Community, Parish Council & Village
Let the music beginAs the summer break comes to an end, normal term-time activities resume and music begins again. With rehearsals taking place every Friday evening in term-time, West Bergholt Concert Band’s first is on Friday 7th between 6 pm and 9 pm at Heathlands School.
The band plays Continue reading “Back to School means “Let the music begin””
Colchester Borough Council has issued a few news items lately that you might have missed and yet could interest you:
Heritage Open DaysThis year Heritage Open Days is set to open the doors to over thirty historic properties across Colchester for FREE. This includes Colchester Castle on Saturday 8 September.
From 6-9 and 13-16 September 2018, Colchester’s sites of significant historical and architectural interest will be open free of charge. Other planned activities over the two weekends include accompanied guided walks, talks, tours and exhibitions.
Heritage Open Days is England’s largest festival of history and culture. It sees historic places countrywide throw open their doors to celebrate their individual heritage, community and history. It provides a great way to discover Colchester’s fascinating history and see inside venues that are usually closed to the public, all for free. Find out more here.
This promises to be a great event so why not make the most of it?
Recycling – Thank You!The latest figures for recycling are out one year on from the collection changes which were introduced last June. Non-recyclable rubbish is down by 31% and food waste is up 80%, when compared to the same period last year.
Overall recycling is up to 53% of the total rubbish collected with recycling rates for all individual items also increasing. You can read more here.
KeepCupsEssex County Council has recently launched a Keep Cup campaign. It aims to get as many people in Essex to make a pledge to reduce the use of single-use coffee cups by opting for a reusable cup. More than 1000 residents have already made their pledge so why not make yours today?
Simply visit their website and make your pledge to show your support. Every pledge helps reduce the impact on the environment.
Save paper by switching from pay and display car park tickets to the FREE MiPermit app to pay for your town centre car parking in Colchester (and many other locations country-wide).
You can also use the app to:
You can find out more about the MiPermit app and register for an account here.
Baby & Toddler group need a handThe Baby & Toddler Group have been running in the village for nearly 40 years now and they are asking all attendees, past & present for a hand. Well, figuratively speaking; Continue reading “Baby & Toddler group need a hand”
Coming Soon – the 2018 Village FeteSince its launch in March, the Village Fete Working Party has been working hard to deliver the 2018 Village Fete. It is now set to take over the Orpen Hall & fields on Saturday 1st September between 12 noon and 4 pm during which time there will be something for everybody going on.
The Produce Show will take place in the Hall. Entries are only 25p each and trophies will be awarded to those with the most winning points. Entry forms are due in this week, 25th August, either Continue reading “Coming Soon – the 2018 Village Fete”
The recent Allotment Committee meeting minutes for July 2018 cover a range of matters from business such as welcoming a new Committee Member, Stuart Meadows, to good news for local causes as their fundraising efforts continue. Continue reading “Allotments Continue to Raise Money for Local Causes”
The Environment & Highways Sub-Committee of West Bergholt Parish Council met on 19th July and discussed bus shelter & cherry trees at Orpen Hall, ponds, eco survey, allotments, handymen, street furniture, the Heath and other items also raised.
The Premises & Recreation Sub-Committee of West Bergholt Parish Council met on 2nd July when, among other items, they discussed storage, Orpen Players, staging, MUGA, roofing, imminent installation of CCTV, rubbish bins, village fete, online hall bookings, communications & the Lorkin Daniell field.
Old Church Reopening ConcertAlmost a year after the Friends of St Mary’s announced that funds had been raised for urgent repairs to the Old Church, the Church is reopening to the public. The builders removed the scaffolding from St. Mary’s Old Church almost two weeks ago and committee members have been beavering away cleaning a rather dirty and dusty church. As from this Sunday 24th June, we are very pleased to say that it is back in use once again. It will be open every day from 10 am – 4 pm.
When you visit you may be surprised that there is not much discernible difference inside the church. The recent repairs addressed the roof, 2 dormer windows and rotten timbers were replaced. The tower was also reclad with Cedar panels (see above). The next phase will involve redecoration of the interior. The work is being done by the Churches Conservation Trust who are responsible for the fabric of the church along with 350 others. The village Friends’ group aims to keep the Old Church a part of village life by opening and closing it daily and raising enough funds to keep it and the churchyard properly cared for.
On Sunday 24th June at 3 pm, we are delighted to welcome back the Comrie Singers together with Jubilant Brass and The 4 Saxes who will entertain visitors with a musical concert. Tickets are only £6 and this includes refreshments served after the concert. Please do come and enjoy this annual event.
The Comrie Singers choir has been going about 7 years now. Originally formed by parents with an association to St. Mary’s School. The name derives from Comrie House, their Lower School in Lexden, where they used to rehearse. They now rehearse every second Monday at Philip Morant School, and cover all genres of music, as long as it is fun. The Choir always welcome new members. Not all members can read music, that is not necessary, but it does help of course.
Jubilant Brass formed in 2012 which was Jubilee year, hence the name. It was originally a quartet until the Tuba player joined three years ago making them a quintet.
The 3 Saxes are a group that plays at weddings and other social events and are all members of other bands and orchestras in the area.
Flatford Hosts Concert BandFollowing a successful concert there last year, Flatford hosts the Concert Band once again with a free concert for all near the Mill on Sunday 10th June. Starting at 2:30 pm, it will last around 2 hours.
Flatford is well worth a visit of itself so why not get there early and visit the sites of many of John Constable’s unique pictures such as the Hay Wain or Boatbuilding near Flatford Mill among many others. Wandering beside the River Stour Continue reading “Flatford Hosts Concert Band”
Neighbourhood Plan reaches the final stretch – make sure your views are heardWe are reaching the final stretch and the Neighbourhood Plan is almost finalised. We are now holding a final community consultation in order to comply with planning legislation. This is termed the Regulation 14 consultation and it starts today for seven weeks. After considering responses the plan will be sent to Colchester Borough Council which will begin the statutory processes for the plan’s formal adoption as planning policy.
The consultation will take the form of:
To find out more and to view the consultation material listed above please visit our Neighbourhood Plan pages. We encourage everybody in the village to visit the main web-pages listed below; this will help to get you started:
We urge Residents and Businesses to read the NP documentation and then visit the exhibition in order to further understand the proposals for:
Take time to read the full Reg 14 documentation, visit the exhibition and give us your feedback. This is the last of the community consultations which will take place. After this, our plan has to take its chances in the rarefied atmosphere of a statutory planning examination. We will then call a referendum; after this, the plan can be declared a “statutory” plan.
As Chris Stevenson, Chairman of the Steering Group says:
The West Bergholt Neighbourhood Plan has taken several years to produce and I and my Steering group members have been delighted with the support received from the community to date. It has been my pleasure to lead a group of extremely motivated people, whose concerted effort has been to bring us to this point in the process. In this, the almost final version, we have taken on board many of the suggestions and comments received from previous consultations. What we need to do now is just check the final wording of the document and proposals contained. Please take the time to consider the plan and let us have your comments, not on the generality but on specific wording in the plan!
This is a pivotal point in our history. Never before has national and local government actually asked us to prepare our own plan to cover the next 15 years; make the most of this opportunity!
Chris Stevenson
Chairman West Bergholt Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group
Chairman West Bergholt Parish Council