· Despite the weather it’s been an interesting month for birds – Woodlark seem to be pairing up and hopefully breeding at Broadwater for the first time in 9 years. They have also been seen at our Tudeley Woods reserve, on newly created heath. The migrant Blackcap returned in March and their lovely song can now be heard. Treecreeper are nesting in an oak next to the Decoy Pond. Tree Pipit and Garden Warbler has recently been spotted at Broadwater, and Ravens have been seen and heard ‘Gronking’ on numerous occasions. Check out our website where you can see and hear all these brilliant birds… http://www.rspb.org.uk/birds

· Lots of people have already attended April’s Dawn Chorus walks and Early Morning bird walks.

· 5 Exmoor Ponies arrived at Broadwater Warren on 4th April and have spent the last month munching their way around the nature reserve. 20 brilliant volunteers stepped up to help with the regular checks and pony welfare. Thank you so much.

· Our Broadwater Doggy Code has been very well received and we are extremely grateful to all the dog walkers who are taking extra care around the reserve to not disturb the wildlife or other visitors. We hope the less responsible dog walkers will appreciate this and adapt their behaviour accordingly. We’ll continue to monitor the situation and speak with people that we meet.

· We are holding a butterfly weekend at our Tudeley Woods Nature Reserve on 12th and 13th May. Drop in any time during the day (10am to 5pm), pick up a butterfly guide, and go for a self-guided walk through the woods and across the meadow. There will be staff and volunteers on hand to show you butterflies, moths and their habitats. It’s possible you will see one of our rarest butterflies, the Pearl-bordered Fritillary.

· Other butterflies to look out for in May include Orange-tip, Peacock and Brimstone.

Here’s to some sunshine and warmth to really bring the wildlife out!

 featuring songs from Jacqui’s highly acclaimed new album ‘It Happens Quietly’

Frant Church, High Street Frant, Nr Tunbridge Wells TN3 9DX

FRIDAY 21^st SEPTEMBER 2012 @ 8pm  (doors open 7.30pm, licensed bar area)

Tickets £20 from Frant Stores, or tel. Paul Barber 01892 750665, David Cragg 01892 750845

In aid of the conservation of Frant Church, a beautiful grade 11 listed building in the heart of Frant village, Re. Charity 243134

Joseph Middleton, piano - ‘The cream of the new generation’ (The Times)

Songs by Schubert, Schumann, Rachmaninov, Mahler

Frant Church, High Street, Frant, Nr Tunbridge Wells TN3 9DX

FRIDAY 17^th August 2012 @ 8pm  (doors open 7.30pm, licensed bar area)

Tickets £12 from Frant Stores or tel. Paul Barber 01892 750665, David Cragg 01892 750845

In aid of the conservation of Frant Church, a beautiful grade 11 listed building in the heart of Frant Village Reg. Charity 243134

• if your car has been stolen
• if your property has been damaged
• if you suspect drug use or dealing in your local area
• to report a minor traffic accident
• to give the police information about crime in your area
• to speak to the police about a general enquiry

If you have a non-emergency problem to report but can’t call 101, you can contact your local police force on their alternative non-emergency number.
When you should use 999 instead
In an emergency always call 999.
You should call 999 if:

• a crime is in progress
• someone suspected of a crime is nearby
• there is danger to life
• violence is being used or threatened

If you call 101 but are reporting an emergency, you will be directed to the 999 service.
Cost: what you will be charged if you call 101
Calls to 101 (from both landlines and mobiles) cost 15 pence per call no matter what time of day you call, or how long you are on the phone.
Who will answer your 101 call?
Calls to 101 are answered by police call handlers in the control room of your local police force.
When you call 101, the system will automatically connect you to your local police force. You will hear a recorded message telling you which force you are being connected to. If you are on the boundary between two or more forces, you will have a choice of which force you are connected to.
Calling 101 if you have speech or hearing impairments
If you are in a 101 area and have a speech or hearing impairment, you can textphone 18001 101.
What happens if English isn’t your first language
If you have difficulty speaking English, your local police force can get an interpreter to translate your call.
How to report general nuisance or environmental issues
You should still call your local council about issues like:

• reporting graffiti
• dog fouling
• abandoned vehicles
• dumping and fly tipping
• vandalism

There will be a hog roast supper and entertainment provided by the Eridge Choir and others. Please make a date to come with your family and friends. More details to follow nearer the time.

We hope that as many people who either live in the village or have some sort of connection with village life will be able to attend.

Just – SAVE THE DATE!

On the subject of Highways, the works at Bells Yew Green are now nearly finished. New wooden posts are in place and the yellow lines have been extended past the station entrance.
Generally speaking feedback from the BYG residents has been positive and certainly the Village shop has noticed an increase in customers.

The roads around the Parish will always give the Parish Council workto do. Some quite scary incidents outside Frant School mean something must be done to slow the traffic down by the School entrance and we are engaging with Highways to get something sorted out. As is increasingly the case these days this has cost implications that fall to the Parish Council, however, sometimes the money just has to be found and spent–as in this particular case.

Frant Parish Council is not a wealthy Council and increasingly we are being asked to fund things that previously would have been paid by either Wealden or East Sussex. We are, I think, quite a prudent Council and have some highly qualified professionals as Parish Councillors to ensure that our ‘books balance’! As aresult we will not be asking for any increase in our annual budget this year from the Precept.

Think Local
The ‘Localism Bill’ should by now have received Royal Assent, ie. its become law!!I dont think many of us quite understand the full implications of this particular piece of legislation however it does have a couple of quite interesting sections.

One is that the local community can set up a ‘Register of Interests’ which in effect means if anything on the Register is put on the market, the local Community can put a ‘stay’ on the sale for 6 months to allow them time to put in their own offer if they wish. Local Pubs, Shops and some Land all look good contenders for this Register which the Parish Council will be setting up this year.The other one is the ability to ‘buy’ in services from other providers. We could, for example, choose to pay Kent to grit our Parish roads rather than East Sussex. How this is actually realised is yet to be determined but it has some interesting possibilities!

Bunting at the ready
This year is, of course, the Jubilee year (1st-4th June) and it is really exciting that all our villages are planning a celebration of some sort or the other. The Parish Council will be helping with some funding and also helping out with any road closures etc. that may have to be done. On the theme of royalty it was good to see Councillor Bob Tidy’s contribution to us and East Sussex over many years, being recognised with an MBE in the New Year’s honours list.

Once a year
Apart from the snow, this time of year is also the one where the Parish Council hold its Annual Meeting. This is an opportunity for you all to meet your Councillors, discuss any issues, give us some feedback, or just find out what is going on in the Parish – and there is lots going on! You also get free nibbles and a drink! This year’s will be held on the 14th March in Frant Memorial Hallstarting at 7.30. We look forward to seeing you there.

·    Our summer events season starts in April with Dawn Chorus walks at Tudeley on the 14th and at Broadwater on the 22nd.  In addition everyone is invited to our Tudeley Woods reserve on Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th for a weekend of woodland flowers.

·    There are lots of birds on the reserves now.  Chiffchaffs returned in March, as did Blackcaps.  You can find details of both and hear their different songs via our website www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/index.aspx .  Tree creeper, Nuthatch and Jay have all been regularly seen or heard, and Blue Tits and Great Tits have certainly been very busy.

·    A Woodlark was spotted at Tudeley Woods on 21^st March on patches where heathland has been created.  It has since been seen displaying and heard singing.  This is the first Woodlark recorded at Tudeley since a brief sighting in summer 2009.

·    Our ponds are alive with frogs.  At the Decoy Pond at Broadwater, the western end has big patches of frog spawn.  Over the next two years we’ll be gently restoring and enhancing this pond.

·    There is now plenty of butterfly and moth activity at the reserves.  Butterflies you might see include Comma, Brimstone, Orange-tip, Holly Blue, Small White, Speckled Wood, Red Admiral and Peacock.  There have been Orange Underwing moths flying around the car park at Broadwater and a Ruby Tiger moth has pupated on the post of the kissing gate.

·    5 Exmoor Ponies arrive at Broadwater Warren on 4^th April.  They will spend the summer with us, grazing in the newly cleared areas and in the small wet woodland and grassland paddock.  Thank you to everyone who has stepped up to help with the regular checks.

·    The Broadwater Warren Doggy Code leaflets are now available at all entrances to the reserve.  These remind everyone what is expected.  Crucially, dogs must be kept on the paths and under control (not necessarily on leads).  We hope this will be useful and will also resolve the problems being caused by irresponsible dog walkers.  We’ve also set up an informative web page: www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/b/broadwaterwarren/dogs.aspx

·    More trail improvements will take place in April and May.  At Broadwater we’re extending the nature trail to include the zig-zag boardwalk and improving several other tracks.  At Tudeley we’re renewing trail markers and refreshing our three different trails.

Please check out our reserve webpages for details of events and to see recent photos:

www.rspb.org.uk/broadwaterwarren

www.rspb.org.uk/tudeleywoods

                         WEALDLINK COMMUNITY TRANSPORT

North Wealden Community Transport Partnership operates Wealdlink Community Transport Shopping Services and runs two 15 seat wheelchair accessible mini buses. Wealdlink is delighted that Frant Parish Council has now become a North Wealden Transport Partnership member and we look forward to running services from February 2012.

North Wealden Community Transport Partnership would like to hear from those people within the Frant parish who find accessing public transport difficult and are interested in using the new Wealdlink services suggested below.

Service 1

The Wealdlink community bus will be offering a service to Bells Yew Green, Eridge and Frant into Tunbridge Wells on a Tuesday. The bus would pick registered users up from their houses between 10.45am and 11.15am. The bus would return from Tunbridge Wells at 1.30pm and return services users to their door.

Service 2

The Wealdlink community bus can also offer a service to Crowborough for registered users on the 2^nd Monday of each month. This service would pick registered users up between 10.45am and 11.15am. The bus would return from Crowborough at 1.30pm.

Fare

The charge for using each service is £4.00 return and this service is not able to accept concessionary bus passes.

What next?

If you would like to find out more and register with our service please follow the steps below.

Step 1 – Ring our office on 01892 771 332 – our registrations and bookings hours are Monday to Friday (9.30am- 12.30pm) If for some reason you cannot speak to anyone please leave a message on our answer machine and we will call you back to confirm we have received your message and we will then  discuss your transport needs with you.

 Step 2 – Register your name, address and phone number with our bookings staff and let them know which day you would like to travel ( if you become a regular user you will not be required to ring and book a seat each week)

                                   Between 9.30am and 12.30pm

                    Ring  01892 771 332  To Register

                             www.4weald.co.uk