The PC were two councillors short at this time, only four people stood for office and were elected by default. Councillor Williams joined the council whilst Councillors Craggy and Mowat did not stand again. The result was that the council was three members short for the majority of the year. The council has now managed to co-opt Councillors Fisher, Stradling, and Norton, unfortunately Councillor Rye resigned so we still have a vacancy.

The Firework Fantasy was held on the cricket ground with the co-operation of the NVE. The event had good weather and was successful, most of the organisations in the village took part in the event. We estimated at least 1500 people enjoyed the fete and the firework display.

This year the event will be held on the 20th of September starting at 4 p.m. and will be bigger and better than ever.

The children's playground has now been completed and will hopefully now require less maintenance. The pond area is being maintained with the help of the Beech Grove community. The annual Green day, which has been successful for several years has not been held this year because nobody is prepared to organise the event and the level of rubbish is currently low.

Affordable housing, a site has been found where we have the landowner's consent and hope we will be able to proceed to get planning consent. This will require the parishioners to agree and public consultation will take place in the next few months.

Difficulties with parking on the road outside Prima glass is currently under control, it has slowed the traffic down which is an advantage. The roads still require to be monitored for traffic before the Snowdown and Aylesham projects start. The growth in traffic is potentially very serious for the village, and a parish council subcommittee has been started under Councillor Stradling to address the problem urgently.

The Snowdown Regeneration Forum (SRF) still continues to meet however the outcome of this work is not certain, and is currently dependent on financial considerations.

The local development framework (LDF) is currently being considered by Dover District Council and is of great importance. There will be a number of meetings and an exhibition at Sandwich Guildhall, and I hope that the parishioners of Nonington will ensure their views are known to the district council.

The Dover North Forum was started last year to ensure the views of the thirteen parishes can be expressed with vigour. This group also have grants to give and we have received £1000 to provide storage for the PC and village organisations.

The next Annual Parish Meeting is on 8th April 2009.

White House Farm, Nonington, Dover CT15 4EZ Tel: 01304 840410