Category: Notices/Information

Strike action next week on Southeastern Railway

Strike action is due to take place on Southeastern on the following days:
* Wednesday 31.05.23
* Friday 02.06.23
* Saturday 03.06.23
In additional, ASLEF will be implementing an overtime bank on 01.06.23.
No services on Wednesday 31.05.23 and Saturday 03.06.23.
Services will not be running on the above dates, for alternative transport options visit Traveline information

* There will be a limited service on Friday 02.06.23 and some routes will be closed – please check before you travel.
* If you are travelling, expect some disruption and plan ahead.
* Trains that are running will be busier and are likely to start later and finish earlier.
* You may be unable to board trains at stations where a limited service is running, especially on the first few trains in the morning.  Queuing systems are in place in some stations to ensure that trains have enough room onboard for customers to join along the route – this is continually under review.
* Only 58 out of 180 stations will be open. No replacement buses will serve stations that are closed. For alternative transport options visit Traveline Information

Online timetables for Friday 02.06.23 will be updated in journey planners this weekend.

Mountfield Parish Assembly 2023

We had a very pleasant evening at the Mountfield Parish Assembly on 18th April.  It was particularly nice to catch up with old friends and meet some new ones.
One of the highlights was a presentation to Dave Wadeson, known with much affection as “Dave the Post,” after very many years of service above and beyond the call of duty, we are certainly going to miss him and wish him a long and happy retirement.

Presentation to Dave
Presentation to Dave

Lindsey Jeffries – Executive Head – at Mountfield Heath School – and told us all about the incredible work they are doing at the school and offered to host the Parish Assembly in 2024.
The Battle Ramblers were there, have a look at their programme of walks and Health Walks (on the reports link).  The work they do to keep our precious footpaths open and accessible is very much appreciated.
Everyone enjoyed a glass of wine or a soft drink (they ate all the crisps)  and enjoyed a good chat.
The reports from organisations and clubs are on the link below.

Reports from Mountfield Parish Assembly 2023

Dave Wadeson – “Dave the Post”

As many of you probably know, Dave Wadeson – known to all at Mountfield as Dave the Post – is retiring after many year of dedicated service.
He certainly went above and beyond the call of duty and his efforts are gratefully appreciated.  We will miss him.
We have arranged for a presentation to him at the Mountfield Parish Assembly on 18th April 2023, in the Village Hall at 7.30pm.
We hope you will join us to chat with Dave and wish him a long and happy retirement.
Irene – Parish Clerk

EMERGENCY STATEMENT – MOUNTFIELD VILLAGE HALL

EMERGENCY STATEMENT

MOUNTFIELD VILLAGE HALL

To put it bluntly, without urgent action, Mountfield will lose its Village Hall and the Club will lose its home in approximately two years. The reasons for this are straightforward.

First, several groups who provided regular, bread-and-butter bookings did not survive Covid.

Secondly, it is clear that life will not be the same as before the Pandemic and business is not returning to pre-Covid levels — ask local shopkeepers or restaurants. And these social changes are affecting village halls too.

Without action now, Mountfield will lose its Village Hall and the Club will lose its home in two years

Finally, there is the rise in energy prices. Mountfield Village Hall was very lucky: our electricity renewal notice arrived about 10 days before the ‘Energy Crisis’ hit the headlines — and the renewal quote was for a cool 100% increase! Neil, our treasurer, managed to find a deal at only 70% increase but other halls have been faced with 200%, 300% or worse. Energy costs are the biggest single factor simply as a result of the scale of the rise and because they are beyond our control.

Neil recently spelt out the economics of the situation:

“Despite reducing maintenance, suspending capital investment and increasing prices, my current forecast for March year end is a deficit of -£4,400. Our total reserves then will be about £9,500. This works out to around two years left (i.e. mid-2025). However, the contract only freezes our electricity costs until December 2024 when they are likely to rise. And, of course, in the meantime, suppliers’ prices will continue to rise as energy costs rise.

“We have little or no room for further cost-cutting so we need to increase income but even matching our best ever hire figure of £8,444 (2019-20) would still only produce approximately £3.3k of extra income against the forecast annual deficit of £4.4k. To make up the forecast deficit would require an extra 24 hours hire per month at £15 per hour.”

That’s a tall order but not impossible. We know what needs to be done but we just don’t have enough helpers to do what’s required. To make things happen, we need more trustees and more for the Management Committee. But we also need volunteers who have any specific skills to offer such as graphic design, social media, marketing, painting, building maintenance, sponsorship deals, etc. And we also need helpers who can let a tradesman in, or show someone round; research local caterers or bouncy castle hirers; source grants for any particular projects; whatever — or to pour teas. And we can always use ideas. So…

… there will be a special meeting, in Mountfield Village Hall to discuss the problem on:

Tuesday April 25th at 7.30.

Please come along with ideas, offers to help, or just moral support. See you there.

Peter, Neil, Nick, Steve, Trish

(Trustees)

£7,000.00 from SE Water Community Scheme

Due to the recent water outage at Mountfield, SE Water have paid Mountfield Parish Council £7,000.00 in compensation – to be spent for the benefit of the Mountfield Community.
This is the only way SE Water will compensate Mountfield residents, despite efforts by myself and other clerks of parishes that were involved – they will not compensate individual residents.
So we are asking you all how you wish the funds to be spent – there will be an opportunity for you all to let us know at the Mountfield Parish Assembly – to be held on 18th April 2023, 7.30pm in Mountfield Village Hall and I would also ask that if you wish to let us know before that – please email me with your wishes at  clerk@mountfield.org.uk
Irene – Parish Clerk

British Gypsum and its Communities Survey

Social Change are conducting a survey for British Gypsum and the details are below.
If you wish to take part, please please click on this link

We’re conducting research on behalf of British Gypsum to understand stakeholder and community perceptions of British Gypsum. We are carrying out this survey with a range of people who live and/or work within a community local to a British Gypsum site. The aim of this research is to start a conversation with the people and communities close to the sites on how the company can be a good neighbour. As a thank you for completing this survey, there is the opportunity to enter a prize draw to win a £100 shopping voucher at the end of this survey.

This survey is being conducted by Social Change, an independent social research and marketing agency, on behalf of British Gypsum. All of your answers will be stored securely and kept confidential. This means we will not identify you at any point in the storing, processing and reporting of the data. You can view more information about our policy and how we work in line with GDPR by clicking here. If you require an accessible format or would like to ask any questions about this work, please get in touch by emailing research@social-change.co.uk.