Malling community action
The aim of this page is to recognise, celebrate and encourage the self-empowerment of community agency networks (CANs) and community groups' activism for climate, environment and many other sustainability topics across Malling. It's an introduction to local networks, groups, and events. Malling community resources, Malling community climate and environment action and Neighbourhood Plan for West Malling are separate pages.
News
West Peckham residents buy The Larkins historic pub, BBC News (Jan 04, 2025) - Save West Malling Farmers Market, Petition set up by local Councillors, change.org (Oct 03, 2024) — calling on Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council to lift the four hour parking restriction for traders, so that they can continue to provide a Farmers Market on the fourth Sunday of each month in West Malling
- The neighbourhood of East Malling, West Malling & Trottiscliffe, in the constituency of Maidstone and Malling, is one of the one in four neighbourhoods across England that breach multiple nature pollution thresholds, friendsoftheearth.uk (Sep 03, 2024) — New research by Friends of the Earth shows 1 in 4 neighbourhoods classify as nature pollution hotspots. Pollution hotspots are areas where air, water, noise and light pollution levels all exceed safe thresholds for wildlife. Friends of the Earth is calling for the right to a healthy environment to be enshrined in a new Environmental Rights Act. The law would empower communities to hold regulators and public bodies to account to reduce the multiple layers of pollution affecting their areas to better protect wildlife and people.
- The Guardian view on the planning bill: new towns must be for people who need them, Editorial, theguardian.com (Mar 11, 2025)
- Six climate change activists sentences reduced by appeal court, BBC News (Mar 07, 2025)
- Dramatic fall in London’s levels of deadly pollutants after Ulez expansion, theguardian.com (Mar 07, 2025) — People in capital breathing much cleaner air, with significant improvements in capital’s most deprived areas
- ‘Global weirding’: climate whiplash hitting world’s biggest cities, study reveals, theguardian.com (Mar 12, 2025)
- Only seven countries worldwide meet WHO dirty air guidelines, study shows, theguardian.com (Mar 11, 2025) — Governments could clean their air with policies such as funding renewable energy projects and public transport; building infrastructure to encourage walking and cycling; and banning people from burning farm waste.
- Many cities are banning ads for airlines, SUVs and fossil fuels – and yours could be next, theconversation.com (Mar 10, 2025)
Networks, sustainability initiatives and community support
- Kings Hill and West Malling Eco Hub on facebook.com, added 13:04, 27 June 2021 (UTC)
- Kings Hill and West Malling Eco Community, Private group on facebook.com, added 09:09, 30 November 2021 (UTC)
- Friends of the Earth Kings Hill on twitter, added 09:45, 15 October 2021 (UTC)
- Tonbridge and Malling Friends of the Earth on facebook
- Sustainable Malling on - Twitter @greenmalling - pinterest (sign in maybe required). This wiki page can also be viewed as a resource and information page for Sustainable Malling.
- West Malling Parish Council
Each week 3 different short videos from across the UK or world.
Wales community resources, Climate action Scotland, London community resources / ...This week's Global videos
Events
Mar 15, 2025 (Sat) — Macey's Meadow Volunteers, 10 am - 12 noon, details via West Malling Parish Council noticeboard in High Street- Mar 15, 2025 (Sat) — Malling and District Repair Café, East Malling Village Hall, mallingrepaircafe.co.uk
- Mar 23, 2025 (Sun) — West Malling Farmers Market, westmallingfarmersmarket.co.uk
- Mar 29, 2025 (Sat) — Macey's Meadow Volunteers, 10 am - 12 noon, details via West Malling Parish Council noticeboard in High Street
- Apr 12, 2025 (Sat) — Macey's Meadow Volunteers, 10 am - 12 noon, details via West Malling Parish Council noticeboard in High Street
- Apr 26, 2025 (Sat) — Macey's Meadow Volunteers, 10 am - 12 noon, details via West Malling Parish Council noticeboard in High Street
- Apr 27, 2025 (Sun) — West Malling Farmers Market, westmallingfarmersmarket.co.uk
Regular events
- Malling and District Repair Café, usually 3rd Saturday of the month, mallingrepaircafe.co.uk
- West Malling Farmers Market, usually on the 4th Sunday of each month, but may be different in December
- Aylesford Farmers Market, usually 3rd Sunday each month. Aylesford Farmers Market on facebook.com
- Mar 02, 2025 (Sun) — Church Action on Poverty Sunday, taking place each year on the last Sunday before Lent, church-poverty.org.uk
- Mar 21 - Apr 6, 2025 (Fri - Sun) — Great British Spring Clean, Keep Britain Tidy call to help improve local environments, keepbritaintidy.org
- Mar 24 - Apr 4, 2025 (Mon - Fri) — Sustrans Big Walk and Wheel, cycling, walking and scooting challenge for schools from Sustrans, bigwalkandwheel.org.uk
- Apr 28 - May 4, 2025 (Mon - Sun) — National Gardening Week, thousands of people sharing their love of gardening, hosting events and inspiring more people, particularly the next generation of gardeners, to experience the joy of growing and creating beautiful green spaces, rhs.org.uk
- Mar 01, 2025 (Sat) — World Seagrass Day, Mar 1, annually. Raising awareness about seagrass and its important functions in the marine ecosystem.
- Mar 1 - 7, 2025 (Sat - Fri) — Open Data Day, opendataday.org
- March, 2025 — Water Action Month, March each year, endwaterpoverty.org
- Mar 03, 2025 (Mon) — World Wildlife Day, Mar 3, annually, un.org
- Mar 08, 2025 (Sat) — International Women's Day, March 8 every year, unwomen.org
- Mar 18, 2025 (Tue) — Global Recycling Day, globalrecyclingday.com
- Mar 20, 2025 (Thu) — World Rewilding Day, March 20, annually, rewildingeurope.com
- Mar 20 - 30, 2025 (Thu - Sun) — Pesticide Action Week, semaine-sans-pesticides.fr
- Mar 20, 2025 (Thu) — International Day of Happiness, every March 20, dayofhappiness.net
- Mar 21, 2025 (Fri) — International Day of Forests, March 21 each year, fao.org
- Mar 21, 2025 (Fri) — International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, annually on 21 March, un.org
- Mar 22, 2025 (Sat) — World Water Day, March 22, annually, un.org
- Mar 22, 2025 (Sat) — Earth Hour, 8.30 p.m. local time, earthhour.org
- Apr 07, 2025 (Mon) — World Health Day, each April 7, who.int
- Apr 18, 2025 (Fri) — International Day for Monuments and Sites, April 18 each year, icomos.org
- Apr 22, 2025 (Tue) — Earth Day, April 22, annually, earthday.org
2021-2030, UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, International community action events
Communities online
- eastmalling.net, independent project providing information and news for residents and visitors of East Malling
Local concerns
Overdevelopment
In common with many areas across the the South East, the constant threat of overdevelopment or inappropriate development, for example locking us into yet more car dependency, pollution and carbon emissions, loss of green space, lack of genuinely affordable housing and imbalances against community interests in the current top down planning system is a concern for many people locally.
14% of Tonbridge and Malling is 'Built on', compared to 6% nationally, Nov 9, 2017...bbc.co.uk. Because of recent and planned new housing the disparity is likely to be growing, with even more of a disparity for some parts of the Borough. It wold be interesting to know what the figure is for Malling and how this has increased over recent years...
New: Via this Land Cover Explorer map, you can see changes in land use / land cover, for example the built up area, 2017-2023: livingatlas.arcgis.com, added 14:41, 8 September 2024 (UTC)
Campaigns
- Kent quarry extension is one of the biggest threats of the 21st century. Hermitage Quarry expansion plans: If approved, the loss could even surpass ancient woodland losses from the Lower Thames Crossing and HS2 schemes combined, woodlandtrust.org.uk, added 14:04, 9 August 2023 (UTC)
- Broadwater Action Group, based in East and West Malling,...Press release, broadwateractiongroup.co.uk, added 12:35, 27 August 2021 (UTC)
- Protect West Malling, public group on facebook
- Ryarsh Protection Group, an action group working alongside Ryarsh Parish Council. "Our priority currently (2018) is to object to the proposed 'West Malling Sandpit' which is a large sand quarry located in Ryarsh."
see also: Towards a more democratic and climate friendly way of meeting housing need across England#Campaigns
About Malling
West Malling is an historic mediaeval market town based in West Kent. Malling, West Malling and hinterland consists of the parishes of Addington; Birling; East Malling; Kings Hill; Larkfield; Leybourne; Mereworth; Offham; Ryarsh; and Trottiscliffe.
The area is unusual in that East Malling, Larkfield and Kings Hill are substantial communities with their own shops and facilities – however they provide the main commercial and industrial estates, leaving West Malling as a traditional market town offering retail shops, services and hospitality to the surrounding area. There are more than 500 businesses in the Malling area.
The parishes are within the Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council (offices at Kings Hill). The town is actually closer to Maidstone, County Town of Kent, than to Tonbridge; however both are substantial centres accessible to West Malling car drivers, but Tonbridge much less so for car-free households...MAP Action plan 2009-2011, Introduction (link no longer available).
West Malling archive
Past events
- Nov 5 - 27, 2021, Kings Hill and West Malling Eco Hub's Pledge tree. Every small change we make has a ripple effect influencing and inspiring our friends, families, colleagues and shops and businesses.
- Our Eco Hub is creating a pledge tree in West Malling Library. We hope to get lots of schools, businesses and groups involved to make a pledge to take one step greener and be part of a bigger community movement.
- Make your leaf or leaves from some waste paper or card (preferably in autumn colours!) Write your pledge on it and post the leaf into the library during November.
- We will add the pledges to the tree and share how the tree is growing on our Facebook page @KingsHillandWestMallingEcoHub. Kings Hill and West Malling Eco Hub on facebook.com
See also
Near you
Gravesham - Maidstone - Medway - Sevenoaks - Tonbridge - Kent