A website for all those who live in Mountfield
This is a beautiful painting of All Saints Church by Barbara Valentine – particularly poignant in this 900th anniversary year. So many events have had to be postponed until next year, but this will give us all some much needed hope for better times.
Just a quick amendment to Cora’s offer on my post yesterday to help with home schooling.
Cora’s surname is Taylor – the email contact address is in her mother’s maiden name.
Irene (Parish Clerk)
Cora Courtney Bennett is a year 11 student at Claverham and is offering to help out with home schooling.
Hello, my name is Cora and I’m a Year 11 student at Claverham. At school I used to volunteer in a peer reading scheme helping pupils struggling with their literacy skills, and I also helped others with Maths work. I know that, in the current situation, home schooling is very difficult for many parents and children, I would love to offer my time to assist any students with their work, over zoom calls. If you are interested and want to find out more, please initially contact my mum via her email: [email protected]
Irene (Parish Clerk)
Sadly, the terrific programme for the 900th Anniversary of our beautiful church – All Saints, has had to be amended due to the coronavirus emergency.
Many of the events have been postponed until 2021.
Please click on the link below for full details.
Mountfield has a new planning application.
RR/2020/401/P – erection of goal netting on the playing field (football field) to north of Mountfield Wastewater Treatment Works, Solomon’s Lane.
Deadline for responses is 0206.20.
Click on the link below to see full details on the RDC planning website.
Here we are again and expecting some further news about the lockdown on Sunday, it’s been nearly 7 weeks now. I’m listing below the usual information for anyone who has just subscribed to the email posts alerts system and if it is possible, can you let anyone not able to access this website have the important information.
Click on this link to go to the NHS coronavirus information website
Click on this link to go to the NHS dental advice service during the coronavirus emergency
Click on this link to go to the GOV.UK website for conronavirus information and advice
There’s some good and safe information here from East Sussex County Council for those who need extra support.
Click on this link to go to the ESCC Community Hubs information page
Click on the link below to see information about major supermarkets opening/restrictions etc. during this emergency.
Click on this link for supermarket information
Local shops – best to ring first to find out their open hours and if they can deliver.
Food shops operating in Rother during this emergency
Boots, Robertsbridge – for prescriptions please contact David Todd from Robertsbridge and Salehurst Helping Hands at [email protected] or on 07726 592 739 and he will organise delivery of your prescription to you.
Some additions to local shops from the list previously posted.
The people who are working to keep our lives going are too many to mention – but my sincere thanks to all of them. I would like particularly to mention the “Mountfield Volunteers,” when the lockdown started I asked the Mountfield community if there were any out there who would collection prescriptions/do a bit of shopping etc., – I have called on them several times and they have always stepped up to the plate – THANK YOU.
Like all District/Town/Parish Councils, we are dealing only with essential business. Any planning applications that come in will be dealt with on my delegated authority and no meeting will be held – all new planning applications will be posted on this website.
We hope to have an Extraordinary Council Meeting in late-June/early-July to approve and sign off the Annual Governance and Accountability Return 2019-20 (AGAR). If this is possible, the date and agenda will be posted on this website and we will maintain strict social distancing.
I had no choice but to get my very amateur dog grooming kit out and have a go! He literally couldn’t see out of his eyes. I looked at all the videos on-line, obviously professional groomers and perfectly behaved dogs – yeah right. He was pretty good actually, didn’t like it much, but I managed to get rid of the Denis Healy eyebrows. The end result was pretty disastrous – a bald spot on his head, very spiky all over and I didn’t dare touch his “undercarriage, also made a terrible job of his tail, I got carried away and just kept cutting. My eldest granddaughter saw the result and her only comment, after the face palm, was “what have you done Nana, his tail looks just like a bog brush.” Thankfully his groomer phoned last Monday and RDC have told the licenced dog groomers they can open again if they observe strict social distancing. I took him there on Tuesday and she was very understanding, “it will grow again.” His beautiful powder-puff tail has gone and we will have to wait for that to come back. I don’t know how she gets him so white – when she bathes him he looks as if she’s done it with Ariel Bio on a boil-wash, when I try to bath him, he still looks very grubby. However, he’s still the happy, precious, little soul he always was and much perkier now he’s got rid of all that fur.
I was without broadband for nearly two weeks recently, it came back last Sunday. A long story, but Sky were pretty good considering all of them are working from home. Apart from an outage in East Sussex, there was a problem with my MAC address (that’s a unique number assigned to a network interface controller(?)). They sorted it out as soon as they could and I’m up and running again. It got me to thinking – what did I do before the Internet? I was obviously younger, had young children (2) and was never bored. I suppose what you don’t know, you don’t miss. I more than missed it, it has become my main access to information – I get up in the morning (still in dressing gown), brush teeth, go downstairs, make a cup of tea, fire up the iPad and look at the papers. Without it, I have to look at BBC News – which at the moment seems to be a lot of people singing Vera Lynn songs.
So we will have to wait until Sunday when Boris lets us know the next steps out of lockdown – why do they insist on calling it a roadmap? Surely it is just a plan. I’ll keep in touch, look after yourselves.
Irene (Parish Clerk)
ESCC HIghways will be carrying out resurfacing works on London Road (A2100) from Solomon’s Lane to the A21 John’s Cross roundabout. The works will start on 26.05.20 and continue until 08.06.20.
The road will be closed for 24 hours each day during this period. A suitable diversion route will be signed on site.
Unfortunately I cannot give you a link with more information on the ESCC Highways website as they sent me the wrong link and you just get a 404 error. I’ll post again if I get any more information.
Irene – Parish Clerk
PS – just got my broadband back after 10 days without it!
Apologies – in the last paragraph I thanked Dallington local volunteers instead of Mountfield ones. I have called on our Mountfield volunteers for help quite a few times and each time they have stepped up to the plate.
So grateful thanks and appreciation to all those in Mountfield who have helped out.
Irene – Parish Clerk
We started the UK lockdown on 23.03.20 and it was extended by 3 weeks on 16.04.20 and nobody seems to have any idea of where we are all going after that. Let’s hope there is some positive news soon, but I don’t think we will be able to live our normal lives for some months yet.
I’d like to thank Jane Clark – Parish Clerk/RFO at Westfield – for her great work in pulling lots of information together and sending it out to the Rother Clerks Group – she has been magnificent!
Click on this link for coronavirus information from the NHS
Click on this link for coronavirus information from GOV.UK
Click on this link for advice on dental matters from the NHS
Advice from Citizens Advice Bureau Rother District
Advice from East Sussex County Council
Advice from Rother District CouncilAdvice from Rother District Council
ESCC are also calling the individuals on the shielded group to check if they need additional support. However, if there is support in delivering medication in place through local systems, i.e. volunteers through a local scheme or via the parish councils, it is likely that this will stay in place. Therefore, ESCC will only be taking over the management of a shielded person when either –
Click on this link for supermarket information
Food shops operating in Rother during this emergency
Click on the link below to see the latest information from Rother District Council Planning Department.
RDC Planning information during this emergency
As with all parish councils in Rother, we are dealing with essential business only. We have 2 planning applications – both posted on this site – and will respond via our delegated authority. I am currently preparing the year-end accounts (AGAR) at 31.03.20 and will soon be “delivering” them to our internal auditor. It will be very different this year as we cannot meet up – it is always a positive thing to meet up with your internal auditor who is completely neutral and not involved with the parish council at all. It is a great opportunity to discuss systems and how the RFO deals with “the money.” I’ve had some great advice from internal auditors over the year. This year I’ll have to drop off the finance documents with our auditor and we will deal with any queries by email.
Well, we have had the great nail cutting drama – he was actually very good (no screaming)! I only took a tiny bit off his claws and will probably have to look at them again in a couple of weeks. His coat is getting longer and longer and he is starting to look like Denis Healey! I am gearing myself up for his “home-made” grooming session, I’ve had a look at all the videos on the web, but the groomers are professionals and all the dogs are incredibly well behaved, I can’t guarantee Alfie’s behaviour, although his groomer says he is always very good – I’ll let you know all about it shortly.
We’ve been walking the beautiful Dallington Forest nearly everyday, it is very quiet and we only meet a few people – we all stand back and carefully observe social distancing.
We did the Millennium Walk at Heathfield today, as we had to pick up Freddie’s prescription from the Heathfield Surgery. Very beautiful and only met a few walkers (with their dogs) – all very civilised.
I seem to have lots of plates spinning in the air at the moment and must settle down and get on with things. The parish council work is a very good thing for me, as I have to get it right and there are deadlines. My broadband is all over the place at the moment – people working from home, school children working at home and everyone streaming, it has taken me about two hours to get this post together, but then, everyone is in the same boat. My knitting has been put on hold, I don’t really feel like it at the moment. I have three pairs of socks on the go and really must take a deep breath and get on with them. It is usually a relaxing hobby for me, as you have to count the stitches on each needle (rather Zen) -breath!
Sincere thanks to everyone who is helping us at the moment, not forgetting our Dallington volunteers. Look after yourselves.
Irene – Parish Clerk
Mountfield has a new planning application.
RR/2020/425/P Selton, Hoath Hill TN32 5LL – single-storey side and rear extensions and render existing ground floor brickwork.
Deadline for responses is 12.05.20
Click on this link to see full details on the RDC planning website
This application will not be considered by MPC at a meeting, but a decision will be made using delegated authority.
If you wish to make any comments, please go directly to the RDC planning website – the link is above.