MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL PARISH MEETING OF held on Tuesday 7th May 2019 at Lydden Village Hall

1. PRESENT: Chair Mr. P. Bowley MINUTES: Parish Clerk Mrs. Glynis Farthing

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE: Mr. R. Winn, Mr. J. Chamberlain, Mrs. Liz Thomas-Friend, Mr. Marcus Abbott, Mrs M. Potts

2. MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC: 12 present.

3. WELCOME ADDRESS FROM CHAIRMAN Cllr Bowley welcomed everyone. It has been a good year, thanks to all the Cllrs who have supported the Parish Council. Particularly to Mr. Hubbard who began the year as Chair. Their work has been much appreciated. The most exciting achievement of the year has been the installation of the War Memorial – particular thanks to Cllr. Geoff Lymer who negotiated the donation of the stone from Gallaghers and was responsible for liaising with Cleverly and Spencer. The community are grateful to both Cllr. Lymer and Gallaghers for their generosity. Thanks also extended to the Lydden Community Group for repainting the poles and making the site look good and their extensive charity work throughout the year. The installation of the Jubilee sign was due to the diligent efforts of Cllr. Paul Holt. Many thanks. The eyesore of the trench opposite the Lydden surgery has now finally been resolved and the footpath reinstated. The manholes at the War Memorial – the work for these is in a queue and will hopefully be dealt with very soon. The installation of the concrete bollard by the pond has helped to reduce the problems around the pond. Though HGV’s driving through the village continues to be a problem that the Parish Council are anxious to resolve. A new litter bin has ben installed by the bus stop on Canterbury Road. Community car park – the PC are considering the possibility of marking out the car park into bays. This has not yet been finalized. Thanks to Lydden Community Group. Jim King and Paul Snook for planters and work around the village to keep it looking in good condition. Thanks to the Clerk for her support.

4. MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING Minutes from 08/05/18. Proposed, Mr R. Andrews , seconded Mr. Phil Seath AGREED: That the Minutes of 08.05.2018 be accepted and signed by the Chairman

5. MATTERS ARISING FROM PREVIOUS MINUTES None.

6. REPORTS

 MOD Joint Police patrols will be working with the MOD plus other forces using training areas. The Training Safety Marshall provided maps showing the permissive paths and safe places to walk. He emphasised the dangers of straying off these. The ammunition being used in the training areas is dangerous and those using it are wearing protective clothing.

Training Safety Marshall - Denny

 VILLAGE HALL No report available. Mr. Bowley reported that there are still concerns related to the roof of the Village Hall. It may be necessary to obtain a grant for the necessary

 LYDDEN PRIMARY SCHOOL We would like to draw the attention of Parish residents to our most recent article in the Parish Magazine. This highlights our recent Ofsted inspection, which had a very positive outcome. The report gives more detail and is well worth a read. We are very pleased that we continue to provide a very positive place for children to learn. The school continues to be popular, which is great for the village. https://reports.ofsted.gov.uk/provider/21/118400

Claire Eggleston Executive Headteacher  TOTS TO TEENS

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Tots 2 Teens continues to provide quality childcare for children aged 6 weeks to 11 years for children in Lydden and surrounding areas. We are open for 50 weeks of the year, Monday to Friday 8:00 to 17:30 – only closing for the Christmas/New Year school holidays.

We are a registered charity and rely on our own fundraising efforts for improvements around the nursery. We hold a Christmas singalong for the children and their parents during December and a Summer Garden Party in July – this year it is on 13th July – where the children can do various crafting activities and games with their parents and we hold a raffle and run an ice cream stall etc. As a small nursery our audience is limited, and we would welcome people from the local community if they wished to join in.

We have a Baby Room, which can accommodate 3 babies aged 6 weeks to 2 years at any one time, which currently has very limited space available and a small waiting list for certain days. Our main room caters for children aged 2 to 5 years, we currently have spaces for this room and would welcome enquiries for anyone needing a nursery place for children of this age.

We facilitate all KCC funding schemes for the children who are eligible: - • Free For 2 – 15 hours a week free childcare for children aged 2 who meet the relevant criteria • Universal Funding – For ALL 3 and 4 year olds from the term after their 3rd birthday • Extended Funding – Known as 30-hour funding, this is for families with both parents working a minimum of 16 hours a week each, or single parent families where the lone parent works a minimum of 16 hours a week.

For any children starting in the nursery we offer three one hour ‘settle in’ sessions free of charge to help with the transition to Nursery.

Tots 2 Teens also run a Breakfast and After School Club for children 5 and over, who attend Lydden Primary School, and a Holiday Club during all the half terms and school holidays (excluding Christmas) for any children aged 5 to 11 years. We are happy to accept ‘ad hoc’ bookings for these clubs.

We are always looking for new activities to do with the children, for instance we are lucky to be able to visit one of the local farms several times a year, and would welcome any suggestions that we could consider for these activities.

Please forward any enquiries to our main email address, [email protected] , or via our Facebook page.

Barbara Wood- Tots to Teens

 LYDDEN COMMUNITY GROUP Since last years AGM our group have been focusing on ways to get our community working together not only for our village but for various charities nominated by residents and group members.

Last year saw us set up our community projects scheme which involves us renovating unsightly areas in the village. This scheme is partially funded by donations from the Lydden Monthly Farmers Market and various fundraising activities.

Our first project has been the village pond.

We began by painting the railings and poles along the perimeter which has been greatly received by residents and visitors alike. Last month, in consultation with David Casey from the Tree and Pond warden Partnership we started to remove some of the overgrowing weeds and replanting a variety of plants to encourage a broader spectrum of wildlife.

We will also be seeking advice from Kent Wildlife Trust in the coming months.

In September we held our first Macmillan Coffee Morning raising a total of £400. It proved so popular we are holding another on Friday 27th September and we hope to raise even more this time around.

December saw us join forces with the Lydden Bell to bring Christmas to Lydden with a Village Christmas tree. The tree was purchased by the Bell and the community group purchased the lights and decorations.

We held a lighting ceremony with Santa in attendance and invited everyone to come along and help to decorate the tree , making it a perfect annual community event. On the 3rd March this year we once again joined forces with the Bell to take part in The Worlds’ Biggest Quiz. The evening was a huge success raising a total of £515 which was equally divided between Prostate Cancer UK and Pilgrims Hospice.

We have also donated to the RetroBates Rally team. The Bates family from Stonehall are taking part in the Fireball Rally in aid of East Kent Mencap taking on an epic 8 European countries in 7 days.

So, in summary we have donated over £950 to charity and are continuing to forge links in the spirit of togetherness. 2

Sharon Taylor – Lydden Community Group

 KENT WILDLIFE TRUST Update – have been able raise the funds to extend two reserves around Lydden. The money was raised to purchase two land extensions at Lydden Temple and for the establishment costs to integrate them into the reserve. Solicitors are still working on finalising the purchase of the both extensions; once completed, work will begin with fencing, water supply extension etc. Grazing has begun with Andrew Head at Lydden Court Farm who will graze both the Lydden reserve and part of the Lydden Hill RNR. KWT will be looking into grazing the other two RNR compartments with sheep. Work with volunteers has included scrub clearance, fence repairs and monitoring If you wish to get involved in the conservation work and wildlife monitoring please contact the Trust’s East Kent Downland Warden Karen Weeks 07889 274535 Karen – Kent Wildlife Trust. Volunteers are always welcome.

DISTRICT COUNCIL Welcome to Mr David Beaney. He has recently been elected to Council – looking forward to getting local Parish Councils in his ward together to work co-operatively and hopefully manage to achieve more between them.

 ST MARY THE VIRGIN CHURCH Regular Services We continue to have regular services in our beautiful church thanks to the support of retired clergy who have been a fantastic support this year. Unfortunately our advert to appoint a new priest was unsuccessful and we are looking to re run the advert very soon. It is a difficult time to be recruiting a priest as there is a shortage of priests nationally and we are only able to afford a priest for 2 days + Sundays which we will share with Temple Ewell, however we continue to pray and ask God to help us find a solution.

New Parish – Temple Ewell with Lydden The union of Temple Ewell and Lydden to become 1 parish is under negotiation and we hope to have this finalised by the end of this month.

The union of the parish of Temple Ewell and the parish of Lydden, being the parishes comprising the area of the benefice of Temple Ewell with Lydden to create the new parish of Temple Ewell with Lydden. Both the existing parish churches to be parish churches of the new parish. Both Parochial Church Council’s will combine to have 1 PCC but both churches will retain their unique personality whilst continuing to share resources and fellowship.

Electoral Roll Our Electoral Roll is 15, we have sadly lost long standing members of our congregation this year including Mrs Betty Peach and Mrs Margaret Grainger. Financial We continue to struggle financially as many churches are experiencing in this current climate, however our small but very faithful congregation continue to maintain this beautiful church. We actively welcome our village to use our church even if they cannot commit to regular worship. This year we have held a wedding, 2 baptisms and 4 funerals. The money kindly donated by the Village 100 Club is an essential part of our fundraising and we would formally like to thank Dewi, Tim and Tom for all their hard work, it is much appreciated.

Liz Thomas-Friend Churchwarden

 THE LIVING WELL CHURCH Living Well Church has recently moved from Graceworks House on the Port Zone (the former Dover Harbour Board Club) to holding Sunday services at Dover Christ Church Academy (DCCA). We have relocated our church office to our Lydden building on Canterbury Road. Due to DCCA having a smaller hall we now hold 2 identical Sunday morning services at 9.45am and 11.30am. We have a great children’s work, which the children really love, so families are extremely welcome. Indeed, we desire to make our church somewhere for the local community to come and feel loved, whether they be 1 or 100! Our heart is for Living Well to be a church that is a safe and friendly place and inclusive; for all age groups and all types of people - everyone is welcome. Our purpose is to help people find faith in Jesus and a life of purpose and hope. To achieve this we want to be an outward facing church not an inward focused church. During the week we run the following activities to serve the community:

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Tiny Toes - Monday and Wednesday mornings at 10.00am to 11.30am (term time only) - held at the Whitfield Club in Napchester Road, Whitfield. This is a thriving parent and toddler group - be warned - it’s noisy! Coffee morning - Wednesday mornings at 10.30am held in our Lydden building on Canterbury Road, Lydden. Coffee and cakes and good conversation Youth Club - held on alternate Fridays at Dover Baptist Church at 7.30pm For school years 7 - 13. As a church we also actively support (in terms of people and finance) the following Christian initiatives in the Dover area. Foodbank - short term emergency food for people in dire circumstances Soup Kitchen - daily feeding of the homeless in Dover Street Pastors - late night patrols when the /club turn out to help create a safe environment in town Baby Basics - emergency supplies for new mothers who are in difficult circumstances, including Moses basket, nappies, baby clothes etc Lifegroups Lifegroups are open to all for people to meet, sharing food, friendship and life-in-general. We also often talk about a topic from the bible and pray. People are always welcome to come and try it out. We really want to emphasise that we are keen to be a church that is part of the community (Whitfield and the Dover area in general), you don’t need to be a member or attend on a Sunday to be part of the activities we run. Everyone is welcome! If there is a way the church can be more involved in the community then we would be happy to hear about it – please don’t hesitate to get in touch! For more information please see our website www.livingwellchurch.com Thank you, Pastor Marcus Abbot

 ALLOTMENTS Parish Council has an allotment plot which is sited at the bottom of Hill. There are 12 plots rented out to residents. There is currently 1 plot available. These are very reasonably priced at £30 per year – rent due every October. If you wish to rent a plot please contact the Parish Clerk.

7. OPEN DISCUSSION AND QUESTIONS What was the cost of the Jubilee sign and why was it placed in the particular location? Sign cost in the region of £1,000 + explanation provided as to the particular siting.

Question raised about the cemetery and the number of burials that take place of people who live outside the area.? Suggest speaking to the Churchwarden and then Diocesan House.

8. DATE OF NEXT MEETING Date to be agreed and published on the Parish website.

This meeting closed at 8.06pm

CHAIRMAN DATE

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