COMING EVENTS IN DEAL AND WALMER
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CONSUMER ALERTS: HEALTH PRODUCTS, KIRBY CLEANERS AND GLUTEN-FREE FLOUR

Kent Trading Standards have issued three alerts of possible interest to consumers:

• Unsolicited phone calls by a person offering a "wellness survey" and health products have resulted in some people being charged for larger quantities than they agreed to. The public are advised to be extremely wary about calls from unknown individuals and companies.
• Owners of Kirby vacuum cleaners need to be careful about telephone calls suggesting that their machine is due to be serviced.
• Doves Farm Foods Limited has issued a product withdrawal for one batch of its Gluten Free Buckwheat Flour 1kg.

For more details, see the Kent Trading Standards page on WalmerWeb.    (February 1, 2012)

DROP IN SESSIONS FOR NEW FLOOD DEFENCES

There's an opportunity to find out from the experts about the works to improve Deal's sea defences which are expected to start in September. The Environment Agency is holding two informal public "drop in" sessions in the Council Chamber at Deal Town Hall next week: 3pm to 7.30pm on Friday, 3 February and 10am to 2pm on Saturday, 4 February.

The Agency has said it expects to submit a planning application to Dover District Council in February so that construction work can start in September and be completed by March 2013. Costing £10million, the scheme will reduce the risk of sea flooding to 626 homes and 44 commercial properties in the town. Included are a new 650m wave wall along the promenade between the Royal Hotel and Deal Castle, 250m of rock protection on the embankment just north of Sandown Castle and extra shingle along the entire beach from the new rocks to Deal Castle. Friday and Saturday's sessions offer a chance to talk to the Agency team about the new sea flooding defences, their design and what the works will involve. There also details on www.environment-agency.gov.uk/homeandleisure/floods/135503.aspx.    (January 31, 2012)

FREE ROAD CLOSURES FOR JUBILEE STREET PARTIES

Communities across Kent are being invited to start planning street parties for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee this summer. To help residents celebrate the historic occasion with their neighbours Kent County Council is waiving charges for street parties on quiet residential roads and cul-de-sacs. Organisers only have to complete a simple online form and there is no charge for processing applications or for any road closure signs that are provided. Party organisers can apply for a road closure over any day during the extended four-day holiday from Saturday 2 to Tuesday 5 June. The deadline for street party applications is Friday 18 May. For more details and an application form, see: www.kent.gov.uk/news_and_events/diamond_jubilee.aspx .    (January 28, 2012)

ROADWORKS PLANNED FOR GOLF ROAD, DEAL

Kent Highways is planning to carry out road repairs on Golf Road, Deal, between Thursday 16 and Friday 24 February. The section from the junction with Ethelbert Road to the Chequers public house will be closed. There is no alternative route, so the road engineers will try to maintain essential access for vehicles but warn there may be delays at some times. For more information, call 0845 824 7800 or see www.kent.gov.uk/highways.    (January 28, 2012)

FREE SINGING SESSIONS FOR THE OVER-50'S

People who are over 50 and like to sing are being invited to join in free singing sessions starting in Walmer at the end of February. Organised by Kent-based charity Living Lively and funded by an Awards for All grant, the sessions are in Walmer Baptist Church Hall on Dover Road every Thursday from 10.30am to 12noon for six weeks starting on 23 February.

The organisers say the mornings are ideal for people who are interested in trying singing in an informal and relaxed atmosphere but, perhaps, have felt nervous about the idea of reading music and formal choirs. Participants will learn about breathing, posture and making a good sound in sessions that include a wide variety of music to satisfy all tastes. There is no charge, refreshments are included and people can turn up for one, some or all of the days.

Matthew Raisbeck, the Creative Lead for Living Lively, said: "We are hoping to get a good turn out and, hopefully, sow the seeds for a long term group for the over 50's". The six Thursday "Discover Your Voice" sessions are on 23 February and 1, 8, 15, 22 and 29 March. For more information or to book a place, call Celia on 01233 750585 or or .    (January 24, 2012)

TOWN COUNCIL BY-ELECTION FOR NORTH DEAL

Voters in North Deal go to the polls on Thursday 9 February to choose their new elected representative on Deal Town Council. There are three election hopefuls for one vacant seat on the council: Elizabeth Blackwell (Conservative), Robin Hook (Liberal Democrat) and Ian Killbery (Labour). Three polling stations will be open from 7am to 10pm. They are at Sandown School in Golf Road (for electoral register numbers AD1-1 to AD1-1880), the Cleary Hall at the Landmark Centre, 129 High Street (for AD2-1 to AD2-1949) and the Baptist Hall in Stanley Road (for AD3-1 to AD3-1210).    (January 21, 2012)

START FOR NEW TENNIS LEAGUE

Local tennis players are being invited to sign up to a new friendly tennis league. Open to adult players of all standards, the Deal Tennis League starts at the end of this month and runs until 25 March. The organisers say everyone is welcome with games being played at the Deal Indoor Tennis Centre in Park Road, Deal, and other local courts. Players arrange their own matches and all who join can get free British Tennis Membership worth £25. Winners of their group win £20 and everyone who completes three matches by the half-way mark is sent a free can of balls. The entry fee is £12 (£10 for students) and more details are at: www.localtennisleagues.com/deal.    (January 21, 2012)

PHONY ON-LINE CAR INSURANCE

Drivers who have used an on-line motor insurance trader "Aston Midshires Insurance", based in Leicestershire, need to check that their car insurance is correct and valid. Kent Trading Standards say the trader has been targeting young and high-risk drivers across the country. However, it is operating a scam and the insurance policies do not exist and offer no protection. For more details, see the Kent Trading Standards page on WalmerWeb.    (January 20, 2012)

SEEKING A TREE "CHAMPION" FOR DEAL

The search is on to find a "Tree Warden" for Deal. The local community green group, Deal With It, says it would like to see a local representative for the network set up by the national Tree Council. The appointment is a voluntary one and typical activities can include helping with surveys of trees and woodlands, offering advice to communities on suitable species to plant, how to manage a habitat and sources of project funding, notifying authorities about any hazardous trees and organising public events such as tree planting days and guided walks. Anyone interested or wanting more information can or call 01304 372673. Walmer already has a Tree Warden. He is Walmer parish councillor Clive Grant who can be contacted by or on 01304 361704.

As well as their search for a Deal tree warden, the local green campaigners are planning a busy programme for the coming weeks. Their monthly meeting on Tuesday 24 January has a short talk from Alan Grieve on the European Climate Change Conference at Detmold in Germany and an open discussion on Deal With It’s work in the past year and its plans for 2012. The meeting is at Dealability 43 Victoria Road, Deal, starts at 7.30pm and is open to the public. In February there's a meeting for a "Banish the plastic bag" campaign an the first Deal Beach Clean for 2012 is on Sunday 26 February. On Saturday 10 March there's a Green Energy Fair at Deal Town Hall where people will be able to get advice on how to make their homes more energy efficient, save money on power bills and use more "green" energy. For more details see www.dealwithit.org.    (January 17, 2012)

HAVE A SAY ON FUTURE PLANS FOR NORTH AND MIDDLE DEAL

Residents and organisations who would like to have their say on future plans for Middle and North Deal are being invited to take part in a workshop at the Golf Road Centre on Wednesday 25 January at 6pm. It is the latest stage in a study on this part of Deal and its future development being carried out by consultants GVA for Dover District Council, Kent County Council and the Environment Agency. The study focuses on the flood risk, transport and habitat issues that affect the northern part of the town and the Sholden area. The 25 January event will update local people on progress and invite their views on the work so far.

The organisers say the meeting on 25 January is not just to provide information, but to gather local people's views through "round the table" discussions. These will then be used in preparing the final recommendations for this stage of the study. The capacity of the venue is limited, so people wishing to take part are asked to book a place before Tuesday 24 January; e-mail regenerationdelivery@dover.gov.uk or call 01304 872477.    (January 13, 2012)

NEW MOVES IN "SHALE FRACKING" BATTLE

Rosemary Rechter, coordinator for local environmental group Deal With It, is urging people who have concerns at the prospect of local use of the controversial "shale fracking" process for retrieving underground deposits of gas to sign an on-line petition. She says: "Many will already be aware that, on 6 December, Kent County Council passed an application by Coastal Oil and Gas Ltd to drill an exploratory bore hole at Woodnesborough. I would like to ask everyone who shares our concern to go to the Government Petition Site and sign the petition for a moratorium. It would help if you could also e-mail or write to your MP to ask that they support a moratorium."

Rosemary also says her members are planning to hold a strategy meeting with other concerned people in the region. She understands there are three other applications in Kent, a number in Sussex and possibly around 600 throughout the UK. The national petition for a moratorium on Shale Gas is at: http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/14271.    (January 13, 2012)

SEPTEMBER START FOR £10-MILLION SEA DEFENCE WORKS

Work to improve sea defences at Deal could start in September. The Environment Agency says it is now working on detailed designs and it expects to submit a planning application to Dover District Council in February. The agency hopes to start construction work in September and finish by March 2013, so avoiding the busy summer season and reducing the impact on local people and businesses. Costing £10million, the Deal flood defence scheme will reduce the risk of coastal flooding to 626 homes and 44 commercial properties in the town. Included in the scheme are a new 650m wave wall along the promenade between the Royal Hotel and Deal Castle, 250m of rock protection on the embankment just north of Sandown Castle and adding shingle along the entire beach from the new rocks to Deal Castle. For more details, see www.environment-agency.gov.uk/homeandleisure/floods/135503.aspx.    (January 8, 2012)

STIMULATING ACTIVITIES FOR THE RETIRED AND SEMI-RETIRED

Organisers of the local White Cliffs Country branch of the University of the Third Age (U3A) are keen to welcome new retired or semi-retired members for their programme of special interest and social activities. U3A is a national organisation and the local branch has members in Deal, Dover, Sandwich and the area's villages. White Cliffs U3A member Ann Cook says that the members themselves generate activities. She explained: "We benefit from their professional backgrounds, expertise and enthusiasm to provide a programme of low-cost informal learning courses and group activities covering a wide range of subjects - such as art, architecture, bridge, chess, gardening, exercise, languages, history, literature, maths, music, poetry and philosophy. The majority of courses or groups are held in leaders’ private homes or, if numbers exceed eight, at more suitable venues. It's a lively organisation with no minimum or maximum age limit."

FASTER LOCAL BROADBAND FOR DEAL

Deal and Walmer are set to have faster broadband services available in March. British Telecom Openreach says this is when it expects the Deal exchange and the local "fibre to the cabinet" service to go live. For broadband users who sign up to the new service, it is capable of delivering download speeds of up to 40Mbit/s and upload speeds of up to 15Mbit/s right away. It is expected this will be boosted to up to 80/20 Mbit/s shortly after.

BT say that the new fibre cabling will connect at least two-thirds of homes and business in the UK in the next few years. But there are some areas – often more rural places – where it just isn't viable to introduce fibre. Current broadband coverage in the UK is 99.6 per cent. But about 160,000 lines have no access to broadband due to line length and 310,000 have limited access (up to 0.5Mbit/s only). However, BT say they are working to develop solutions that will help achieve the Government's Digital Britain target of a minimum broadband speed of 2Mbit/s for everyone in the UK. For more details, see www.superfast-openreach.co.uk/where-and-when/   (January 6, 2012)

KCC ASKS FOR PUBLIC'S VIEWS ON FUTURE OF WASTE TIPS

The future of the household waste and recycling centres service provided by Kent County Council is under review. The KCC says it wants to identify the right level of the waste tip service at the right cost so it is fit for purpose and for the future. Before any decisions are made, the council is carrying out a public consultation so everyone in Kent has an opportunity to contribute to the process.

Details of a range of issues and options for the future are available on the KCC website and there is a survey where people can contribute their views to all the questions or only to those where they have a particular interest or concern. For Deal and Walmer residents one suggestion that the Deal and Margate waste tips are underused and that the current Richborough tip might be closed to boost their use is expected to provoke some comment. For details and the survey form, see www.kent.gov.uk/..../hwrc_consultation.aspx. The consultation will close on Thursday, 9 February.    (January 3, 2012)

ROADWORKS FOR LIVERPOOL ROAD, WALMER

Kent Highways have announced that there will be a temporary road closure at Liverpool Road, Walmer from Monday, 16 January 2012. It is expected to last up to two weeks. The section of road affected is between the junctions with Cambridge Road and Grove Road. The alternative route is via Cambridge Road, A258 Dover Road and Liverpool Road. The reason for the closure is to enable works to repair a damaged sewer; these will be carried out by contractors Clancy Docwra working with Southern Water. For more details of roadworks, see www.elgin.gov.uk or call KCC Highways & Transportation's 24-hour contact centre on 08458 247 800.  (December 29, 2011)