Community

A New Space for Ryarsh Men

Ryarsh Parish Council is pleased to announce that it is taking part in the Men’s Shed Initiative. This initiative provides an informal meet-up group where attendees can come along for a cuppa and a chat.

Location: Meetings will be held at the Duke of Wellington Pub.
Schedule: The group will meet every Tuesday morning.
Launch Date: The first session starts on Tuesday 31st March 2026.
Time: Each session begins at 10:00 AM.
Cost: There is a £2 donation to attend.

Support: To help the group get started, Ryarsh Parish Council will subsidise the cost for the first three months.

Refreshments and conversation are included for all participants. The Council extends its thanks to the Duke of Wellington for kindly hosting the Men’s Shed.

For more information, please contact clerk@ryarsh-pc.gov.uk.

10th February 2026 in Community

Land West of Roughetts Road – Sand Quarry

RYARSH PARISH COUNCIL
Dear resident

We have received a letter from Kent County Council today, further to a request for a scoping opinion to accompany a planning application for the proposed extraction of aggregate (sand) at Land West of Roughetts Road, Ryarsh (Reference no KCC/SCO/TM/0140/2023).

KCC has only a limited amount of time to adopt a scoping opinion and needs to hear from the Parish Council about whether the report and proposed scope of the environmental assessment (which would accompany any planning application) is satisfactory and assesses all the relevant impacts. The Parish Council must reply to KCC by 21 September 2023.

The Parish Council, and residents, will be formally consulted when an Environmental Statement has been submitted and the planning application has been validated.

Attached are:

1. A letter from Waterman Infrastructure and Environment requesting an Environmental Impact Assessment Scoping Opinion dated 29th August 2023.

https://mcusercontent.com/7495fee60433db2c3ed45b050/files/6a1c47ee-7a9b-2613-e928-0781d8d024ce/Scoping_Request_Covering_Letter_Redacted_1_.pdf

2. The Environmental Impact Assessment Scoping report produced by Waterman Infrastructure and Environment Ltd dated August 2023

https://mcusercontent.com/7495fee60433db2c3ed45b050/files/592c9ed9-04f6-7c42-c19d-12514dba6703/Environmental_Impact_Assessment_Scoping_Report_Redacted.pdf

Please note a website has been set up https://landwestofroughettsroad.co.uk/

This will be discussed at the Parish Council meeting on 11th September. If you have any comments to make it would be helpful if you could email these in advance to clerk@ryarsh-pc.gov.uk so that the Parish Council has enough time to prepare a robust response.

This is not a planning application, but will lead to a planning application. Waterman Infrastructure and Environment have stated that a formal public consultation will be undertaken ahead of the submission of any planning application for the development.

31st August 2023 in Community

Nu Venture Bus Service – Ryarsh

From Ryarsh Parish Council

Nu Venture Bus Service

Kent County Council Support for buses 58 and 70 ended on 12th February 2023, and school-time buses 558 and 578 also cease to serve the Malling area.

However, until July 2023, Nu Venture will continue to operate a limited replacement daytime service on certain days of the week.  Parish Councils are helping to fund this service.  The 58 Bus Service for Ryarsh is on a Friday.

PLEASE USE IT OR LOSE IT

Continuation beyond July 2023 will be dependent on usage in coming months.

The number 58 Friday Bus Service leaves Ryarsh opposite Duke of Wellington at 10.08.

The service stops at Leybourne, West Malling High Street opposite Tesco, East Malling King and Queen, Larkfield opposite Wealden Hall, Hall Road opposite Sainsburys and Maidstone Town Centre.

The return service leaves Maidstone at 13.00 and arrives in Ryarsh at 13.48.

The full timetable is available at www.nu-venture.online/bus-times

 

15th March 2023 in Community

Ryarsh Lotto

The West Malling quarry proposal is not over – the community needs your support!

The West Malling quarry site is currently excluded from the ‘Local Plan’ by Kent County Council, strong objections, however, have been received from the quarry operator which could seriously jeopardise the situation. Ryarsh Protection Group has independently funded the campaign to SAVE OUR COMMUNITY, but we have now reached a critical stage with a forthcoming hearing scheduled.

As a result of this further threat, we have engaged professional & legal advice to represent our cause and additional funding is now required to save our community – legal expertise is very expensive.

To raise funds, we’re offering you the opportunity to win a ‘once in a lifetime holiday’ and huge cash prizes worth thousands of pounds.

Visit www.ryarshprotectiongroup.com/ryarshlotto for more details and to purchase tickets online.

Ticket sales will end on 30 November 2019. Lottery authorised by Tonbridge & Malling Borough Council – Licence number 850

If you’d like to donate to us without entering the Ryarsh Lotto, email us at contact@ryarshprotectiongroup.com

Thank you for your support – please share this post.

21st October 2019 in Community

Village Fete donates £1,109.90 to Parish Council

Our annual Fete which was held in June this year over the hottest weekend on record recorded a profit of £1,109.90 which was donated to the Ryarsh Parish Council. The money has been directed towards the children’s play area exclusively and will help to maintain the facilities within.

Lynne Mackie, Ryarsh Parish Council Clerk said:

On behalf of the Parish Council I would like to thank you very much for the donation of £1,109.90 towards the play area project raised from the summer fete.

Any play area works are expensive and so this donation is very gratefully received.  The play area is a focal point of the village and very popular, as we saw from the toddler in tears when he arrived this morning to find the slide was closed!

The contractor was able to begin work at very short notice today and work to replace the two old swings, install a new swing and lay safety surface under the swings and slide could be completed by the end of Wednesday but is likely to take longer due to the forecast rain.

A big thank you to all involved in organising the fete and those who helped on the day, those traders who attended and of course everyone who came along and enjoyed the event.

We’ll be planning next’s years soon with a focus on the day being a Children’s Activity Day along with the fete – any offers of help, suggestions, improvements, bookings etc, please email fete@ryarshvillage.co.uk

26th September 2019 in Community, Events

Visit Spadework

Spadework is a charity, which provides life skills training and work experience for over 90 people with learning disabilities.

They aim to support the Trainees who use the service as they develop their independence and personal skills through social interaction with the community, and to ultimately provide them with the necessary skills to reach their full potential.

The Trainees are involved in all aspects of Spadework. They produce the plants that are sold in the garden centre and the fruit and vegetables served in the café and sold in the farm shop. They help to make cakes, jam and chutneys and serve customers in the café and in the farm shop.

Open 7 days a week

Situated on a 7 acre site in the pretty village of Offham, near West Malling, Spadework’s garden centre, farm shop and 50 seat café is open to the general public 7 days a week.

Please visit at: Teston Road, Offham, near West Malling, Kent ME19 5NA.

Check out the website to find out more about this wonderful local charity!

www.spadework.net

info@spadework.net | Phone: 01732 870002 | Charity No 291198

19th April 2019 in Charity, Community

Old Ryarsh

We’ve been able to get hold of some very old images of Ryarsh. It would be very nice to know more (eg when they may have been taken) and if anyone has any similar pictures, we’d be glad to share them.

Please click on the images below to enlarge.

[updated 15/2/2021 with thanks to Chris Cheek]

31st October 2018 in Community