BOROUGH GREEN
PARISH COUNCIL
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PRIVACY, DATA PROTECTION & RETENTION POLICY
Reviewed Aug 2024
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BOROUGH GREEN PARISH COUNCIL
"The need of quiet , the need of air, the need of exercise, and I believe the sight of sky and of all things growing, seem human need, common to all and not to be dispensed with without great loss.” Octavia Hill in 1888 Plus ca change, eh !
BGPC GREEN SPACES, ASSETS & MANAGED AREAS
RECREATION GROUND TENNIS COURTS KEYS at NISA (evening call Mike 882880) Public Rights of Way MAP
POTTERS MEDE TO BOOK EMAIL CLERK POTTERS MEDE SPORTS GROUND - Financial - SOME FACTS CARPARK FULL REPORT
Kent Wildlife Trust - Draft Report on Isles Quarry East, Crowhill and Harrison Rd Land future management
RECREATION GROUND MAIDSTONE RD
The first act of the newly incorporated Parish Council in 1934 was to buy Black Horse Meadow from a local builder for £450, and that became the Recreation Ground.
The Pavilion was built by volunteers in 1955 funded by Government War Memorial grants and the Women's Institute and merited an article calling us "the DIY Village" in the magazine of the National Playing fields Association. It is known formally as the "Memorial Pavilion" and has two plaques dedicated to the War casualties from the village.
The Woodland Walk to the East was donated by the Monckton family.
The land to the south is leased to the Borough Green Bowls Club PAVILION PLAN
POTTERS MEDE SPORTS GROUND
Situated on Borough Green Road Wrotham, opposite the Secondary School the Sports ground contains two football pitches. The larger is a full adult pitch, shared by Potters FC and a Ladies Football Club, and the smallest pitch hired exclusively by the Borough Green Junior Football Club.
The building has a small function room, and upstairs "lounge", and a shower block with separate changing rooms for four teams and officials.
Each of the three sections is completely self contained.
The building and water are air-source heated, with state of the art fresh air heat recovery ventilation systems, grey water recovery, and uses "warm roof" insulation. The power is augmented by solar Photo-voltaic and hot water roof panels.
CROWHILL
Crowhill is a patch of wild land known as "The Knob", once the site of the Royal Observer Corp station during WWII. It was purchased in 2021 by BGPC from Tonbridge & Malling Council for £1 as a new public amenity space.
VILLAGE HALL PUBLIC TOILETS
These were under threat of closure by TMBC, like many other conveniences across the Borough (and Country), but BGPC felt they were extremely important both for residents and for the visitors we wish to attract to our vibrant shopping centre, so it was decided to purchase them, again for a nominal £1.
The Public Toilets have undergone a radical facelift, not least of which was making the ladies entrance much safer by moving it to the front of the building. There had been an arson attack, and it was felt the time it had to be closed for repairs could be used to upgrade as well.
STALEY'S ACRE PLAY AREA
This was not under any threat, but TMBC need to cut costs, so they added it to the "transfer list" when we took over Crowhill and the Toilets
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HARRISON ROAD WOODLAND (below)
We were warned that this piece of land, a much loved local gem of green space, was being auctioned in 2020, because of severe threat from developers, BGPC decided to buy it, and paid £70,000 against fierce opposition . Cooper Estates very kindly donated their strip of boundary land along Harrison Rd, and volunteers have been clearing weeds and brambles, and planting wild flowers
By sheer fluke, we discovered when the Land Registry transfer was completed that we had also gained the small section of Basted House Drive. We have renovated the hard standing at each side of the road, and this has provided desperately needed parking space for the ever-expanding surgery.
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ISLES QUARRY EAST PUBLIC AMENITY LAND
This was a piece of land allocated in Planning Approval TM/94/155 and we have fought ever since to get it given to the Parish, and with our support of the Canham Housing at Millbourne Place that finally happened in 2020. Apart from maintaining the paths and installing a couple of benches, we want it to continue untouched as it has for 50 years. Because it consists of inert quarry waste (hassock) and has never been topsoiled or restored, it attracts some rare species of orchids and other plants that favour a poor soils.
The main access is via Allingham Close near the Surgery, with a public footpath across private land to the woodland edge.
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WAR MEMORIAL
Whilst we have the Memorial Pavilion in the Rec, and several memorial tablets in our Churches, we had no proper War Memorial for the community, and some names had slipped completely. Ray Chopping, our British Legion rep campaigned for many years, and in 2016 BGPC obtained a permit from KCC, and some extra funding from TMBC, and Nick Taylor built this unique memorial.
The bricks and ragstone remind us of the local building vernacular with ragstone and quoined corners, and of course the local Ragstone Quarries, all named on a small plaque. The 4 white bricks bear the names of the 4 parishes that gave land to make Borough Green a parish in its own right.
It was dedicated in 2016 by Tom Tugendhat MP.
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Chairman Mike Taylor met TMBC Leader Matt Boughton and they made the formal handover of the Title Deeds for Crowhill Open Space, the Village Hall Carpark Public Toilets and the Staley's Acre Play Area (24 Aug 2021)
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VILLAGE GATEWAYS
Top l-r A25 Sevenoaks Rd, A227 Wrotham Rd, A25 Maidstone Rd.
And the Hazelbourne AONB sign on Darkhill Rd. These Gateways have a practical purpose to define our village boundaries, they send a message that "We are here, and we matter", and that we are within the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
When Planning Inspectors come calling, this tells them we are a rural village too.
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FLAGS & FLAGPOLES
BGPC owns the flagpoles at the War Memorial, Baptist Chapel, and Village Hall
STREETLIGHTS
KCC own and maintain the main road lights on the A25 and A227, plus the High St, Quarry Hill Rd and Fox Lea. Developers maintain those on A-Z, Stone Court and Isles Quarry.
But every other streetlight in the village is owned and maintained by the Parish Council.
By a historic quirk, Conyerd and Staleys Rd have no lights because they were part of Ightham Parish when built, and they have a strict rural no streetlight policy, and it would be too expensive today to rip up the roads to install the power
SALT BINS & GRITTING
After many years when KCC failures to grit our roads, BGPC slowly installed 20 bins around the village, and hold stocks of road salt. We contributed to Wrotham PC's purchase of a towable gritter.
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We are currently investigating a clip-on gritter for the Parish Van. The bins are sited on Highways land
THE SKATEPARK
Was built and installed by volunteers including the skateboarders in 2005, and was funded by the Parishes of Borough Green, Wrotham and Platt, with a contribution from TMBC who also leased us the land.
It is managed by a tri parish committee.
It cost £45,000 and is comparable to municipal parks costing three times as much.
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HANGING BASKETS
The Parish owns 21 pairs of hanging baskets sited on KCC Lighting Columns around the village, and pay an annual "safety permit fee" to KCC for the privilege. We have a contractor who changes the plants twice a year and waters them during hot weather.
We also manage the two planters at the entrance to Western Rd carparks
CORONATION OAK
The first tree was planted here on 2 June 1897 to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee, but did not survive and a second oak was planted on 22 June 1911 to celebrate the coronation of King George V.
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This oak tree died in 2015, and in 2016 BGPC commissioned Nick Taylor to build a new ragstone planter, commemorating the Rock Tavern.
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The main Oak trunk was used to build a series of benches around the village
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A public consultation decided on a Red Maple as a replacement.
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