To contact the Council Please write, telephone, fax or e-mail the Parish Clerk Tina Burchell, 3 Cranmer Close, Bekesbourne, Canterbury, CT4 5DF Telephone/Fax: 01227 831085 E-mail: tinaburchell@onetel.com Bridge Parish Councillors Mark Esdale Chairman, Publicity 01227 832740 bpc@esdale.com John Hill Vice Chairman, Planning 01227 830215 john.e.hill@virgin.net Colin Beesty Recreation Ground, KAPC 07989 495202 cbeesty@hotmail.com Barbara Beinder Planning, Village Hall 01227 830514 John Corfield Planning, Publicity, Recreation Ground 01227 830976 john@blackvanilla.org.uk Pam Dobson Village Hall, Environment, Publicity 01227 832369 Ann Edmonds Environment, Mill Centre 01227 830795 Mervyn Gulvin Recreation Ground, Sports Trust, Mill Centre 01227 830881 mervyn@gulvin92.freeserve.co.uk Selwyn Lewis KAPC 01227 830186 linsel.bridge@tesco.net Parish Council Caring for the village Annual Parish meeting notice Annual Parish Meeting 7.30 pm Thursday 25th March 2004 Bridge Village Hall This is not a meeting of the Parish Council. It is an open meeting of the Parish, hosted by the Parish Council. It is an opportunity for villagers to get together to discuss issues of concern and to hear about pro-gress of organisations in the village. Any villager is entitled to address the meeting. We already have a list of speakers (which are limited to 3 minutes, please), as well as a guest speaker - DCI Joanna Young from the Kent Po-lice, who recently took over as Area Com-mander. If you'd like to speak, please let the Clerk know in advance so she can plan the timing. Parish Council Caring for the village Welcome to all our readers Parish Plan Progress We now have a Steering Committee and they will shortly be starting to involve as many peo-ple as possible in the formation of the Plan. They will be looking for innovative ways of gath-ering information and then turning that informa-tion into action plans for the village. From the public meeting held last year, it is ap-parent that Bridge villagers highly value the shops and amenities and cherish the commu-nity spirit and the rural setting. The Plan could look to ensuring these are retained and main-tained. On the other hand, the villagers' over-whelming concerns at the moment relate to speeding traffic and to parking. The Plan could propose solutions to those as well as other is-sues, such as youth services, street lighting and crime. We hope all villagers will provide input to the Plan and that as many as possible will be ac-tively involved in producing it. Bridge Village web site Visit our web site www.bridgevillage.org.uk for Minutes of Council meetings and other information Come and meet your Councillors and join them after the meeting for free refreshments We look forward to seeing you there Next Parish Council meeting 7.30 pm Thursday 11th March 2004 In the Village Hall All welcome Youth News Rural Streetrunner meets Bridge Youth Group More excellent news for young people - a new youth facility, the Rural Streetrunner, is to be launched in nine parishes, including Bridge. Funding has come from the Countryside Agency, KCC, CCC and your Parish Council. Streetrunner is a vehicle full of equipment that will be brought to the Mill Centre by two youth workers who will staff the evening session, in addition to the Bridge Youth Group leaders. All sessions will be free of charge for 10 - 18 year olds, but places will be limited. Streetrunner begins on 2nd March at 7.30 pm at the Mill Centre and continues on 1st & 3rd Tuesday of the month. On the other weeks the Youth Group will meet as normal. Look out for all the information about it on the notices posted throughout the village. CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS: The Youth Group is seeking volunteers to share the load of pro-viding this really important resource for our young people. If you think you could help in anyway, please contact the Parish Clerk. Traffic monitoring Volunteers to monitor speeders If you would like to join a group to monitor traf-fic speeds in the village then please contact the Parish Clerk. The initiative is funded largely by the Police and will involve using their special equipment and receiving training in its use. City Councillor Our new City Councillor John Anderson John was elected, in January, as our new City Councillor for North Nailbourne Ward, which in-cludes Bridge. ——————— “I will endeavour to serve all of you, as valued members of our local commu-nity, to the best of my ability and integ-rity. I have lived in Bridge long enough to understand fully the many problems that be-set us. With this in mind I intend to work closely with the Parish Council and other bodies where necessary and to hold monthly surgeries around the ward where anyone may come and discuss their problems should they wish. My first surgery will be in the Methodist Church, Patrixbourne Road on Saturday 21st February between 10.00 am and 12 noon, with I hope a member of the Parish Council present. There is no need to book, just come along on the date, I look for-ward to seeing you.” —————— John can be contacted on 01227 830260 Christmas decorations Christmas lights A big thank-you to all those who erected and re-moved the Christmas Trees in the High Street. There were a record 45 trees and many favour-able comments. We nearly didn't get them after a last-minute hitch from Allianz Cornhill, the Par-ish Council's insurance company, who did their best to stop the trees being put up. However, the Bridge Village spirit prevailed and the trees stood proud as ever. . Village websites Village Web Sites There are several organisations and busi-nesses in the village, including the School and the Church, that have web sites. They are all accessible through the web site www. bridgevillage.org.uk - once there - click on Village Links. Let us know if there are other links we should include and any other informa-tion you would like to see on the web site. Floral Competition Bridge in Bloom It seems no time at all since we were judging last year’s entries. Spring is only just around the corner, however, and it is time to organise the competition for 2004. We plan to divide the entries into three categories - large Busi-nesses, Small Traders & Private Dwellings. We would like as many households as possi-ble to take part, so please start planning your tubs, hanging baskets etc. and help to make Bridge a riot of colour. If you wish to partici-pate, please contact a Council member before the end of June. Illegal Parking Parking on Zig-Zags A reminder that parking on the zig-zags by ze-bra crossings is a criminal offence and that our Street monitor is reporting registration numbers of offenders to the Police.