You are currently browsing the monthly archive for September 2013.
Dear All.
Sorry to have a been a bit quiet recently…but I haven’t been that well…again!
On that note I thought I would talk a bit about some of the after effects from Meningitis that affect me…I will do a couple at a time. There are several ways in which I am affected…and these vary vastly between different people…so not all of these will affect everyone…and there will be many other things that affect others. Read More
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© Man Vyi 2011 – Beating the Bounds at Oriel Oxford
The borough perimeter is about 35 miles, with approximately six miles being the river Thames. On Saturday 5 October walkers cover nearly 18 miles, and on Sunday 6 October just over 11 miles. There are refreshment stops, mostly in pubs along the route. Sunday is a much easier walk than the Saturday, and you can, of course, join in for just part of the walk. Read More
Last 48 hrs to table your questions.
NHS Medway Clinical Commissioning Group’s governing body will be holding its monthly meeting in public next week.
The Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) commissions health services in Medway. The meeting will take place at the CCG offices at 50 Pembroke Court, Chatham Maritime on Wednesday 2 October from 1.30pm to 4.30pm and will include a slot at the end when the public can ask questions or make comments on the work of the CCG.
Further meetings are scheduled for Wednesday 23 October and Wednesday 27 November. Questions should be tabled in advance by contacting Sharon Davies by email (Sharon.davies6@nhs.net), by phone (01634 335177) The agenda and papers are available online on the Friday before each meeting at http://www.medwayccg.nhs.uk.
Copyright Kennard Phillipps
IWM holds an unrivalled collection of twentieth and twenty-first century British art. Now, IWM North, part of Imperial War Museums, in Manchester is presenting the first major exhibition of IWM’s collection of contemporary art produced since the First Gulf War – placing more than 20 years of work by over 40 artists in this national collection on public display together for the first time. Read More
A community hub is set to be built in Twydall and Chatham’s central Contact Point at Riverside One will gain a new home making it easier for local people to gain benefits and housing advice.
The move is being funded by surplus money provided from the council’s Housing Revenue Account (HRA). Read More
More than 2,000 people attended the Medway Jobs and Apprenticeship Fair in the Pentagon Centre in Chatham which was organised by Medway Council and Jobcentre Plus.
Fifteen hundred job opportunities were advertised by employers from across Medway and the rest of Kent.
Visitors were able to complete and hand in job applications, and there was also advice from a range of agencies about training, apprenticeships and developing the skills to help people back into work or find a new career. Read More
An interesting article we found on the BBC website that could see the end of mobile parking enforcement cars in Medway. Read The Article
Medway Council calls on Boris Johnson to visit North Kent and explain why he wants to impose one of the world’s biggest airports on its residents.
The council demands the mayor makes the trip just days after Daniel Moylan visited Maidstone to talk to members of the Kent Economic Board. Read More
Press release from the TUC
Nearly one in four council housing tenants affected by the bedroom tax in areas across the South East have fallen behind on their rent since its introduction earlier this year, according to new figures released today (Thursday) by False Economy.
Figures provided by 19 local authorities across the South East in response to Freedom of Information (FOI) requests by False Economy show that since the bedroom tax was introduced this April, more than 2,000 council housing tenants – 23 per cent of all tenants affected by the tax in these areas – have been pushed into arrears. Read More
Medway Council’s Trading Standards team are urging local businesses and residents to be extra careful when buying food supplements that claim to burn fat.
Across the country a number of deaths have been connected with the consumption of supplements containing 2,4 Dinitrophenol, sometimes referred to as ‘DNP’. This is a product unfit for human consumption and should not be sold as food.
However, it is available online and has been found being sold under the counter at some gyms in other parts of the UK. Read More
They’re at it again, I had a message from “Coriann Sanders” asserting she has a crush on me. She has sent me a lovely ecard as an attachment to her email and expects me to be so drawn in by her expressions of unrequited lust that I will open it and let it destroy my hard drive (ahem) Not happening luv, DO NOT OPEN THESE EMAILS IF YOU GET ONE. THEY ARE FROM PEOPLE WITH NOTHING BETTER TO DO WITH THEIR TIME THAN MESS UP YOUR DAY. Coriann does not love you at all!
Medway Council Trading Standards are warning the public to think carefully before signing up to green deals being sold door-to-door in Medway.
Officers advise that potential customers should always read carefully what is on offer before buying anything on the doorstep. This is because some systems may not return the expected energy savings that salesmen offer when they knock local doors – or at least not in the time frame expressed. Read More
More than 1,200 people took the opportunity to have a look around Eastgate House, Rochester during Heritage Open Days (12 to 15 September). The scheme celebrates England’s fantastic architecture and offers free entry to historic buildings that normally charge for admission or are not usually open to the public.
This was the last chance for visitors explore all four floors of the Elizabethan town house before work begins on a Heritage Lottery Funded project to conserve the building and transform it into an exhibition and community space with improved access. The house is due to re-open in 2015. Read More
With the increasing amount and variety of livestock that the Trust owns or loans conservation grazing is becoming an increasingly important management tool. Thanks to recent project funding, many of the chalk downland reserves in the Darenth Valley are being grazed by sheep and cattle this winter, and this year for the first time we will be using goats to control invasive buddleia and silver birch at Sevenoaks Wildlife Reserve. Read More
Late summer and early autumn at Oare Marshes have seen huge numbers of wading birds passing through on their annual migration to over-wintering locations.
During August and September counts in excess of 2,000 black-tailed godwit, 750 redshank, 150 dunlin,100 ringed plover, 200 golden plover and 50 curlew sandpipers have been recorded – the highest count of the latter for many years. Read More
Warnings have been issued to a number of restaurants, take-aways and off-licences in Medway after an operation led by the council’s licensing team working with police, HMRC, Environmental Food Safety and Enforcement teams. A number could face prosecution.
Twenty premises in River Ward were found in breach of licensing conditions – mainly not having a policy in place as set by the Home Office to prevent sales of alcohol to under age drinkers and not carrying out sufficient staff training. Some of the restaurants were in breach of the rules on drinking measures and were providing customers with unmeasured wine.
Five premises were found to have poor hygiene standards in their kitchens and one was issued with a prohibition notice because the electricity supply was found to be in a dangerous condition.
HMRC also seized more than 400 litres of alcohol from two off licences. Read More
A number of local businesses looking to recruit new staff will be setting up shop at the Pentagon Centre in Chatham this week for the Medway Jobs and Apprenticeship Fair 2013.
The event, organised by Medway Council and Job Centre Plus, takes place from 10am to 3pm on Thursday, 26 September on the first floor of the shopping mall.
It builds on a highly successful jobs fair held last year attended by more than 1,700 jobseekers resulting in 100 jobs being secured and many others helped to get their career ambitions on track.
A number of local employers from across Medway and the rest of Kent will have stands as well as employment support agencies, offering advice on training and skills to help people back into work or find a new career.
That includes the council backed Employ Medway service, based in High Street. Chatham which offers courses and one-to-one support for people who have been unemployed for some time.
Jobcentre Plus will be on hand to provide information on how both employers and jobseekers can benefit from the Wage Incentive scheme, work trials and work experience. Read More
Things get spooky this Autumn Half Term at The Historic Dockyard Chatham, as visitors explore the eerie and ethereal through a range of exciting activities.
Running from 25 October through to 3 November, visitors can join in the Bats and Broomsticks activities, suitable for all the family. These include a brand new and very informative Bat Trail, the return of Megan the Witch with spell binding stories to enchant and – back by popular demand – families can challenge their creative skills by trying their hand at Pumpkin Carving or take the spooky mini Ghost Tours through the eerie Hearts of Oak gallery in the dark! Read More
After last year’s success, The Russian State Ballet and Opera House is back with a new and vibrant Classical Ballet, The Nutcracker – a family orientated production with the Fairy Tale element and some added glitz from the beautiful costumes.
There will be no surprise to any that this production will be of the most delicate, intimate and powerful kind. This Company is known for its attention to details and, more particularly, for its dramatization in dance of the tragedy and beauty that this ballet is known for.
Join us for an unforgettable journey in the run-up to Christmas and be part of the magic as it unfolds. Read More
Hand of Stabs, a quirky three-man band known for their improvised shows in unusual settings, will be performing a one-off gig at the Old Brook Pumping Station in Chatham on Saturday, 28 September.
The Royal Albert Hall may have fine acoustics and the O2 Greenwich a show-stopping all round view but neither has a belt driven Blackstone 14 inch Unchokeable Pump on hand to wow the audience.
The 84-year-old water pumping device at The Old Brook Pumping Station, off Solomons Road, Chatham will be getting a new lease of life but this time as a musical instrument. Read More
If you’ve ever felt like branching out and having a new experience Medway Council could have the answer for you later this month.
A new art installation will give people the chance to listen to the inner workings of trees.
To get to the root of it – how does it work?
Artist Alex Metcalf uses special high performance microphones to record the sounds from inside the tree as water is pulled up from the roots to the leaves. Read More
If you need to know more about the possible hazardous waste site at Grain you can click the following link to find all of the contact details.
Or you can contact your local Councillor to register your opinion by following this link
If you are you should get down to the new Regal Model Shop at The Old School House at the Historic Dockyard in Chatham this weekend. There is a huge trailer with a Scalextric circuit made up inside ready to for you to take part in events in the Scalextric World Cup. Come along and release the competitor in you. Combine it with a visit to the Salute the 40s event at the Historic dockyard and take a look round their extensive showroom while you are there.
Over the last year Hoo Peninsula residents have been meeting with local farmers, environmentalists, businesses and planners to discuss what the Hoo Peninsula could be like as a place to live and work.
Key to this is thinking more about how we can use “greening” projects to improve your quality of life as well as that for wildlife and business. A greening project could be the planting of more trees in villages to reduce temperatures in the summer. Such work could also improve local pride and provide a home for wildlife. The following link to a short video shows other examples of greening projects and their wider benefits http://vimeo.com/38736492.
These local meetings (called Community Conversations) have been organised as part of a larger EU funded project called GIFT-T! (Green Infrastructure for Tomorrow – Together!). The end goal of this work is to see if we can demonstrate what a strong social, economic and environmental future for people, wildlife and business could be.
GIFT-T! is at an early stage but we are really keen to hear the views of lots of local people – of all ages and interests about the Peninsula’s environment and future. To make this as easy as possible an on-line questionnaire has been set up where you can tell us your thoughts. The link is http://139.165.29.43/Gift/Hoopeninsula/
What next?
1. Your information will be saved and will form a key part of the information directing our work.
2. It might be possible to show the results in a future addition of the Peninsula Times.
3. You could attend a future Community Conversation meeting – email Martin.hall@gtgkm.org.uk or call 01634 337593 with your contact details.
Around 40,000 people across Medway are diagnosed with high blood pressure, and the NHS believes many more may not know they suffer.
NHS Medway Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) predicts there may be as many as 65,000 people in total with high blood pressure across the Medway towns and is urging people to get tested and ‘know their numbers’. Read More
Public consultation on a new document setting out how Medway’s potential World Heritage Site supports the area’s regeneration agenda goes live today (16 September, 2013).
The draft Chatham World Heritage Planning Policy document responds to government feedback on Medway’s bid to nominate Chatham Dockyard and its Defences as a World Heritage Site in 2014.
Chatham is one of just eleven sites on the government’s shortlist of potential World Heritage Sites. It is considered the world’s best-preserved example of a defended dockyard from the age of sail. Read More
Image credit Simon Kelsey
It will replace the existing changing pavillion, which will be demolished once the new one is in place. It will provide an all inclusive facility at Beechings Way.
The hall will continue to be run by Twydall Community Association and the football changing facilities by Medway Council.
The funding for this scheme has been provided as part of a developer contribution for formal sport.
Pictured are Medway Council Porfolio Holder for Community Services Howard Doe, with representatives of the two local football leagues and Twydall Community Association.
Photo – Jo, Lola and James Clackett
Eczema causes skin to become itchy, dry, sore and cracked and in severe cases can make skin bleed. Atopic eczema is the most common form and mainly affects children but can continue into adulthood. Read More
Peninsula Times 