Category: Essex

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Essex Lights – A History Club Talk

Essex Lights – Guiding Seafarers

Essex Lights featuring image of the Dovercourt Low lighthouse

The next Local History Group meeting will learn about Essex Lights of which there are many. From Harwich, down the coast and into the Thames Estuary. Peter Jones will be presenting the history of these Lighthouses in the Orpen Hall on Wednesday 14th September at 7:30 pm.

Members cost is £2 and non-members £4 which includes refreshments.

Other talks coming up inlcude:

  • Steve Pollington talking about Sutton Hoo, and
  • Norman Jacobs on the topic of Colchester 1880-1980.

Spring & Summer Events

The Group’s last meeting in Orpen Hall on April 13th, was to hear about the history of the Minories in Colchester. This Grade II listed building is believed to have been built in the Tudor period but with subsequent modifications, in mid-18th century, turning it into the elegant Georgian building you see today.

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Road Closures & Fear of Crime

Fear of Crime

CBC's Fear of Crime Survey

Colchester Borough Council have launched a ‘Fear of Crime’ survey. They are keen to understand people’s feelings around public safety, and whether residents have either been a victim of, or fear becoming a victim of crime. Fear of Crime means different things to different people, this could include:

  • not feeling safe in the community,
  • fear of burglary, or
  • possible violent or physical harm.

The survey takes about 10 minutes of your time to complete and will help them learn about experiences in the area. The survey is open until 19th September.

Road Closures

There are two upcoming road closures:

  • Newbridge Hill – 11th September, and
  • New Church Road – 22nd September

More details below:

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Chitts Hill & Chapel Road Closures

The next few weeks will see Chitts Hill closed for through traffic twice and Chapel Road just once. All dates are indicative and may vary according to operational needs. The following are in date order, but in inverse order of severity.

Chitts Hill – 28th July

Map locating two closures at Chitts Hill and diversion route

This closure is to permit Openreach to complete some works. Chitts Hill will be closed from its’ junction with Argents Lane in a southerly direction for around 170m. The recommended diversion route is via Argents lane, Spring Lane and Halstead Rod (or, of course, vice versa).

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Essex Way Photo Competition

Essex Way flyer

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Essex Way, CPRE (Campaign to Protect Rural England) Essex is launching a photographic competition; everyone is invited to join.

CPRE Essex played a leading role in bringing about this beautiful 81-mile walk from Epping to Harwich. There can be no better way of acclaiming its joys than sharing pictures of it.

You are invited to take shots of landscapes, buildings, people… whatever takes your fancy as long as your images are taken on the Essex Way.

Age Groups & Prizes

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Annual Parish Meeting – 27th April 2022

Will you be attending on 27th April 2022?

Taking place on 27th April 2022, the Annual Parish Meeting is not a Parish Council Meeting, but a meeting for electors of the parish.

It is an opportunity to discuss parish affairs and say what matters to you. Members of the public and press are welcome to attend.

The meeting will commence at 7:30 pm, on Wednesday 27th April 2022, in the Orpen Memorial Hall. Light refreshments will be provided. The Agenda for this year’s meeting, which will be chaired by Councillor Chris Stevenson, Chairman of the Parish Council, is:

  1. Welcome and Introduction from the Chairman
    Parish Council Annual Report 2022 & unaudited Trust Accounts 2021-22 (10 mins)
  2. Heathlands School (Joseph Fielder)
    New Headteacher of Heathlands Primary School (10 mins)
  3. Age Well (Emma Barrow)
    Services & contacts available from Age Well (previously Age Concern) (10 mins)
  4. Jane Gardner
    Deputy Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Essex (15 mins)
  5. Parish Council Grant Awards
    Friends of St Mary’s Old Church
  6. Active Essex
    Find Your Active presentation (5 mins)
  7. Tim Simpson (Essex County Council)
    Green Infrastructure and Sustainable Drainage Manager (15 mins)
  8. Robert Strathern
    Innovative farming methods at Fairfield Crisps (10 mins)
  9. Issues from the Floor – Have your say

It would be helpful if you could notify the Clerk in advance if you have any matters to raise during the Issues from the Floor item. Email to [email protected].

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NHS Declares Major Incident

Major Incident declared by NHS

NHS logo - NHS is declaring a major incident

The NHS has declared a major incident in relation to the administration of the COVID 19 booster vaccine. They will use a number of venues to ramp-up vaccinations, including

  • vaccination centres (existing and new);
  • local pharmacies;
  • PCNs (GPs);
  • Hospital Hubs,
  • Pop up centres,
  • drive-thru facilities (probably in unused retail parks e.g. B&Q Hythe), and
  • an outreach programme to large business premises.

However, the NHS desperately needs volunteers to help ensure the smooth running of the new and old vaccination clinics.   Please contact Community360, who will be supporting this aspect of the vaccination roll out, if you are interested. Telephone 01206 505250 or email [email protected].

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Free Cycle training, Police & Other Updates

Free Cycle Training

Family cycling - get free cycle training

Through Safer Essex Roads Partnership, ECC is offering free cycle training until the end of March 2022.  They have courses available for Children, Adults (beginners to advanced) and even families. Sessions are led by qualified instructors and range from 45 minutes to 3 hours! 

If you are interested then you should register your interest here.

Other updates

Essex Police

Essex Police has recently published issue 15 of their local news update.  It is a decent read with much to interest, e.g. spiking, property closed due to anti-social behaviour and joint patrols with RMP.  There’s also a nice snippet on ‘Disruptor Teams’ who look into and tackle crimes such as anti-social behaviour within communities. It rounds off with an article on cycle security and contact information to help victims of domestic abuse.  You can read the whole update below.

Community Updates

This is a much slimmer document with more white space than words, however, items of interest are:

The Police Update in Full

Essex-Police-Colchester-Update-15Download
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What do you know about County Lines?

County Lines might be operating closer than you think

The National Crime Agency (NCA) operates a specialist centre to coordinate on all matters related to County Lines. They have identified Essex as a county where there is limited awareness of the signs of exploitation of children by County Lines groups. 

To address this a webinar has been prepared for parents with little or no understanding of what exploitation looks like. All parents will have access to it.

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