The Parish Council meets at 8.00pm on the third Wednesday of the month in one of the parish halls: Chiddingstone, Chiddingstone Causeway and Bough Beech. Planning Committee meetings are also held during the month, and a list of our meeting dates for the year can be found on our parish notice boards and on the website www. chiddingstone.org. All meetings are open to the public, and there is an opportunity for members of the public to ask questions to the Parish, District or County Councillors.

There are nine members of the Parish Council, and the term of office is four years. Parish and District Council elections will be held on Thursday 3^rd May. The list of persons nominated in the Parish elections has been received and there are eight nominations for nine places, so the Parish election will not be contested. The ninth member will be co-opted after 3^rd May, so if you are interested please let the Clerk know.

Planning: Sevenoaks District Council is the Planning Authority, and Town and Parish Councils act as consultees in the planning process. The Parish Council has 21 days to comment on applications but ultimately applications will only be granted if they satisfy the policies of the Sevenoaks Local Plan, shortly to become the Local Development Framework.

We have been advised that all children at schools in Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells (including private schools) will be entitled to free bus travel for an annual administrative charge of £50. The bus pass will be valid for all journeys, during both term-time and school holidays, to any destination in Kent. It will be a two–year pilot scheme, and it is hoped that it will come into force from May 2007.

The Youth Zone will visit Chiddingstone Sports Field on Wednesday 8^th August, and is a free, fun-packed day for children and young people aged 8 and over. There will be a wide range of equipment and resources. Watch out for more information and put the date in your diary!

Highways: Kent County Council provide Town and Parish Councils with a spreadsheet, which is updated monthly, on which all the highway faults and requests are lodged. If you are aware of any faults, please let the Clerk know so that it can be added to the spreadsheet. There are many reports of pot-holes on the list, which seem to be springing up on many of our roads, and the road signs and fingerposts are all in need of repair or a good scrub! KCC has finally erected the new fingerpost at the Bough Beech end of Mill Lane - the original fingerpost was demolished in a car accident.

Affordable Housing: As you know, house prices in Chiddingstone are staggering, which has made it impossible for local people, those born and brought up in the parish, to purchase their own homes. Private rental rates are also high and this has meant that, unfortunately, local people have to move away to the cheaper areas of Tonbridge and Edenbridge. Chiddingstone Parish Council has been working in conjunction with West Kent Housing to secure the site to the east of the village pond in Chiddingstone Causeway for ten units of Affordable Housing. Planning permission was granted by Sevenoaks District Council in August 2006, and it is hoped that the building work will commence towards the end of May 2007. The contract is for forty-two weeks and, eight weeks before completion, a notice will be sent to all applicants on the housing list asking them to re-confirm their interest. Preference will firstly be given to applicants who live in the parish, and then to applicants who have family living in the parish. If you would like to be considered for one of the units, please make sure that your name is on the housing list at Sevenoaks District Council, by phoning 01732-227001.

In addition, a planning application has now been submitted for four units of Affordable Housing in Charcott Green. If successful, these units will be shared with Leigh parish. The provision of this Affordable Housing is a fantastic opportunity for the residents of the Chiddingstones, both young and old, who feel under threat of the ever spiralling cost of housing in our area, to secure accommodation within the area in which they belong, at a level of cost that is more realistic to a rural community.