Issue 122 - the Pembury Village Website

PEMBURY 2005?THIS IS what remained of the YMCA building at Woodside playing fields in April as pieceby piece it was demolished by children too young to be called vandals.It had served the village well asa youth club and local socialcentre and was in the processof moving to the football clubuse. But children, apparentlyuncontrolled by family orfriends (or even ‘authority’),decidedotherwise.David ColemanEditor’s postscript: As thebuilding was a health and safetyhazard, the Parish Council hasnow had it demolished andcleared.PARISH BREAK-IN – A BLIPTHE BURNT-OUT shell of a truck, smoking and still warm, was discovered in front of theWoodside Road Parish depot by an allotment holder on the morning of 19 March. Parishofficials were called out and were shocked to discover that it was the remains of the PemburyParish Council Hilux work truck. Thieves had broken into the depot during the night, stolena trailer with mower and, perhaps frustrated in that they could not move the truck, they set fireto it.Police attended and after advice from thecrime prevention team, the depot was securedand other minor damage remedied. However,the loss of the truck meant that a replacementvehicle had to be hired so that Parish Staff,already stretched by their increasing workload, could at least carry on with their basicduties.Our aim in reporting this unhappy incident isnot to cast a shadow over good communityengagement or to cause depression to the‘good guys’ who work hard to make Pemburya great place to live. Rather, it is to illustrate our resilience to cope with such things and to praisethe resourcefulness of our groundstaff, our clerk and deputy clerk who worked hard to geteverything back to normal.On the positive side of the scales in Pembury are all the clubs, societies, youth groups, thecommunity partnership, churches, the active school association, and village events like the quiz,musical picnic and fete, not to mention all the charity fundraising, community environmentalwork and all those little touches that most individuals bring like colourful gardens, politeness andfriendliness in the streets and shops. So all in all, not a bad place to be ...11