DELIVERED TO 5,000 HOMES
Crackdown on catapults
MAY 2011
Published by Kennington Community Forum
RESIDENTS have set up video cameras and CCTV to catch youths who are using catapults to smash windows. Homes have been damaged in Bybrook Road, Meadowbrook Road, Larch Way, Grasmere and Guernsey Way. Lampposts are also being targeted.
EVERYONE’S A WINNER! SPORTS clubs, schools and the community would all be winners in a plan to revitalise sport in Kennington. The cricket ground and Towers School playing fields could be developed into a multi-sports area with a large clubhouse having up to six changing rooms and social facilities. The school’s wide range of facilities would be made available to local clubs and voluntary organisations. Staff from Towers, representatives from the football, cricket and hockey clubs, tennis players and county councillors are undertaking a feasibility study. They outlined their vision for the future of sport in Kennington at a time when many clubs are struggling to raise funds. The cricket club needs a new pavilion and has only one pitch. It requires a new ground to cope with an increasing number of juniors and start a 3rd adult XI. Kennington football club, which plays on the field adjoining the cricket club, uses the cricket club changing rooms. To progress in the Kent County League the club needs to comply with League regulations which means a better quality pitch and dedicated changing rooms. The Hockey Club needs more pitches. Towers head Malcolm Ramsey said the school was committed to sport and in particular football, rugby, cricket, hockey and tennis. It has a floodlit pitch, six tennis courts and new facilities are being built. The school could put together bids to organisations including the National Lottery and Sport England. Kennington Cricket Club president Peter Grant, said: “For 40 years I've had the ambition to revitalise the sense of com-
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Spring is celebrate here! Time to CHILDREN from the Bockhanger Monkeys preschool planted spring flowers to celebrate the completion of Ashford council’s project to regenerate the neighbourhood. They joined Cllr Neil Bell, Portfolio Holder for Housing, to brighten up a flowerbed outside refurbished flats in Bybrook Road close to the Bockhanger Community Centre which is home to their pre-school. The council has spent more than £1.5m refurbishing ten blocks of flats and open spaces in Bybrook. The work included external
improvements to the buildings, renovations, thermal cladding, refurbishing balconies, new entrances, new waste removal systems, new landscaping, refurbished car parks and increased biodiversity with new planting schemes. Tenants’ boilers have been replaced with A rated energy efficient gas boilers. Cllr Bell said: “The aim of the project was to not only improve this local community and maintain people’s homes to a good standard but also to help reduce tenant’s bills and carbon footprints.”
PCSO Nikki Relf said there was zero-tolerance to the problem and two youths had already been stopped and had their catapults confiscated. BE VIGILANT! If you can see it, so can a burglar. Don’t leave anything of value, even shopping, in cars.
£25,000 gift from a former Scout A FORMER Kennington Scout has given £25,000 to the group’s community hall appeal. The donor, who wishes to remain anonymous, lived in Kennington in the 1940s and 1950s and was a cub and a scout with the 1st Kennington group. “He had it in mind to do something for us but I nearly fell off my chair when I received the cheque,” said the Rev Canon Roger Martin, chair of the fundraising committee. The group has received a £35,000 legacy from former Scout leader Gerry Garforth. More than £278,000 has been raised towards the £330,000 needed to replace the old hut in Lower Vicarage Road. The next fundraising events are a Folk Evening at the WI Hall, Faversham Road, on Saturday 7 May (tickets 01303 237 204) and a treasure hunt on 24 May. It is hoped the new building, which will be available to other groups in the community, will be ready in the autumn. To make a donation email roger@1stkenningtonscouts.org.uk
ACADEMY STATUS FOR TOWERS TOWERS School has gained academy status and will work in partnership with Highworth Grammar. The schools will be able to pool resources, share facilities and staff to raise standards and offer a wider curriculum. Towers head Malcolm Ramsey believes the move could bring the school an extra £500,000 of funding.
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