Chilhams Future Delivery Board

Welcome

Directors

Progress so far

Current Issues

Group Proposals

Welcome to Chilham's Future Delivery Board (CFDB) website. Please take the opportunity to see what we are doing and how we are progressing.

Minutes of our meetings can be found on the Directors page.

The Recent News column on the right hand side of our webpages is intended to keep you up to date with the progress of our project. However if you would like email notifications of these updates please let us know using the feedback form on our Contact Us page.

There is a feedback form on our Contact Us page and a Discussion Forum where we will also post Frequently Asked Questions.

CFDB was incorporated at the instigation of Chilham Parish Council (CPC) in 2007. CFDB is a Charity limited by guarantee and was seen as the most prudent vehicle for project delivery. CFDB's activities are bound by the Memorandum of Association and Articles of Association which can be accessed direct from these in-text links. The content of these documents is tightly prescribed by the Charities Acts, Companies legislation and guidelines such as those issued by the Charity Commissioners. (For more on 'limited liability' see company formation booklet GBF1 at Companies House Guidance Booklets).

CFDB were tasked to take forward improvements to the Square following the Feasibility Study undertaken by Rummey Associates for CPC. This process led directly to the community engagement exercise and the selection of a preferred proposal for Chilham Square.

The main of CFDB objectives are :

to deliver Chilham Village Square’s long-term regeneration and environmental improvement project
to improve the chances of success with funding applications

CFDB is now working towards obtaining the necessary funding for the project, as well as agreeing with CPC, ABC and KCC how to source possible providers/contractors to implement the scheme.

The key aim of the project is:

to deliver a quality, environmental improvement and refurbishment scheme (‘the scheme’) for Chilham village square (‘the square’)

As a result it is hoped the community will benefit from the ability :

to promote the sustainable physical, social and economic revitalisation of the whole parish by encouraging tourism: in particular, by unlocking the key i.e. the potential of the square as a unique and beautiful medieval open space
to improve the competitiveness of Chilham village in difficult economic circumstances; promote local businesses, employment and associated activities

This will be achieved by :

working with key stakeholders, other relevant statutory bodies and partners, using a professional expertise and project-management
researching, applying for and obtaining grant-funding to improve the competitiveness of Chilham village promote local businesses, employment and associated activities
overseeing and steering the project and reporting regularly to CPC

CFDB will aim for the highest possible standards:

as a matter of local pride
for pragmatic reasons as research shows that well designed public spaces are a powerful driver for regeneration

The project is to benefit all parishioners, not ‘just’ tourists and visitors.



	Technical Design Brief prepared and circulated to statutory stakeholders
	A technical design brief based upon option2 has been prepared and has been sent to statutory stakeholders as a final update from our community engagement exercise.
	The next steps are to:
	1) get advice from ABC and KCC re next steps
	2) investigate funding opportunities

	New members join the board
	Following the completion of the communtiy engagement exercise, Peter Higgs, David Hayes and Ben Glancy have been appointed directors of the board, joining Rob Berry, Helen Kirwan and Ernie Taylor.

	Geoff Dear stands down as Project Manager
	Following the conclusion of the engagement exercise, Geoff stood down as 'project manager' for CFDB. Officially the resignation will become effective at the June AGM.
	The board would like to thank Geoff for all his hard work and dedication in bringing this exercise to a conclusion.
	No doubt CFDB will still have need to call upon Geoff from time to time for assistance, such as the submission of the Technical Design Brief etc.

	Open Meeting in Church - Option2 gets majority community support
	Option2, the compromise solution based on providing 28 parking bays will now be taken forward.
	Option2 was chosen ...
	1) more people supported Option2 than any other option
	2) Option2 was the only option where the number of people who supported exceeded the number that did not
	Over 150 people attended the open meeting on 25th November chaired by independent chairman George Kennedy.
	The group 1 proposal, the group 2 proposal and the group 3 proposal were presented and each were followed by a Q&A session.
	Attendees then completed a feedback questionnaire to indicate their views on the 3 options.
	Nearly 300 questionnaires were returned either at the meeting or to the post office before the meeting.
	The outcome was announced at 4pm in St Marys Church on Friday 26th November.
	This outcome was considered by the parish council at a special meeting on 9th December and it endorsed the view that Option2 should be taken forward.

	Public Displays In Church
	The 3 groups are erecting their displays in the Church. Their proposals have been revised to take into account stakeholder feedback from Ashford Borough Council, Kent Highways, Kent Police and Ashford Access.

	November 10 - Progess Report
	CFDB produced a progress report outrlining their plans for the community engagement exercise. This included the leaflet to be delivered to all households, and details of the method to be used to test community support for the schemes. This method has been endorsed by Ashford Borough Council who are satisfied that the principles of the consultation are sound.

	October 10 - Progess Report
	CFDB produced a progress report outlining their plans for the community engagement exercise and the Open Meeting to be held in St Marys Church at 730pm on Thursday 25th November

	September 10 - Progess Report
	CFDB produced a progress report outrlining their plans for the community engagement exercise

	July 10 - Progess Update
	At the second scheme development workshop on 8th July the community reps were split into 3 groups and given the task of progressing 3 options.
	Group1 produced a proposal based upon the Jacobs proposal providing 38 parking bays
	Group2 produced a proposal based upon a compromise layout providing 25to35 parking bays
	Group3 produced a proposal based upon a layout providing less than 25 parking bays
	Each group then progressed their proposal so that it could be presented to the community at an open meeting later in the summer.
	Check out the briefing note issued beforehand,the meeting record, the presentation slides, and the attendees list for further information on the workshop.

	July 10 - Progess Report
	CFDB produced a progress report outlining what had been achieved at the first scheme development workshop. Check out the briefing note issued beforehand,the meeting record, the presentation slides, the Kent Highways presentation, the group feedback and the attendees list for further information on the workshop.

	June 10 - Progess Report
	CFDB produced a progress report outlining what had been achieved at the open workshop together with a summary of the main outcomes. Check out the briefing note issued beforehand, the presentation slides, the meeting record and the attendees list for further information on the workshop.

	May 10 - Progess Report
	CFDB produced a progress report outrlining their plans for the community engagement exercise

	Open Workshop - 27th May in Chilham Castle at 7pm
	Everyone in the parish is invited to an open workshop, the first step in our community engagement exercise.
	This is your chance to engage with other members in the community to agree what needs to be achieved to improve the Square and its environs.
	Use our feedback form before 14th May to book a place.

	April 10 - Progess Report
	CFDB made a progress report to the annual parish meeting on 15th April explaining their plans following the open meeting.

	Open Meeting - 25th March in St Marys Church at 730pm
	CFDB held an open meeting, with George Kennedy as independent chairman, to present the reasoning behind the next step in their project (a community engagement exercise planned for later in the year), explain what they hope this exercise will achieve and collect views from those attending.
	The CFDB presentation was followed by a question and answer session. The notes from the meeting have been approved by our independent chairman and a copy can be borrowed from the post office by those who do not have internet access.

	February 10 - Progess Report
	CFDB produced a progress report explaining what had been achieved since December.

	January 10 - Progess Report
	CFDB produced a progress report explaining what had been achieved since November.

	December 09 - Progess Report
	CFDB produced a progress report explaining what had been achieved since September.

	October 09 - Progess Report
	CFDB produced a progress report explaining what had been achieved since August.

	September 09 - Progess Report
	CFDB produced a progress report explaining what had been achieved since July.

	August 09 - Progess Report
	CFDB produced a progress report explaining what had been achieved since June.

	July 09 - Progess Report
	CFDB produced a progress report for August Parish News explaining what had been achieved since May, including plans for an open meeting.

	June 09 - Progess Report
	CFDB produced a progress report for July Parish News explaining what had been achieved since April.

	April 09 - Community Engagement Phase Proposed
	CFDB produced a report for the annual parish meeting explaining that the key issue to be addressed would be to understand the effects of the main thrust of the feasibility study proposals, ie reducing parking in the Square and encouraging visitors to use Taylors Hill car park. The plan would be to involve experts in the field of urban design and community consultation to establish the basic principles of this approach and introduce the concepts of shared space. With this expert input CFDB hopes the key stakeholders can engage with each other to agree a specific scheme that achieves the aims of the project.
	The parish council endorsed this next phase at its May meeting

	August 08 - Investigation into funding
	The CFDB started to look into project funding and met with Ashford Borough Council projects office to identify potential sources. It also sought advice on next steps from Kent Downs AONB and experts in urban design and community engagement. The key fact to emerge was that to gain the funding required to move this project forward to a detailed design stage, support is required from the key stakeholders in the Square (residents, businesses, school, church) to a specific scheme. This will be a mandatory requirement for any funding.

Chilham's Future Delivery Board Limited is a Charity Limited by Guarantee and registered in England No.6212253

Registered Address: Stourside Place, Station Road, Ashford, Kent TN23 1PP