Council Archives - Page 33 of 36

December 16, 2014December 16, 2014

Quality Standard for Parish Council

The Essex & National Association of Local Councils (EALC & NALC) have recently accredited West Bergholt Parish Council as one of the first to be awarded their Foundation Quality Standard under a pilot scheme which is being launched formally on 6th January 2015. The new Local Council Award Scheme has been designed to celebrate the successes of the very best local councils, and to provide a framework to support all local councils to improve and develop to meet their full potential. The scheme offers councils the opportunity to show that they meet the standards set by the sector, assessed by their peers, and to put in place the conditions for continued improvement.

The Award Scheme has been designed to provide the tools and encouragement to those councils at the beginning of their improvement journeys, as well as promoting and recognising councils that are at the cutting edge of the sector. It is only through the sector working together, to share best practice, drive up standards and supporting those who are committed to improving their offer to their communities that individual councils and the sector as a whole will reach its full potential.

Commenting on the West Bergholt application the judging panel said:

Panel Members agreed that this was a good application and the Council had provided excellent information on its web site. The web site was well organised and easy to navigate.

The Bulletin was excellent giving up to date information.

The Panel unanimously agreed that Foundation Level of the Standards of Practice Scheme were met.

The Quality Standard will also have 2 further levels of accreditation, including a ‘Gold’ level, when launched but this was not a part of the pilot scheme that West Bergholt participated in; the Chair of the Parish Council, John Gili-Ross, in response to the award notification, said:

Achieving the foundation level is very satisfying from a Councillors perspective but our community deserves a “Gold Quality” Council and it is our objective to give them one in 2015.

December 12, 2014

Neighbourhood Plan Funding

The Neighbourhood Plan Group have been successful in their application for funding for their project which is great news for the village. The following was the letter received confirming this success:

On behalf of The Department for Communities and Local Government, I would like to congratulate you and your organisation for being selected as one of the recipients of a Supporting Communities in Neighbourhood Planning grant.

You have been awarded a grant of £3,390 and the first installment of your grant (£3,051) has been approved for payment. Please ensure that you have read the Terms & Conditions of your grant thoroughly to ensure you are clear on the requirements of the grant, including the reporting required to release the final installment. Guidance on how to complete the grant monitoring forms is attached below.

Please accept our warm congratulations on the success of your application. We look forward to working with you on this important project.

With best wishes,

Alice Wilcock

Director, Partnerships & Innovation

Since this project is a key project for the future of the village the funding is a critical success so well done to the team behind it!

November 27, 2014November 27, 2014

Environment & Highways – 13th November 2014

The Environment & Highways Sub-Committee of West Bergholt Parish Council met on 13th November to consider a range of issues and decisions affecting the general environment and highways within West Bergholt. Updates on hedge cutting, handymen, weeds, village ponds, Traffic safety, pot-holes, dog bins, beacon, budget & McNally Mews. The formal report to the Parish Council is as follows:

Environment & Highways Report

Sub-committee Meeting held on Thursday 13th November 2014 in John Lampon Hall

Councillors present	Harry Stone, Murray Harlow, Jenny Church, Phil Walby, Rosemary James
Apologies	Rachel Howard

Andrew Savage attended part of meeting

1	Hedge cutting
	The hedge cutting and bramble mowing has been carried out and has been very well done. The CBC sweeper followed on and cleared the trimmings. Verges still need attention particularly along New Church Road.	HS
2	Village handyman
	The use of a chit book appears to be working. Unfortunately, Ivor has been called for jury service so some jobs are waiting attention at the moment.	PW
3	Overgrowth of weeds on footways
	There has been an incident in New Church Road when a resident slipped on wet vegetation on the footway and broke an arm. Need to ensure village handyman or CBC Rangers keep footways as clear as possible at this time of year when it is wet and there are fallen leaves etc.
4	Village Ponds
	The Queens Road pond has been cleared today. Arrange for Norhurst to clear away the cuttings.The Lexden Road pond will be cleared on November 23^rd and the Hall Road pond will have to be left until the new year.	JC
5.	Traffic Safety Plan
	The plan is apparently going ahead after it has been signed off for progress.	HS
6	Pot Holes
	Increase in road markings but no work carried out as yet.
7	Dog bin
	A bin is required for the Brewery site – check with Val if this has been ordered.	Val
8.	Beacon
	The beacon has not been put back in place – to check with Chris about this.	JC
	A plaque needs to be ordered to go on the beacon – Murray to organise this.	MH Agenda item
9	Areas of work in village
	Plan to produce a map showing sites of our responsibility in the village.	HS
10	Budget for next year.
	Andrew discussed preparation of budget for next year. He will forward a copy of agreed budget to sub committee	AS
11	McNally Mews
	Thanks to Chris for researching the issue raised by Ashley Yates. The request for tree and hedge planting in the area appears to be in accordance with the covenant and there seems to be no objection to be made to this request.	Agenda Item
13	AOB
	Rosemary requested information about a drainage problem caused by tree roots for a resident recently coming to the village. She will contact CBC for advice and information.	RJ
	Date of next meeting to be notified

November 27, 2014November 27, 2014

Premises & Recreation – 13th November 2014

The Premises & Recreation Sub-Committee of West Bergholt Parish Council met on 13th November to consider a range of issues and decisions affecting the Premises and Recreational facilities under their jurisdiction. Updates on Play equipment, Practice Goal, Orpen Hall & Annual Fireworks display. The formal report to the Parish Council is as follows:

Premises & Recreation Report

Sub-committee meeting held on Thursday 13th November 2014 at the John Lampon Hall

Councillors present	Phil Walby, Jenny Church, Murray Harlow, Rosemary James, Andrew Savage
Apologies	Rachel Howard

Victoria Beckwith Cole in attendance.

1.	Budget for next year
	Andrew in attendance to discuss preparation for next year’s budget for Orpen Hall. He will forward the agreed budget to sub-committee.	AS
2	Orpen Hall
	a. Letting for New Year’s Eve agreed. Vicky is able to unlock and lock up after the event. Hirer is responsible person, it is a charitable function. Agreed to levy increased deposit of £200 to cover risk of damage.	VBC
	b. Cleaning problem appears to be resolved. Mike has now taken on a new cleaner. To be monitored for the next month to assess improvement or need to still have a meeting with Mike.	PW
	c. The problem with the locking chairs has been caused by the wrong clips being supplied. The company will attend and rectify the problem.	VBC
	d. “Snagging” problems following decoration of halls have been satisfactorily rectified by decorators.
	e. PAT testing has been completed.
3	Practice goal area on field
	Ivor has prepared the goal area and laid foundation work. The artificial turf will be laid when Ivor returns from Jury service.	PW
4	Film night
	To be put on hold until the New Year. Discussions to be arranged with Bernard.	PW
5	Play Equipment
	Inspection report has been read. Await talking to Ivor about what is required to make fully safe all equipment. The areas of concern are all low risk. The area is underused at this present time because of the weather.	PW
6	Heathlands Firework display
	The event went very smoothly, good liaison with PTA. Posts at entrance were removed to avoid damage on entry. Reinstated on Monday following display and are now secure. All rubbish was picked up and skip removed. Minimal damage to grass, replaced with new turf.
	Date of next meeting to be notified.

November 3, 2014November 3, 2014

Who’s been carping?

The latest Village News is now on-line along with all archive copies of both the Village Bulletin and News, one update was of particular interest & it seemed worth picking out for the news-feed:

Maintaining Open Spaces in the Village

The open areas in the village, Poors Land, the Heath, Orpen Hall Field and the allotments have had their annual hedge cutting and bracken clearing.

The ponds in the village at Queen’s Head, Lexden Road and Hall Road will have their autumn tidy-up in November. The Parish Council employs the services of The Conservation Volunteers from Essex.

We were surprised to see that someone had donated a large Koi carp to the Queen’s Head Pond. This is not ideal as the carp will make short work of a lot of the wild life in the pond.

Anyone who would like to have a Koi carp for an ornamental garden pond would be welcome to get in touch, please call Jenny on 240792.

October 10, 2014

Community Litter Pick

Volunteering Opportunity Picking Litter

The latest Village News features a community litter pick being organized by the Parish Council. Starting at 10am on Saturday 18th October, the Parish Council are asking for volunteers of all ages to come along and meet at the Orpen Hall.

All necessary equipment will be available including plastic bags, litter pickers and gloves. Refreshments will also be provided.

Together we can help to make our village a cleaner and tidier environment.

For more information contact Rachel Howard. Tel. 240360

October 10, 2014

Planning & Development Committee – 15th October 2014

Meeting of the Planning & Development Committee of West Bergholt Parish Council in the John Lampon Hall at 7.30pm on Wednesday 15th October 2014. The public and press are welcome to attend.

How Decisions are taken

For applications included on the published agenda the Committee is authorised by the Parish Council to take decisions. These will be submitted by the Clerk onto the Borough Council’s website.
If there is a Planning Application or correspondence received which post-dates the publishing of the agenda, and which cannot await the next meeting of the Committee, then such matters will be discussed at the meeting; where this occurs the committee will not take a decision but will make a recommendation to be considered by the next advertised appropriate meeting, which is likely to be the full Parish Council meeting. If this is the case the Planning applications concerned will appear on the Parish Council published agenda.

AGENDA – Matters to be taken in public

To receive any pre-application representations regarding proposed Planning Applications
To discuss the following applications:

Planning Application No.	Location	Consultation end date
145892 Resubmission of 144987	Delmont, Hall Road, West Bergholt Colchester CO6 3DU	22nd October 2014

October 9, 2014October 9, 2014

When is local, local?

Following the recent Crime Update on our website where the Chief Constable’s announcement about local police/community meetings was reported, it is interesting to note that Essex Police interpretation of local is somewhat different to that which a resident of West Bergholt would regard as local.

John Gili-Ross Chair of the Parish Council, attended a Rural Crime Forum meeting recently where the new Local Community Meetings was an item raised through the agenda, and where it was stated that all local meeting details now appear on the Essex Police web site to inform the public of specifics relating to their area and meeting dates. On checking this John raised this question by email:

I have accessed the site this morning to understand when and where these will be held for my village but failed to find this information. Can you advise me if there is an error with the site or was the meeting yesterday wrongly informed.

In response Essex Police have said:

The information provided to you at the rural crime forum was correct. I have accessed the website this morning to ensure there are no issues and it appears to be in order at this time. The West Bergholt local community meetings are listed under the Chappel and Copford neighbourhoods with some overlap in to the Dedham, Horkesley, Lexden, Pettygate and Stanway neighbourhoods. The following times, dates and locations are from the website –

Local Community MeetingDate: 11th October 2014 17:00 – 18:00
Where: Layer Village Hall

Extra Info: Venue to be confirmed. These meetings will be held throughout Colchester Borough please check other Neighbourhood areas for a meeting that is more convenient for you

Local Community MeetingDate: 1st November 2014 17:00 – 18:00
Where: Dedham Village Hall

Extra Info: Venue to be confirmed. These meetings will be held throughout Colchester Borough please check other Neighbourhood areas for a meeting that is more convenient for you

Local Community MeetingDate: 6th December 2014 17:00 – 18:00
Where: Parish Hall

Old London Road, Marks Tey, Colchester, CO6 1EN

Extra Info: These meetings will be held throughout Colchester Borough please check other Neighbourhood areas for a meeting that is more convenient for you

We are looking to simplify the local community meeting links on the website over the coming weeks. For ease at this time, the following link will take you directly to the Chappel neighbourhood page –

http://www.essex.police.uk/my_neighbourhood/colchester_district/chappel/chappel-2.aspx

It remains unclear as to whether the familiar police vehicle (with attending PCSO) will continue in New Church Road for residents to report issues to the Police directly. If so then perhaps West Bergholt residents do not need the new local police meetings anyway.

September 11, 2014September 11, 2014

Orpen Hall Car Park Finished

Resplendent in the evening sun today the Hall car park appears transformed from its former pot-holed and generally dishevelled appearance of late. Groupbridge our doughty and endlessly accommodating contractor has departed leaving only the portaloo as evidence of the workforce and equipment which has been a feature of the car park over the past 6 weeks.

Over the summer holidays the following work has been carried out:

Old surfacing scraped off and potholes filled in
Surface levelled and prepared to form the hidden (but essential) base-course of the parking area
New kerbing has been laid to the perimeter
Two new soakaways have been installed to take drained rainwater away out of harm’s way
French drains have been installed for water to percolate through to the edges
New drains installed and pipework fitted
New blacktop course laid to the entire car park
Planting areas prepared
Cycle stands installed
Ramps installed to some hall entrances
44 regular car parking spaces marked out together with4 disabled spaces and a loading bay
Access to adjacent areas of the Muga and football pitch created and protected from encroachment

Some of these features are shown in the slide show.

All this has been achieved with minimal inconvenience to hall and Lorkin Daniell field users. There are one or two “snagging areas” to revisit in the coming weeks and planting areas will be planned for landscaping activities (both hard and soft landscaping will be employed).

The Parish Council would like to reiterate its thanks to: Groupbridge (especially Chris Souter the Project Manager) our excellent contractor, to Doldens our designers and contract managers, to nearby residents and hall and Lorkin Daniell field users. Especial thanks also go to Essex County Council for their generous grant of £12,000.

As the lead for the Parish Council on this work I would like to thank the following for their assistance. Firstly my fellow Cllrs on the PC project team Bob Tyrell, Andrew Savage and Brian Butcher, as well as those who assisted with co-ordination, namely the Hall Administrator Vicky Beckwith-Cole, the Chair of the Environment Committee Phil Walby and last but by no means least our PC Chair John Gill-Ross whose almost daily inspections towards the end of the project ensured we picked up many of the users’ needs, using his long experience of the way the community interacts with the hall and environs.

I hope the community makes good use of the car park over the coming months and years. I hope readers will agree with me that the work has been transformative.

Chris Stevenson, Chair of Planning and Development Committee – 10th September 2014.

August 23, 2014September 11, 2014

Black-top on 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!