Next Parish Council Meeting
Monday 13th September, starting at 7.30pm in Aldington Village Hall.
The agenda can be found here: https://aldingtonandbonnington-pc.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Agenda-13-September-2021.pdf
Village Fete this weekend!
Aldington & Bonnington village hall and the Reynolds playing field next to it will be buzzing with things to see and do this Bank Holiday Weekend.
All afternoon on Saturday 28 August ( from 2.30pm-5pm) we will be serving tea/coffee & homemade cakes from the village hall, where there will be a display of historic photographs and other fascinating local items illustrating Aldington & Bonnington Past. Look for a younger you or come to visit the history of the village in which you have settled ( as well as enjoy the cakes on offer!)
On Reynold’s playing field there will be stalls selling ice creams, pop corn and a range of other goodies, including a local gin! There will be a number of local craft stalls with producers selling a wide range of items as well as some traditional fun games with prizes, including a coconut shy and tin can alley for you to try your hand at. The raffle has a fantastic selection of raffle prizes that have been kindly donated by local businesses.
From 3pm there are performances by Ashford Youth Jazz Orchestra, followed by a fun dog show and children’s fancy dress competition.
From 5pm the entertainment moves across to the Walnut Tree for a hog roast, BBQ and live music.
The weather forecast for once looks great so fingers crossed for a beautiful sunny day so we look forward to seeing you all there!
Proposal for solar farm off Church Lane
IMG 0275
On Monday EDF Energy presented a project proposal to the Parish Council. It involves the creation of a large solar farm on land to the west and south of the converter station and current solar farm on Church Lane, as outlined in red above. The land outlined in green is proposed to be a battery storage site and will be subject to consultation in the future, but is included here to give residents a complete picture.
It is our understanding that this is a first round of public consultation. You can view a virtual public exhibition and take part in Q&A sessions this Saturday 17 July, 2:00pm and on Thursday 22 July, 7:00pm or visit an exhibition online at the project website: www.edf-re.uk/renewables/east-stour
If you do not have internet access and would like to view hard copies of the materials, please contact the EDF team using Contacting us directly on east.stour@edf-re.uk or 0800 0194 57
The developer is currently collecting feedback and intends there to be a second round of public consultation in the Autumn, ahead of a formal planning application, which, if approved, will lead to a 9 month build and an operational site sometime late 2022/early 2023.
obituary; FRANK VIVIEN HIGGINS 1929-2021
The following tribute has been written by Councillor Peter Kemp:
Frank, one of the kindest most generous and helpful people to have lived in Aldington.
His family have lived at Poulton Manor Farm for approximately 100 years. He and his elder brother Eric ran a dairy there for many years. The dairy was like everything else at Poulton, calm and laid back, everything done at the same steady pace.
He played cricket and football for the local teams and was a prolific gardener, along with his wife Jean, selling excess fruit, vegetables and flowers at the farm gate, always making generous donations to the Hospice.
He was a retained fireman at Aldington for 29 years, leaving 3 months before his 30 years as he had to retire at 55. He helped organise fund raisers for the Fire Service Benevolent fund with American suppers, dances and jumble sales.
When the village held a carnival the fire brigade entered afloat depicting Toy Town. Frank was dressed as Louby Lou and looked very fetching in his long pink dress with yellow pigtails in his hair. It was typical of the man to join in whole heartedly.
Everyone will have their own happy memories of Frank, a true gentleman.
He leaves his wife Jean, son John and stepdaughter Jackie to whom the Parish Council send their deepest sympathy and regards.
Wednesday Workshop – Have your say!
It’s been tricky – but the Team have continued to work towards developing our Neighbourhood Plan. Your responses to Questionnaire 1 have shaped the Vision and Objectives of the draft Plan – which are revealed in the new website section and will be discussed in two online workshops that we will run next week.
The digital format has come into it’s own over the last year as in-person meetings have been impossible. Some parishes have found that being able to listen to, or join in, discussions from home has increased public participation in events that they have run. This is a first for Aldington & Bonnington Parish Council! We hope that it will make this workshop more accessible and encourage younger people to have their say too. A more conventional ‘exhibition’ type event will run later in the year.
In the mean time – please do email the Clerk ( clerk@abpc.org.uk ) for the Zoom link, stating which time suits you best. ( or call/message Cllr. Linda Harman on 07802 776779) Hope to see you on Wednesday!
Parish Newsletter April/May
Parish News for April/ May now out. Printed copies can be picked up in Aldington Post Office or Aldington Fresh Foods.
If you’d like to distribute these to people in your road please contact us.
April Parish Council meeting cancelled.
Due to being in a period of national mourning all public meetings are suspended until after the funeral of the Duke of Edinburgh.
The next virtual Aldington and Bonnington Parish Council meeting will be therefore be held on Wednesday 5th May at 7.30pm.
As always, any concerns can be sent by email to clerk@abpc.org.uk
Village Views Photography Competition
The location of Aldington and Bonnington, being just above the Romney Marshes and, in the case of Aldington, upon a ‘hurst’ (or hill) means that we all enjoy some spectacular views.
We are seeking to document those views so that they can be recorded as part of the character of our area – and to have a bit of fun whilst doing it, we are launching the Village Views Photography Competition. There is £100 first prize to be won and 5 runner-up prizes of £20. The best photograph will be selected by a judging panel of creative professionals together with Paul O’Grady.
So – whilst out walking to disperse those Lockdown (2) blues… do make sure you have your mobile phone or a camera to hand to enter your Village View into our photography competition. Email your photos to; robertaspicer@abpc.org.uk along with details about where the shot was taken and your contact details. If your phone has a compass take a note after you’ve taken the image of the map coordinates. Don’t worry if you don’t have this facility though; we will work it out!
Looking forward to seeing all your lovely photographs and hoping for some autumnal sunshine to make our parish glow.
Closing date for entries: Midnight on Friday 8th January 2021
Terms & Conditions of entry:
- This competition is open to residents and friends of Aldington & Bonnington parishes
- Photographs must be taken within either Aldington & Bonnington parishes and should feature your favourite village views
- Photographs must be original, taken by you and must not have been published elsewhere or have won a prize in any other photographic competition
- Photographs should be submitted via email as a .JPG file and be no larger than 5MB in size
- a) Photographs submitted must have been taken between 1 January 2020 and 8 January 2021b) Please provide a date, location and short description to accompany your photograph. If possible please provide map coordinatesc) Entrants may enter no more than 3 different photographs in total
- It is the photographer’s responsibility to obtain any appropriate permissions. Please do not submit photographs that include children unless you have expressly gained the permission of their parent or guardian
- The competition is only open to amateur photographers (defined as someone who does not derive more than 10% of their income from photography)
- The competition is not open to parish council members
- The competition will be judged by creative professionals and local celebrity Paul O’Grady
- Winners will be notified by email, the judges’ decision is final, and no correspondence will be entered into. Prizes are non-negotiable and non-transferable
- Judging will take place after the closing deadline and winners will be notified by the end of January 2021
- All commercial rights to the images remain with the photographers with the following exceptions:
a) Aldington & Bonnington Parish Council have the right to use all entries in any future publicity material, (print or electronic) such as the Neighbourhood Plan, parish magazine or web sites without payment – subject to crediting the original photographer - By entering this competition you agree to participate in any reasonable publicity that may be generated as a result of the competition
