Edenbridge Town Council

Edenbridge

We have seen an increase in calls for nuisance vehicles again, especially off road bikes, in the area so work is being done to combat this and tackle the problem. We have siezed one bike for driving dangerously and casuing a nuisnace in the area. A warrant was also carried out due to intel being gathered regarding stolen bikes. We have been suffering from a lack of resources over the Christmas week due to patrols having to cover the port closures. I would like to thank everyone who has made calls relating to these bikes and other crimes that have occurred, it gives us more imformation on times and patterns that help solve the problems being caused. We have also attended several calls for Covid breaches and dealt with the people who broke the rules accordingly. Patrols attended a Road Traffic Collison in Marsh Green, luckily all people involved were checked over by the ambulance and was given the all clear and the road was reopened after a couple of hours. With the weather getting worse and the roads now likely to freeze and become slippery, it is important that people take particular care when driving for their essentials trips.

Kent and Medway Covid-19 vaccination services

All Covid-19 vaccinations will be provided through booked appointments. The list of locations is for information only. Please do not directly contact or visit locations unless you have been invited to attend.

GP surgeries are working together in groups (primary care networks) to provide the Covid-19 vaccine. The majority of the 42 primary care network areas now have a service listed.

If your surgery is not listed yet please be patient. They are working hard to make sure they have services in place that cover all primary care network areas in Kent and Medway. 

To find your local vaccination location click here

National lockdown: Stay at Home

Coronavirus cases are rising rapidly across the country.

You must stay at home. The single most important action we can all take is to stay at home to protect the NHS and save lives.

You should follow this guidance immediately. This is the law.

Leaving home

You must not leave, or be outside of your home except where necessary. You may leave the home to:

• shop for basic necessities, for you or a vulnerable person
• go to work, or provide voluntary or charitable services, if you cannot reasonably do so from home
• exercise with your household (or support bubble) or one other person, this should be limited to once per day, and you should not travel outside your local area.
• meet your support bubble or childcare bubble where necessary, but only if you are legally permitted to form one
• seek medical assistance or avoid injury, illness or risk of harm (including domestic abuse)
• attend education or childcare – for those eligible

If you do leave home for a permitted reason, you should always stay local – unless it is necessary to go further, for example to go to work. Stay local means stay in the village, town, or part of the city where you live.

If you are clinically extremely vulnerable you should only go out for medical appointments, exercise or if it is essential. You should not attend work

For Further information click here

As part of the on-going maintenance and improvement of the highway network, Kent County Council will be resurfacing the B2026 Main Road and the B2026 Station Road between the junction of Dennetsland Road, Crockham Hill and Stangrove Road, Edenbridge.

These road surface improvement works are programmed to start on the 11th January 2021 and should take 36 Nights (including Weekends) to complete. These activities will be undertaken between the hours of 20:00 and 06:00 each day.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic and uncertainty there is a risk these works could be cancelled at any time. This type of work can also be affected by bad weather, so if it is not possible for us to carry it out at this time, we will arrange a new date and let you know via a letter drop to your home.

Signs will be put up along the road, before we start, showing the date we plan to start work.

During these essential works it will be necessary to close the road completely so that works can be carried out safely for both the workforce and road users. These works will be split into 3 phases and the diversion routes will be as below:

Phase 1. Road Closed between Dennettsland Road and Swan Lane.
Alternative route via B269 Spout Lane, B269 Pootings Road, B2027 Four Elms Road and Swan Lane and vice versa. Access For Marlpit Hill Village From Swan Lane.

Phase 2. Road closed between Swan lane and Four elms Road.
Alternative route via Swan Lane, B2027 Four Elms Road and Vice Versa. HGV’s to be escorted through site due to low bridges.
Access to St Johns Way Estate Via Four Elms Road on Diversion route.

Phase 3. Road Closed Between Four Elms Road and Wellingtonia Way.
Alternative route via B2026 Main Road, Swan Lane, B2027 Four Elms Road, B2027 Clinton lane, B2027 Causeway Cottages, Moorden Lane, Station Hill, Penshurst Road, B2188 Fordcombe Road, B2188 New Road, B2188 Spring Hill, B2188 Fordcombe Road, A264 Ashhurst Road, B2026 Hartford Road, B2026 Mill Hill, B2026 Mont St Aignan Way, B2026 Station Road and vice versa.

HGV’s to be escorted through site due to low bridges on Diversion Route.

Click here for the full notice

 

SDC refuse and cleansing departments are under extreme pressure at the moment. Cllr McArthur (SDC Cleaner and Greener Cabinet Member) said, ‘we have seen three times the level of waste and recycling being put out over the last week. There are now many more sick and self-isolating staff, vehicle breakdowns, and KCC staff reductions at the tip which have had a knock-on effect on the speed we can turn the trucks around and get them back out, shorter daylight hours and every day we have been trying to both catch up previous day’s missed collections whilst also doing that day’s usual collections.
We have suspended the garden waste service for now and moved those staff and trucks onto residential waste, our street cleansing teams are also trying to support with their vehicles however they have much lower capacity.
SDC had all available teams out today however it is going to be at least a week until we have fully caught up.
We are aware that the recycling sites, particularly glass, are proving a new problem with people drinking at home, and, having moved street cleansing teams to missed collection duty last week we are now getting street cleansing complaints. Residents really should be keeping this sort of recycling at home until we have caught up
Our over-riding priority right now is to maintain household waste collections, and we are struggling to be able to do this currently

I hope that residents will understand this current situation is unprecedented, and since the virus has accelerated, there are simply not enough staff available. Those who are well are willingly working very long hours including Saturdays to provide a service’.

The Council office is open for normal business. Staff can be contacted by calling 01732 865368 or email information@edenbridgetowncouncil.gov.uk.

Due the current Coronavirus situation and Tier 4 guidelines, access to the office is closed for members of the public. Please purchase waste bags from the supermarkets until we are bale to reopen the offce.

Edenbridge Town Council wishes everyone a peaceful and enjoyable Christmas. It has not been the easiest of years, and for some it has been particularly difficult. Edenbridge has shown great community spirit during these past challenging months and many of you helping neighbours and residents with shopping, prescription collections, checking in and saying hello to people and running errands. Edenbridge is fortunate to have many activate local groups which have continued in some form regardless of the pandemic. Each contribution has really helped.

With the new Covid-19 vaccine, let’s hope that 2021 is a more positive year and the worst of the pandemic can be put behind us. Please stay safe, stay home and help combat this terrible disease.

The Council Offices will be closed 24 December and reopening on Monday 4 January. If during this time you need advice on Covid-19 or support please visit the Council’s website and the Covid-19 pages. If you need additional help, please register with Sevenoaks District Council on 01732 22700.

Waste and recycling bags and garden sacks will not be available from the Office during January due to the Tier 4 restrictions. The Council asks residents to please purchase black sacks from the supermarkets until the restrictions are eased.

https://coronavirusresources.phe.gov.uk/tiering/resources/Tightest restrictions for Sevenoaks District: It wasn’t the news any of us wanted to hear just days before Christmas. But with rising cases of COVID-19 across Kent and much of the south-east of England (largely attributed to a more contagious strain of the virus), the Government put Sevenoaks District in Tier 4 from 20 December. Under the new rules, we cannot leave or be outside of the place we live unless we have a reasonable excuse. We cannot meet others indoors, including over the Christmas and New Year period, unless they live with us, or they are part of our support bubble. Outdoors, we can only meet one person from another household. These rules will not be relaxed for Christmas. We can no longer form a Christmas bubble. Non-essential retailers must also close. We offering financial support to affected businesses. View the Tier 4 restrictions in full and download poster and social media graphics to share with your contacts.
Sevenoaks District Council services during Tier 4 restrictions, our services will continue as normal, including waste and recycling and garden waste collections. However, following Government advice, we have closed our reception to the public. You can still access our services by phone, post or online and arrange an appointment if there is a need to speak with one of our colleagues. Call us on 01732 227000 or visit www.sevenoaks.gov.uk

At the Finance Committee on 23 November, Members considered the grant applications it had received for its annual grants award. It awarded a share of £7,880 to the following to local organisations and groups:

Edenbridge Churches in Covenant                    £325

Edenbridge Christmas Association                     £865

Edenbridge Community First Responders         £1,400

Edenbridge & Westerham CAB                          £2,000

Edenbridge Voluntary Transport Service           £1,000

Hi Kent (Local Registered Deaf Charity)             £760

Nomads Football Club                                        £400

The Eden Christian Trust                                    £330

West Kent Mediation                                           £800

 

 

The Finance Committee met in December to consider the detailed budget for 2021/22. The full Council had already considered the Precept at its meeting on 09 November and instructed the Committee to prepare the draft budget based onan increase to the Precept of 5%. (The Precept is the element of a property’s council tax that pays for the Town Council.)  This would mean that a typical Band D property’s precept next year will be £157.61; an annual increase of £7.51 or £0.63p per month (less than the cost of a second-class stamp or a chocolate bar).

The Town Council income from the Precept will increase from £554,973.00 to £582,721.65. This is calculated by multiplying the Precept for a Band D property by the council tax base for Edenbridge.  The council tax base consists of the number of band D equivalent dwellings in the area. Exemptions and discounts are taken into account and the number of properties in each band is reduced to reflect these.  The tax base advised by Sevenoaks District Council for 2021/22 is 3,730.15, an increase of 32.87. The Precept is the smallest proportion of the full Council Tax.

At the time of considering any increase to the Precept it was not known then that Sevenoaks District Council (SDC) would impose an increase to the allowance for non-collection of Council Tax, a consequence of the current Covid-19 crisis. This has a negative impact to the Town Council resulting in a lower tax base figure than forecasted. This is disappointing as the Government has awarded grants to the district and county councils to help with this loss of income, but nothing has been passed down to parish and town level. The Town Council has expressed its disappoint to the local association of councils and Tom Tugendhat MBE MP.

The Finance Committee scrutinised the draft budget. Considerations were given to the high staff costs and the 10-and-30-year maintenance plans.  The Town Council owns and maintains a lot of the town’s open spaces and public buildings and this adds pressure when balancing the high level of standards residents have come to expect and deserve, with the budget. It was noted that several smaller savings had already been made in the administration costs and changes to the cleaning of Rickards Hall. However, this is not sufficient to help with the budget deficit. It was also noted that the Covid-19 pandemic had had an impact on some costs and loss of income with the closure of Rickards Hall.

The question was raised, ‘which services would the Council like to cut?’ Members did not want to cut services, but agreed to put to Council to consider a review.

The full Council will consider adopting the draft budget and any changes at its meeting on 18^th January.

Click here for a copy of the draft budget.
Click here for a copy of the November Council minutes.