An Emergency Plan for West Bergholt
This is a plan which has been developed by the Parish Council with the help of Colchester Borough Council and the Emergency Services to help us in the village cope with an unforeseen situation which needs rapid and decisive action. Emergencies can occur with little or no warning and could be caused by many different factors including:
- Natural disaster,
- Severe weather,
- Technological / industrial accidents,
- Power failures,
- Failure of communications (e.g. telephones or broadband),
- Transport disruption and village cut off,
- Terrorism.
The risk to the village from any of these events is small and difficult to assess. In the event of a situation deemed to be an emergency The Borough Council is the responsible body that will work with the Emergency Services. Our role is strictly to support these actions. The village plan focuses on how The Parish Council would assist in providing an emergency Reception Centre and how it could support vulnerable village residents. The document is deliberately short and hopefully of practical use, to view it click the link – West Bergholt Emergency Plan.
To carry out our role the Parish Council needs access to a team of volunteers who could carry out activities such as staffing a Reception Centre at the Orpen Hall. Various village groups do already have such volunteers and these will be contacted but should you be willing to assist in such activity please contact Harry Stone through the Parish Clerk [antibot mailto=”[email protected]”].
The Parish Council believes that in some emergency situations (e.g. prolonged power failure in severe weather) some vulnerable residents could be at risk. A list of such residents is to be compiled although it is appreciated that holding such information has to be handled sensitively and with the accepted protection. Again existing organisations such as the Care Network and Churches will be contacted but also if a possible resident who it is known has no regular contact from relatives or friends please inform the Parish Clerk. No name will be added without personal contact being made and their agreement.