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Black-top on at Orpen Hall car park

New tarmac on Orpen hall car park
New tarmac at Orpen Hall car park

The Orpen Hall Car Park resurfacing project is nearing completion and will be finished by the end of August, leaving the area spick and span and ready for the more intensive day to day usage which will resume in the autumn.

Over the past week a new black- top macadam surface has been laid which neatly complements the extensive repairs to the car park foundations, hall entrance treatments, kerbing and drainage work which has been going on since the end of July.

White-lining next step

The remaining work to be completed in the coming days includes white lining the car park area to show clearly where users may park and unload. It will also include disabled and cycle parking areas. There will be tidying up activities of course to remove excess debris, materials and the contractors plant and equipment.

Planting to follow

Following the completion of the works there will be a planting scheme drawn up for the new planting areas adjacent to the hall itself.

Parking Spaces

There have been some comments about the amount of parking that will be available after the works, and the access arrangements to the hall entrances. Approximately 40 marked spaces will be available together with a loading bay, 7 disabled spaces and parking for bicycles.  Access to the MUGA area, hall entrances, emergency access points, have all been enhanced such that they are not blocked off in the future by parked cars while the hall is in use.  This was a key feature of the design and indeed a fire and safety assessment pointed out the lack of ramps to some of the access points.

Thanks to residents & users

The Parish Council would like to thank hall users for their forbearance during these works.  Most of the time at least some parking has been available, however it won’t be long until the whole car park is available once more.  We won’t be doing this again for at least another 30 years so any inconvenience is over for a while!

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Planning & Development Committee – 20th August 2014

Meeting of the Planning & Development Committee of West Bergholt Parish Council in the John Lampon Hall at 7.30pm on Wednesday 20th August 2014.  The public and press are welcome to attend.

If in the opinion of the Chairman there is a Planning Application or correspondence received which post-dates the publishing of the agenda, and which cannot await the next meeting, then such matters will be discussed at the meeting.            

AGENDA – Matters to be taken in public

1.   To receive any pre-application representations regarding proposed Planning Applications.

2.   To discuss the following applications:

Planning Application No. Location Consultation end date
145373  124 Lexden Road, West Bergholt Colchester CO6 3BP 01 August 2014
145415  91 Chapel Road, West Bergholt Colchester CO6 3HB 13 August 2014
145501  2 Hall Farm Cottages, Hall Road, West Bergholt Colchester CO6 3DU No dated stated (resubmission of 131694)
145620  Kinckhams Barns, Bures Road, West Bergholt Colchester CO6 3DN 29 August 2014
145642 9 Bradbrook Cottages, Armoury Road, West Bergholt Colchester CO6 3JW 2 September 2014

3.   Other Matters: CBC consultation on Local Plan.  Sustainability Appraisal Scoping Report (The SA Scoping Report). Comments needed by end of August.

4.   CBC Local Plan Call for Sites: Do you know of any land that you think may be suitable for development? (CBC Pro Forma). Ideas and suggestions needed by 5 October.

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Orpen Hall Car Park starting to take shape

This picture update shows some progress made on the car park over the past week, with some photos taken by Doldens.  We are beginning to see the benefit of separating the hall from the car park already, with the new kerbing redefining the relationship between the building and the tarmac. We sometimes don’t appreciate the aesthetics of the original hall design, and the revised car park treatment will bring this out.  Life isn’t only about functionality and low maintenance!

 

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Orpen Hall Car Park resurfacing

Yesterday marked the start of works to renew the surface of the Orpen Hall Car Park. The Parish Council (PC) has appointed Groupbridge contractors to carry out the work following a tender exercise carried out in June and approved at June’s PC meeting.

Preparing for work on Orpen Hall car parkWork preparation continuesMaterials ready

Orpen Hall car park surface has deteriorated

Over the years the car park surface has gradually deteriorated and settlement over the last 10 years has resulted in ponding and puddles occurring after heavy rain. The surface is in fact very poor in places such that a lot of repairs will be needed prior to the new surface being applied.  In addition to the new Tarmac surface some further drainage will be added to ensure that rainwater is collected and distributed either to new soakaways or to new French drains that will be installed along the longest edges of the car park.

After resurfacing the Orpen Hall car park will be re-lined and two sets of cycle parking stands installed near the entrances to the halls; disabled parking bays will be provided and ramps installed to ensure the hall is DDA compliant. A further feature will be to separate the car park surface from the main building to enhance the appearance of the hall.  Planting will take place around the outside of the hall to soften the hard edges of the car park and building.  A plan of the finished car park is shown below or you can click the following link for the most recent  full size construction plan in PDF form – Orpen Hall car parking layout.

Orpen Hall Car Park layout

Co-ordination of the work is being undertaken by Doldens who are acting as agents to the PC and supervising the works.  It is not anticipated that the work will unduly inconvenience the community since the work will coincide with the school holidays and at a time when the hall is not so heavily used.  Access to the halls will not be affected and the repair work will be undertaken in two phases such that there is as much parking available at any one time as is possible. During this time one of the entrances will be out of action so as to isolate a portion of the car park for the works to take place safely. There will be a time in mid to late August when the whole surface will be re-paved meaning that the car park will be unavailable for up to three days. This will be well advertised in advance.

Timetable and contact

The timetable sees work being undertaken from yesterday (21st July) to the end of August, you can download an outline copy of the most recent timetable by clicking the link: Orpen Hall car park Programme.  Regular hall users have been informed already as have those with single bookings over this period.

The work is being funded using PC earmarked funds of £50,000 and a grant from Essex County. Council for £12,000.

If any reader has concerns or queries they should contact the hall administrator ([antibot mailto=”[email protected]”]), or Parish Clerk (Parish Clerk ([email protected]), in the first instance who will either answer queries or obtain information from our agent and/or contractor.

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Planning & Development Committee – 18th June 2014

Meeting of the Planning & Development Committee of West Bergholt Parish Council in the John Lampon Hall at 7.30pm on Wednesday 18th June 2014.  The public and press are welcome to attend.

If in the opinion of the Chairman there is a Planning Application or correspondence received which post-dates the publishing of the agenda and which cannot await the next meeting, then such matters will be discussed at the meeting.            

AGENDA – Matters to be taken in public

1.   To receive any pre-application representations regarding proposed Planning Applications

2.   To discuss the following:

  • Planning Application No. 145003 – Pattens Yard, Nayland Road, West Bergholt Colchester CO6 3DQ
  • Planning Application No. 144987 – Delmont, Hall Road, West Bergholt Colchester CO6 3DU
  • Planning Application No. 145062 – 66 Lexden Road, West Bergholt Colchester CO6 3BW
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We’re prepared for an emergency

emergency planAn 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.

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West Bergholt celebrates its volunteers

Poster for Annual Parish Meeting 2013The Annual Parish Meeting takes place on 24th April starting at 7pm in the John Lampon Hall.   As well as affording an opportunity for informal discussions with your local Parish & Borough Councillors this is an ideal opportunity to join them in celebrating our many local volunteers who help make West Bergholt as good a place to live as it is.

Other items for the event include:

  • a report on Neighbourhood Planning, and
  • light refreshments!
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Do you want to influence the Neighbourhood Plan?

Logo of the West Bergholt Neighbourhood Plan project
Logo of the West Bergholt Neighbourhood Plan project

Do you want to influence the future of West Bergholt?

Are you interested in shaping your local area, deciding where new homes, shops and other facilities will go and what they might look like?  Then have your say and get involved with the Neighbourhood Plan Group.

So what’s happened so far?

At the end of November 50 people gathered at the John Lampon Hall to discuss village issues with the aim of starting the process of establishing a Neighbourhood Plan for our area. The workshop proved to be a great start. The meeting divided into small groups to outline specific likes and dislikes that they felt to be important to the village. These were analysed and grouped under the following headings:-

  • Social and Community
  • Environment
  • Amenities
  • Commerce
  • Housing and Planning
  • Community and Safety
  • Transport and Highways
  • Recreation and Sport
  • Communication

Following the workshop more than a dozen interested residents convened the Neighbourhood Planning Group to get the Neighbourhood Plan under way.

Now this is where you come in –

… any interested village residents who would like to contribute in some way or, perhaps, find out a bit more about the project can contact the following for more information:-

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Parish Council Meeting

The Agenda for the next Parish Council meeting has just been published, will they be discussing anything of importance to you?  Don’t forget members of the public are welcome to attend and, if registered electors, are able to make use of the first 15 minutes which is allotted for questions to be raised with the council.

The meeting starts at 7:30pm on Wednesday 27th February in the John Lampon Hall.