Photo courtesy of "PA" 10.05 — 11:00 Headcorn. Thatch Barn Road 12:00 — 12:30 Headcorn. Oak Lane Maidstone’s big 12:40 — 13.30 Sutton Valence. South Lane 13:40 — 14:30 Kingswood. Village hall car park 14:45 — 15:45 Langley. Shepherds Drive clear up Saturday 15 February Maidstone council worked throughout Christmas and New Year finding homes for flood victims, checking if 12:40 — 13:25 Coxheath. Huntingdon Road buildings and trees were safe, providing and 13:35 — 14:20 Boughton Monchelsea. Gandys Lane informing residents about its services and flood and 14:30 — 15:00 Chart Sutton. Amber lane transport advice. More than 3,000 sandbags were delivered throughout the borough. Officers and 15:15 — 15:45 East Sutton. Court Broomes councillors visited residents and delivered leaflets in We cannot accept garden waste, very large bulky flood risk areas. items and electrical or hazardous items. You can Council workers collected contaminated and ruined dispose of these items through our paid for bulky furniture, carpets and goods free of charge for residents and businesses affected by the floods. collection service or at the household waste recycling Others visited residents and businesses to provide centre at Burial Ground Lane, Tovil, Maidstone. It is help and advice. The council sent details of all flood open Monday to Saturday, 8am to 4.30pm, and Sunday damaged businesses to the local valuation office to and Bank Holidays, 9am to 4pm. For more help with any claims for rate rebates. information about our bulky rubbish services, The council continues to provide support for affected residents and businesses to get back to normal; if including paid for doorstep collections, visit you have any queries, please don't hesitate to call maidstone.gov.uk or call the cleansing hotline on our contact centre on 01622 602750 or email 01622 602162. [email protected]. Freighter Facts freighter as we cannot separate any materials once they are thrown in the freighter — this all goes to landfill. The Saturday freighter service is for certain items of Don’t forget the council now collects textiles (in a rubbish that cannot be put in your bins. For example, carrier bag next to your recycling bin) and small carpet and underlay, home furnishings and bric-a-brac, electricals (in a carrier bag next to your refuse bin). small items of furniture and broken toys. Again good quality items can be taken to charity shops. Everything put into the freighter goes to landfill! Please think about what you are throwing away before you take We can’t accept the following on the freighter: it to the freighter — can it be re-used or recycled? There are many charities that will collect good quality z Large bulky items such z Glass doors/windows items including white goods in working order. If it is not as sofas z Hazardous waste reusable — what is it made of? Metal and wood are z Commercial waste z Household waste among the many materials you can take to Tovil z Fridges/Freezers/TVs z Paint tins and oil Recycling Centre, which is much better than the z Garden waste z Plasterboard BU South Jan 14_Layout 1 08/01/2014 12:47 Page 3 Maidstone Borough Council 3 New Year Recycling Resolutions! What’s On in the If you haven’t made a new year’s resolution for 2014 yet, why not make it your Gateway mission to Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. Maidstone residents already recycle over 50% of the borough’s rubbish and we are aiming to increase this figure 30-31 January even more over the coming years. Join us on Saturday 15 March for a recycling Financial Health Checks – Help with extravaganza event in Jubilee Square in the town centre where you can find out budgeting and how to deal with debt. more about recycling and take part in fun activities. Keep an eye on the council’s website and Facebook page for more information. 3 – 7 March Changes to benefits – Find out what benefits you’re entitled to, and get advice on what to do if you’re affected Improving Air Quality in by recent benefits changes. the Borough Good air quality is vitally important for the health of everyone living and working in the borough. Poor air quality can have a big impact on things like asthma and heart conditions. The weather affects the quality of the air at a regional level but local transport issues can make things worse. This is why we have action plans in place for those areas in the borough where air quality isn’t meeting targets, and these help us to deliver the national air quality strategy. What the council is doing We’re working with lots of partners, including other local councils, private businesses and transport companies to tackle the problem. We’re doing this in a variety of ways, from retro-fitting buses with new technology to reduce harmful If you run a business, consider whether your employees could emissions, and working on Walk to School projects. We’ve also be using more sustainable forms of transport, and whether put in bids for a new Park and Ride site, and to improve the your company vehicles are as green as they could be. Visit gyratory over the river. www.kentair.org.uk for lots of information on where to get How you can help more advice. We need residents to work with us to improve air quality, as What to do if you’re concerned one of the main factors is emissions from vehicles. The main The Daily Air Quality Index at www.kentair.org.uk will let you thing that you can do is walk, cycle or use public transport know what level air pollution is at each day, and gives advice rather than take your car. If you do need to use your car, there on what you should do if you think that you’re likely to be is advice at www.kentair.org.uk on low carbon technologies, affected (for example, if you have asthma, respiratory or heart for example hybrid vehicles and electric cars. conditions). Winter Shelter Maidstone Borough Council is supporting the Maidstone Churches Winter Shelter, which will provide overnight shelter for homeless people across Maidstone. The project will be open between 30 December and 23 February. Partner agencies will provide advice and assistance to help homeless people find a home of their own. Council Tax Bands Love Where You Learn Letters are being sent to residents by a private company regarding possible Council Oakwood Park students are now enjoying the first outdoor classroom area Tax reductions in the banding of their in Kent, thanks to a £2000 grant from Maidstone council. They won the properties. The company will charge a fee for coveted prize by entering the ‘Love Where You Learn’ competition, which any refund made to a resident if a successful encourages secondary schools to launch their own anti-littering initiatives. reduction is made. Residents should be Entries are now invited from secondary schools for the 2013-14 funding aware they are able to challenge the grants – the deadline for submissions is 31 January. For information and an valuation band of their property free of application pack, please contact [email protected] or charge if they feel it is wrong with the 01622 602115 Valuation Office Agency. Visit www.voa.gov.uk for more information. BU South Jan 14_Layout 1 08/01/2014 12:47 Page 4 4 Maidstone Borough Council Mote Park – UK’s third favourite park! News in brief Mote Park won the bronze award at this year’s Green Flag People’s Choice Awards, recognising it as one of the nation’s favourite parks! The Awards, organised by Keep News for Young People Britain Tidy, give the public Find out news, events and advice the chance to vote for their for young people in Maidstone by favourite park in the UK from following twitter.com/inthestoneuk those awarded Green Flags and www.facebook.com/ over the year for their inthestonemaidstone. exceptionally high standards, excellent facilities and strong Maidstone Market Offers community involvement. A record breaking 1,448 parks and green spaces this year received a Green Flag Award this year, making Mote Park’s achievement even more impressive! Thank you to everyone who voted, and to our wonderful volunteers who work so hard with our Parks team to make the park such a Mote Park miniature fantastic asset to Maidstone. railway © Mike Chaplin Maidstone Market at Lockmeadow is now on Facebook – search for “Maidstone Market” for news, offers and special events. MOTE PARK PHOTO COMPETITION Mote Park Waterbirds Thank you to the hundreds of Maidstone residents who entered the Study Day first Mote Park photo competition in Monday 3 February 2014, 9.30am - 2013 and who ensured an 3.30pm, £28 per person.