Kennington News The newsletter of Kennington Community Forum
The winner of the cake competition, Lola Osbourne, with her Mum whose design was made into a cake.
Down the Drain Ten residents were treated to a guided tour of Bybrook Wastewater Treatment Works or sewage works as it is better known. Following concerns raised by local residents regarding odours from the plant and transport of sludge into the site, Southern Water’s managers showed how effluent from the network of sewers across Ashford is processed through sedimentation tanks, with the cleaned liquid waste discharging into the River Stour. Residual solid waste is processed through two large sealed bio-digesters which extract combustible gases and recycle them to provide power for the plant. The tour was told that some partially-treated “sludge cake” is brought in by road from outlying smaller waste treatment plants in the area, although this is now decreasing. The sludge is tipped into large hoppers in specially designed buildings, then fed into the bio-digesters. However, it wasn’t clear whether drivers were always
closing the building doors before tipping sludge which could be a cause of odour, and Southern Water promised to look in to this. The remaining “biosolids” are stored in a large open pen on site, and sold on to local farms for use as fertiliser. This was also thought to be a cause of odour affecting local properties when the fertiliser is loaded onto lorries. Southern Water promised to look at relocating portable odour-masking equipment to cover the fertiliser pen, to see if this would reduce the problem. Sarah Feasey, Southern Water’s Stakeholder Engagement Manager, said “I would strongly advise anyone affected by odour issues from the wastewater treatment plant to contact us as soon as they experience a problem by calling 0330 303 0368. This will assist us in investigating the potential cause.”
Groups wishing to organise a tour of the works can contact Sarah on 01634 824201.
December 2016
The staff and children at Downs View Infant School have been celebrating the School’s 40th Birthday by looking back over the past 40 years to when the school first opened. Mrs Collins, Deputy Headteacher, started her teaching career at Downs View 22 years ago and was able to tell the children and staff about many of the changes that have taken place. The school held a range of activities to celebrate the event including a cake competition. Ex-pupils who are now current parents of children at the school were invited in to talk to the children about their time at Downs View. The celebrations finished with a tea party for all staff, parents and children. Staff who had previously worked at the school and ex-pupils came back to help celebrate, including Mrs Caroline Macey, Mr Aaron Ingram and former teacher Mrs Osmotherley. Mrs Kent, Headteacher of the school, said how great it was to see children asking questions and how exciting it was to hear about the history of the school. It was good to see how the school had changed since it opened in 1976 whilst also hearing about some traditions at the school including book weeks, Christmas dinner, a large Christmas tree in the hall and Easter bonnet parades which have continued on over the years!