Here to protect the rural character and environment of the Village and to promote Kewstoke as a pleasant place to live.

Queen Elizabeth II Book of Condolence

Posted 8th Sept 22

A book of condolence following the death of Queen Elizabeth II is now open at St Paul’s Church, Kewstoke and will be available for you to leave messages for the next 10 days.  Floral tributes can be left there.
However, the church will be closed to the public on Sat 10th between 12 and 3pm for a wedding.
The church will then be open for prayer and the lighting of candles. The Rev. Gail Thomas will advise of activities and availability.

An official online Book of Condolence has been opened by Buckingham Palace for people to leave tributes to Queen Elizabeth II online:
https://www.royal.uk/send-message-condolence
 

New Trees for Village Green

Posted 12th Mar 22

The Parish Council successfully applied for a donation of some trees made available from the Treescape fund via NSC.

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To read more about the recent tree planting by children from the local Primary School, click HERE.

Land Off Anson Road, Kewstoke - Planning Application 21/P/3529/OUT

Posted 12th Feb 22

Kewstoke Parish Council response to planning application 21/P/3529/OUT :- Following a well attended Planning Meeting by members of the Public, the Parish Council would like to register its objection for a number of reasons:-

1. The proposed location is outside of the current Village Settlement Boundary as outlined by the “Village Fence” which outlines the areas within the Village where residential development is permitted,

2. NSDC’s new Local Plan clearly sets out the Council’s aspirations for long term sustainable growth in appropriate locations, and that for the Parish of Kewstoke this is limited to infill development. Local residents are not opposed to all growth, however, this should be done in a planed way, rather than speculatively, to provide certainty and ensure that growth is well planned.

3. The Parish Councils own adopted Development Planning Policy KPC0012 derived from local residents input over a number of years, includes stated requirements in respect of residential developments to achieve residents wishes, in particular:- a. No building should be permitted outside the current settlement boundary as outlined by the “Village Fence” b. Development must not prejudice highway access to the Village c. Land and Buildings safeguarded for existing or planned community facilities must be protected. It is felt that the proposed development does not meet these requirements

4. The proposed development would generate unacceptable additional levels of traffic placing extra pressure on narrow country lanes providing essential access to the Village of Kewstoke.

5. The proposed development would exasperate the already existing flooding and drainage issues apparent on the part of Lower Norton Lane below and adjacent to the proposed site.

6. The proposed access to & from the site is in close proximity to the proposed Pier to Pier cycleway which follows a route along Lyefield Road and will attract a large number of cyclists, forming a dangerous mix of cyclists and additional motor vehicles. Lower Norton Lane is also used as recreational route used frequently by horse riders.

7. It is felt that light pollution derived from the proposed development would have a detrimental effect on the local bat population.

8. Encouraging potential residents of the proposed site to utilise any newly created wildlife havens would have a detrimental effect on the wildlife attracted to them.

Village Appraisal and Action Plan

Posted 22/07/21

Back in 2002 Kewstoke Parish Council backed a Parish Appraisal and produced an action plan. It started with an open meeting at the Village Hall on 2nd February 2002. It was called 020202.
This event with interactive display boards was well received by the community and from the event the Parish Plan Survey group was formed.
A questionnaire was created, delivered  & collected by hand to every house in the Parish.
The results of this work was the publication of the Village Appraisal and Action plan that you can now see here.

The Parish Council has used this plan to judge its response to issues such as planning and services in the community. Not everything that was deemed important by residents worked in practice. As you will see there were calls for a bus service to Worle. When an opportunity arose to get a provider to make this happen, it had to be abandoned as it was so little used, it wasn’t viable.
Some of the aspirations have been met and as you look through the questions and responses now, some are outdated but many of these topics are still raised and are important today. There will also be new topics that need to be addressed.

The 2nd of February 2022 or 020222 will be here soon and The Parish Council would like to set up a steering group made up from members of the community to create a new Village Appraisal and Action plan.  This will bring up to date the aspirations and wishes of our community going forward. It will be an aid to planning responses and the many issues that we are dealing with now and in the future.

We now have a much better tool chest in the way of Survey software and the internet which will make this a much easier task to do, but it is still a big project to undertake. If you are interested in becoming part of this steering group, we would very much like to hear from you. Whilst the last Appraisal was a lot of work, I remember that there were communal suppers with not insignificant quantities of red wine consumed, so is a lot of fun to do as well.

If you are interested in getting involved please email Mike the Parish Clerk parishclerkkewstoke@gmail.com or speak to one of your parish councillors and we will get the ball rolling again for 020222

Jim MacDonald- Kewstoke Parish Council Chairman.

Community Response Officers

Posted 10/06/21

The Parish Council in partnership with NSC are to shortly instigate Community Response officer patrols of the Beach and Dunes at Sand Bay on a daily basis utilising the powers granted under a Public Spaces Protection Order, in an effort to combat anti-social behaviour, littering , criminal damage etc. which have been experienced recently in the area.

Community Response Officers have the authority to issue on the spot fines for breaches of the PSPO although the emphasis will be on educating those responsible of the effects of their actions,    

It is hoped that they will be backed up shortly by Community litter wardens.