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June 2005 Newsletter

June Meeting: Change
to Current Affairs		 The June event as planned has been moved. There is a restricted numbers
trip to Broadstairs on the evening of Mon June 27th  with a few places
left. Call Kath on 275802.
Please amend diaries. The June Meeting will be held on Tuesday June 21st
at 7.30 as a current affairs event; with differences. The venue is the
Castle and refreshments will be served. Amongst various topics, Council
representatives will be there to present the plans and options for community
facilities off Church Lane to help us form our opinion of the competing
proposals (see later)6 and a representative for the Castle will update
us on the lottery bid. Please add to your dairies Tuesday August 16th
as a social event at the Castle gardens.The Harbour Board’s consultation on their plans will be on display
at the Horsebridge Centre between 25th of June and July 1st, so it is
too late for our current affairs meeting. We will therefore review the
plans and form our final opinion of the proposals at our meeting on July
19th. Please look at the plans if you can.
Field Trip Walks

We hope as many members as
possible can make these events for in addition to enjoying the walking
and scenery, that some have not been through, and reacquainting with boundaries;
we need to form our views about the relative attractiveness of tracts
of countryside that may be proposed as building land in the next planning
round.

June 10th: change of starting point
Our intrepid pioneers Rita Collett and Kath Gill have been checking out
the countryside and to ensure the reality on the ground matches the maps.
The path from the original starting point at Honey Hill is blocked. The
starting point is now changed to Tesco car park, meeting at the bus stop
by the side of the car park at 6.30p.m. on Friday June 10th. The route
will follow the Crab and Winkle and return via Clowes Farm so we can look
at all the country side on the east of the road to Canterbury.

July 1st : Advisory of starting point and time
Please meet by the Seasalter Yacht Club at 6.30 p.m. on Friday July 1st.
We will view from the sea wall bank the routes of the various boundaries
across the marshes. We will then go by convoy to a location near Yorkletts
from where our circular walk will traverse the paths between there and
Pean Hill.
Trees We hope to put in a
first grant application to the Tree Council this week to cover 75% of the
cost of planting trees at the first two sites suggested by members: Priest
and Sow corner and Cornwallis Circle. These are expensive sites as trees
planted there face extreme challenges from vandals and gales, so the individual
planting may be up to £250 each. The Whitstable Improvement Trust
has agreed to fund 25% of the cost.
Tea Gardens For reasons which are rather difficult to fathom, the Tea Gardens has
so far been left out of the landscaping / planting examination and proposal
process for the lottery bid for the Castle. This is being rectified and
the area will benefit from the same examination as the rest of the Castle
Grounds. We hope amongst other things that the hut can be repaired and
expanded, a watering system installed, walls repaired excessive tree growth
cut back and appropriate plantings of perennials made. The Tea Gardens
are currently managed by the Whitstable Improvement Trust on a two year
renewable lease and they then license the ‘tea and cakes’ operation
that we all value. Mary Lerigo from the Trust is advising the council
on the needs of the site on the basis of her experience of looking after
them for many years.
Red Spider Café As you may remember the Society support planning permission for re-building
the Red Spider on West beach on the basis that many local people would
like the facility back that so many families grew up with. We swung round
to the opposite camp recently on the issue of licensing which the Whitstable
Oyster Fishery Company decided to apply for. The Red Spider was a café
and just that, but the Company applied from an extensive liquor licence…
even asking for a licence for hours when the conditions set down for planning
permission required the café to be closed.  The Beach Campaign
fought this application with considerable energy and the papers report
it as losing since the licence was granted. However, the detail indicates
otherwise.  The planners’ hours of operation restriction are
to be respected. The facility can only serve up to 6PM in summer and hardly
at all at other times of the year, and will be restricted to waiter service
to the inside and to the front veranda. This should assuage the fears
of the local community.
Church Lane Community Facilities Many were pleasantly surprised by the extent of the community land and
facilities proposed under a section 106 agreements with the developers
of the land surrounding the old Seasalter church.  The large field
to the east and north of the church is to be given to the community and
a pot of £150,000 made available for community facilities such as
playing surfaces, changing rooms, community centre and / or a medical
centre.A consultation exercise in the community will be carried out over the
next couple of months as to which facilities we would prefer. This will
be one item under discussion at our Current Affairs meeting on June 21st
at which maps will be available. Councillors at the Whitstable Area Members
panel  last Monday asked that the consultation be extended from the
proposed 15 minute walk perimeter, as the sports facilities at least would
be used by people from all over the town.
Middle Wall Car Park Good news on the Tesco
106 money in that some of it will be used to improve the street scene for
the exits from car parks. Knights Alley will be a particular focus. The
Society created the present attractive arrangement years ago but vandalism,
overgrowth and general deterioration mean that a re-vamp is needed. Hopefully
it can be made as vandal proof as possible.
Members Membership has now passed
400, up approximately a hundred as a result of the leaflet drop on the centre
of town. We welcome these new members :
Ms Arrowsmith; Mr & Mrs Blades; M r& Mrs Bridges; Mr Colls ;Dr &
Mrs Cwynarski; Mr & Mrs Dukes; Ms Dunn;  Mrs Faulkner; Mr &
Mrs Leigh; Mr &Mrs Metcalfe; Revs Must; Mr & Mrs Newcombe; Mr &
Mrs Palmer; Mrs Ramelson; Ms Richardson and Mr Whaley; Mr & Mrs Rogers;
Mr Rowe; Mr & Mrs Verwijs.
Community Coordination As most people know,
community coordination has been poor in Whitstable, not unconnected with
the fact that we have no council and no Canterbury City council officers
/ function taking this on. The Council doesn’t even have a proper list
of organisations in the town. Officers were limited to SRB activities in
‘deprived wards’. This can now and will change.  Now all
Council funded, officers Amanda Sparks and Marie Royle for the coastal towns
and Amy Zawislak for the CCC district have now been given formal responsibilities
in this area and will assist in engendering town level information exchange
and cooperation amongst their other community development work. Amy is currently
working with the Community Centre to review their situation and see if their
grant can be restored to last year’s level. The Society has written
in the Centre’s support.
Sunday Walks (
Rita Collett 264574)		 Sunday 6 June 2005
Meet 10 a.m. St Nicholas at Wade Church, Thanet. Local walk
approx 5 miles, could be muddy. GR ref 266 666. The village will have its
open gardens scheme both Saturday and Sunday which can be enjoyed after
the walk.
Sunday 3 July 2005 Meet 10 a.m. bottom of St Thomas’s Hill, Canterbury,
near Cherry Garden Road to walk around the city and river during the morning
– about 2-3 hours with a 1û2 hour coffee stop included, possibly Dane
John area – if wet, stop under cover. No walk in August.
May Meeting Report:
Boat Building in Whitstable		 Many old salts and
seafarers came aboard the good ship St. Alphege School for an evening which
brought to life the art of boat building which for so many years was at
the commercial heart of Whitstable. Our speaker, Alan Staley, had the distinctive
roll of the tongue we associate with those who have lived and worked in
the town and by the sea all their lives. Alan focussed on the history of
Anderson, Rigden and Perkins, which was started in 1917 when The Whitstable
Shipping Co. disappeared. Once there were 165 ships registered in Whitstable.
The trade was mostly in coal and salvage with boats working from the North
East of England. Interestingly only one Thames barge, the Northdown, and
two oyster dredgers were ever built here; the last in 1955.Alan painted a colourful picture of the life of an apprentice. The working
day was 7am to 9pm and the conditions working out in the open among the
forges and winches up and down the beach must have been very demanding.
We were taught the art of riveting and how to prepare a slipway for a launch
and realised why restoring the shape of the shingle after a boat had been
dragged up on wooden sleepers was such a thankless task especially in 1963
when the sea froze and the pick axes had to break up the ice.

We could imagine the young apprentice feeding the boiler with driftwood
while the experts used the steam to bend the timber to the shape required;
every inch took an hour. Oyster yawls had a rudder trunk in a fan shape
with tapered stays and the splitting out of the old and replacing it all
had to be done before the tide came back in. There were special skills to
lift a ship or insert a new mast. We imagined what it was like at the top
of a flagpole after it had been carefully fashioned from a single tree.

Photos of some of the graceful wooden boats were passed around the audience.
We could see why the 18s and the Essex 1 class were so prized by their owners.
Everyone associated with the art of boat building seemed to be great characters
and we heard a little about people such as Jack Stephen, George Richards,
Harry Beale, Bob Andrews, Ron Barton and Roy Rigden.

As we walked out into the town afterwards it was as if quite suddenly we
were back on dry land. It was sad to think that those skills, which once
flourished in Whitstable, had been swept away by time and change. But in
the car park was our speaker’s van, and on its side was written “Alan
Staley, Boat Builder, Faversham”. The tradition lives on.

Chris Byers
Community Information Whitstable
Health Centre and Chestfield Medical Centre Practice Users Group
Not our usual area, but members might like to note the Practice Users Group
that was set up four years ago so that patients can contribute views and
ideas on CT5 healthcare services based at Whitstable Health Centre and at
Chestfield Medical Centre. If you are interested in becoming a member of
the Group and for further details please ask at the reception desks or contact
Lesley King – Practice Manager – Tel: 594570. Alternatively remember the
suggestion boxes.
Fireworks
Since August 7th 2004, it’s been a criminal offence to let off fireworks
between 11pm and 7am and anyone breaking the curfew risks a fine of up to
£5,000 or six months imprisonment. Exceptions are Bonfire Night (when
there’s an extension until midnight), Diwali Day (which has an extension
until 1am), New Year’s Eve (1am) and Chinese New Year (1am).  Complaints
should be directed to the police and not the Council

December 2003 Newsletter

Christmas party at
the Castle, Wynn Ellis Room, at 7.30 on Tuesday December 9th		 The Social Committee is laying on light refreshments, including a fruit punch. Music of various kinds will be on hand and a stimulating game is planned! Members are encouraged to bring along any Christmas tipple
they wish to drink themselves or hand round. Licensing laws prevent us providing alcoholic drinks. Please call Kath on 274802 by Dec 6th to advise
if you are coming. £2.50 on the door or email.For those who cannot make the party, Eddie Oldfield and Graham Cox wish you all a Happy Christmas. We look forward to an active new year for the Society and more of the energy and forward progress that we have been
noticing in the recent past in CT5.
Notes from the Committees The Society has recently represented its views to decision-makers in two areas.A request from ourselves jointly with the Whitstable Improvement Trust was made to councillors regarding the substantial increase in all car-parking charges proposed by the Council after consulting with officers on alternatives.
We requested that the short stay periods be excluded from the rises and indeed that the shortest stay be made free if possible in order to support activity in the High St at a time when the expansion of Tesco may be damaging.
The Whitstable Area Members Panel passed a recommendation along these lines on Nov 17th.The Society has also sent a recommendation to policy-makers and an appeal to all interested parties to push for a 50 MPH limit to start between the slip road off the New Thanet Way and the junction with Church Lane; which would cost around £5000 and take three to six months until implementation. Expensive schemes (of the order of £0.5m) to improve
this junction and eliminate the problem may take years to be approved and sanctioned, if at all. In the meantime more people could be injured or killed at this junction. A speed limit of 50 MPH will reduce the risk of accidents even if only a proportion of motorists respect the speed limit. If you agree with this proposal, we encourage you and your friends
to contact your local councillors. The present arrangements are a menace to everyone in Whitstable. The police have a blanket objection to any new 40 or 50 MPH speed limits that are not self-enforcing (for resource availability reasons). However, we are advised that in a case like this, a unanimous view from all concerned may be enough to have this limit adopted.
Until then, we need to keep an eye out for hesitant drivers crossing at the Church Lane junction, especially in bad weather conditions. The Society’s
submission is available on request.We remind members that they have the opportunity to go along to the exhibition of the Castle Lottery scheme from. Dec 1st for 2weeks at the Woolwich
premises in the High St. Comments back to us to help form the Society’s opinion are welcome. Please note also that the public enquiry on the footpaths to the beach has been postponed for several months.
Annual General Meeting It gives us great pleasure to announce the 43rd AGM: to be held at St Alphege Infant School Hall on the 17th of February 2004 at 7.30. The whole of the Committee of the Society has to stand down and all positions are
open for nomination: Chair, Vice-Chair, Hon. Secretary, Hon. Treasurer and the Head of the Planning Committee. If you or someone you know is
interested, please have the nomination sent or delivered to Ken Davies, 54 Newton Rd., CT52JA or faxed to 07005802691 before Tuesday 10th February
2004.Present members of the Committee, in addition to Ken, who are intending to put themselves forward again at the AGM are: Eileen Hargreaves, Esther
David, Judith Pope, Christopher Byers, Mike Bush, John Petman, Phil Willis, Peter Hewitt and Graham Cox. This then leaves four seats vacant at the
AGM to be filled without a contest being necessary.Any nomination should contain the names and signatures of the nominee, the proposer and the seconder; all three of whom should be paid-up members of the Society. Any position or positions listed above for which the nominee wishes to put themselves forward should be stated on the nomination. All Committee members must be prepared to be actively involved in the running
of the SocietyMembers are invited at any time to put themselves forward to serve on any of the sub-committees (in no particular order, Transport, Planning, Social, Rights of Way and Townscape) by advising any member of the Committee of their interest. Currently we would also welcome helpers to take on the specific functions of editor, press liaison and Council business
researcher.The annual dinner will be at the Chestfield Golf Club on February 28th. More details in the next issue.
The Horsebridge Arts
and Community Centre (HACC)		 The Board
of the trust company overseeing the centre are sending out a communication,
effectively its first newsletter to the town. As their methods of communication
are not yet developed and this issue includes the invitation to become voting
members of the HACC, the newsletter is reproduced in full below. The editor
is the Treasurer of the trust company and takes this opportunity to assure
interested readers that finances are being planned prudently, in the light
of uncertainty about how quickly the centre will take-off and the need for
subsidy. He shares his view that he is impressed by the professional skills
of the members of the board and their dedication in the preparation phase. HACC Newsletter How is the Centre run?
Although the day-to-day operation of the centre is the responsibility of
the centre manager, Will Forrest, the centre is run by a non-profit making
company with charitable status. At present the company has eleven trustee/directors,
two of whom are local councillors and the remaining nine are all local people
whoresponded to an appeal in the local press for volunteers to help set
up the centre. All trustees are unpaid and are not allowed to benefit in
any other way from their position. They come from a variety of backgrounds
and include experts in education, the visual and performing arts, finance,
disability issues, project management and the law. After an initial period
of two years one third of the non-councillor trustees will automatically
stand down and replacements be democratically elected by members of the
company.What can I expect to see at the Centre?
The building contains an art gallery, an education centre, a café,
and a performance space together with a number of smaller rooms that are
suitable for small classes, functions or workshops. The gallery, performance
space, and smaller rooms will be available for hire and there will be discounts
on hire charges for local residents and local groups. We hope to have a
wide variety of shows, classes and events to suit every age, taste and pocket.
One of the earliest exhibitions will feature the winners of the highly successful
Horsebridge Open Photographic Competition.How can I become involved?
Anyone living within the CT5 postal area can apply to become a member of
the company. This will entitle them to attend the company annual general
meeting and to vote for replacement trustees. However, the centre is open
to everyone, members and non-members alike and the easiest way to get involved
is just to turn up and see what is going on! The centre will be open from
early in the morning until late at night and as many events as possible
will be either free or at reduced rates. As the centre only has limited
funding, the trustees will be grateful for any volunteers who are willing
to give their support by assisting in the practical aspects of running the
centre. A ‘Friends of the Horsebridge’ society will be set up
for people who want to become involved in supporting the centre on a more
permanent basis, and for members who really want to show a commitment to
the centre it is anticipated that the board of trustee/directors will be
enlarged to include member trustees.When will the centre be open?
It is hoped that the building will be fully fitted out and ready to open
by Easter of next year. Before that time, Will Forrest will be running a
series of open days so that anyone who wishes to can inspect the building
and its facilities. The trustees are very proud of Whitstable’s new
Art and Community Centre. They hope you will be too. If you wish to attend
an open day, consult about hiring space, or raise any other queries please
contact Will Forrest on 01227 263495 (Mon to Thurs) or william.forrest@canterbury.gov.uk
The Canterbury and
District CPRE		 Esther David introduced the speakers from the CPRE of which the Whitstable
Society is a member. The CPRE now stands for the Campaign to Protect Rural
England. Jean Crane, Committee member and past Deputy Chairman, and David
Symons, Chairman of Canterbury District (whose other interests include
Bio-psychology).Jean began the talk by saying that she hoped to illustrate the aims,
hopes and needs of the CPRE together with its problems and successes.The CPRE used to be known as the Council for the Protection of Rural England
but Campaign is now the key word as 90% of their work is campaigning to
challenge, criticise and advocate solutions regarding the very many developments
and changes in our countryside today.It is important that arguments regarding local planning matters are based
on facts. It is important to get people with special interests, knowledge
and expertise involved in the campaign. For example, KCC wants to build
a waste incinerator that has been vigorously opposed by local residents.
As a result KCC has postponed its decision. The CPRE does not campaign
solely for rural areas but also to make life pleasant for those who live
and work in the countryside and towns.The countryside in Kent is easily accessible but the CPRE is concerned
with the edge of town developments that encroach on to the green spaces
– golf courses, sports centre, shopping centres, and industrial units.
The green spaces between our towns and villages are diminishing and the
increased use of the car to access the countryside must not be allowed
to destroy the quiet lanes, which should be for the enjoyment of walkers
and cyclists but are spoilt by traffic. Noise is increasing and the quiet
areas in East Kent are diminishing. Using quiet, narrow lanes in the countryside
for heavy traffic for whatever reason causes damage and disruption.

The Campaign is involved in traffic management, road building, water resources,
housing/low cost housing. Many developers now are building large houses
with two or three garages with little sign of low cost or affordable housing.
As a result local young families cannot afford housing in villages where
they have lived all their lives. The CPRE does not oppose development
that provides affordable housing and is sensitively designed. It protects
areas, which are vulnerable so that building is confined to areas where
it is beneficial.

Telephone masts are becoming more of a problem and road building is scarring
the countryside. There are vast cement quarries (we do not have a policy
of re-using aggregates in this country). As a result the countryside is
left with large areas which are filled with developments such as Bluewater,
creating more traffic and environmental pollution.

A slide show of various offending sites from across the county followed
– road building, chalk pits, missing hedges, orchards being grubbed
up, mobile phonemasts, industrial buildings on the outskirts of towns
encroaching on to the countryside, old rural buildings in a state of disrepair
despite funding being available for repair, disused collieries which were
closed 20 years ago and could be used for new industry instead of green
fields. One success story is Samphire Hoe where a natural feature has
been created from the spoil from the construction of the Channel Tunnel.
Evidence was shown that ancient and other woodlands, marshland, grasslands,
and estuarine areas are still under threat from continuing building and
construction work.

The CPRE can put local people in touch with experts and give advice on
campaigning and objecting to local plans.

David then held a question and answer session suggesting that local people
who wished to object to inappropriate developments should think about
how the CPRE can help Whitstable residents and organisations such as the
Society. For example, the Canterbury Local Plan encourages development
of the green gap between Whitstable and Herne Bay. This threat and others
in the Plan that both organisations are campaigning against are issues
that the two can work hand in hand on at the public enquiry into the Plan.
The CPRE would be pleased to co-opt one or more members of the Whitstable
Society to attend CPRE meetings and everyone interested is encouraged
to join the CPRE. David believes we can make Whitstable a better place
to live. Some issues will prove a real challenge illustrated by shared
views on country lanes and the frustration that speed limits cannot be
imposed due to a regulation that makes development of an area a pre-requisite
for a speed limit. But then if a country lane were developed, it would
not longer be a country lane. The special Quiet Lanes initiatives using physical restrictions are unlikely to be applied in our area as only beauty spots are targeted.

The Chair thanked the speakers for an interesting and thought-provoking meeting and hoped that the WS and CPRE would work together over common interests in the future.
Next Society meeting 7.30 January 20th at St Alphege School Hall

Water sports in Whitstable are in the spotlight at this meeting with speakers from the various activities. The focus will be on water sports using wind power.
Whitstable Museum 13th December – 13th March 2004 : Douglas West
A special exhibition to celebrate the centenary of the birth of the renowned
Whitstable photographer. Includes previously unseen photographs from the
West family albums and a wonderful display of studio portraits of weddings,
babies and even pets, generously loaned by the people of the town.20th March 2004 – 24th April 2004 : Wildlife Photographerof the year
Prize-winning images from the prestigious annual international competition
organised by BBC Wildlife Magazine and the Natural History Museum: a split-site
exhibition showing at Whitstable and Herne Bay Museum & Gallery.Whitstable Museum is open daily from 10am to 4pm. Admission free. The
latest information about exhibitions and events is posted on the Museum
website www.whitstable-museum.co.uk

January 1975 Newsletter

TOWN CENTRE PLAN

BY THE TIME THIS NEWSLETTER REACHES YOU THE SOCIETY’S OWN PROPOSALS FOR THE TOWN CENTRE PLAN WILL HAVE BEEN PUBLISHED. This follows about four months of intensive work by the Working Party which was set up in September after the County Council announced its intention of producing its plan early this year, A better qualified group of individuals than those who make up this Working Party would be difficult to find, With one exception they are Committee members and all are well known to regular monthly Society meeting attenders. No less than four architects (Peter Miles, Julian Blades, Peter Hewitt and Martin Taylor)
together with a quantity surveyor (Geoffrey Hughes) and a traffic Engineer (Dr Chris Wright) make up the group

PROFESSIONAL TEAM

The advantage of having such a professional team lies in the clarity of the results and the way in which they arc presented.
A special closed Meeting of the Society was hold on 10th December (a month in which a meeting is not normally held) at which the working party presented their plan. Although poorly attended (probably because it is not on the printed programme) the meeting approved the Plan as presented and the proposal to Release it to the Press.

PUBLIC MEETING

There is insufficient space to describe the Plan here but if any member would like a copy of the Press Release please contact a member of the Working Party or the Press Officer (Mike Elliott). It is intended to arrange a public meeting before long possibly in conjunction with other interested organisations. Both public and press would be welcome to come and put their views and ask questions.

NOVEMBER MEETING

PETER MILES‘ FASCINATING TALK ENTITLED “THE CHARACTER OF WHITSTABLE” GIVEN AT THE SOCIETY’S NOVEMBER MEETING revealed a detailed knowledge of the town and was most relevant to the Society’s proposals for the Town Centre Plan. In particular during the course of his talk Peter set out the main guidelines for the plan. These included the urgent need to revitalise the town centre, a policy of inter-mixing residences and businesses, improved shopping facilities, Priority for pedestrians and a generally improved townscape, the beginnings of a Conservation Policy. .

COLOUR SLIDES

The talk was copiously illustrated by colour slides of street scenes and buildings which, apart from anything else. showed how
much work had gone into preparing the talk. As a result of this And previous meetings the society has built up a considerable bank of slides. These can be made available on loan to members by arrangement.

SEA WALL

THE PUBLIC INQUIRY INTO THE CITY COUNCIL’S PROPOSALS FOR A NEW SEA WALL IS DUE TO OPEN ON TUESDAY 18th FEBRUARY. The Society has already lodged a Formal objection and will be making verbal and written representation at the Inquiry. The working party has been very active in recent months researching, consulting with other bodies and planning for the arguments to be put to the Inquiry. The Whitstable Sea Defence Association has after initial problems,. Provided a useful forum for establishing a common approach to the Inquiry with other organisations. The formation of this association was initiated by the Society.

REMINDERS

MEMBERS ARE REMINDED OF THE SOCIETY PRESIDENT ‘S APPEAL FOR new members . Her letter accompanied the last Newsletter. Please make an effort to recruit at least one NEW MEMBER each.

THE SOCIETY’S ANNUAL DANCE WILL be held at The Barn, Chestfield on Friday 14th February at 8.00 p.m. Tickets may be obtained from the Secretary, Mrs. K, Williamson 9 Queens Road.

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF THE SOCIETY WILL BE HELD AT THE LIBRARY HALL ON TUESDAY 13th FEBRUARY AT 8.00 p.m. Any member wishing to raise specific points should inform the Secretary in good time, Nominations for the Committee should also be sent to her by February 4th and in accordance with Clause 9 of the Constitution.

GREAT ACTIVITY

The Society is currently going through a period of great activity as the contents of this Newsletter show. The AGM should prove particularly interesting this year s a high attendance is anticipated. The fact that the Public Inquiry into the sea wall proposals happens on the same day is of particular significance.

AGENDA

In addition to the more usual business conducted at an AGM the following will be included in the agenda;-.

  1. The society’s proposals and other material concerning the Town Centre Plan will be displayed
  2. Material concerning the sea wall proposals and the Society’s objections will be on show
  3. A report on the first day of the Public Inquiry will be given by one of the Society’s representatives.

FINALLY THE COMMITTEE WOULD LIKE TO WISH ALL OTHER MEMBERS IF NOT A PROSPEROUS THEN AT LEAST A HAPPY AND SUCCESSFUL NEW YEAR.