Playden

Watch out, look out, superstitions are about !!

Lovely white hoar frost the other morning. Made it all look like Christmas.

Playden Parish Council met last week with all councillors present, also RDC councillors Nick Ramus and Paul Osborne. ESCC Councillor Keith Glazier sent apologies, as did PCSO Dan Bevan. Two members of the public came.

It was understood that PCSO Bevan was doing extra patrols in Iden following the jewellery raids.

Mrs. Sam Stone reported that the access footpath to the bus, phone and telephone was a boggy mess and it needs clearing before someone slips and falls into the ditch. The obstructing tree reported at the last meeting has been cleared from Houghton Green Lane by Cllr. Blackham.

There are no developments over the Neighbourhood Watch scheme. Cllr. Lenehan has tried unsuccessfully to contact PCSO Bevan.

RDC Cllr Ramus reported that he had attended a Scrutiny meeting about Resources which viewed the figures for the next financial year.

Senior staff have already been cut from 9 to 6 and staff redundancies are possible.

RDC Cllr. Osborne explained more about the new recycling scheme arrangements. Leaflets have been delivered to all households offering brown bins for garden waste at £25 per year. The green bins will be for recycled goods of any kind. That means that paper, tins and plastic will all be muddled up together. And the boxes are anybody’s guess ! Eventually one may be for glass, but watch this space.

It was decided that the Minutes would be placed on the Council notice board.

There was a meeting at Playden School on Monday to discuss the findings of the speed monitoring in Houghton Green Lane.

There were no objections to the planning application to demolish the small property on Playden Lane and build a much nicer, larger house in Lamb’s Orchard.

The budget and Precept for the coming year were considered. It is hoped to develop the website for Playden so that it more accurately reflects activities in Playden. This needs expanding and updating regularly. It is still hoped to find a technical expert who can update it quickly and easily. Cllr. Blackham has been making enquiries, and looked at other sites as models for Playden. It is known that Peasmarsh used BT. This development could have implications for the precept.

There is no further news of the Iden Cycle Path.

Mrs Stone could help with contact details for all the activities in the W. I. Hall, with a view to creating a Welcome Pack for new residents.

The Butt Field Trustees met to try to resolve the problem of the fallen oak tree. They co-opted Mr. Peter Challans to the committee. It has been decided that the owners of the rest of the tree, Mr. and Mrs Jellyman and the Trustees will split the cost of removal 50/50. Andrew Skudder will clear the footpath, take down the remaining part of the tree for safety reasons, and remove the timber. It should all be cleared and safe before Christmas.

Cllr. Lenehan reported yet again that no surface water gets anywhere near the blocked land drains in New England Lane. And yet our council tax clearly states that part of the money is used for surface water drainage. Is there a case for with-holding some of our tax?

The replacement of a cover for an electricity junction box at the bottom of the footpath from Saltcote Lane has been left level with the lane but with a nasty edge of soil on the footpath. Someone it bound to trip on it.

The holiday dates in January make it difficult to have the meeting on the first Thursday as is usual, and so it has been decided to conduct the next meeting at the end of the month and not have one at the beginning of February, unless an urgent Planning Application arises.

Therefore the next council meeting will be on 30th January at 7.30 pm in the W.I. Hall. The Precept figure will be settled then, but it is hoped to leave it at the present level.

The Rye and District Association of the National Trust will have a ‘Christmas Extravaganza’ in Beckley Village Hall today, Friday at 2 pm. Mr. Geoff Hutchinson will present this.

The first meeting in the new year will be a talk on ‘Dante Gabriel Rossetti - his Art and Poetry’ presented by Nick Shaddick, who is a local art and design historian. This will be at Brede Village Hall at 2 pm on Thursday 16th January.

Ryesingers’ Carol Service at East Guldeford will be on Sunday 15th at 2.30 pm. Parking is in the field by the church.

The Mobile Library will appear again on Monday 23rd December from 11.30 to 11.50 am.

Rye and District Camera Club has a meeting on Monday 16th in Playden W. I. Hall at 7.30 pm. This will be a social meeting, ‘Race Night’, raising money for Club Funds.

The Christmas Services at Playden Church are as follows:

24th, Christmas Eve 4 pm Crib service for all the family.

25th, Christmas Day 11 am Family Christmas service.

29th, NO service at Playden.

May I thank everyone for their support over the many years during which I have written the Village Voice . It has been fun and I have enjoyed doing it for over 20 years. But leaving the village means that news will not filter my way - and yes, I admit that I am a nosy parker !! Is there another N. P. out there who will carry on reporting our news and gossip? I may be able to report on the January Council meeting, but otherwise this is my last column.

I will miss it.

May I wish everyone a very peaceful, blessed Christmas and a happy and prosperous New Year.