News

30 June 2022

Lenacre Street closure

We have received the following information from KCC:

Temporary Road Closure - Lenacre Street, Eastwell - 4th August 2022 for 2 Days, between 08:00 hours

and 18:00 hours

It will be necessary to close part of Lenacre Street, Eastwell from 4th August 2022 with estimated

completion by 5th August 2022.

Lenacre Street, Eastwell will be closed between The Kennels and Church Lane, to the extent indicated by

signs and barriers on site.

The alternative route is Lenacre Street, Sandyhurst Lane, A20 Maidstone Road, Watery Lane, The Street,

Eastwell Lane and vice versa.

The closure is required for the safety of the public and workforce while pole replacement works are

undertaken by Openreach.

The Kent County Council Highways Helpline phone number is: 03000 418181.

For the most up to date information on these works please visit: https://one.network/?tm=128704066

For information regarding this closure please contact Openreach, who will able to assist with the scope of

these works.

13 June 2022

Watery Lane closure

Watery Lane (which runs from the A20 towards Westwell village) is being closed (again) for up to 3 days,

to allow South East Water to carry out repairs. This may result in some extra traffic in Sandyhurst Lane

(between the A20 and the Westwell Lane opposite the Golf Club), as it is cited in the alternative route.

The official closure notice may be viewed here.

26 May 2022

Boughton Aluph & Eastwell Parish Highways Improvement Plan

Parish Councils in Kent are now able to work on an initiative with KCC Highways to develop a Highways

Improvement Plan, in which KCC consults with each Parish Council annually to create a plan for highway

improvements in a parish area. Boughton Aluph & Eastwell Parish Council (BA&E PC) has today published

its Highways Improvement Plan (HIP) for consultation with KCC. It includes proposals to reduce the speed

limit in Sandyhurst Lane from 40 mph to 30 mph and in Lenacre Street from 40 mph/national speed limit

to 30 mph. These proposals are to be considered along with the HIP submitted by Westwell PC (see news

item dated 18 January 2022 below). The BA&E PC HIP may be viewed here.

25 May 2022

Boughton Aluph & Eastwell Annual Parish Meeting

The Boughton Aluph & Eastwell Annual Parish Meeting takes place at 7.15 pm this evening at Sandyacres

Sports & Social Centre. This is an opportunity for parishioners to hear from Parish, Borough and County

Councillors and raise questions to them. There is also an agenda item entitled “Public Session”, which is

an “Opportunity for parishioners on the electoral roll of Boughton Aluph and Eastwell Parishes to raise

matters of local interest.”

A copy of the agenda is available here.

10 May 2022

Vacancy for parish councillor

Boughton Aluph & Eastwell Parish Council includes just over 30% of the SLRA area - 198 to 404 Sandyhurst

Lane, Eastwell Grange, Faversham Road, Lenacre Street and Watsons Close. The Council has issued the

following notice:

Are you over 18. live or work in the Parish and are interested in making a difference in your community?

A vacancy has arisen for a Parish Councillor to join the Parish Council. (Since this is not an election

year, the vacancy will be filled by co option).

Can you listen to others, represent your community, bring your ideas and are you willing to undertake

training (provided) towards your role?

You can find out more about being a Parish Councillor on the Kent Association of Local Councils website

Full details of eligibility from the electoral commission.

Please contact the Parish Clerk before May 18th for more information and to confirm your eligibility. The

Parish Council will invite you to meet informally with two Councillors, and then attend the next Parish

Council Meeting (likely to be 25th May) to introduce yourself and what you might bring to the Council.

A new member will be appointed by a simple vote.

2023 will be an election year when all Parish Councillors will be due for election, so if you are interested

in becoming a Councillor in the future you are very welcome to get in touch and find out more.

Contact Information

Parish Clerk

07419 740559 or via BA&E PC website.

7 May 2022

Planning permission granted for extension at Elden, 61 Sandyhurst Lane

Planning permission was granted on 6 May 2022 for a single storey side and rear extension at Elden, 61

Sandyhurst Lane. Full details may be viewed here (search for application number 22/00418/AS).

28 April 2022

Planning permission sought for extension at St Helens, Westwell Lane

A planning application has been made for the replacement of the existing conservatory with single storey

rear extension and alterations and conversion of existing garage to provide ancillary access to the main

house for a home office at St Helens, Westwell Lane. The closing date for comments is 21 May 2022. Full

details may be viewed here (search for application number 22/00558/AS).

22 April 2022

Watery Lane closure

Watery Lane (which runs from the A20 towards Westwell village) is being closed for up to 4 days, to

allow South East Water to repair a sunken reinstatement. This may result in some extra traffic in

Sandyhurst Lane (between the A20 and the Westwell Lane opposite the Golf Club), as it is cited in the

alternative route. The official closure notice may be viewed here.

17 April 2022

Jubilee event in Boughton Aluph & Eastwell

Plans have been announced (on the Facebook page for Friends of Boughton Aluph & Eastwell) for a Jubilee

Village Picnic around the cricket pavilion on the Green in Boughton Aluph & Eastwell. The event will take

place between 11 am and 3 pm on Friday 3 June. Residents are asked to "bring along a picnic platter of

food to share & celebrate the occasion (labelled with dietary considerations, vegetarian allergens etc)".

There are prizes for the best home made crown. A copy of the announcement may be seen here.

13 April 2022

Westwell Plans for Jubilee event

Westwell Parish Council have announced plans for an event to celebrate the Queen's Platinum Jubilee. On

Friday 3 June, from 1 pm onwards, there will be a "bring a picnic" event on the Village Green.

There will also be a bar, talent show, games, BBQ, bouncy castle and tea & cakes. In addition, Jubilee

commemoration mugs will be available free to all children under 16 living in Westwell parish. Additional

mugs may be purchased. Event details are in the Westwell Jubilee flyer here and a booking form is

available here.

There will also be a beacon lighting ceremony in Westwell village on the evening of Thursday 2 June.

30 March 2022

Kent Spring Marathon 2022

The PodPlus Kent Spring Marathon & Half Marathon, which involves a short closure of part of Sandyhurst

Lane, will take place on Sunday 10 April between 09:00 and 16:00. It will start from Sandyacres Sports &

Social Centre and turn right towards Westwell Lane, along Kingsland Lane towards Westwell. It will then

run along Pilgrims Way towards Charing before returning to Westwell and Kingsland Lane before coming

along Lenacre Street and returning to Sandyacres.

The event has been given permission to take place by Kent County Council and will be run under

UK Athletics Rules. The runners will start at 9.00 am and there will be a short temporary road closure

between 08:55 and 9:10 from the entrance to Sandyacres to just before the M20 Bridge, to allow for the

runners to start safely.

Car parking for the event is at Bidwell's Car Park and the organisers have specifically asked for no runners

to park on Sandyhurst Lane. There will be no parking signs located along the road to discourage people

from parking. Details of the event are on the organiser's website here.

24 March 2022

Planning permission sought for extension at Elden, 61 Sandyhurst Lane

A planning application has been made for a single storey side and rear extension at Elden, 61 Sandyhurst

Lane. The closing date for comments is 16 April 2022. Full details may be viewed here (search for

application number 22/00418/AS).

9 March 2022

Closure of Watery Lane impacts Sandyhurst Lane

Watery Lane has been closed whilst repairs are carried out to a burst water main. The diversion route

includes part of Sandyhurst Lane (from the junction with Westwell Lane opposite the Golf Club to the A20)

and this may result in extra traffic. The closure notice, which may be viewed here, allows for up to four

days closure from today.

28 February 2022

Further cuts and changes to bus services announced

Further to the recent announcement by KCC that they are consulting on ceasing bus service 123 and the

Kent Karrier service, the bus operator Stagecoach have announced that they will no longer operate service

124 after 15 April 2022. Service 124 currently operates between Ashford and Egerton (Mon - Fri) on school

days only and stops at the Maidstone Road (A20) end of Sandyhurst Lane (by the Hare and Hounds). There

is 1 service per weekday.

Other changes announced by Stagecoach include, for route 666 from 17 April, cessation of the Sunday and

Bank Holiday service between Godinton Park/Repton Park and the town and, for route B from 19 April,

a new Monday to Saturday timetable with buses about every 20 minutes during the day, instead of the 12

minute "little and often" service at present. Route 666 stops at the Faversham Road end of Sandyhurst

Lane and Route B stops in Trinity Road.

24 February 2022

KCC consultation on Bus Funding Reduction

Further to our news item of 19 February, Kent County Council has now launched the public consultation on

Bus Funding Reduction. KCC is proposing to cease funding, from this summer, 55 bus services including

service 123 and the Ashford Kent Karrier Dial-a-Ride service.

Service 123

currently serves our area via the stops at, and opposite, the Hare & Hounds. The route

connects Ashford with Biddenden via Hothfield, Little Chart, Pluckley, Egerton and Smarden, with four

services in each direction on weekdays only. It includes journeys to and from Ashford schools.

Kent Karrier is a flexible Dial-a-Ride service that takes members directly from their door to a number of

useful destinations in their local area.

The consultation may be accessed on the KCC website here with links to the consultation documents and

online questionnaire. The consultation is open from today until 20 April 2022.

19 February 2022

123 bus service under threat

At yesterday’s KCC Environment and Transport Cabinet Committee meeting, a paper entitled “Supported

Bus Services Public Consultation” was considered.

The paper, which may be viewed here, proposed that a significant number of supported bus contracts

should be reviewed for withdrawal, in order to save in excess of £2.2 million from the budget for

subsidised bus services, which is expected to be £4.3 million in 2022/23. It is proposed to hold a public

consultation on the proposals from February to April 2022, with withdrawal of contracts by mid August

2022.

One of the supported bus contracts listed for withdrawal is that for route 123, which currently serves our

area via the stops at, and opposite, the Hare & Hounds. The route connects Ashford with Biddenden via

Hothfield, Little Chart, Pluckley, Egerton and Smarden, with four services in each direction on weekdays

only.

We shall advise whenever the public consultation is launched.

16 February 2022

SLRA AGM 2022

The Annual General Meeting of the SLRA will take place at 7.15 pm on Tuesday 15 March 2022 at

Sandyacres Sports & Social Centre. This will be the first time that members have been able to meet in

person for 3 years, so please make a diary note. It will be a good opportunity to debate local issues of

interest or concern.

We intend to have a “streamlined” formal AGM, with all papers published in advance (and a few copies

available on the day) so that we can maximise the time available for debate. The AGM will include the

election of committee members and we are always keen to have new committee members, so please send

any nominations to the Secretary.

We shall then have the usual “Open Forum” session and expect some of our local councillors to be present

and contribute to the debate. As well as “Questions from the floor”, we invite members to submit

questions in advance so that we can structure the debate as efficiently as possible. Questions may be

submitted to the Secretary.

9 February 2022

Petition launched for Boundary Review

Our news items of 20 January and 6 February provide updates on the latest stage in the 2023 Review of

Parliamentary Constituencies, being conducted by the Boundary Commission for England (BCE). They will

be holding a further consultation from 22 February to 4 April, including public hearings in Ashford on

24 & 25 March.

Last July, when the BCE initial proposals were published, the SLRA provided briefing on the extensive

changes being proposed for the Ashford constituency and neighbouring constituencies. This briefing,

which is still available here, points out that the new proposals would result in the local government

area of Ashford Borough being represented by THREE MPs, each representing one of three parliamentary

constituencies. Ours would be the elected Faversham MP.

BCE have now published the comments received during their first consultation on their initial proposals

at bcereviews.org.uk.

These comments show that our concerns about the BCE proposals to move the three Ashford Borough

wards of Downs West, Charing and Downs North OUT of Ashford and INTO the new FAVERSHAM and

MID KENT Parliamentary Constituency are shared by our current MP Damian Green, Ashford Borough

Council and the Charing and Westwell Parish Councils, as well as a number of our members.

As we said in July, the SLRA, as a non-political organisation, has not itself taken a position or made any

representations. However, individual members have done so and our Chair has personally launched

a petition proposing a solution which would result in Ashford being represented by two MPs (rather than 3)

MPs who know our communities and our issues. And we would keep our Ashford identity.

The petition, which is available at https://www.change.org/Ashford-2023, provides members and all local

residents with the opportunity to support this proposal. If you wish to do so, please EACH sign the petition

and spread the word to other residents via social media.

6 February 2022

SLRA responds to outline planning application for Eureka Park

The SLRA has submitted to Ashford Borough Council comments on the outline planning application no.

21/02146/AS, Land at Eureka Business Park, Trinity Road, Boughton Aluph, Kent. The response may be

viewed here.

6 February 2022

2023 Review of parliamentary constituencies - second consultation

Further to our news item of 20 January, the Boundary Commission for England (BCE) intends to publish,

tomorrow, the responses received during the first consultation in 2021. The secondary consultation takes

place from 22 February to 4 April 2022. During this consultation, BCE seeks feedback on the proposed new

constituencies, and the responses to the first consultation, via their consultation website,

bcereviews.org.uk, by email or letter, or in person during a public hearing.

BCE has now announced details of the public hearings, to be held later this month and next month. The

hearings in Ashford, scheduled for 24 March 2022 (10.00 am to 8.00 pm) and 25 March 2022 (9.00 am to

5.00 pm), will be held at Ashford Borough Council’s Civic Centre in Tannery Lane. Members of the public

may book a 10 minute slot to speak at these hearings by visiting the BCE website here. It is not necessary

to register to attend without speaking.

2 February 2022

Road closure notice for Ashford 10k run

Further to our news item of 6 January (below), Ashford Borough Council has now issued a road closure

notice, which may be viewed here.

26 January 2022

Planning permission granted for extension at Little Croft, 56 Sandyhurst Lane

Planning permission was granted on 25 January 2022 for a single storey front infill extension at Little

Croft, 56 Sandyhurst Lane. The originally proposed cladding was amended to render. Full details may be

viewed here (search for application number 21/01713/AS).

20 January 2022

2023 Review of parliamentary constituencies

The Boundary Commission for England (BCE) is undertaking a review of parliamentary constituencies and

will make a final report to the Speaker of the House of Commons before 1 July 2023. The review is heavily

informed by public consultation, the first of which was held from 8 June to 2 August 2021.

The SLRA, being a non-political organisation, did not make a response, but provided members with

briefing on some issues relevant to our area.

The next stage of the review has now been announced. From Tuesday 22 February to Monday 4 April 2022,

a secondary consultation on the initial proposals for new constituencies in England will take place. During

this consultation, BCE intend to hold 32 public hearings across the country. One of these is scheduled to

take place in Ashford on 24 March 2022 (10.00 am to 8.00 pm) and 25 March 2022 (9.00 am to 5.00 pm).

BCE is expected to release more information about the public hearings later this month, including details

of venues and how to book a slot to speak. We shall publish this information when available.

Details of the Review are on the BCE website here.

19 January 2022

Tip booking system now permanent

Kent County Council has announced that the official decision has been taken to keep the booking system

for visits to its Household Waste and Recycling Centres (HWRCs). “On the day” bookings, which have

recently been trialled at a few sites, will also be available at all sites.

The decision follows a public consultation, and a report to the Environment & Transport Cabinet

Committee on 18 January, where members voted in favour of the recommendation to retain the system

and to introduce ‘on the day’ bookings at all 18 HWRCs.

The KCC press announcement may be viewed here.

18 January 2022

Parish Highways Improvement Plans

Parish Councils in Kent are now able to work on a new initiative with KCC Highways to develop a

Highways Improvement Plan, in which KCC consults with each Parish Council to create a plan for

highway improvements in a parish area. Both of our local parish councils are active with this initiative.

We are pleased to report that, following our campaign for speed management measures in Sandyhurst

Lane, Westwell Parish Council has secured some safety measures for part of the Lane, through its

Highways Improvement Plan (HIP). It has also agreed to give priority in the HIP to these measures, which

are designed to encourage adherence to the 30 mph speed limit, which we have demonstrated from

our own traffic survey as being violated by up to 76% of traffic.

The measures to be installed in the 30 mph part of Sandyhurst Lane include:

- Removing the centre white line and painting white lines each side at the edges of the road (except on

the railway and M20 bridges). This approach, widely used in Kent, will help to define Sandyhurst Lane as

a rural road and will encourage drivers to exercise caution. Currently, as a two-lane road with a centre

line, there can be a perception that the road is larger and faster than it actually is for safe use, with

pedestrian and other road users without a footway.

- Painting “30” repeater signs on the road surface. The draft plans show 5 in each direction, at

separations of 100-200 metres, within the 30 mph zone.

The nature of these changes means that it will be necessary to close Sandyhurst Lane whilst the work is in

progress. Once the dates are known, Westwell Parish Council will advise and we shall, of course, remind

members at the appropriate time. It is also anticipated that, once the proposed changes are finalised,

drawings will be made available.

6 January 2022

Advance notice - Ashford 10k run

This is advance notice of road closures for the next Ashford 10k run, which takes place on Sunday 13^th

February. It is based at Towers School but the route involves part of Sandyhurst Lane, all of Lenacre Street

and Kingsland Lane and roads within Westwell village.

The event will start at 10:00am, with Sandyhurst Lane closed from the junction with Faversham Road for

about 200 metres at 9:50am until 10:05am, and with Lenacre Street and Kingsland Lane closed from the

same time until approximately 11:30am.

Full details, including the map of the route, can be viewed on the organiser’s website here.

The Ashford 10 & 5 mile run will also take place later in the year, on Sunday 30 October 2022.