REPORT TO PARISH COUNCIL
FOR SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER 2006

I commenced my duties on 12th September 2006. I met with Cllr Bickerdike to arrange to take over the responsibilities of the Neighbourhood Watch in Eastling. Having completed the formalities with him I forwarded the necessary documentation to the NHW Office in Swale. Unfortunately they were on holiday and so the transfer was not processed until the end of October, so I missed the deadline for including a contribution in the "Good News." I am now receiving regular information from the Swale NHW.

I had a meeting with the Faversham Rural Police Team to discuss how they envisaged the development of my role. I felt that the meeting was very fruitful and look forward to liaising with our local police in future. During the discussions it was suggested that I should wear a fluorescent jacket marked "Village Warden" so that the community, especially the children, would know who I am if I had need to speak with them. This I have purchased, together with a marked vest at a cost of £45.55. A dedicated mobile phone has also been purchased at a cost of £39.99 together with a pre-paid phone card for £10.00.

I have had a discussion with Gemma Narramore of Swale Housing to see if she would be prepared to update me on the situation at Bankside, but she said would prefer to wait until 9th November 2006.

Initially my appointment met with some resistance by local people but after a couple of weeks with a great deal of assistance from the Rural Team confidence in the role has been established and I now appear to receive total support from the community. It is probable that some residents will not understand my role and with this in mind I have undertaken to make myself available at the Senior Citizens lunch to explain more.

There have been a number of specific incidents which have required my attention:

· There was some damage caused at the Church which was reported to the Police. A crime number was obtained and passed to Cllr West.

· I received a call on the 1st November from a resident saying that he had been forced off the road by one of the lorries delivering to Southern Water in Kettle Hill Road. As one of the lorries had been involved in an accident on the way to Eastling that day, I called the next morning to speak to the site foreman and requested that the drivers be told that they should slow down entering Eastling and especially going past the School. He was very co-operative and said that he would definitely advise the drivers. I passed this information to the Rural Team who also had a word and were monitoring the speeds of the vehicles. I have been advised by residents that these vehicles are now travelling at a safer speed.

· On 3rd November I was advised that some people needed my assistance in Tong Lane as one of the containers there had been broken into and a considerable amount of equipment stolen. Here I was able to offer my services and provide the necessary information to enable them to report the matter to the proper authority.

A more detailed indication of how I have spent my time follows:

· 10th October 2006 - I spent an hour at The Carpenter's Arms following a previous incident. Four police officers attended.

· 13th October 2006 - I spent an hour with Jessie Stevens and her son discussing the latest incident and have told them that if there are any further problems she should call me immediately for both witness and moral support.

· 14th October 2006 - I had a meeting with some people in Eastling and advised the authorities of their problems.

· 19th October 2006 - Evening patrol - The Street, Newnham Lane, Meeson's Close, Glebe Cottages, Church Path, Church and general area, School and Village Hall.

· 23rd October 2006 - Evening patrol as above with emphasis on Meeson's Close, as there had been a disturbance on the previous Saturday.

· 26th October 2006 - Evening patrol of the village covering all the above.

· 30th October 2006 - Late afternoon/evening patrol as above including Kettle Hill with extra emphasis on the Church because of the break-in.

· 31st October 2006 - Village patrol to ensure that the spirit of "Trick or Treat" was not being abused. There were no problems although I did have cause to speak to one lad about 14 years old who was touring the area. I made sure that he left.

Total time spent - 7 hours.

REPORT TO PARISH COUNCIL
FOR NOVEMBER - DECEMBER 2006

The local Neighbour Watch Scheme is now operating effectively. I have met the other representatives within the village and I will be contacting them again in the New Year in an attempt to make the operation more efficient.

I attended the Parish Council Meeting on 9th November and presented my report to the Council. I, also, met with members of other organisations relating to ongoing problems within the Parish Area.

My appointment as Parish Warden has now been totally accepted, apart from certain members of the community, and I am receiving the utmost cooperation from everybody. The "antis" let their feelings be known to me one evening, when I was patrolling the village, in precise and pithy Anglo Saxon terms which are unrepeatable. I did report the incident to the Rural Team, but as there was no harm done it was taken no further.

There were a couple of more incidents at the Pheasantry in November which Jesse Stevens reported and the police were informed and called to see Jesse very quickly to sort the problem out.

I was invited to the Senior Citizens dinner on the 5th December and was able to explain the role of the Parish Warden and the support of the Parish Council. I understand from the feedback that it went very well. The comments of many of the people who came to speak to me afterwards were particularly gratifying.

I was able to report a person fly tipping just outside the parish boundary. All the details were passed onto Swale Council. These details included the registration numbers of the vehicles.

December was quite a busy month on the confidential side.

On the 20th December I received a telephone call from the Rev. A. Cheeseman. Her car had been broken into outside the Eastling Church.

I contacted and passed all the relevant information to the police and they have been dealing directly with the Rev. Cheeseman. Shortly afterwards I was patrolling the Eastling area and I noticed a car with 3 youths inside coming back through the village. I made a note of the car details and passed them onto the police as I believed them to be the perpetrators.

As the goods stolen from the car were more of a personal nature I did believe that the goods may have been discarded locally and toured the lanes the next morning to no avail. That evening I heard from one of the villagers that the bag of Xmas cards, which was stolen, was found at a small turning off Kettle Hill. During a subsequent search the following morning the rest of the items stolen were found and returned to Rev. Cheeseman.

On Boxing Day morning the 26th December a telephone call was received from Eastling Riding Centre relating to a stray dog that was being held there. Dr. Bailey kindly allowed one of her stables to be used to house the dog for a period of time.

I contacted Swale Police who said that a dog fitting the description was missing from Doddington and passed the details on and the lady concerned rang me and arranged a visit at lunchtime but unfortunately it was not her dog.

I decided to keep the dog at the stables overnight, walking and feeding it, until the Dog Warden was available. Unfortunately Swale Council was closed, so I decided to ring around a few kennels and they gave me various numbers of people who had lost dogs previously. This failed to produce any results. I contacted Paddock Kennels at Seed Road, Doddington and the lady there said she would take the dog on a temporary basis.

She was quite upset at the time as she had had her own Jack Russell dog stolen on Xmas afternoon. I delivered the dog to the kennels and at the same time offered her my support as Eastling Village Warden to assist in any way and have put up some posters on her behalf.

I subsequently had a telephone call in the afternoon from the kennel to say that the dog had been claimed by Frith Oast House and the owners extended their warm thanks.