Community, Parish Council & Village
The West Bergholt Volunteer of the Year 2023/24 is a new Community Award. It will be presented to an individual volunteer who has made an outstanding contribution to the village of West Bergholt, its residents, or just one resident. That person will have demonstrated exceptional commitment to an unpaid activity.
Examples may include;
Continue reading “Volunteer of the Year Award 2024”The recent unexpected and rapid change in weather caught us short. Despite this the Snow Patrol, with their usual efficiency, stepped in to mitigate risks as much as they could – more about them later.
We saw, perhaps 2″ of snowfall in West Bergholt, meanwhile our webmaster reported nearer 4″ falling in just a few hours; he lives in Brentwood! By contrast, Greenstead and St. Johns had virtually none.
Continue reading “White Christmas or a Weather Crisis?”
If you remember the Beast from the East in 2018, you will remember what a sterling job the Snow Patrol did in keeping the village running. Looking at their faces, it seems they also took pleasure from the task in hand.
2018 was the first time for about three years that we have had any appreciable snowfall. Thanks to a team of about twenty volunteers (and a just sufficient supply of salt), the Snow Patrol kept pathways to the key points of the village generally clear.
Snow Patrol Did Good!Now that the Beast from the East has passed it is good to reflect on how the village coped; in particular the work of the Snow Patrol dealing with Continue reading “Snow Patrol Did Good!”
As winter takes holdAutumn is nearly over and winter taking it’s grip, it is, then, perhaps timely to think about the prospects for snow especially since some papers are already forecasting serious drops in temperature with increased prospects for snow, for example, on 3rd December the Daily Mail (online) was saying:
Get set for coldest day of the year: Arctic blast set to sweep across Britain by the weekend with temperatures plunging to -5C.
As ever our village Snow Patrol volunteers will be preparing for serious snowfalls, but all can do their part in helping clear paths & footways. The Government publishes guidance about clearing snow outside your property, pathways to your property or public spaces, this guidance (see link below) says that there is no law stopping you from doing this.
The advice confirms that despite some media reports to the contrary, it is extremely unlikely that someone who has attempted to clear snow in a careful manner will be sued or held legally responsible if someone slips or falls on ice or snow at their property. People should not be deterred from performing a socially responsible act, such as clearing a path of snow, by the fear that someone may subsequently get injured slipping on the path.
Though the person clearing the snow does have responsibilities when doing the job, mainly to ensure that they are not making the area more dangerous, it is important to note that those walking on snow and ice have responsibilities themselves. A common sense approach is encouraged as is community involvement.
As well as HMG’s guidance on snow clearance, the Met Office also runs a useful website on behalf of the government that hosts a wealth of useful information: