Category: area of outstanding natural beauty

Stubbs Wood Viewpoint Clearance Project – Starting July 2021

Posted onLeave a comment

Stubbs Wood Viewpoint Clearance Project – Starting July 2021

The Sundridge with Ide Hill Parish Council has employed Japa Forestry and Fencing to undertake part of the viewpoint clearance work and coppicing identified in the Stubbs Wood Management Plan at no cost to the Parish Council.

There are two areas to be cleared at Stubbs Wood:

  • 0.28 ha of woodland shown as Coupe 1 and light green on the attached plan, located to the South of the main Stubbs Wood Car Park which will provide a clear viewpoint over to Bough Beech reservoir. The felled timber will be extracted through the main car park.
  • 8ha of woodland located to the East of Hanging Bank shown as Coupe 2 and light green on the attached plan, which will involve the coppicing and extraction of sweet chestnut trees. The extraction will be undertaken by horses to reduce the damage to pathways etc along the route shown as a red line up to the old/disused car park on Wheatsheaf Hill.

The Parish Council has tried to reduce the impact of extraction and these works on the residents in Hanging Bank and pathways through the woods by undertaking the extraction in the summer and by employing a company who extracts the timber by working horses.

The work is scheduled to start in the week commencing the 12th July 2021.

Stubbs Wood will remain open to walkers and riders throughout the work although extra caution should be taken when approaching the working areas.

Press Release, from the Sundridge with Ide Hill Parish Council, 12th July, 2021

 

Ide Hill Toilets: The Views of the Ide Hill Society

Posted onLeave a comment

Ide Hill Toilets: The Views of the Ide Hill Society

Dear Member or former Member

The Committee of the Ide Hill Society recently attended a Zoom meeting led by Don Baker with other Ide Hill Ward Parish Councillors Polly Furse and David Miller attending. They explained the background to the consultation/survey on the Ide Hill public toilets and sought the support of our membership for the keeping this facility fully open.

The projected annual cost of cleaning and maintenance is £7500, which amounts to roughly £5 per resident of the Parish Council. In the absence of any explanation we can only assume that Sundridge Ward councillors feel that it is not in their residents’ interest to maintain this commitment or that the money is better spent elsewhere.

It is the unanimous and strongly held view of your Committee that the toilets should remain fully open. Without this facility the cafe will be unable to re-open after lockdown unless [and even then until] alternative facilities can be provided. The shop and its amazing team of volunteers is at the heart of our community and widely admired. The cafe is an integral part and without it the shop is scarcely profitable and its long term viability therefore uncertain.

The toilets are also a heavily used facility for cyclists, walkers and other visitors, many from afar, who will not suddenly disappear if the café closes, as we have seen in lockdown. Closure of the facilities would therefore have unmentionable implications for decency and public health.

It is of course your decision on how, or whether, to respond to this consultation but our Committee will be voting for keeping the toilets fully open and adding a comment that this should be on a permanent basis.
We strongly encourage you to do so too.

Paul Meredith

Chair of the Ide Hill Society

 

Save Our Ide Hill Public Conveniences

Posted onLeave a comment

Ide Hill Public Conveniences consultation:

The Public Convenience With a View

 

Sundridge with Ide Hill Parish Council Consultation/Survey Ide Hill Public Toilets

Sundridge with Ide Hill Parish Council is seeking the public’s views on its public toilet strategy for Ide Hill Public toilets. As part of the preparation for the strategy, residents and visitors are asked whether the Ide Hill Public toilet facility should be retained or closed and/or redeveloped. The Public Convenience is adjacent to car park by the Ide Hill Community shop and village hall on Wheatsheaf Hill, B2042.

The toilets are used by many walkers and cyclists who visit this Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). It is literally The Public Convenience with one of the most popular views of the local countryside and Bough Beech Reservoir in the area.

This consultation is taking place on the Parish website at and closes on 31st August 2020. General information can be found here.

To take participate in the consultation regarding the public conveniences at Ide Hill please click on this link below: https://www.cognitoforms.com/IdeHillParishCouncil/SundridgeWithIdeHillParishCouncilConsultationSurveyIdeHillPublicToilets

 

Toys Hill Archive Exhibition: 16-17, November, 2019

Posted onLeave a comment

Toys Hill Archive Exhibition, 16-17, November, 2019 

The Toys Hill Village Hall will be exhibiting the Toys Hill Archive Exhibition on the weekend of the 16th and 17th November. The archive of documents and photographs highlight changes since the end of the 19th Century.

The Toys Hill Village Hall will be open from 11.00am to 4.00pm on both days. Free admission.

Consultation on cleaner domestic burning of solid fuels and wood

Posted onLeave a comment

Consultation on cleaner domestic burning of solid fuels and wood 

The Clean Air Strategy states that air pollution is the top environmental risk to human health in the UK. We often think of air pollution as being caused by transport or industrial level burning of fossil fuels. The Strategy is clear that we now need to tackle these other sources of air pollution, including emissions caused by heating our homes.
Get involved in the consultation by completing an online survey
NB Survey closes 12 Oct 2018

Stubbs Wood, Kent

Posted onLeave a comment

Stubbs Wood

Stubbs Wood is situated on top of the Greensand Ridge. It is 38.59 ha (95.36 acres) and owned by the local Parish.

There are excellent views over the Weald of Kent. The photo on the right is a view of Bough Beach Reservoir taken from Stubbs Wood.

Ide Hill Village is within a Conservation Area

Posted onLeave a comment

Conservation Area

Ide Hill Village is within a Conservation Area. A Conservation Area is an area of special architectural or historic interest, the character or appearance of which should be preserved or enhanced.

What is an areas of outstanding natural beauty (AONBs)?

Posted onLeave a comment

Areas of outstanding natural beauty (AONBs)*

An area of outstanding natural beauty (AONB) is land protected by the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (CROW Act). It protects the land to conserve and enhance its natural beauty. The CROW Act sets out the roles and responsibilities that different organisations must follow to manage AONBs. There are 34 AONBs in England.

Under the CROW Act, all decisions must have regard for the purpose of conserving and enhancing the natural beauty of the AONB. Only local authorities or the Secretary of State can give permission for development in, or affecting, an AONB.

Ide Hill is within an area of outstanding natural beauty (AONB).