St. Dunstan's and Westgate Towers environmental improvements project

The Council has produced a proposal for a series of environmental improvements between Canterbury West and the Westgate Towers which, in combination, could result in a number of impacts. 

Whilst some may well prove to be positive if the scheme proceeds, such as pedestrian-only access around/under the Westgate Towers and an enhanced street scene with wider pavements and less clutter, some may be negative.  Chief amongst the potential negative impacts already identified by concerned residents include the potential for increased traffic on Station Road West and London Road (as well as other roads such as Orchard Street and Roper Road), the closure of traffic to all but buses and taxis around the side of the Towers towards St. Peter's Place and the replacement of some pedestrian crossings with 'courtesy' crossings.

The Council is proposing a 12 month trial, possibly commencing as soon as March.  The traffic management changes that would be required would be introduced via a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) by Kent County Council. 

In order to proceed the scheme will be discussed in a series of meetings as follows:

• Canterbury Area Members Panel - November 14th (Result: Approved)
• Joint Transportation Board - December 6th (Result: TBC)
• Overview Committee - December 8th (Result: TBC)
• Executive - December 15th (Result: TBC)

The St. Dunstan's Residents' Association has been included in the Council's informal consultation and offered a meeting so that further information can be provided (n.b. the formal consultation would only commence once the trial has started).

To help support residents in finding out more about the proposals the Association has set up a meeting with Richard Moore, the Council's transportation manager, on Fri December 2nd, 10-11:30 upstairs at the Dominican Priory (thanks to Poppy and Donald Beerling for providing the venue at no charge).

If you would like to attend please just turn up - there is no need to book or RSVP.  Whilst the Association has helped set up the meeting it will not lead it.  Instead the Westgate Councillors will jointly facilitate the meeting with residents from the Westgate and St. Stephens areas.

Any questions for the meeting can be submitted to matmomorris@hotmail.com and a summary of questions will be produced in advance of the meeting (time permitting).  Full details of the scheme can be found on the Council's website.

In summary, the St. Dunstan's and Westgate Towers environmental improvements project has seven clear objectives:

• To protect and preserve the Westgate Towers
• To reduce the impact of traffic and improve air quality in the area
• To undertake public realm and environmental improvements
• To improve walking and cycling links between St Peter's Street and the Canterbury West Railway Station
• To improve access to the Westgate Gardens and Westgate Museum, and connectivity with the Riverside Walk
• To improve bus and taxi facilities
• To help regenerate the area and to maximise the economic opportunities presented by the high speed rail link to London

If you want your opinion on these objectives, and the changes that will be required to meet them, you should consider writing to the Council and attend the forthcoming meetings if you are able to (n.b. public speakers are allowed at the Council meetings and you should contact the Council in advance if you want to talk). 

Writing to the Council to express your views, whether for or against, is one of the best ways to add your voice to the proposals at this stage.

Any comments or questions should be directed to:


Richard Moore - Transportation Manager
Canterbury City Council
Military Road
Canterbury
CT1 1YW
richard.moore@canterbury.gov.uk

New telephone number for non urgent crime

The Police have announced a New number for our use to report Non Urgent Crime and to contact your local Police Officers.

The number is 101, this replaces the old Non Emergency number ending with (690 690).

This new number 101 will put you in contact with the Local Police Control Room, in our case Maidstone. You can speak to a Police Officer in the same way as before, you can also be put in touch with your local Police Officer.

Wherever you are in the UK, dialling 101 will put you in touch with that regions control room. 

The number 101 is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.  Each call will never cost more than 15p, even from mobiles.

SDRA Newsletter Autumn 2011

Welcome to the Autumn 2011 edition of the SDRA newsletter.

First up is a date for your diaries. We cordially invite you to our autumn social evening on Monday November 21st at 7:30pm at St. Dunstan’s church hall. As with previous years the evening will deliver some interesting talks. This year our guests will be:

• Canterbury Archaeological Trust: A talk from Adrian Gollop about the recent digs at the two sites on St. Dunstan’s Street
• Architect Tim Ellis: A local architect who will talk about his recent work at the Westgate Towers and at other sites in and around Canterbury. Tim made the headlines a few years ago when he purchased the cottage used in the film Withnail and I
• Westgate Councillors Ida Linfield, James Flanagan and Graham Wood: How to engage with the planning/licensing process plus a chance to put your point of view across

Sainsbury’s in St. Dunstan’s: Sainsbury’s has submitted a licensing application for their new store which will occupy the ground floor of the new building under construction on the old Halletts Garage site. The application includes alcohol off-sales and late night refreshment from 6am to 12 midnight. If you have any views on the Sainsbury’s application, either for or against, you need to write to or email the Council by November 10th. For your comments to be valid they must relate to the four Licensing Objectives under the Licensing Act 2003. They are: the prevention of crime and disorder; public safety; the prevention of public nuisance; the prevention of children from harm. This application follows the recent extension of the Londis licence, also on St. Dunstan’s Street, from 8:30 am to 11pm.

Want to get involved? We are always keen to hear from people who want to get involved in helping to run the Association. It is up to you how much time you contribute and there are no formal demands on you (although attendance at a Committee meeting once every six weeks would be appreciated)! You can make the role what you want and we are always open to new ideas and initiatives. Speak to us at the social evening for more details or add a note to the membership form and we will be in touch.

The Blog is yours! To date we have posted almost 100 articles on a wide range of subjects which we hope have been of interest. We would welcome any contributions to the blog, even if you just want to comment on an article. Any budding writers are encouraged to submit articles to matmomorris@hotmail.com.

CHRISTMAS PARTY - HOLD THE DATE: The Association Christmas party will be held on the afternoon of December 11th and will again be hosted by The Hagans (Queens Avenue). All members are welcome. RSVP details will be sent in November.

About the Association: St. Dunstan’s Residents' Association is a campaigning and social organisation serving part of St. Dunstan’s with the intention of creating and maintaining strong neighbourhood bonds and of preserving this attractive area. Benefits of membership include:

• The opportunity to have your say on issues that matter to you
• A dedicated Committee that meets regularly and monitors a range of issues
• Representation of a distinct area with a single voice
• A dedicated blog and newsletter
• Invitations to social events and opportunities to get involved

Membership numbers currently stands at 94 households, an increase on last year and approximately 1/4 of the households in the Association area. All households are warmly welcomed and we hope that even more residents will join in 2012. Subscription rates remain the same at just £5 per household. To join, or renew, look out for he subscription forms that have been delivered to each household in the SDRA area. If you haven't received a form email matmomorris@hotmail.com with your name and address and we will arrange for a form to be delivered.

Sainsbury's is coming to St. Dunstan's

After many months of speculation it does now appear that Sainsbury's will open a new store on the former Hallett's Garage site on St. Dunstan's Street.

Whilst we cannot find any details of the store itself a recent licensing application to the Council provides the main clue as to the future use of the site.

This application by Sainsbury's is for a licence from 6 am to midnight every day.  Given the footprint of the site we assume it will be a small 'Local' style store rather than a full-blown superstore.

This will be the second Sainsbury's in Canterbury and the seventh overall and follows swiftly behind the new Waitrose store on New Dover Road.

In their literature for developers Sainsbury's describe three main format types for their smaller stores: 'Neighbourhood', 'Fresh Local' and 'Food on the Move'.  It is not clear which format will be adopted but given the proximity to Canterbury West and the large student population up the hill it could be a 'Food on the Move' type. 

The literature also states that the stores should be able to accept three deliveries per day (newspapers, bakery and fresh deliveries and general deliveries).

The licensing application includes "provision of late night refreshments (indoors & outdoors) 11pm - Midnight".  This again suggests a 'food on the move' format, although we cannot be certain about this terminology and what is will actually involve once the store is up and running.

The other element of the application is for "sale or supply of alcohol (off the premises) 6am - Midnight".  This is self explanatory and fairly normal for supermakets (n.b. Waitrose is 7am to 11pm).

What this all means for the existing shops and the local economy is hard to tell.  These stores usually create (or displace) around 30 jobs which is a good thing considering current unemployment levels.  The hint at newspaper deliveries perhaps does not bode well for the two existing newsagents and the inclusion of alcohol off sales may impact on licensed premises.

However, the store could generate footfall to this part of the City and this may be of great benefit to existing businesses.  The true impact is very hard to predict and only time will tell. 

If you have any views on the Sainsbury’s application, either for or against, you need to write to or email the council by November 10th. 

For your comments to be valid they must relate to the four Licensing Objectives under the Licensing Act 2003. They are: the prevention of crime and disorder; public safety; the prevention of public nuisance; the prevention of children from harm.  The reference is KE-PR-1039. 

Contact details are:

Licensing Team, Canterbury City Council, Military Road, Canterbury, Kent CT1 1YW
licensing@canterbury.gov.uk
01227 478612


The application can be found online here: http://tinyurl.com/63fmele.

Are we content? A date for your diary...

The arrival of this wonderful vintage poster in my inbox recently seemed liked the perfect opportunity to pose the question: are we content?

SDRA can offer you an opportunity to respond to this question at our next event (and AGM) on Monday November 21st, 7:30pm at St. Dunstan's Church hall.

As with previous years the evening will deliver some interesting talks from local people (details to be confirmed) plus the opportunity to engage with your Councillors.  We will provide some wine (and soft drinks) to helps things along. 

So...hold the date. 

All are welcome and we look forward to seeing you then.

More details will be provided in the forthcoming newsletter as well as on this site.

Curry & Quiz Night - Saturday 22nd Oct



Call 01227 712 355 to book or email wct@westgatecommunityhall.org.uk



Latest update from the Abbot's Mill Project

The various projects being undertaken by the people at the Abbot's Mill Project are really beginning to gather momentum.  The following is an update from Jo and Terry who are running the programme.

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Energyshare

As you may know, we are applying to the British Gas Energyshare fund for the water-wheel element of the project. We are working with Pico Energy on this. Pico are micro-hydro specialists (http://www.picoenergy.co.uk/) just a reminder to please sign up (if you haven't already) as a supporter for our application to the Energyshare Fund – and please pass on to all your family and friends and ask them to do the same.

http://www.energyshare.com/abbots-mill-project/followers/

We have until this Friday (30th) to submit our application and we still need as many supporters signed up to our group as possible. Also, if you have time, it would be really helpful if you could add a word or two when you sign up explaining why you are supporting our project and how you would like to get involved.

If you have even more time, it would be really great if you could send a letter of support as I can then upload these with our online application. Please let me know if you can do this and I will send you a postal address.

Funding

We still need to apply for more grant-funding to move the project forward. If you are good at writing funding applications please do get in touch as the more of us working on this element of the project the better!

Canterbury 4 Business meeting

We recently met with the Canterbury 4 Business Environment Group last week. This group is soon to merge with the Canterbury City Partnership Environment Group.We had a really positive meeting and would like to thank everyone for their support. We had several offers of support/funding in kind, which is fantastic. People were really enthusiastic about the project and the meeting has given us a big boost. Thanks to everyone involved.We will keep you informed of developments with these exciting partnerships.

Garden

Steve Matthews (from Emergent Research and Consulting) will be working with Dawn Sahathevan (from the Abbot’s Mill Project) to design and develop the organic permaculture garden. Our aim is to involve lots of local people in this and to open it up as a training opportunity in permaculture and stock-free organic gardening.

Steve and Dawn met this week to discuss ideas and we hope that this part of the project will begin in October. They will be looking for volunteers to help with the work so do please contact us if you are interested.

We will be laying a hedge around the site – this will be a mixture of yew, beech and hawthorn. This is an excellent mixture in terms of attracting native wildlife and will also provide an attractive hedge all year round.

Starting to generate electricity from the sun

We are applying to Canterbury City Council to install 60 solar (photo-voltaic) panels on piece of land north of St Peter’s Lane. These would be temporarily stand alone and would eventually be added to the roof of the new building. In the meantime, if we can start generating clean electricity from the site we can gain an income from the Government’s Feed in Tariff which will then enable us to further develop the project.

We are working on the planning application as we speak and we need to have some more surveys done, including a desk-top archaeological survey. We are speaking with Canterbury Archaeological Trust about this.

Information Board

Our next plan is to add an information board to the north site so that people can see what the project is all about and what we plan to do, and why. Peter Scutt from Whitefriars has kindly offered the services of their PR team to help us with developing some excellent promotional and publicity material. A huge thanks to Peter.

Thank you to Moorespace Architects

A big thank you to Moorespace (our architects) who have already put a lot of work into the project and continue to support and advise us in many ways.

And finally...A big thank you again to all of you who have signed up as supporters and offered your help to the project. We will be in touch with you about how you could be involved.

If you haven’t yet signed up, please do contact us. We really want the whole project to involve, and be run by, the local community so we are looking forward to hearing from you.

All the best, Jo and Terry On behalf of The Abbot’s Mill Project

Jo Kidd
Director
The Abbot's Mill Project Community Interest Company
Tel: 07912 087599

Latest update from Westgate Hall Community Trust

Hello Everyone!

Much has been happening behind the scenes since the council’s thrilling vote in our favour at the end of July.

But before going into details, let’s start with our forthcoming events… and a plea!

8th of October, 10am to 12: We will be taking part in the citywide Big Clean, the aim being to prepare Canterbury for the influx of visitors coming to enjoy the Festival. In our case, as opening night is on Friday 14th October at the Westgate Hall, we’d like to have the flowerbeds showing the best of Autumn colours. So do join us for weeding and planting from 10.00 – 12.00 on the 8th. Please bring spare plants if you have any.

22nd October, 7pm: Curry & Quiz: In collaboration with the Canterbury Curry Club to raise funds to secure and refurbish the Westgate Hall. Tickets are £10 and include quiz entry and food. Bring your own drinks. You can book tables of 6, 8 or singles by emailing wct@westgatecommunityhall.org.uk or calling Chris on 01227 712355

And the plea: the Trust has entered the Natwest CommunityForce competition, we are hoping to win £6,000, which would be invaluable as we complete the process of securing tenancy of the Hall and undertake the refurbishment. We need lots of people to vote for our project in order to win, so please, vote for the Trust and spread the word as widely as you can! http://communityforce.natwest.com/project/5891 Voting ends the 23rd of October. We have had 19 votes so far, hopefully we can get a quite a lot more, with your help.

And what’s happened since decision day last July:

To fill you in. The week after the vote, we were in the Council negotiating the Heads of Terms of our 99-year lease. The Council voted to accept these on 15th September. Now lawyers on all sides, the Trust, Curzon and the cinemas are working on the detailed leases and sub-leases.

The Trust is completing the process of changing entity: from a community group we are about to become a company limited by guarantee. The process should be completed within the next weeks, after which we will be applying for charitable status. We will update you on progress, and look forward to seeing you at our Trust meeting at the Westgate Hall, we’ll confirm the date soon.

Our architects are finalizing the refurbishment plans and we are working with the planning department in the Council. We are also coordinating with user groups to ensure the Hall will be accessible to all.

Unfortunately — and we fully understand how incredibly frustrating this is for all concerned — we can’t yet give a timeline regarding temporary closure of the Hall to allow building work to take place. We will inform you immediately this is clear — we are working on getting this out as rapidly as possible.

Finally, Saturday, 27th November: We are looking forward to launching the Christmas season with our Grand Christmas Fayre! Please let us know if you would like to involved by volunteering, having a stall, performing...

Kindest regards,

Adelina (on behalf of the Westgate Community Trust executive team)