Thursday 30 May 2013

Land opposite Sandybridge Farm, B3004, Kingsley

This application, 54941, seeking permission for

CHANGE OF USE OF LAND FOR STATIONING OF A MOBILE HOME FOR RESIDENTIAL PURPOSES FOR A SINGLE GYPSY PITCH WITH CREATION OF NEW ACCESS OFF MAIN ROAD, TRACK AND ASSOCIATED HARD STANDING, TREATMENT PLANT AND AMENITY BLOCK

is currently marked as open for consultation until 27th June

Local payment card fraud

Staff that deal with card payments are being warned after a number of attempts at using fraudulent credit cards have happened across the area this month.

The scams happened at supermarkets and other stores where two men tried to buy large amounts of store gifts vouchers. They attempted to use credit cards to make payment that had either been cloned (with someone else’s account details on the magnetic strip) or had been stolen.

Police are aware of several incidents where staff have wisely suspected the men and then refused to serve them. However there are likely to be many other offences where no one yet realises a crime has been committed. It may be some weeks before the genuine account holder receives their statement to find ‘they’ have bought hundreds of pounds of vouchers across the south!

If you work in a shop, or restaurant, or pretty much anywhere where card payments are taken and you offer gift vouchers, please be suspicious if someone attempts to buy hundreds of pounds worth.  Obviously not all transactions like this will be fraudulent, but do be cautious – how often would someone ordinarily buy such a large volume of vouchers from you? Are they buying a very generous wedding gift for someone, or simply using you to cash in the fraudulent cards and launder their ill-gotten gains?!

Please also avoid buying ‘second hand’ gift vouchers. Someone may come up to you and claim that they’ve been given a particular voucher as a present ‘but they never shop there’. To help them out, please would you buy this £50 voucher for, say, £40?!  If something’s too good to be true, it almost certainly is.

The banks and credit card companies are very good at keeping an eye on unusual transactions on accounts. They may well contact you if your card is suddenly maxed out by buying supermarket vouchers. However, please keep an eye on your transactions and report any suspicious activity or incorrect transactions to your bank as soon as you notice them. Likewise, if your card is unexpectedly rejected when you try to use it, please don’t just crack open another one without checking why first.

Remember, Hampshire really is a safe place to live and work. However, we can all do our bit to make it an even better place to be so if you have information about ANY crime, please do not hesitate to give Crimestoppers a call. 0800 555 111 or log on to www.crimestoppers-uk.org to give information online anonymously. For those of you Twittered up, please follow me on @HantsCrimestopp for regular updates.

PC Simon Wright

Tuesday 28 May 2013

Land southeast of Sleaford service station

This application, 20136/044, seeking permission for

CHANGE OF USE OF VACANT LAND TO HAND CAR WASH FACILITY

is currently marked as open for consultation until 22nd June.

Friday 24 May 2013

Kingsley Village Summer Fete and Dog Show 9th June

Kingsley Village Summer Fete and Dog Show

Sunday 9th June 12.00 noon onwards


Featuring this year … FUN DOG SHOW

    Class 1 – Any variety puppy – crossbreed or pedigree
    Class 2 – Any variety pedigree dog or bitch
    Class 3 – Any crossbreed
    Class 4 – Best child handler (up to and including aged 12 years)
    Class 5 – Best local dog or bitch 
    Class 6 – Best conditioned dog or bitch
    Class 7 – Dog the judge would like to take home

Rosettes 1st – 5th place

Entry £1.50 per class or £5.00 for four classes

And much more including…

Stalls & Games
BBQ & Refreshments (licensed bar)
Grand Raffle – many prizes (1st prize £100)
Cakes
Live Music

Everyone welcome so come and join us to have fun at:

Kingsley United Sports & Social Club
Sickles Lane
Kingsley
GU35 9PD

Brit Butt Rally

Today marks the start of the 2013 Brit Butt Rally for motorcycles organised by Iron Butt UK.

Today the riders travel to the Xscape Travel Inn in Castleford for the start of the 6th Annual Brit Butt Rally. At 3pm check in starts and document checks take place. Their bikes will then be checked over by Iron Butt UKs Technical Officer to make sure there are no obvious defects and the bike is likely to be able to travel the 1100+ miles of the rally. They then ride a short fixed route ride to judge the accuracy of their odos so their true mileage can be established over the rally.

The rally proper will commence at 0600 tomorrow and all rides must be complete (and all riders back in Castleford) by 1800 on Sunday, 36 hours in total including compulsory sleep and other rest stops. Some 60 43 riders will be seeking out bonus locations scattered over the length and breadth of Great Britain (and possibly Europe and/or Ireland).

A few of the riders have agreed to publish their SPOT tracks so you can watch their progress in real time using these links:

Owl  -  https://spotwalla.com/tripViewer.php?id=6af151991c2eacb98
            https://spotwalla.com/tripViewer.php?id=6b5b519d0c88d8888
Roberto  -  https://spotwalla.com/tripViewer.php?id=69d1519099cd8f565
GraemeAndSally  -  https://spotwalla.com/tripViewer.php?id=6b17519a83eb96f97
Skarthi  -  https://spotwalla.com/tripViewer.php?id=6bbe519e53055480c
Wully  -  https://spotwalla.com/tripViewer.php?id=69bf518fd499b8d62

Sadly, I won't be competing this year. Roll on 2014.

Thursday 23 May 2013

Damian Hinds MP, 7th June

Our local Member of Parliament, Damian Hinds, will be holding his next open public meeting in the Kingsley Centre on Friday 7th June at 7pm.

Why not come along and make a point or ask a question.

Tuesday 21 May 2013

Parish meeting full

Work prevented me from attending the Parish Meeting this evening but at 9 o'clock the hall still looked fairly full and they didn't appear to be asleep so it may have been an interesting session.

Presumably The Cricketers will do well later.

Monday 20 May 2013

Land behind Frith End Farm

This application, 54616/002, seeking permission for

CHANGE OF USE OF LAND FROM AGRICULTURAL TO EQUESTRIAN (TO INCLUDE RIDING LESSONS, KEEPING AND BREEDING OF HORSES) RETENTION OF SAND SCHOOL, MESS ROOM AND HAY BARN

is currently marked as open for consultation until 14th June.

Friday 17 May 2013

Ratting

Ratting was a most popular pastime for myself and a small group of my friends throughout most of my life in Kingsley. I suppose my first experience of this particular diversion was during my early years at Woodfield. Actually it wasn’t ratting at all it was, in fact, vole hunting. Although, at the time, I think most of us thought we were rat hunting.
 
At the time I refer to there were quite large numbers of water rats all along the stretch of the river from Oakhanger right the way down through Kingsley and on beyond Sleaford. These, however, were not water rats they were the delightful, and now rare, water vole. Since the river and its banks featured prominently in many of our boyhood activities it was inevitable that our attentions would be attracted to the unfortunate water voles that inhabited the area. Walking along the river banks in those days always resulted in the familiar plop of the voles as they jumped from their perch on the bank and into the water. Again, this is one of those sounds that one never forgets as it has a distinction all of its own and is probably unique in so far as most other water side creatures tend to slide quietly into the water. I suppose it’s a bit like dropping a biggish pebble into water but once familiar with the sound it remains lodged in the mind. I am confident, in spite of not having heard the sound for many years, I would recognise it at once should I hear it today. So the plopping was the usual method of locating the voles. Having gone into the water they would swim beneath the surface often entering their holes from below the water and hence out of sight. On other occasions they would re-emerge downstream several yards below their point of entry.
 
Whilst fishing it was common to see the voles as they went about their business as sitting quietly with rod and line, (and stationary ), the voles, undisturbed, would be seen swimming upon the surface of the river and collecting reeds and various vegetation. They would quite happily sit opposite the angler and crunch away at their food, this also had a loud and distinctive noise to it. Holding stalks in their front paws they gnawed away at the thick bottom ends discarding bits and pieces out the side of their mouths as they fed and all the time manipulating the stalk with their hand like front paws. The water vole, I believe, was the creature that Ratty in Wind in the Willows was based upon and in using him in this way Kenneth Grahame did the water vole no favours at all. In fact, for lots of country people this inevitably linked the creature to the much more troublesome brown rat. I know as children, my friends and I always referred to the water voles as water rats and, to our eternal shame, treated them as such. It was considered a good days sport to wander along the river banks with air rifle in hand and shoot the hapless creatures. Fortunately, due to the noise we made and the speed of the voles, we didn’t get that many and for as long as I can remember the vole population remained a healthy one. I imagine it declined, as most water vole populations did, with the onset of chemical usage in agriculture and the subsequent seepage into the river systems.
 
However, what those early vole hunting trips did for a number of my friends and I was to instil in us the thrills of rat hunting which thereafter focused our attentions upon the brown rat. I don’t suppose there are many people, then or now, that would leap to the defence of rats. They are both dirty in their habits, spreaders of disease and from a farmers point of view, very destructive. Most crops in the days of which I write were stored in sacks made from hessian and stacked in large numbers in sheds and barns. The damage and, therefore, wastage that was caused by the holes gnawed into the sacks by the rats was considerable. A sack of, for example corn, would be lifted from its position in a stack and the entire contents would spill out through the rat made holes. All of which added time and cost to a farmers labours. On the other hand, it’s an ill wind as the saying goes. What this, for the most part, ensured was a welcome and an open invitation for those of us whom had an interest in ratting.
 
During the summer months the rat population spends much more of its time away from the farm yard and resides in hedgerows and fields where food is plentiful in the form of many wild plants berries and seeds and, of course, an abundance of cultivated foods. Cereals and root crops were all grown by the farmers of Kingsley. Wheat, barley, a few oats and potatoes, sugar beet and fodder beet were commonly grown. Quite a healthy menu for the summer rats. During this period of the year we pursued the rats along the hedges and banks of ditches with rag, tag and bobtail groups of dogs. For the most part these were terrier like mongrels with the odd larger dog for good measure. School holidays and evenings were popular times for such activity. These impromptu hunts took place off and on over a long period of time and we still occasionally went rat hunting in teenage years whilst no longer at school and working.
 
Winter was the time when rat hunting became a welcome source of sport for the dedicated ratter. Dean Farm was our favourite venue. The Mr. Doggerells, Roy and Alec, grew crops of corn, kept pigs and poultry and bought in large amounts of cakes and biscuits, which were out of date, to feed the pigs with. All of this sought to provide a most attractive larder for rats. They had a largish shed which ran parallel with the stream bank which flowed by the side of the farm yard. In this shed large numbers of corn filled sacks were stored and these attracted the rats. The rats resided in the stream banks opposite the shed in question and would swim across the water and make entry into the corn shed from beneath the floor. At the time Monty Othen worked on Dean Farm and it was he that arranged, probably, our most popular rat hunting exploits. This is how it went.
 
The corn shed was stacked to the rafters with the full sacks of corn and fortunately for the rat hunters the shed had a row of windows along its length just below the eaves of the building. When opened the windows dropped forward which was also a major advantage. Monty erected a couple of light bulbs which gave light upon the water of the stream and, to which, the rats quickly became used to.
 
Although I have described the activity as a rat hunt it was, more accurately, a rat shoot. The activity would begin in the evening after Monty had finished his work upon the farm and had time enough to have his tea. We would then gather in the farm yard and take up our positions in the corn shed, windows open, along its length. All armed with air rifles and a plentiful supply of pellets, we lay in wait for the rats to appear and begin their swim towards the corn shed. Located above the stream in the comparative comfort of the shed, upon the top of the corn sacks, we had a clear view of the creatures as they crossed the stream. Keeping quiet was an essential part of this operation as rats are both wary and equipped with good hearing. Waiting in silence until the creatures were mid-stream an array of rifle barrels all pointed downwards waiting for the right moment. A whispered command would be given and all hell let loose broke out. Pellets from every gun rained down on the rats. Sometimes there would be as many as eight or nine shooters in the shed. The great advantage of this system was the simple fact that each dead rat, and we got many of them, was carried away downstream by the current never to be seen again. This activity went on for weeks on end, was highly popular and, no doubt, contributed to a welcome decline in the Dean Farm rat population.

Thursday 16 May 2013

Can you help All Saints church

Do you have mower and a little free time to give to the upkeep of our village church grounds?

We would really like to hear from you if you feel you can help.

Please call Linda Stammers 07724 217978

Wednesday 15 May 2013

Parish meeting - Tuesday 21st May

The Kingsley Annual Parish Meeting, "Implementing the Parish Plan" will take place in the Kingsley Centre at 7:30pm on TUESDAY 21st May.

Agenda

Part 1 (What Kingsley Wants)

Open meeting and welcome – Chris Rigden, Chairman Parish Council
  • Parish Council support for the Parish Plan

Hand over to Brian Herbert, Chairman Parish Plan Steering Committee
  • Present Plan to the Community
  • Reprise work done
  • Financials – sources and uses of funds
  • Trip through the high points of the plan
  • Steering Group
  • Disbanding
  • Kingsley Plan Implementation Transition team

Interval and drinks

Part 2 (Putting plan into practice)

The importance of the Plan – David Ashcroft, District Councillor – David Ashcroft

Implementation of Kingsley Plan -
  • Examples of best practice of Implementation of plans - Jude Simpson, EHDC
  • The Plan and the Kingsley Centre – Kate McCullough & Lynne Jeffery

Moving forward

Getting started
  • Roles: Champions; People who know how; people who know who;
  • helping hands; cheerleaders; participants
  • Pick an Idea
  • Transition team role: data custodians; facilitators.
  • Be Creative
Volunteers
  • Who has signed-up to date
  • More wanted

Close with drinks and refreshments

Tuesday 14 May 2013

Burninghams, South Hay Lane, Kingsley

This application, 22495/008, seeking permission for

TWO STOREY EXTENSION TO REAR

is currently marked as open for consultation until 12th June.

Thursday 9 May 2013

The Old Piggery, Main Road, Kingsley

This application, 52258/001, seeking permission for

TWO DETACHED DWELLINGS WITH COVERED PARKING, NEW ACCESS, LANDSCAPING AND ASSOCIATED WORKS

is currently marked as open for consultation until 6th June.

Wednesday 8 May 2013

Cradle Lane helped

Ambling along Cradle Lane yesterday I spotted that someone has helped the southern section by resurfacing some of the boggier parts with some rather fetching stone chippings. That'll be a bit of an improvement although it's early days and the lane has clearly had only a small amount of traffic of any kind recently. Now that summer's over I expect that the traffic volumes will fall even further.

The bluebells were pretty but I didn't photograph them.

South Downs survey request

The South Downs National Park contains several areas of rare lowland heath which are valued by many for their beauty, biodiversity and the opportunities they offer for walking, riding and cycling.

Later this year the South Downs National Park Authority will be submitting a bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund, on behalf of the South Downs Heathland Partnership, for a substantial grant to support a Wooded Heaths Project. This project will aim to achieve ‘bigger, better, more and joined up heathland’ within the South Downs National Park.

The National Park Authority have recently launched a survey to provide support and to help inform this project bid.

The survey is aimed mainly at people who live near or visit the heathland areas of the National Park, and aims to gather information on which heathland sites people visit and why, and what they would like to see included in a new partnership project.

The survey will also will help the National Park Authority in planning two heathland drop-in days to be held in Liphook and Petworth during May and June respectively (further details of which will be posted on this Forum soon).

I am forwarding this survey on behalf of the National Park Authority, and would be grateful if you could use the survey to let the National Park Authority know how you currently use ‘our heaths’ and what you think is important for their future management. The survey should only take a few minutes to complete and will remain open until midday on Monday 13 May.


Susanne Frost
Countryside Ranger
Culture, Communities and Business Services
Tel: 02392 476411  

Friday 3 May 2013

Compare and contrast 2013

Hampshire County Council, Alton Rural 2005, Turnout: 74.43%

Candidate NamePartyVotesPercentageShare of Votes
Kemp-Gee, MarkConservative Party 506452.17%|
Harmer-Jones, LindaLiberal Democrats367137.82%|
Treacher, JaniceLabour Party97210.01%|


Hampshire County Council, Alton Rural 2009, Turnout: 43.37%
Candidate NamePartyVotesPercentageShare of Votes
Kemp-Gee, MarkConservative Party 403170.04%|
Powers, JackyLiberal Democrats146425.44%|
Treacher, JanLabour Party2604.52%|

Turnout this time: 35.37%

This looks like the real story of this election, declining voter interest. Well, that and the reduction of the LibDems to mere token status.

How predictable was that

The Hampshire County Council, Alton Rural votes are in and it turns out my insightful prediction was spot on:

Candidate NamePartyVotesPercentageShare of Votes
Kemp-Gee, MarkConservative Party 276256.04%|
Andrews, RigbyUKIP118824.10%|
Comber, MaureenLiberal Democrats55011.16%|
Treacher, JanLabour Party4298.70%|

Who'd have thought it?