Planning & Development Committee – 20th July 2016

Taking place on 20th July, this planning & development committee meeting, which is open to the public, will consider four planning applications affecting Bourne Road, Colchester Road (2), and Chapel Lane. It will also consider 2 consultations, Essex Development Management and Colchester Local Plan.

Formal Notice of Meeting

Meeting of the Planning & Development Committee of West Bergholt Parish Council in the John Lampon Hall at 7.30pm on Wednesday 20th July 2016.

The public and press are welcome to attend. Continue reading “Planning & Development Committee – 20th July 2016”

June 28, 2016June 30, 2016

CBC Declares us to be a Sustainable Village

CBC Declares us to be a ‘Sustainable Village’

Colchester Borough Council’s Local Plan Committee is about to review its draft Local Plan and associated reports on 5th July. The village features in this draft plan as a ‘sustainable village’.

Whereas this may sound like a comforting declaration, it also heralds the prospect of further growth, although the village has escaped Continue reading “CBC Declares us to be a Sustainable Village”

March 11, 2016

Recycling & Waste Consultation

Colchester Borough Council is about to commence a consultation on its current waste and recycling service. Borough residents are being asked for their views to help Colchester Borough Council consider how best to reduce waste and increase recycling in the coming years.

All residents are invited to give their views through the online survey at www.colchester.gov.uk/recyclingsurvey between Monday 7 March and 5pm Friday 3 June 2016.

Help to complete the survey is available at free Online Skills events across the borough listed at www.colchester.gov.uk/go-online . Residents with accessibility needs can request assistance from a Customer Advisor at the Community Hub in the town centre.

From 7 March to 29 March and Monday 9 May to Friday 3 June selected homes across the borough with kerbside or communal bin collections will also be visited. Face to face feedback on recycling and waste collections will be gathered from around 1,000 residents.

Home visits will take place borough-wide between 9am and 8pm, Monday to Saturday to households representative of Colchester’s demographic mix.

All survey responses will be used to help the Council understand what residents think including: satisfaction with the type and number of containers used for home storage and collection of waste and recycling; frequency of collections; and ideas for improvement that would help residents send less waste to landfill and recycle more. Household characteristics, including number of residents at the property and availability of outdoor and container storage areas, will also be gathered.

The consultation is part of a full review of the Council’s waste and recycling service including considering different collection methods and best practice nationally.

January 29, 2016February 23, 2019

Consultation on Lower Thames Crossing

Although this proposed crossing is distant from the village, many of you will either travel in that direction or wonder if it will impact other trunk routes. The consultation on the project is open until 24th March 2016 so please feel free to add your views.

Highways England has launched the public consultation on proposals for a Lower Thames Crossing, a new road crossing of the River Thames connecting Kent and Essex. The proposal is for a new road which would connect the A2/M2 in Kent with a tunnel crossing east of Gravesend and Tilbury, before joining the M25 between junctions 29 and 30. There are three route options north of the river in Essex and two south of the river in Kent.

Find out more and have your say.

https://youtu.be/5YbK_04gFjk

This is your opportunity to let Highways England know your views before they make recommendations to the Department for Transport later this year. If you would like to find out more please visit the website www.lower-thames-crossing.co.uk where you can:

View and download maps and other information about the proposals,
Provide your views by completing the online questionnaire
Find out about one of their events where members of the team will be on hand to answer your questions.
Find out where you can view the proposals at a location where copies of consultation materials, maps and questionnaires are available.

Alternatively, you can call on 0300 123 5000.

Your views are important to, please provide your response by 24 March 2016.

September 18, 2015February 23, 2019

Local Bus Service Review

Local Bus Service Review – Be Heard

We have been provided information below by Essex Council, if you, or those you know, rely on local bus services then we encourage you to respond to this consultation. The details suggest that ECC has proposed minor changes to the 17 and 66/66A services but the Sunday 67B service appears to have been rerouted so that it no longer serves the village. This will need checking out more thoroughly during the consultation period. ECC has not included Chambers’ 754 – 6 services in their affected/unaffected list because these routes have no subsidised journeys.

Source file: ECC Bus Consultation.

Local Bus Service Network Review Consultation September 2015.

Over 2015, Essex County Council (ECC) is carrying out a thorough review of its support for contracted local bus services across the County. The role of the County Council under the Transport Acts is to look at where market failure occurs in the bus network, decide whether a service is needed, and if, in the council’s opinion, it is, then to provide one.

Early Review

The County Council needs a way to balance the differing potential transport needs of residents when allocating funding and to manage the network in the light of changes to the commercial bus network, travel demand and changing corporate priorities over time. As part of the review the County Council carried out a series of Area Review Meetings throughout June and July 2015. We have listened to the comments, suggestions and ideas that were raised through these meetings and took them into account when re-planning the network.

Consultation

Over September and October 2015 the County will be carrying out a more detailed consultation that sets out a range of proposed route and service revisions to the contracted local bus network and a revised policy for determining the priority that will be given to supporting different types of service in future. This consultation will take the form of a district based questionnaire, asking for views on changes to the contracted bus network in each district/borough/city with supporting information. These will be made available on line and through the public library network. We will also make them available through as many parish/town/district council offices as possible. Hard copy of these documents will be available from the week commencing 21^st September 2015

A supporting document, explains in more detail the contract changes, how they will affect our customers and how demand responsive transport works. It also lists timetables where a change has been proposed. This document can be found on line at:

www.essex.gov.uk/busreview

Whilst we encourage residents to complete the survey on line, we understand a paper copy is sometimes preferred. If you require additional copies of the questionnaire please ring 08457 430 430. There is a freepost address to aid the return of the questionnaire.

If you or the residents you are representing have a visual impairment or need assistance completing the questionnaire, there is the option of completing the survey over the telephone, or obtain it in an alternative format by calling 08457 430 430.

The closing date for submitting the survey is the 21st October 2015.

Once the consultation is complete, the replies received will be considered carefully and used to help finalise the proposals that will then be considered for approval by Essex County Council’s Cabinet. We will also collate all the responses from the survey and summarise them as part of our report, although it will not identify individual people and your name will not be mentioned in the reports that we write for this purpose.

Yours sincerely,

Helen Morris
Place Commissioning
Email: [email protected]
Telephone: – 08457 430 430

June 26, 2015

NHS seek views on service restrictions

Clinicians want to hear local views on plans to restrict services

Clinicians at North East Essex CCG are seeking local people’s views on their plans to restrict IVF services in the future – and they are inviting everyone to give their feedback. Under the plans, they are proposing restrictions to the current IVF service as it does not provide sufficient benefit to the overall health economy.

Certain groups of patients would still be able to access IVF: for instance, those patients who are undergoing medical treatment that would leave them infertile.

They also propose that couples experiencing difficulties in conceiving could still seek medical advice through their GP in the first instance.

Dr Hasan Chowhan, Clinical Director at the North East Essex CCG, said: We recognise that infertility is a very difficult issue for those affected by it and we have not taken this proposal lightly or without engagement with other clinical professionals. We fully intend to review this decision in the near future.

Between 2013/14, the CCG paid for 107 fertility procedures which amounted to £386k – the equivalent of:

25 drug treatment courses available for breast cancer;
15 community nurses;
104 hip replacements;
108 patients being admitted to an acute stroke unit at Colchester General Hospital.

Samantha Hepplewhite, Acting Chief Officer at the North East Essex CCG, said:

We have managed to achieve around £35m savings over recent years. However this challenge will continue as we need to find a further £14m savings each year for the next four years.

We have a requirement to stay within budget and if we do not implement these decisions and further proposals then we would have to select other services to restrict. Current local demands for healthcare services are costing more money than is currently available.

In addition, the CCG is also intending to restrict the following services:

Any Qualified Provider – Spinal Service – The CCG would control activity and expenditure for manual therapy and spinal services, ahead of these services moving to the lead provider arrangement in April 2016.
Clinical Priorities Policy – The purpose of this policy is to provide a mechanism for deciding whether referral of an individual patient for a specific assessment and treatment should be funded, based on clinical effectiveness.We are reviewing this policy to bring it in line with other NHS commissioners.
Continuing Healthcare – We believe that new patients requiring NHS continuing healthcare care at home, should be entitled to up to 10% above what it would cost for the same care in a residential or nursing home setting.
Gluten free – The CCG is restricting the prescribing of gluten free foods to young people, pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers and stopping prescribing these products altogether to all other adults. These products are now available in shops and there is a variety of alternatives widely available.
Threshold for elective procedures – All patients being referred for non-urgent elective surgery and who are smokers should be referred to smoking cessation services at the initial referral/assessment/appointment. Meanwhile, overweight and obese patients should be strongly encouraged to lose weight before their operation. Failure to attend smoking cessation or weight loss programmes may have an impact on whether individuals could undergo their procedure.
Vasectomy and female sterilisation – The community vasectomy and female sterilisation services are being reviewed by the CCG as these services have no or limited clinical value – rather they are considered as one of many forms of contraception. Both vasectomy and female sterilisation will however be available in cases of complex health needs.

Please see our consultation document with further details at www.neessexccg.nhs.uk

The CCG is holding a number of engagement events over the coming weeks aimed allowing local people to find out more about its plans.

Date	Venue
Friday 26 June (3pm)	Clacton – Sam’s Hall, CVST, Rosemary Road, Clacton CO15 1NZ
Tuesday 7 July (6pm)	Colchester – Room 12a, Primary Care Centre, Turner Road, Colchester CO4 5JR
Friday 10 July (2pm)	Clacton – Princes Theatre, Town Hall, Station Road, Clacton CO15 1SE
Thursday 16 July (6.30pm)	Clacton – Princes Theatre, Town Hall, Station Road, Clacton CO15 1SE

Please email to confirm your attendance at any of the above events –

[antibot mailto=”[email protected]”]

The closing date for feedback on our IVF proposal is Monday 7 September 2015. If you have any feedback in relation to these changes, please email your comments to [antibot mailto=”[email protected]”] or write to PALS, North East Essex CCG, Primary Care Centre, Turner Road, Colchester CO4 5JR.

April 8, 2015

Neighbourhood Plan Exhibition & Consultation

How will West Bergholt change over the next 20 years?

Visit the Neighbourhood Plan exhibition at the Orpen Hall, on Saturdays 11th and 18th April 11am to 4pm, to find out how the Neighbourhood Plan Group would respond to this question; refreshments will be available. But the Neighbourhood Plan Group really need your views as well and are looking for a response from as many people as possible. It takes about 20 minutes to view the exhibition, if you want to discuss any of the proposals, members of the steering group will be available.

Do you like their suggestions? If not, tell them why? THIS IS YOUR CHANCE, TO HAVE YOUR SAY.

Find out more on our website at:

March 4, 2015

Neighbourhood Plan Taking Shape

Neighbourhood Plan Taking Shape – Have Your Say!

Our village & parish life in our hands

Major consultation on issues and options launched

Over the next two months from March to end of April the West Bergholt Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group is holding an “issues and options” consultation which aims to present the issues and priorities for our community. This is an important stage as the next stage of the plan is to write a draft document and to submit this to the authorities for formal examination.

So please take part in way you can. Your choices are as follows:

Read the on-line pages and complete either a paper questionnaire (available in your March edition of the Village Bulletin or downloadable) or take the electronic survey.
Come to the parish annual meeting on 25th March (7:30pm) where you can hear about the consultation and have an opportunity to ask questions
Visit the exhibition which will be held at the Orpen Hall on two consecutive Saturdays in April (11th & 18th from 11am).
If you represent an organisation why not write to the Steering Group or better still invite them to onbe of your meetings to see how you might be affected and to allow you the chance to put forward your organisations’s priorities for the future.

Further details appear below.

Consultation Material

The following is available through this website:

Exhibition Material
A copy of the draft exhibition boards which explain the stage the Neighbourhood Plan has reached – an improved version of this material is in preparation.

A short leaflet to accompany the exhibition.

A paper based questionnaire to let us have your feedback.

An electronic questionnaire containing the same questions as the paper based version.

Your Village Future is in Your Hands – Lets Take Control Together

West Bergholt’s future for the next 30 years is being shaped and developed using a National planning scheme known as the Neighbourhood Plan. For the first time in our history the people of West Bergholt have the opportunity to shape our village future in terms of what is most important to us as residents and includes –

New homes – acceptable numbers and preferred locations
Sport and recreational facilities that meet future needs and where these should be located
Village hall enhancements that meet future needs and are environmentally sustainable
Ensuring our pre-school and primary school are not constrained by space. Provide the right environment to develop our future generations
Children’s play area enhancements to match the best in Essex
Improved footways, cycle ways and traffic safety plans that reflect a vibrant and interesting place to life.
Business enhancements – shaping the development of our existing business parks to reflect job creation, local needs and sustainability.

All these points and more must form part of our Neighbourhood Plan before it can be accepted as the model for our village future. This is our opportunity to state what we want to avoid our village future being determined by housing developers and/or external government bodies.

2015 will see the completion of the Neighbourhood Plan prior it being subject to a village wide referendum before it can be adopted.

The plan outline findings and the vision for the future compiled from surveys and questionnaires will be on display and discussed on

WEDNESDAY 25th March 2015 at 7.30pm in the Orpen Hall

at the Annual Parish Meeting.

All are welcome and encouraged to attend – refreshments provided.

Two other exhibitions will also be held at the Orpen Hall on:- Saturday April 11th and Saturday April 18^th, both from 11am. Choose which event will suit you best. Questionnaires will be available at all events for comment and to express your views for the final time on the future of West Bergholt.

Now is your unique opportunity to influence the development of the village over the next few decades.

January 21, 2015

Local Health Forums – Get Involved

The Health Forum

The NEE Health Forum is a largely enthusiastic and committed body of people who are interested in health matters. They are all people who have registered as public members of North East Essex Clinical Commissioning Group.

The Health Forum is not formally part of the Clinical Commissioning Group, but members of the Health Forum Committee are invited to be part of all decision-making meetings within the CCG so that they can obtain and reflect the views of people from North East Essex to the group in a timely way. The Clinical Commissioning Group wants the Health Forum to be as inclusive as possible, and so the criteria for eligibility are very broad. There is more detail on the Join the Health Forum page of their website.

Members of the Health Forum are able to vote for the Health Forum Committee. The Health Forum Committee has a number of sub-groups which are looking at specific health related issues. The Health Forum does not have any legal powers, but has been given local powers by the CCG. It works very closely with Essex HealthWatch, who do have legal powers.

Their important reports, including local Health Forum meeting dates, agendas and minutes and similar material relating to the Health Forum Committee can be found on their site in the Library.

The Health Forum issue monthly newsletters, Forum Focus, in which numerous local & national health issues are discussed – they can be accessed in the forum library. The most recent edition can be downloaded from :

Forum Focus January 2015

Get Involved at Local Health Forums

The Health Forum holds local meetings which any public member of the CCG can attend, regardless of where they live. The 3 local meetings are held at Colchester;Harwich; (rest of) Tendring – this is usually held in Clacton.

The next meetings are being held on 2nd, 3rd & 4th February (2pm – 4pm) respectively. The agenda vary slightly both from meeting to meeting but also by location, but will typically include items such as those due to be discussed in the February meetings:

NE Essex Community Pharmacy Scheme
CHUFT Cancer Services (Clacton & Harwich only)
Borough GP Care Advisory Service (Colchester only)
Carer Strategy Consultation
General Q&A

These meetings give Health Forum members a chance to receive presentations and ask questions relating to key health care issues and services in their area. They are also to raise concerns with the NEE CCG staff directly and Health Forum Committee members.

The Agendas for the local meetings are set by the Health Forum Committee who request speakers on the subjects they believe local people want to hear more about. The CCG supports the Health Forum Committee by finding suitable speakers and health professionals that are in a position to answer relevant questions.

All three local meetings are usually held within a week of each other and they occur bi-monthly (every other month). The dates of future meetings can be found on their events page.

The agendas and minutes of the Local Engagement forum are published in their Library under Health Forum.

January 19, 2015January 18, 2015

Colchester Local Plan Consultation

CBC is in the process of creating a ‘Local plan’ and have started the consultation process, The Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group will be responding to this consultation as will the Parish Council. A separate consultation on the Neighbourhood Plan is planned for the end of February to mid April. For those interested in contributing directly the Borough Council recently issued the following notice:

Colchester Borough Council has started work on its new Local Plan for the Borough covering the period 2017-2032.

The Planning Policy team will be running the Issues and Options Consultation from the 16 January 2015 until 27 February 2015 at the following locations:

Tiptree Community Centre – Saturday 7 February 2015 (10am-2pm)

Mersea Centre (MICA) – Wednesday 11 February 2015 (4pm-8pm)

Wivenhoe Scout & Guide Hut – Saturday 14 February 2015 (10am-2pm)

Hythe Community Centre – Monday 16 February 2015 (12 noon – 8pm)

Great Horkesley Village Hall – Saturday 31 January 2015 (10am – 2pm)

Marks Tey Village Hall – Saturday 21 February 2015 (10am-2pm)

In addition to the above drop in sessions there will also be additional consultation drop is sessions at Colchester Library (Saturday 17 January 2015 10am-2pm & Tuesday 27 January 2015 2pm-6pm) and at Asda (on 24 January 2015 10am-2pm).

For those interested in attending you might want to access some of the project teams documentation inn advance, if so please visit the Colchester Borough Council website.