The following update has been received from The Care Network:
For over twenty-five years The Care Network has operated in the village to help residents with transport to medical and other important appointments. Throughout this time we have relied on a system of telephone contacts, one for each day of the week, who arrange the transport. In some cases the same ladies have been involved for most of this time.
During this period technology has moved on apace and we are now able to offer what it is hoped will be an improved service. We now have a single contact number which will hopefully be easier for users to retain. The same contacts will have the calls transferred to them on their respective days and will arrange the transport. One bonus is that if a particular contact is not available the call will transfer to the next day’s contact thus eliminating the need for the user to dial again.
If you live in the village and need help with transport for a medical or important appointment please contact us on
0300 777 3100
Calls are charged at local land line rates
If you feel able to volunteer and offer some time as a driver please contact Harry Stone on 241026.
As last year, the Methodist Church in West Bergholt are organising their annual house-to-house collection for “Action for Children” (formerly National Childrens Homes) , the Methodist children’s charity, from 1st to 13th September. Last year they nearly reached £1,000 (£934.79 to be precise), and would dearly love to break that barrier this year. To help them make this, they would be delighted to have some more helpers to do rounds, so they can cover as much of the village as possible. If you can help, even for only a small round, please contact Sylvia Wilks, 76, Mumford Road (01206 242511) as soon as possible.
Action for Children is a national charity founded over 140 years ago. It is dedicated to supporting and speaking out for the UK’s most vulnerable and neglected children and young people, for as long as it takes to make a difference in their lives… In short they:
work directly with over 300,000 children, young people, parents and carers (a 20% increase over last year!);
run more than 650 services across the UK; and
tackle issues such as child neglect and abuse.
Their vision is:
For a world where all children and young people have a sense of belonging and are loved and valued. A world where they can break through injustice, deprivation and inequality to fulfil their potential, shape their own destiny and experience the joy of life.
Anthony Robin, local Speedwatch volunteer for West Bergholt & Eight Ash Green, is passionate about the need for drivers to cut speeding, but in making his regular report and call for volunteers, his thoughts wandered into some historic and other directions related to speed. The following is the result of this little distraction:
When I came to live in Eight Ash Green, over 30 years ago, the main road through the village was called the A604. The large green route signs labelled it as so, with the destination Cambridge marked, and if I remember correctly, the distance given was 49 miles. Originally the A604 had run all the way from Harwich to Kettering. In fact the 6 at the front suggests it does not belong to this sector of the country, but the sector between the A6 (London-Holyhead) and the A1 (London-Edinburgh). Our sector roads start with a one.
To try to reduce the through traffic the authorities, relabelled the road, and whilst the route still exists it has different numbers for different sections. Our local section, between Colchester and Halstead is labelled A1124, the next section to Haverhill is A1017, and the section between Haverhill and Cambridge is A1307. The through traffic is signposted either A12 & A14 via Ipswich, or A120 and M11 via Stanstead.
Nevertheless this route is a lot shorter, and so for slow traffic is quicker, so many lorries still use this route. In fact my SatNav suggests I use the ‘A604’ route to get to Addenbrookes Hospital, and the A120/M11 route to Cambridge centre. The authorities also changed the speed limit through all the villages on our route from 40 to 30 mph.
Despite these changes, a few months ago, I noticed that one sign on the “South Circular” between Kent Blaxill and the Leather Bottle was still directing traffic to Cambridge along this route (see picture above). It was misleading, because there are no follow on signs for Cambridge.
The A1307 section is in Cambridgeshire, and there are large notices saying that the route is dangerous, saying high speed collisions kill and asking motorists to slow down. There are also several “graves” on this section of the road. No one is actually buried there, of course, but there are flowers and gravestones and even pictures of people who have been killed nearby.
In France it is official policy to put signs up as shown right, although the actual style varies in the different Departments. This particular one shows where 5 teenagers were killed. It certainly pulls no punches! Should we be doing this in the UK? Does it make people realise the dangers of the roads, or does it even distract motorists making other accidents more likely?
To try to make local motorists obey the speed limit in our villages, both on the A 1124, B 1508 and elsewhere, a few of us regularly go out with a radar gun, and report offenders to the police. The project is called Speedwatch, and other groups go out in other parts of the County. Other Counties are involved with similar schemes.
If you would be interested in joining us, please contact me.
This news update was posted to our Facebook page where a reader provided this further insight into the politics of road naming:
At the time of the route re numbering I was a member of Castle Hedingham Parish Council. ECC proposed that the road from Braintree Corner, Sible Hedingham, and Halstead High Street be downgraded to B road status (in order to further reduce the chances of drivers seeing the old A604 as a viable through road). There were various objections (you can probably guess from whom) on the grounds that if Halstead were no longer a crossroads of two A roads it would lose some of it’s status. This from people who continue to campaign for measures to reduce traffic through Halstead…. Simon Daw
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.
Celebrating local volunteers is at the cornerstone of the upcoming Annual Parish Meeting on 21st May starting at 7pm in the John Lampon Hall (adjacent to Orpen Hall). Refreshments will also be available as will the opportunity to discuss other important issues for the Village such as:
Neighbourhood Plan – shape the future of the village; and
The West Bergholt & Eight Ash Green Speed Watch team remains one of the most active in the county; with 78 groups in total only 7 undertook more speed checks in March. Across the county as whole there were 147 speed checks (up from 99 in February), which resulted in 1,129 first warning letters, 77 second warnings and 24 being processed for further action being either a visit from an officer or specific enforcement.
Essex Police are always actively trying to clamp down on speeding drivers and they have a dedicated web page where you can see details of recent speed checks undertaken by police officers as well as the location of Community Speed Watch groups throughout the county – http://www.essex.police.uk/be_safe/speeding.aspx. Essex Highways also maintain a mapping system where you can find details of accidents, speed cameras etc… at http://www.essexworkstraffweb.org.uk/main.html.
If you are interested in finding out more about the local Speed Watch group, perhaps you would like to join them, please contact Anthony Robin by phone on (01206) 571910 or email [antibot mailto=”[email protected]”]. An earlier post on this site also has more information – speed watch campaign.
The latest Village Bulletin is now on-line and available for download/reading on-line on the Village Bulletin page. News updates not previously reported here include:
Deanna Walker BEM
A West Bergholt woman has been recognised in the New Year’s Honours awards for her services to Higher Education. Deanna Walker has been awarded the BEM (British Empire Medal) for her work at the University of Essex where she is administrator in the Registry Department. She joined the university staff 25 years ago in the Admissions Department working in several administrative roles before reaching her present position as Senior Academic Officer. Her work has included mentoring junior colleagues which, she believes, also contributed to colleagues recommending her for the award.
Deanna is modest about her achievements. She says:
The award came out of the blue. When the letter came notifying me, I couldn’t understand why I was chosen as I just do an ordinary working job.
The local Community Speed Watch team help keep our roads safe.
Of 61 Speed Watch groups in Essex, the West Bergholt/Eight Ash Green speed watch team remains one of the most active (joint 5th) with 6 speed checks undertaken in February. Between them the groups managed over 90 checks last month resulting in 853 first warning letters being sent, 58 second warning letters and 15 requiring further action which will either be a visit from an officer or targeted enforcement; since January 2013 there have been over 29,000 offenders that have attended a speed awareness course.
If you would like to find out more about where Speed Checks take place from time-to-time, then you should check out the following link which will take you to the Essex Police website where you will be able to view the speed checks that have taken place in your area or nearby – http://www.essex.police.uk/be_safe/speeding.aspx.
The full Community Speed Watch report for February can be downloaded from here:
Local Community Speedwatch volunteers were involved in the recent Surround a Town event.The Community Wheels truck joined Speedwatch teams and others in raising speeding awareness
Essex Highways, Essex Police, Essex Fire & Rescue and local Speedwatch groups joined forces on 5th February with a crack down on speeding motorists. The results saw a substantial number of interventions including:
Road Safety staff gave advice and showed education videos to 81 offenders at enforcement sites.
400+ people on the “community wheels truck” outside the Town Hall with road safety staff and staff from the fire brigade giving advice.
32 drivers were recorded travelling over 36 mph in Langenhoe, Peldon and West Bergolt by Community Speedwatch.
13 speeding drivers spoken to by school children at a child speed watch event outside a school in Colchester.
Other activities included:
year six walks conducted by road safety staff to highlight the dangers on the road to year six students.
road safety staff in a college to engage with over 50 students about road safety issues.
the north Essex parking partnership were patrolling schools to raise awareness of the dangers arising from poor parking outside schools.
With 56 Community Speed Watch groups in Essex undertaking 45 speed check sessions in December (3 of them in the West Bergholt/Eight Ash Green Area), Essex Police have reported statistics as follows:
766 1st warning letters issued,
57 2nd warning letters,
5 incidents which will result in either a police visit or specific enforcement action.
Last Sunday a regular police speed check was also carried out in the village and they stopped one driver for speeding (40ish) who was also twice over the legal drink drive limit.
Crime Update
Definitely a case of no news being good news. The regular Crime Report issued by the Neighbourhood Watch Liaison Officer, covering ‘beats’ in and around Colchester over the Christmas/New Year period, ran to 41 pages (roughly 250 incidents) covering events such as Assault, Criminal Damage, Burglary, Theft etc… Fortunately not one took place in West Bergholt!
West Bergholt Care Network
