News
LEIGH SCHOOL SCOOPS HEART OF THE COMMUNITY AWARD
Congratulations to Leigh Primary School who won the education award and £1,500 towards their fundraising for a new classroom. There has been a huge amount of support from parents and the local community for this project, and thanks must go to all those involved in organising the fundraising, and all those who voted for the school to win this award. Well done!
QUEEN'S DIAMOND JUBILEE
The Parish Council is looking for volunteers to help plan and organise some events to commemorate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in June. If you can help, please contact the Clerk – after the success of the Royal Wedding festivities last year, it would be great to have another village celebration we can always remember!
RURAL BROADBAND
Sevenoaks District Council is putting together a bid with Tunbridge Wells Borough Council for a grant from the £20 million Defra fund to improve broadband in rural areas. If successful, this will improve broadband in the parishes of Leigh, Chiddingstone, Penshurst, Hever and Cowden, plus Speldhurst and Bidborough in the Tunbridge Wells borough. Broadband in these areas was found to be insufficient for residents and businesses and unlikely to get any significant private investment or BDUK funding. Sevenoaks District Council is putting together an expression of interest, as part of the bidding process, and a steering group has been formed. Leigh Parish Cllr Rob Swallow is a member of this steering group and is representing Leigh and our neighbouring parishes.
For this bid to succeed it is imperative that people 'Vote for Better Broadband' on the Kent County Council website (www.kent.gov.uk/broadband). It is very simple and takes less than a minute. Please take a moment to vote, it will benefit us all!
If you work from home, or you run a business in the area and are struggling with poor broadband speed, please contact the Clerk or Cllr Rob Swallow as we need to demonstrate that businesses would benefit from improved broadband.
For more information, please contact the Clerk.
LAND TO THE REAR OF GARDEN COTTAGES, LEIGH
At the Parish Council meeting held on 9th January, representatives from Barton Willmore Planning Consultants, Hillreed Homes Limited and Sevenoaks District Council were present to share with members details of two possible development schemes on land to the rear of Garden Cottages. One of the schemes is for 13 dwellings – a mix of 2, 3 and 4 bedroom houses – and four of these units would be affordable houses. The second scheme is for 6 larger dwellings as executive homes, one of which would be an affordable house. Drawings of these two schemes can be found on the noticeboards and below. Your comments on these proposals are welcome.
Scheme 1: 13 dwellings
Scheme 2: 6 dwellings