Essex News update – May 22nd 2015

Essex County Council has issued the following news update covering half term events, their Let’s Get Moving scheme promoting healthier lifestyle, Foster Care fortnight, Small Grants Scheme update and grass verge trimming:

Have an action-packed half term with Essex County Council

Join in the fun at our huge range of action-packed activities for children of all ages this half term. From canoeing to a dinosaur recycling day, there is something for everyone (and all weathers!) taking place near you at Country Parks, Essex Libraries, Essex Outdoors centres and Hadleigh Park Mountain Bike Centre – some activities are free!

Date	Activity	Location	Cost
Saturday 23 May	Nature Club. Monthly club for children aged 7 to 11.	Danbury Country Park	£3 per child
Saturday 23 to Sunday 31 May	Magical Mysteries Trail. Have fun exploring and experiencing the woods, enjoying the magic and mystery.	Thorndon Park South	£3 per trail guide
Saturday 23 to Sunday 31 May	Animal Detective Trail. Work out which animals have been visiting the park and what they’ve done.	Belhus Woods Country Park	£3 per trail guide
Monday 25 May	Iron Age Roundhouse open afternoon.	Hadleigh Park	Free
Tuesday 26 May to Friday 29 May	Activity Days. Try four outdoors adventure activities in a day.	Essex Outdoors at Danbury, Harlow and Mersea	£30 per child a day (buy four days get fifth free)
Tuesday 26 May	Nature Rangers Event.	Wickford Library	Free
	Essex Summer Evening Series – Travers Bikes. Mountain bike race.	Hadleigh Park	£13 Senior Riders, £8 Under 16 (£2 extra if you need a day license)
	Climbing Day.	Essex Outdoors at Harlow	£30 per child
	Activity Day.	Essex Outdoors at Bradwell	£30 per child
Wednesday 27 May	Wild Wednesday	Danbury Country Park	Free
	Pirate and Princess Treasure Trail. Pick up a treasure map and lead yourselves through the woods. Come in costume.	Thorndon Park South	£4 per child
	Kite making. Make your own kite, then test it in the park.	Belhus Woods Country Park	Free
	Canoeing and Kayaking.	Essex Outdoors at Harlow	£30 per child
	Survival for Softies: Make a shelter and light a fire. Cook your lunch on your own campfire.	Hadleigh Park	£7 per child
Wednesday 27 May and Thursday 28 May	Jester School. Juggling skills, jester themed crafts, scratch art magnet, make a mask/hat or follow the trail.	Cressing Temple	£7.50 per child
Thursday 28 May	Climbing Day.	Essex Outdoors at Harlow	£30 per child
	Canoe Day.	Essex Outdoors at Bradwell	£30 per child
	Dinosaur Recycling Day.	Colchester Library	Free
Friday 29 May	Canoeing and Kayaking.	Essex Outdoors at Harlow	£30 per child
Sunday 31 May	Birds, Bugs and Blooms. Discover a wealth of plant life and wildlife.	Hadleigh Park	£4 per adult, £2 per child

Find out more here.

23,000 more people getting active across the county

The Essex Let’s Get Moving schemes aims to get up to 23,000 residents leading healthier lifestyles. Starting in a week’s time in the West of the county, we’ve got physical activity experts lined up and ready to help people benefit from getting more active. Support on offer includes one-to-one sessions with exercise professionals, community activities and peer-led group sessions.

Essex County Council’s Cabinet Member for Public Health and Wellbeing, Cllr Anne Brown said:

Evidence shows that nearly half of Essex residents do not take part in any sport or recreational activity. We know that inactivity can have a serious impact on people’s health, with an inactive person spending on average 38% more days in hospital than an active person.

More information about Let’s Get Moving can be found here.

Could you be an Essex foster carer?

Could you offer a child a loving home? Foster Care Fortnight kicks off on 1 June, and features a Fostering Fiesta on Sunday 7 June at Danbury Centre for Outdoor Learning. Activities are taking place across Essex where you can meet foster carers and their families and find out more.

Councillor Dick Madden, Essex County Council’s Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, said:

There are still many myths about who can foster but all that really matters is that carers have the time, commitment, space and personal qualities to offer a secure and stable home to a child or children who have been separated from their birth family.

Find out more about Foster Care Fortnight here.

Culture benefits from cash boost

Essex Boys and Girls Clubs are the latest group to be awarded a grant of nearly £2,500 for cultural activities, thanks to the Essex Small Grants Scheme. The grant is one of 16 awards worth £30,000 which will benefit 16 culture-based projects.

County Councillor Roger Hirst, Cabinet Member for Customer Services, Libraries, Planning and the Environment, said:

Culture in Essex is thriving and it is important that we contribute to it by encouraging and incentivising through grants such as these. I look forward to hearing outcomes from all of the projects that have benefitted during this round of grants.

Read about the other grants awarded here.

Summer grass verge and weed trimming programme begins

Motorists are being asked to be extra careful as Essex County Council begins its summer roadside grass verge cutting programme. Grass verges on all of Essex’s priority routes are cut to improve safety and the appearance of the highway. The cutting programme includes verges next to footways and roads, as well as central reservations and sightlines at junctions. Around 6,100 miles of verge will be cut throughout the programme.

April 17, 2015February 23, 2019

Road Closures April – May

Road Closures Map April-May 2015 — Map showing locations of closures

The following information about a number of road closures / traffic controls has been received from Heathlands Primary although will impact others as well – on verifying details on the Essex Highways website at 6pm on Friday 17th April (click link to check current status), each is considered to be of high impact with delays likely – it is usual for such works to maintain access for residents at all times although (Ed. speaking from personal experience), the route might sometimes be circuitous and bumpy.

New Church Road scheduled to start on 20th April – 1st May. It is unlikely to be possible to park on New Church Road for dropping off and collecting children near the school.
B1508 opposite Garthwood Close from 22nd – 24th April for carriageway patching.
Lexden Road in the Scout Hut area from 20th – 24th April.
Cooks Hall Road and Chapel Road from 24th April – 2nd May.
School Lane from 1st – 13th May.
Newbridge Hill from 5th – 11th May.
Chapel Lane and Whitehouse Lane from 5th – 15th May.
Hall Road from 5th – 29th May.
Chitts Hill from 11th – 18th May.

Road Closures April-May 2015 — Red indicates High Impact – delays likely and Amber, Medium Impact – delays possible

The car park at the Orpen Hall should still be accessible although it is likely to be busy.

February 25, 2015February 23, 2019

Chitts Hill Closure this weekend

Chitts Hill Closure

We have received notice of this Chitts Hill closure due to commence on Saturday 28th February and lasting for 2 days, so basically the entire weekend. The closure is in order to undertake Carriageway & verge repairs from between the junction with Argents Lane/Newbridge Hill and where it meets Halstead Road (see picture right – click to visit the website).

Emergency & pedestrian access will be maintained at all times. We have asked whether residential access to properties in the area closed will be available and are awaiting a response – please check back here later where we will include the response we receive.

The diversion in place will be via Argents Lane, Spring Lane, A1124 and Halstead Road and vice versa (see http://roadworks.org/?tm21101).

February 16, 2015August 17, 2023

Who will care? Swap Shop

This ‘Who will care?’ summit is for community and voluntary organisations, health organisations and the public sector to debate the power of social action, exchange information and generate great ideas for health and wellbeing. It takes place on 23rd March, 9:30am – 2:00pm, at the firstsite Gallery, Lewis Gardens, High Street, Colchester CO1 1JH.

Who will Care? is an independent commission led by Sir Tom Hughes-Hallett that sets out a number of high impact solutions to prevent future crisis in health and social care in Essex. It called for a new approach to supporting communities and people where the Community and Voluntary Sector plays a greater role and works collaboratively with the public sector.

This Swap Shop is intended to bring different sectors together to spark new ideas that can bring better quality solutions for citizens.

Hear about successful projects using social action and volunteering,
Consider a new culture of collaboration,
Question what needs to change for better outcomes,
Think about how community based initiatives can best be supported,
Discuss the key issues for Essex communities.

There is more information at www.essexpartnershipportal.org, book a place through [email protected].

Agenda

09.30 Registration, Coffee and Networking

10.00 Welcome and Who Will Care Update and Future Direction

10.10 Who Will Care Schemes Update

Two test and learn programmes will share their progress

‘Maldon Sheds’ – Sarah Laskar, CEO Maldon CVS
‘My Social Prescription’ Louise Willsher, Engagement Officer, Colchester CVS

10.25 Keynote Speaker: The Future of the Voluntary Sector

Kevin Curley CBE, Voluntary Sector Adviser

The growing hardship in our society which the local voluntary sector must respond to
The tension between delivering services and campaigning on behalf of those in need
Our responsibility to exploit new opportunities for raising the funds we need to be sustainable
The unchanging values which underlie all our work

10.50 Swap Shop – Session 1

Round table discussions hosted by leaders that bring new and different solutions to health and
social care by using social action and volunteering. Hear about how they do it, the challenges
encountered and the benefits it can bring the people involved.

11.35 Key issues for Essex – A discussion

11:45 Swap Shop – Session 2

12:30 Networking Lunch

13:00 North East Clinical Commissioning Group: Supporting Voluntary Action, Shane Gordon, Chief Officer, North East CCG

13:10 Keynote Speaker: People Powered Public Services

Daniel Farag, Senior Programme Manager, Nesta Daniel will explore how Social Action and people helping people can make a difference. He will consider the role citizens can play in powering public services, and how Social Action can change the nature of public services to achieve better outcomes. Referencing models of innovative practice from across the UK he will provide insight in to the benefits of working closer with our communities across a number of care settings.

13:30 An Interactive Summary – Ask the audience with Paul Hill, ACFO, Essex Fire & Rescue Service

13:50 Closing Remarks – Cllr Anne Brown

February 3, 2015February 2, 2015

Road Closures February 2015

Essex Highways Department have announced a large list of road closures affecting large parts of the Colchester & Braintree areas from 9th February. The Temporary Closure Notice states that:

The closures are scheduled to commence within 18 months from 09 February 2015 or where appropriate signs are showing and weather permitting, and are required for the safety of the public and workforce while highway maintenance works are undertaken. Exact dates of the road closures will be notified via advanced warning signage on sites. Letters to residents and other affected or interested parties advising of the works/dates and other relevant information will also be sent out at least 2 weeks in advance.

Those closures where the diversion route crosses over into another County or use the A12 and A120 are subject to the approval of the relevant County Council or the Highways Agency.

Access for emergency service vehicles and pedestrians will be maintained at all times during the closure.

The Order will come into effect on 09 February 2015 and may continue in force for 18 months or until the works have been completed, whichever is the earlier.

The following appear to be those ‘closest to home’ but the best advice seems to be to look out for the yellow advance warning signs!

Roads	Detail of Closure	Diversion
Chitts Hill, West Bergholt	Between its junctions with Halstead Road and Argents Lane	Halstead Road, A1124 Halstead Road, Spring Lane, Argents Lane and vice versa.
A1124 Halstead Road, Eight Ash Green	Between its junctions with Spring Lane and the A12/Essex Yeomanry Way roundabout	A12, A120 Coggeshall Road, A120 Colchester Road, B1024 Colne Road, B1024 Colchester Road, a1124 Colchester Road, A1124 Wakes Street, A1124 Fordstreet and vice versa.
New Church Road, West Bergholt	Between its junctions with Lexden Road and Chapel Road	Lexden Road, B1508 Colchester Road, Chapel Road and vice versa.
School Lane, West Bergholt	Between its junctions with B1508 Colchester Road and New Church Road	New Church Road, Chapel Road,B1508 Colchester Road and vice versa.
Newbridge Hill, West Bergholt	Between its junctions with Argents Lane and Lexden Road	Argents Lane, Spring Lane, A1124 Halstead Road, A12, a113 Cymbeline Way, Colne Bank Avenue, West Way, B1508 Bergholt Road, B1508 Braiswick, B1508 Colchester Road, Chapel Road and vice versa.
Whitehouse Lane, West Bergholt	Between its junctions with Newbridge Hill and Bourne Road	Newbridge Hill, Bourne Road and vice versa.
Fordham Road/Bergholt Road, Fordham & West Bergholt	Between its junctions with Fossetts Lane and B1508 Colchester Road	Rams Farm Road, Plummers road, Fordham Road, Packards Lane, B1508 Colchester Road and vice versa.
Cook’s Hall Road, West Bergholt	From its junction with Lexden Road to the end of the cul-de-sac	No diversion
Chapel Road, West Bergholt	Between its junctions with B1508 Colchester Road and Lexden Road	B1508 Colchester Road, Lexden Road and vice versa.
Lexden Road, West Bergholt	Between its junctions with B1508 Colchester Road and Chapel Road	Chapel Road, B1508 Colchester Road and vice versa.
Queen’s Road, West Bergholt	Between its junctions with Chapel Road and Bourne Road	Chapel Road, Newbridge Hill, Bourne Road and vice versa.
Chapel Lane, West Bergholt	Between its junctions with Chapel Road and Bourne Road	Chapel Road, Queens Road, Bourne Road and vice versa.
Hall Road, West Bergholt	From its junction with B1508 Colchester Road to the end of the cul-de-sac	No diversion

You can view the fill list by downloading the formal notice:

Road Closures February 2015.

January 21, 2015

Local Health Forums – Get Involved

The Health Forum

The NEE Health Forum is a largely enthusiastic and committed body of people who are interested in health matters. They are all people who have registered as public members of North East Essex Clinical Commissioning Group.

The Health Forum is not formally part of the Clinical Commissioning Group, but members of the Health Forum Committee are invited to be part of all decision-making meetings within the CCG so that they can obtain and reflect the views of people from North East Essex to the group in a timely way. The Clinical Commissioning Group wants the Health Forum to be as inclusive as possible, and so the criteria for eligibility are very broad. There is more detail on the Join the Health Forum page of their website.

Members of the Health Forum are able to vote for the Health Forum Committee. The Health Forum Committee has a number of sub-groups which are looking at specific health related issues. The Health Forum does not have any legal powers, but has been given local powers by the CCG. It works very closely with Essex HealthWatch, who do have legal powers.

Their important reports, including local Health Forum meeting dates, agendas and minutes and similar material relating to the Health Forum Committee can be found on their site in the Library.

The Health Forum issue monthly newsletters, Forum Focus, in which numerous local & national health issues are discussed – they can be accessed in the forum library. The most recent edition can be downloaded from :

Forum Focus January 2015

Get Involved at Local Health Forums

The Health Forum holds local meetings which any public member of the CCG can attend, regardless of where they live. The 3 local meetings are held at Colchester;Harwich; (rest of) Tendring – this is usually held in Clacton.

The next meetings are being held on 2nd, 3rd & 4th February (2pm – 4pm) respectively. The agenda vary slightly both from meeting to meeting but also by location, but will typically include items such as those due to be discussed in the February meetings:

NE Essex Community Pharmacy Scheme
CHUFT Cancer Services (Clacton & Harwich only)
Borough GP Care Advisory Service (Colchester only)
Carer Strategy Consultation
General Q&A

These meetings give Health Forum members a chance to receive presentations and ask questions relating to key health care issues and services in their area. They are also to raise concerns with the NEE CCG staff directly and Health Forum Committee members.

The Agendas for the local meetings are set by the Health Forum Committee who request speakers on the subjects they believe local people want to hear more about. The CCG supports the Health Forum Committee by finding suitable speakers and health professionals that are in a position to answer relevant questions.

All three local meetings are usually held within a week of each other and they occur bi-monthly (every other month). The dates of future meetings can be found on their events page.

The agendas and minutes of the Local Engagement forum are published in their Library under Health Forum.

January 14, 2015January 13, 2015

Colne & Blackwater Estuaries

The impact of challenges facing the Blackwater and Colne estuaries now and in the future.

Graham Underwood, Professor of Marine and Freshwater Biology at the University of Essex, is speaking in West Mersea on 20th January on the subject of ‘The ecology and future challenges to the Blackwater and Colne estuaries’.

The estuaries, which are a significant feature of the Essex coastline, have been extensively studied over the past 40 years. The talk will summarise the current state of the ecology of these important coastal habitats, and consider the impact of ongoing environmental changes such as climate change on their future functioning.

Professor Underwood has himself been researching this part of our coast for the past 23 years. He is an expert on coastal and shallow marine systems and has undertaken research on rivers, seas and lakes from the tropics to the frozen oceans. He has been a member of the Government’s Scientific Advisory Panel for Marine Conservation Zones which recommended the designation of the Blackwater-Colne estuaries as a MCZ. He also sits on various boards of the Natural Environment Research Council and is currently a member of the Environment Agency’s Regional Flood and Coastal Committee. Professor Underwood is Executive Dean of Science and Health at Essex University.

Chair of the Blackwater Against New Nuclear Group (BANNG), Professor Andy Blowers, who will chair the meeting, said: ‘We are delighted to bring Graham Underwood to Mersea to enlighten us on the present and future state of our rivers and the challenges they face. One of our major concerns has been to protect the marine environment from the threats posed by nuclear reactors and radioactive waste especially in an era of sea level rise and warming inevitably resulting from climate change’.

The meeting will be held at the Museum, High Street, West Mersea at 7.30pm. (Entry £3 including refreshments.)

December 9, 2014December 9, 2014

Essex Energy Switch – 2014/15

Essex County Council are running another Energy Switch auction in 2015, register interest now and share the savings that they hope to achieve for residents:

Earlier this year thousands of households and businesses signed up to participate in the Essex Energy Switch. It helped many people reduce their gas and electricity bills at a time of rising energy prices – with an average saving of £200 per year. Essex County Council are now offering residents another chance to make sizeable savings on their gas and electricity bills.

You have from 3rd December 2014 until 2nd February 2015 to register your interest (without any obligation) at www.essex.gov.uk/energyswitch. It is a completely free, easy, safe and secure way to cut your energy bill without wasting valuable time endlessly comparing prices on comparison sites.

Once everybody has registered their interest an auction will take place on 3rd February 2015. The auction works by getting energy companies to bid against each other to offer the lowest rate for gas and electricity contracts. On 13th February 2015 you will receive an email containing a new gas and electricity offer, valid for one month. This offer will be calculated using your existing energy usage and costs.

Please be aware that if you have recently changed supplier, the savings may not be as big as for those who haven’t proactively managed their energy supplier. Only when you receive the offer will you need to decide whether or not to accept.

Councillor Kevin Bentley, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Economic Growth, Infrastructure, Waste & Recycling and Member for Stanway and Pyefleet on Essex County Council said:

This year we hope that even more residents will benefit from making the switch and to achieve this I urge you to play your part in making residents in your area aware of the Essex Energy Switch whenever you are able to do so.

This is a fantastic opportunity to help householders and SMEs to save money without obligation in a safe, secure and proven manner. I hope that we can all work together to make this a success for residents, businesses and Essex as a whole.

If you are not connected to a gas main then Rural Community Council of Essex (RCCE) has an Oil Buying Scheme for domestic heating oil. It brings communities together to make the most of joint buying power so that significant savings can be made when purchasing oil. RCCE work with a national network of similar schemes in many other counties. If you would like to know more about the scheme and the potential saving for households, businesses and community organisations please visit: www.essexrcc.org.uk/oil.

September 29, 2014September 29, 2014

Lollipops Required

School Crossing Patrol Officers sought

Essex County Council have vacancies for a number of school crossing patrol officers including in the Colchester area. ECC are asking you to support your local school by being part of a dedicated team who are valued within your community. They offer:

Good rates of pay,
Full training,
Uniform & equipment provided,
Term time only,
Morning & afternoon, up to 2 hours per day.

For more information they ask you to contact the School Crossing Patrol Team on 03330 136687 or by email to [antibot mailto=”[email protected]”].

Current vacancies

As of 25th September the following vacancies exist:

Ghyllgrove Primary – Basildon
St Ann Line Inf & Jun schools – Basildon
Kingswood Primary – Basildon
ST Marys C of E – Kelvedon
John Bunyan Inf &Jun Schools – Braintree
Brentwood School – Brentwood
St Martins Secondary School – Hutton
Old Heath Primary – Colchester
Kings Road Primary – Chelmsford
Kingston Primary – Benfleet
Jotmans Primary –Benfleet
Perryfields Inf & Jun School – Chelmsford
St Michael’s Junior/Galleywood Infant – Galleywood
The Cathedral Primary – Chelmsford
Melbourne Park Primary – Chelmsford
Milldene Primary – Colchester
Tiptree Heath Primary – Tiptree
Cherry Tree primary – Colchester
St Georges New Town inf & jun schools – Colchester
Upshire Primary – Epping forest
Whitebridge Primary – Loughton
The Alderton Primary – Loughton
Hare Street Primary – Harlow
Pear Tree Mead Primary – Harlow
Latton Green Primary – Harlow
Lawford Mead Primary – Colchester
Holland Park Primary – Holland Park
Rolph Primary – Tendring

There are also 4 mobile staff vacancies – these cover Maldon, Braintree, Chelmsford and Brentwood.

July 23, 2014July 22, 2014

NHS seek local views at health forum

Help shape NHS decisions – all welcome to local health forums!

The NHS in North East Essex is inviting anyone interested to come to our local Health Forum meetings in Dovercourt (Harwich) 6th August, Clacton 8th August, and Colchester on 4th August.

The main themes for the August meetings include:

At all meetings:

7 day working project, including the GP Services Survey, presented by Jo Hall project lead at the CCG.

The survey is online at: http://tinyurl.com/lh5tuaq

At the Colchester meeting:

A review of progress in improving cancer services at Colchester Hospital by the Hospital’s Medical Director, Sean MacDonell.
Presentation about the Care At Home research project: how do older people feel about services delivering care in their own home, by Sue Hughes, doctoral researcher at Anglia Ruskin University.

At the Clacton and Harwich meetings:

A workshop about the new community phlebotomy (blood tests) service.

Attendance & Venues

People attending are welcome to raise their own issues and will have a chance to directly question senior managers from the CCG on their actions and plans. Meetings will be at:

Colchester area , Monday 4^th August, 2pm to 4pm. Please come to the 2nd floor at the Primary Care Centre (upstairs from the Walk-in Centre) in Turner Road, Colchester CO4 5JR.

Harwich area of Tendring, Wednesday 6^th August, 2pm to 4pm. Dovercourt Central Church, 203 Main Road, Dovercourt, Harwich CO12 4ES .

Rest of Tendring (Clacton) area, Friday 8^th August, 2pm to 4pm. Please come to the Tendring CVS hall in Rosemary Road, Clacton CO15 1NZ.

Any member of the local public can join the Health Forum. Join here to have your say as a member of NE Essex CCG public “Health Forum”: http://tinyurl.com/qxss6oq