Jenny Burgess, the village archivist, is in the process of completing volume two of her historical journey through our village.  This volume will include chapters on "The Squareand Fountain", "Schools and Education in Birchington", "The First Bungalows", "17th Century Buildings in the Village", "The Catholic Church in Birchington" "Smuggling in Birchington" and much more.  Jenny needs to fund this book by subscription.  Anyone interested in buying a copy is asked to order - and pay for it - at the museum.  The cost is £12.00 per copy.

Summer Event

The Summer Event was held at the end of August in Minnis Bay in order to raise funds for the village Christmas Event.  This year, if there is sufficient money in the kitty, a project to provide exterior lights at the parish church will also be started.  Of course the idea is that people can come and enjoy themselves as well!  Despite a very fresh wind the turnout was extremely good and the organisers are well pleased with the result.  Thanks everybody for your superb support.

On the Grapevine

 

 

You may have noticed that the Seaview public house is undergoing a major refit at the moment. Shepherd Neame, the owner of the property, has lined up just the folk to manage the pub and are planning to open for business again on 6th September. We look forward to seeing one of our original hostelries once again trading and wish it every success.

BayWatch

The Village Policeman

Birchington Parish Council is extremely concerned at the withdrawal recently of our village policeman.

For as long as anyone can remember Birchington has been patrolled by our local copper - and not long ago it was from his own mini police station.

The Council has therefore written a letter to Mrs Anne Barnes, Chairman of the Kent Police Authority, asking for a review of the decision.

We await her reply with interest.

We have heard yesterday (Friday 3rd Sept) that our policeman has been re-assigned to the village.  This story will be confirmed.

Birchington Parish Council
r/o 34, The Square
Birchington
Kent CT7 9AA
                                                                                                                        26th July 2010
 

Mrs Ann Barnes
Chairman
Kent Police Authority
1st Floor
Gail House
Lower Stone Street
Maidstone ME15 6NB

Dear Mrs Barnes,

Policing Levels – Birchington

In 1995 the police precept for a band F house in the village was £65.13.  At that time the population was slightly less than now (10,000) and we enjoyed the services of a full time police constable.  I use the word enjoyed advisedly because a full size portrait of his predecessor hangs in the main hall at the village centre.  Since then the Parish Council, with help from the Thanet Safety Partnership and others, has installed CCTV cameras along our main street.  The two independent systems are operated by parish councillors and have been used on a number of occasions to provide the police with evidence for prosecution.  Birchington Neighbourhood Watch scheme is also one of the most active schemes in Thanet having been formed in the late eighties.  As you can see we are a village that nurtures its cooperation with the police to ensure that our community remains  law abiding and safe for its residents.

We now learn that our police officer has been re-assigned to another area and that there will not be a replacement. This leaves us with our PCSO and KCC Community Warden.  Whilst both of these officers perform extremely well in the course of their duties with us they are not police officers and have to call for assistance whenever restraint or arrest is required.  We currently have a number of low level crimes happening in the village where a local policeman, with an intimate knowledge of the local community, can be the difference between a pleasant place to live and one where residents do not feel safe. 

The police precept for a band F house in our village in 2010 is £200.32  -  an increase of 208% since 1995.  This represents increases year on year since 1995 of 8.4% every year – an impressive figure that not many companies could match without tempting bankruptcy!  Here in Birchington, despite these exorbitant continuous increases in expenditure, we now have a reduced level of service.  We would therefore respectfully request that our policeman be returned to our village to restore the trust between this community and the police.

Yours sincerely,

Brian White
Chairman, Birchington Parish Council

Public Consultation on Night Flying at Manston

There will be a public consultation in the Autumn on the night flying policy for Manston Airport.

People will be asked for their views on how much night flying would be acceptable to them.

They will have to weigh the advantages to Thanet in general from the presence of a successful airport

 - at present about 100 people are employed at Manston - and the personal inconvenience they will experience.

Please watch for information in the local press and web sites on this process which will be important to the economy and quality of life in Thanet.

Armed Forces Day

Armed Forces Day was celebrated on 21st June in the village with a small gathering in The Square around our flag pole and later at the War Memorial.

 

 

 

 

CHRISTMAS EVENT,  NOV 27th

 

The switching on the lights this year will have a celebrity and our Snow Prince who will be chosen at the Summer Event; in addition Santa`s Grotto, Lantern Procession, bands, food and drink stalls late night shopping more details will be circulated nearer the occasion.

    Peter Francis Memorial Playground

It was back in 2003 that BPC decided to turn the former putting green in Minnis Bay into a memorial children`s playground in memory of Peter Francis.  Birchington Parish Council had already installed the picnic tables on the site and now after installing the fence and an initial mix of installations, further additions have been made every few years.  Two new features have just been installed at the playground.  They have been funded by BPC at a cost of some £17K - yes, quite expensive - but as the pictures show, they seem to be popular with the clients!

    Birchington Youth Club

            Cemetery Bus

Visitors to this page are reminded that BPC organises a bus on the last Sunday of each month (except December) which runs between Minnis Bay, the Railway Station and The Square to the cemetery.  The bus waits for approximately one hour at the cemetery and then returns to the pick-up spots in the village.  Whilst the bus is paid for by BPC the driver is a volunteer so a donation of £1.00 per person is suggested.  The bus commences at Minnis Bay at 1315 hrs.

      Information from the Past

If any visitors to this web site, especially from outside of Thanet,  have any queries about old family links to the village then our Parish Archivist, Jennie Burgess, would be only too pleased to try and help.  Please contact us through the link on the front page and we will pass your query on to Jennie.    We may consider adding a  heritage page to this site if there is sufficient traffic and demand.

    Planning Matters

Thanet District Council posts all planning applications on the web in PDF format.  You will find them at www.ukplanning.com  

 

 

           last updated September 5, 2010