These are the past newsletters. The current issue of each newsletter is delivered to members' addresses and can be sent by email on request.

Guided tour of Historic Sandwich
The guided tour was well supported by nineteen members, who were split into two groups. Our guides Frank and Margaret had a wealth of knowledge about historic Sandwich and really opened our eyes as to how the town was in the middle ages. Throughout the centuries the prosperity of Sandwich has waxed and waned. In medieval times and before, Sandwich was a main Kent and UK port. It was, and still is a principal Cinque port, and thus benefitted from many privileges from the Crown in return for supplying vessels for war. Between the eleventh and thirteenth Centuries, Sandwich reached the top of its importance as the main port in England. Walking along Strand Street today, which is narrow and lined with buildings, it is hard to imagine that this was once a wide and bustling quayside, but on closer inspection many of the old buildings and warehouses remain. The river Stour silted up after a great storm in 1287 and the large sailing vessels could no longer berth in the harbour. This was the beginning of a decline in prosperity. Walking along the streets all was not as it seemed. Behind many of the modern facades were the original wooden houses and where the original walls were exposed one could see that recycling is nothing new as in the walls were stones, tiles and bricks from earlier buildings, some even from Roman Richborough Castle. One house had the remains of a Norman House in its garden. There were also houses of the Flemish Weavers, who brought prosperity to the town, with their fine weaving skills. These houses have larger than usual windows to allow in the light needed for their task. Still visible throughout the streets of Sandwich, are the channels containing water diverted from the River Stour, which was the only water supply to the townspeople.

More recently prosperity came to the town again, through the presence of the pharmaceutical giant, Pfizer, but it is now threatened by the recent closure of the Pfizer complex..

Maureen Smith, our Publicity Officer attended the June meeting of WAMP at the invitation of the district councillors to speak, on behalf of the Whitstable Society,about our aims, objectives, roles and responsibilities. The following is a summary of what she said.

“Our overall objective is to improve the amenity and utility value of the town and the district for local people, preserving the character and features of our inheritance and improving the area to meet the needs of the future. The people of Whitstable have a collective voice through us. There are occasions when a councillor serving on a planning committee is unable to speak about planning issues at the risk of losing his/her vote but the Whitstable Society as official consultees to the council on planning issues are able to do so. We have regular meetings with guest speakers to educate us on a variety of topics, followed by discussions where everyone can talk over current issues and help the society's committee formulate policy and recommendations. Some of our meetings are taken outside of our regular venue, for instance in this year?s programme we have a guided walk around historic Sandwich, and a visit to the Turner Contemporary at Margate.

We are proud of our earlier achievements, when we prevented the sea wall from being built unnecessarily high and wide and more recently our support helped bring a successful outcome for the bridges to be reinstated over Teynham and Old Bridge Roads in order to complete the continuity from beginning to end of the Crab and Winkle Cycle path. We are duty bound to work together with other groups to the common good, for example the Beach campaign, Kent Federation of Amenity Societies and Civic Voice.

Looking forward, life changes fast these days, and we intend to remain vigilant so that it doesn?t leave us behind. We will act whenever policies are proposed that threaten the town character. There are some difficult challenges ahead like resolving traffic problems for drivers and pedestrians and rebalancing initiatives so that people are the priority.”

Hopefully this presentation will continue to maintain a good working relationship between ourselves and the members of WAMP.

Graham Cox spoke to several items for the Society at the WAMP meeting, including an AOB. The latter related to our discovery that the stalls on the reeves Beach public space have inappropriate licenses, trading on the highway. Instead they need permission to trade on council owned public open space. . But we also discovered that the council has no policy on this. . We also pointed out that the ice cream unit was creating a nuisance due to wrong location. A member of the Council Executive responded that the council would correct the situation and create a policy for trading on public open spaces and take action to avoid nuisance.

Members of the Wamp discussed new beach huts and Graham took the opportunity to advise that we are strongly opposed to any new sites on protected open space (eg Tankerton Slopes) being licensed other than as for short term renting to maximise access for local people since it is protected open public space.

Graham also commented on plans for new sea defence works on Seasalter beach village green. However pre-discussions with council expert Ted Edwards have assuaged most of our concerns and we will be meeting him July to discuss detail. Sadly the last section of beach free of breakwaters must disappear.

Local people at the meeting were very concerned about the plans discussed at the meeting for developing all of Tankerton car park for flats. It does appear that removing the coach parking/unloading capability may cause problems in the area and in eliminating Tankerton's last paved public open space may remove necessary space for public events (eg blood giving). It will be necessary for an initiative to be put to the Council?s Executive if there is no proper alternative location for the coaches and other functions; since the car park is council owned.

Sadly, since Maureen made her presentation, funding for the two cycle bridges, over Teyhnam Road and Old Bridge Road has been withdrawn. Plannning permission was given last March for these two bridges which are needed to complete the Crab and Winkle cycle route to the harbour. KCC leader, Paul Carter, says delays in getting planning permission and harsher economic conditions have meant that the authority can no longer afford it. Sustrans say that without KKC funding it can no longer deliver the project within the time limit for Lottery funding to be granted. This is a big blow for Whitstable and for all the people who have given up so much of their time for this project. Sustrans say they won?t give up, and hope that when the economy recovers, funding will be made available.

Please note a permanent change of venue for future meetings. The new venue is at Whitstable Castle and the next meeting is on 29th July and all dates remain the same.

The Kent Forum is a high-level strategic group which was formed in 2010 following the development of the Kent Recommitment. It is made up of the democratic Leaders of Kent. It is chaired by Paul Carter, Leader of Kent County Council and vice-chaired by John Gilbey, of Canterbury City Council.

The Kent Forum has overall responsibility for co-ordinating and agreeing shared priorities and progress, encouraging community leadership and supporting new initiatives. These responsibilities include overseeing Kent?s Sustainable Community Strategy, called the "Vision for Kent" and supporting the development of Locality Boards across Kent.

The Kent Forum provides a strong collective voice for the leaders of Kent and therefore enhances the efforts made by individual organisations and groups. Partnership working improves co-operation and co-ordination and therefore has more effect than the sum of its individual parts.

The Kent Forum is committed to supporting strategic decision-making, ensuring the efficient delivery of local public services and devolving decision-making to the most appropriate level. The Kent Forum also aims to respond to the needs and aspirations of local people and save tax-payers? money.

The Kent Forum has three ambitions for its Vision for Kent 2011 – 2021 :

1 To grow the economy
2 To tackle disadvantage
3 To put citizens in control

and is consulting with the public for their views. To take part in the consultation process, please visit: www.kentforum.org.uk and click on the link for consultation Consultation period ends 22nd August 2011.

Civic Voice - updated membership information

National Trust and English Heritage – free day passes – By joining Civic Voice your members are entitled to day passes giving free access to any National Trust or English Heritage property subject to a small number of restrictions. You will need to promote the opportunity in your members? newsletter and/or electronic bulletin, by providing details of the link, perhaps alongside a short article mentioning local properties or arranging a group visit. The link should not be put on your public website.

The free National Trust pass is available to download by your members using the following link www.civicvoice.org.uk/nationaltrustcivicvoiceoffer. This pass is transferable and can be given to friends or family if you are already a member of the National Trust. The free English Heritage pass can be used between 1 April and 30 June and between 1 September and 31 January 2012 and is available to download by following link www.civicvoice.org.uk/englishheritagepartnership. This pass is not transferable.
Where members do not have internet access either or both passes can be obtained by request with a stamped addressed envelope sent to Civic Voice, Unit 101, 82 Wood Street, The Tea Factory, Liverpool L1 4DQ. This should provide contact details and the name of the group which is a member of Civic Voice.

NCVO – free membership – By joining Civic Voice your group receives free membership of NCVO, the largest umbrella body for the voluntary and community sector in England. This provides access to a range of free services and advice on organisational, legal, fundraising and IT issues which complement the more specialist support provided by Civic Voice, as well as discounts on NCVO events and publications and news bulletins. Information on your membership is sent by NCVO directly. If you have a query about NCVO membership please contact membership@ncvo-vol.org.uk