The blog includes:

• informative reviews of many restaurants and eateries in and around Tunbridge Wells
  
• reviews of local-interest books, and more
• good links to other local websites
• an astonishing archive of posts
• and even a shop full of Royal Tunbridge Wells t-shirts and the like

This is certainly a blog that I’ll visit whenever venturing to our south-west corner of Kent.  A great example of a local blog that other towns would do well to learn from.

Meantime, the 10-point package of support, as detailed on the KCC Business web pages:

1. Support Kent firms by speeding up the payment of invoices to them to improve their cashflow. Invoices are currently paid within 30 days. KCC is committing to reduce this to 20 from January 1.
2. Drive forward and deliver KCC’s ambitious capital programme. The programme of £400m for 08/09 and £450m for 09/10 will provide empoyment opportunities for local firms in areas such as school improvement, waste facilities, new road programmes, libraries, social care facilities. In addition to the Building Schools for the Future contracts (£600m contract signed in October with Land Securities and a further £850m contract available September 2010)
   and the £200m programme to deliver seven new academies.
3. Establish Property Enterprise Fund 2. To ensure delivery of KCC’s ambitious capital programme is delivered. Up to £85m of vacant possession unsold property assets to be placed in a fund; developed into “oven-ready” schemes with professional planners/teams of architects and released as joint venture developments with private sector house builders, packaged appropriately to attract Kent firms.
4. Expand KCC’s approved list of contractors to businesses of all sizes. Applications will be accepted for a new Select List of Approved Contractors which will increase the number of local firms carrying out work on KCC sites.
5. Kent Business Support Centre. By the end of January develop a centre, free to all Kent businesses, with access to information and advisers to give advice and support on procurement with KCC, grants and business support and latest news and events for businesses. Accessible through KCC’s website and also provided through workshops and events for businesses.
6. Raise awareness of tendering opportunities. Forensic analysis to be carried out of the major contracts across the public sector, in Kent and outside the county, and information made available through the Kent Business Support Centre e.g. opportunities to bid for Olympic 2012 contracts; Building Schools for the Future and academies programmes in and outside of Kent; highways maintenance programmes and other Public Sector contracts such as health and housing association contracts.
7. Encourage and facilitate consortia of Kent businesses. In order to compete for larger public sector contracts outside of Kent. For example Kent legal firms working together as a consortia so that they could bid for access to the government approved list for PFI/BSF/Academy work and Kent Architecture Practices coming together – as per the BSF consortium in Kent with Land Securities – to bid for BSF contracts outside of Kent.
8. Direct support for businesses to access Government/European/Regional grants. Support in making sense of and signposting businesses to grant aid available through regional, national and European channels. And raising awareness of schemes such as the Small Business Rate Relief scheme, which currently 60% of those eligible don’t claim.
9. Back Kent Business in Whitehall. Lobby national government to reduce the burden on Kent business by lobbying for the removal of unnecessary regulation and bureaucracy, including: reducing charges on empty business properties; a freeze on commercial rates which is to increase next year up by 5%; the continuation of the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme; speeding up the planning process and introducing flexibility on section 106 conditions; a review of housing density figures; reintroduction of the business expansion schemes (BES) and reducing the amount of contracts that have to be advertised under OJEU rules.
   

   KCC will lead by example with a full independent review of Kent County Council’s ecology policy function and process; and will work in partnership with the 12 district councils on a review of new planning requirements.

10. Review the way Kent is “marketed” and promote Kent’s Unique Selling Points, Kent Tourism (link opens in a new window) and Locate in Kent (link opens in a new window). Following examples such as Kent’s film office which generated £5m in 2007.

Supported by the Kent Messenger group and Kent County Council, businesses of all sizes from the county are encouraged to enter one of the 16 categories and/or the individual awards.

Entries must be submitted by March 2009 and winners will be announced at a black tie dinner in Leeds Castle on 2nd July.

Full details will become available at the website – register your interest now and get the updates as they’re available.

See you at the dinner, hopefully.  And good luck to those of you entering.

So getting a flyer home from school for Robot Wars coming to the Leisure Centre in Maidstone, Kent – and the final, no less – was well received, and he didn’t have to beg too much!

Saturday November 22nd – two shows – 2pm and 5pm – and you can book tickets online.

So tickets booked and hopefully it will be as much fun as the show used to be.

My girl and I will find something else to do – I’ve suggested a parachute jump, but that was scoffed at – she’s still laughing…

It’s obvious that UK poverty is a different thing altogether from poverty in the third world – but regardless of this, it is indeed unacceptable and not necessary.

Just this month, Sinead Hanna’s article appears at KM Online – “One in four Kent children lives in poverty” and provides a list that shows 48% of children in Thanet are in low income families, across to the other side of the county with 24% of children in Sevenoaks.

The Campaign to End Child Poverty website states:

3.9 million children – one in three – are currently living in poverty in the UK, one of the highest rates in the industrialised world. This is a shocking figure given the wealth of our nation.

But I have to admit that stating that almost 1 in 4 children in Sevenoaks are living in or close to poverty has me wondering just how that is measured, I’m afraid.  I certainly do not intend to dispute that there is real poverty around and close to us, but it concerns me that if the figures are not reflecting the real life situation, then are the people that need help the most going to get it first?

So more research to do on this, I think – it’s important and that’s my pledge for Blog Action Day as editor of Kent View – to understand just what poverty in Kent means…

I was asked by the editor of your Kent Blog to review this plan by Kent Police. I think that the idea is provisionally a rather good one, but the idea that the trucks will be parked in lane one of a dual carriageway with lane two running normally at fifty miles per hour is, quite frankly, rather foolish.

It is my opinion that the speed limit should be variable so that when Operation Stack is in place the speed limit can be dropped to 30 mph or even 20 mph.

The purpose of Operation Stack is to stockpile the trucks heading for the continent, these drivers will take the opportunity to have their statutory rest periods required by law.

Imagine then that these drivers awaken from their slumber and climb out of the passenger door of their truck (these may be left hand drive trucks) straight into the road where drivers are travelling at high speeds. I hope the Police will have a bit of a rethink here.

My thanks to Nigel of Fleet Risk Consultants.  You may find his blog on Your Road Risk interesting too – it’s very active and plenty of useful information there – and he’s happy to answer questions too!

My friend, Sarah, across the bridge in Essex, for some reason thought I’d like to know that Richard Madeley is visiting Bluewater – apparently women of a certain age find him appealing – cheeky young whippersnapper!

Actually I popped to the Bluewater website to see what was actually going on and came across news of a few celebs a-visiting:

Julie Walter's new book

On Saturday, 4th October we have the wonderful Julie Walters at Waterstones between 12.30 and 1.30, signing her new book – That’s Another Story – her autobiography.  I must admit that it would be a treat to meet one of our most loved and endearing actresses in the flesh.

And then at 2.00pm you can hotfoot it over to M&S where Twiggy will be visiting – and she has a new book too – her’s is all about being fabulous over forty – hmmm – tempting!

Then on Friday 17th October at 5.30pm we have Sir Roger Moore at Waterstones signing his new autobiography.

Martina Cole visits on Thursday 30th at 5.30pm for her new book, The Business.

And those fans of Richard Madeley will be pleased to see him on Saturday 1st November at 12 noon for his new book “Fathers and Sons”.

I’m sure that Bluewater is not the only hotspot for celebrity visitors – time to go see what else is about around the county…

So – the September 2008 issue includes an impressive array of cover stories with articles ranging across the county – Sevenoaks to Reculver and all over the place in between.  And these are good articles – I actually read them.  Plenty of interesting and varied information; I defy anyone to not learn something in this issue.

Now I don’t “do” magazines.  I subscribe to Gardeners’ World, occasionally treat myself to Good Housekeeping, but that’s it, apart from forcing myself to try and keep on top of the weekly New Scientist (that’s pretty interesting too), I just don’t really have time.  But while I’m not quite ready to subscribe, I will get the October issue – which is already out, it seems, and we’re offered:

• AUTUMN HARVEST
  Why Kent is the Garden of England
• NAVAL TRADITIONS
  The origins of Trafalgar Day, Nelson’s legacy
• FROM SOURCE TO SEA
  Tracking the River Darent
• CHAPEL DOWN AND ME
  Frazer Thompson on English wines
• SPOTLIGHT ON
  Canterbury, West Malling & Kings Hill, Tenterden

Someone’s done wonders with this magazine – thank you. We even have a regularly updated blog from not only the editor, Sarah Sturt, but also the assistant editor – and he’s blogging through his holiday, it seems.  Goodness!

I can see that this will be a monthly must-read for me – the final test will be to see what my 8-year-old thinks of it – he’s keen on local geography (would love to find a dinosaur himself and bring the fossil focus back to Maidstone), so will see how appealing this is for the kids.  The school will surely enjoy having the back issues for classes too.

Have I sold it to myself yet?

This is a great find; we’ve been made aware of the potential effect on our environment from the reported declining numbers of bees, so I’m more than happy to spread the word.  Perhaps we can get a report on how this year has actually turned out to be for our bees in Kent.

There’s some useful information for us there, for instance, a list of who to call if you come across a swarm of bees, details of bee-keeping courses, local newsletters, and all kinds of invaluable bee-keeping information.  Wonderful stuff!

This is great fun, coming across such gems – I’ll seek out something new at least twice a month.  Suggestions welcome, and guest bloggers.

Don’t forget the fish change with the season, what you might get lots of in the summer, you may get very few of in the winter. It’s always worth asking in the local tackle shops what people are catching and what people are using.

Dungeness is good for Sole, along with Dover – everyone has heard of Dover Sole, right? Whiting, Dabs, and Pout can be regularly caught, Cod into double figures (this must have been the bin liners I recall ). I hear the fishing  is phenomenal after a storm, have yet to do that myself.

Hythe Beach for Mackerel and Bass in my opinion, the rocks between Folkestone and Dover are good for bigger Bass, Scad and school Bass.

The ideal spot is one that has some current and deep water. Get a map of the coast / waters and look for rocky outcrops, piers, jetties and buoys with deep water nearby. Deep water wrecks are excellent for eels.

Whitstable is always good for small cod and dabs. If the fishing is bad, you can always get excellent shellfish from the local restaurants. Is Pearsons still there? Is Wheelers? I am long overdue a visit, if I don’t know if they are still there!

All the Kent waters seem to be good for fish and the wrecks and piers, eels. I can recall my disappointment from catching lots of eels off the coast of Herne Bay and Reculver, but my grandfathers being thrilled with my bucket of them. I also recall the old dock cat they had ‘miaowing ‘ her head off with the smell of the eels as they cooked. Reculver always produced the odd Ray or three as well as the odd Bass. Plenty of crabs for bait at Reculver and I think I must take my children crabbing next year, so they can grow up with the love of fishing like I did.