Kent County Council confirmed last week that all of the children’s centres in Shepway are to remain open, following their consultation on the future of this service. This is excellent news for the three centres which had been threatened with closure; Folkestone Early Years, The Village in Folkestone and New Romney. I believe that this change of heart from the County Council came directly as a result of the strong response to the consultation from people right across the District.
When the threat of the closure of the children’s centres was first announced, I asked the Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, Cllr Jenny Whittle, to come with me to visit the centres affected. I am grateful to Jenny that she did this, and she was able to see how well supported they were and what they meant to the communities that used them. I would also like to thank again the centre managers for supporting these visits and for their work in encouraging families to respond to the consultation.
Children’s centres play a vital role in supporting families with young children at a vital stage in their development. The centres are well integrated into local nurseries and primary schools, as well as health services. It was essential for these centres to remain open, and the local network would not have been able to cope with the demand for places if one had closed.
Throughout the consultation, it was also clearly expressed that if savings needed to be made in the running costs for the centres, that it would be better to have reduced hours at certain locations, rather than to close a centre. Communities and voluntary groups are able to support children’s centres, but they need the provision to be there in the first place. It may also be possible for the centres to look at how they can generate income by allowing other organisations to use their facilities, and then investing this back into their work with children and families.
On Saturday evening last week, Sarah and I greatly enjoyed the performance of Handel’s ‘Messiah’, by the Folkestone Choral Society, at Holy Trinity Church. The Musical Director, Berkeley Hill once again led a wonderful concert, and we would like to congratulate everyone involved. Their next event will be for Good Friday, on 18th April 2014, with a concert focused on remembrance and the centenary of the First World War. You can find out more about the choral society at its website www.folkestonechoralsociety.org.
Over the last 18 months, Hythe Town Council has been consulting on its new ‘Neighbourhood Plan’, which will help shape future planning policy based on the views of local residents. A progress report on the plan will be presented to the council next week, on 12th December. This important project has been chaired by the Deputy Mayor, Cllr Rosemary Griffiths, and you can find out more about the plan and how you can get involved at the website www.hythe-neighbourhood-plan.co.uk.