Our meetings
Annual General Meeting 2025
All Otford Society Members are invited to our Annual General Meeting at 7.30pm on Tuesday 29th April (doors open at 7pm) in the Otford Village Memorial Hall. The meeting will include refreshments and a talk by Rod Shelton entitled “In the Beginning”. This talk traces the earliest origins of our Darent Valley. How did it come into being? What where the animals and peoples it once supported. The history of the river and the industries that once thrived along its banks – the origin of paper-making in England – the birth place of so many inventions and industry. Amazing! Yet today the Darent is little more than a stream and its water is running dry. Why? It’s a fascinating story so come along and find out more.
If you haven’t yet had the opportunity to pay your membership subscription for 2025, we are asking everyone to consider doing this by standing order before the meeting which reduces our volunteers’ administration work. If you pay by standing order it’s only £5 per person for a whole year of membership. If you prefer just to pay by bank transfer, that’s fine and the membership fee is £7.50 per person. Members will get free entry to the Village Fete and other benefits at selected village events! Remember that all Society profits go to support good causes in the village and to protect the village from inappropriate development or other threats. The bank details for payment of membership fees are:
- Account name: The Otford Society
- Sort Code 30-98-97
- Account Number 83442563
Come and have your say about the issues that concern you, and hear our plans for the year ahead.
Key Documents from the 2024 meeting:
OUR PAST MEETINGS
Public Meeting 30 October 2023
Our guest speaker was Ed Thompson, a long-time well-known Otford resident. His dedicated collection of photos and early sketches has earned him the accolade of being the village archivist and historian. There is little he does not know about our past. His talks are always a fascinating insight into our earlier years.
Annual General Meeting 2023
This was held on Wednesday 24th May in the Otford Village Memorial Hall. Our guest speaker, Dr Chris Gardner from the South East Rivers Trust, outlined the challenges facing the Darent River, one of only 250 chalk streams worldwide. He presented encouraging long-term plans to protect it and restore biodiversity in the river catchment of the Darent Valley. The Otford Superstar award was presented to the village pharmacist, Mr Shafi.
Key Documents from the 2023 meeting:
Public Meeting 10 November 2022
Our guest speaker was Nigel Britten, chair of the Sevenoaks Division of CPRE: the Countryside Charity. In answering the question ‘Who Cares About the Green Belt?’ he outlined the history of this measure to protect our much loved countryside and the challenges posed by local housing targets and planned developments. The Otford Superstar award was presented to Robert Hunt.
Annual General Meeting 2022
Some 40 residents attended a much delayed Annual General Meeting (AGM) in the Memorial Hall Club Room on May 26th 2022. Roger Gough, Leader of Kent County Council and Member for Sevenoaks North and Darent Valley, gave a stimulating talk on how he saw the future of Otford and the challenges likely to emerge over the coming decades. The first of our Otford Superstar awards was presented to Sue Stephenson.