Community, Parish Council & Village
Do You Know Your Colchester Bus Stops?Well, that’s about to change as Bus Stops in Colchester Town Centre are set for a shake-up.
Essex has been working in partnership with CBC and bus operators to make changes to bus stops around Colchester. Key improvements will include bus service Continue reading “Do You Know Your Colchester Bus Stops?”
The deadline for submissions to the Gladmans’ appeal is looming large. You have until 15th September to submit your comments for the appeal which will be held in January. Among other, the Parish Council and Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group have already raised objections; now is the time to add yours if you haven’t already done so.
Continue reading “Gladman Appeal – Deadline for Submissions”
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.
Round 2 of the protest against NEEB Holdings Planning Application started yesterday and will come to a head tonight. As a recap, just a few weeks ago CBC’s Planning Department recommended approval of the application; this was despite the obvious opposition of local residents, Parish & Borough Councillors.
The CBC Planning Committee met on 5th July (as reported here) but deferred the application to the meeting taking place TONIGHT – 2nd August.
Yesterday Continue reading “Round 2 of Protest against NEEB Planning”
Protest against NEEB Planning Application!Yesterday saw a number of residents take to the streets in protest against the NEEB Planning Application. As you will know, this application does not conform to CBC’s emerging Local Plan nor West Bergholt’s Neighbourhood Plan currently undergoing Reg 14 Consultation.
Thankfully, Continue reading “Protest against NEEB Planning Application”
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
NEEB Holdings Apply for Planning PermissionAs previously forewarned, NEEB Holdings Limited have now made two applications for planning permission for land adjacent to the brewery. The detailed plans are available to view online. Especially relevant, members of the public only have until 19th April to raise comments.k Continue reading “NEEB Holdings Apply for Planning Permission”
Another Speculative ConsultationIt seems West Bergholt is very much the place to want to be if you are a developer these days. No sooner than we have put a strong and compelling case against Gladmans’ ‘consultation’ along comes another developer – NEEB Holdings / Carter Jonas. As with Gladmans’ their proposals are to develop on green space, this time off Armoury & Colchester Roads. On their ‘consultation paper’ they say: Continue reading “Another Speculative Consultation – This Time From NEEB Holdings”
Time extended to Comment on Gladman’s PlansOn 5th December Planning Services issued a letter indicating that comment in the form of objections or support could be made on Gladman’s Planning Application. The letter stated that comments should be made within 28 days but Planning Officers have now advised otherwise. For the avoidance of doubt, Borough Councillors are opposed to the application as is the Parish Council (see below): Continue reading “Comment on Gladmans Proposal on Planning Portal”
Victim Support needs more volunteersVictim Support is an independent charity working towards a world where people affected by crime or traumatic events get the support they need and the respect they deserve. They help people feel safer and find the strength to move beyond crime. They tailor their support to victims’ needs and it is given freely & confidentially. Last year in Essex, their team of trained volunteers and staff supported over Continue reading “Do you know a crime victim who needed support?”