Latest News from Essex County Council

Burning questions

Essex County Fire and Rescue Service wants your views on how it keeps you safe in your home and community.

Residents are being urged to have their say in the future redesign of Essex County Fire and Rescue Service (ECFRS), through a 12 week consultation that starts today (Monday June 15) and ends on Sunday September 6.

The consultation process, the main element of the Fire Authority’s Integrated Risk Management Plan (IRMP), aims to address several key issues impacting on the fire service such as the declining number of call-outs and the need to increase the focus on preventing fires and emergencies from happening.

It will also look at major issues such as response times, and the ambitious target of having a working smoke alarm in every Essex home.

Have your say here.

If you’re happy and you know it

Baby and Toddler Rhymetime veteran volunteer Peter Cave is 91 and is living proof you are never too old to volunteer; Peter Cave has been volunteering at the Baby and Toddler Rhymetime session at Chelmsford Library since earlier in the year and intends to carry on his sterling singing and storytelling role after he turns 91 – why not get involved yourself?

Better service, same price

Frozen prices, more options and an improved Meals on Wheels service is coming your way. Essex County Council (ECC) took a decision that will see prices for Meals on Wheels frozen and the service improved, following today’s Cabinet meeting. As part of the decision, a one year extension has been agreed to the county’s existing Meals on Wheels service.

Get exploring!

Go on an adventure in one of our country parks and send us a picture from your trip to win free parking for six months!

Colchester Local Highways Panel funding

Colchester Local Highways Panel (LHP) is set to benefit from a £1million boost which will enable a variety of small highways schemes to get underway. Essex County Council is allocating the funding to Colchester LHP for 2015/16.

Projects will include upgrading the public footpath near Wivenhoe railway station to provide disabled access, building a new wooden bus shelter on St Ives Road in Peldon and pedestrian crossing improvements on Plume Avenue in Prettygate.

June 28, 2015June 28, 2015

Anyone for tennis?

Anyone for Tennis?

At the start of a new summer season the Parish Council is keen to see that its recreation facilities are used as fully as possible. In particular the tennis courts at the Multi Use Games Area (MUGA) beside the Orpen Hall are not used as widely as possible. The MUGA is available mainly for tennis but can also be used for other sports such as football. It can be booked on a casual hourly basis through the booking system at the Co-op for £4 an hour.

For families a more economical way of ensuring access is through membership of the West Bergholt Sports Club costing just £45 for a family for a year from 1st June. Membership details are available from Gill Sims at [antibot mailto=”[email protected]”] or full information can be found on the Sports Club webpage on this site and on the noticeboard beside the courts.

With Wimbledon a few days away to enthuse us this is a great opportunity to begin to produce the next generation of champions from our village. All we need is a good summer to ensure a season of sporting pleasure at a bargain price from facilities on the doorstep.

June 28, 2015June 28, 2015

Essex Police & DogLost

Essex Police, in collaboration with DogLost, are running a campaign to help reunite dogs with their owners however, preventing their loss in the first place is a better outcome all around and so they also offer the following advice:

Don’t tie your dog up outside a shop.
Don’t leave your dog alone in the car.
Make sure your dog has been micro chipped (from April 2016, your dog MUST be chipped).
Your dog should always wear a collar and ID tag with your name and address on it. Avoid putting your dogs name on the disc.
Take clear photographs of your dog from various angles, and update them regularly. Make a note of any distinguishing features.
Vary your times of walks and routes; some dogs are actually targeted and snatched during walks.
Fit a bell to your garden gate so you hear if anyone opens it.
Keep your dog in view in the garden, don’t leave them unsupervised.

If the worst happens and you have a lost or stolen dog:

Report stolen dogs to the police as soon as possible by calling 101.
Register your lost or stolen dog free of charge with www.doglost.co.uk or call 0844 800 3220 and access their help page for advice.
Contact your local dog warden.

June 26, 2015

NHS seek views on service restrictions

Clinicians want to hear local views on plans to restrict services

Clinicians at North East Essex CCG are seeking local people’s views on their plans to restrict IVF services in the future – and they are inviting everyone to give their feedback. Under the plans, they are proposing restrictions to the current IVF service as it does not provide sufficient benefit to the overall health economy.

Certain groups of patients would still be able to access IVF: for instance, those patients who are undergoing medical treatment that would leave them infertile.

They also propose that couples experiencing difficulties in conceiving could still seek medical advice through their GP in the first instance.

Dr Hasan Chowhan, Clinical Director at the North East Essex CCG, said: We recognise that infertility is a very difficult issue for those affected by it and we have not taken this proposal lightly or without engagement with other clinical professionals. We fully intend to review this decision in the near future.

Between 2013/14, the CCG paid for 107 fertility procedures which amounted to £386k – the equivalent of:

25 drug treatment courses available for breast cancer;
15 community nurses;
104 hip replacements;
108 patients being admitted to an acute stroke unit at Colchester General Hospital.

Samantha Hepplewhite, Acting Chief Officer at the North East Essex CCG, said:

We have managed to achieve around £35m savings over recent years. However this challenge will continue as we need to find a further £14m savings each year for the next four years.

We have a requirement to stay within budget and if we do not implement these decisions and further proposals then we would have to select other services to restrict. Current local demands for healthcare services are costing more money than is currently available.

In addition, the CCG is also intending to restrict the following services:

Any Qualified Provider – Spinal Service – The CCG would control activity and expenditure for manual therapy and spinal services, ahead of these services moving to the lead provider arrangement in April 2016.
Clinical Priorities Policy – The purpose of this policy is to provide a mechanism for deciding whether referral of an individual patient for a specific assessment and treatment should be funded, based on clinical effectiveness.We are reviewing this policy to bring it in line with other NHS commissioners.
Continuing Healthcare – We believe that new patients requiring NHS continuing healthcare care at home, should be entitled to up to 10% above what it would cost for the same care in a residential or nursing home setting.
Gluten free – The CCG is restricting the prescribing of gluten free foods to young people, pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers and stopping prescribing these products altogether to all other adults. These products are now available in shops and there is a variety of alternatives widely available.
Threshold for elective procedures – All patients being referred for non-urgent elective surgery and who are smokers should be referred to smoking cessation services at the initial referral/assessment/appointment. Meanwhile, overweight and obese patients should be strongly encouraged to lose weight before their operation. Failure to attend smoking cessation or weight loss programmes may have an impact on whether individuals could undergo their procedure.
Vasectomy and female sterilisation – The community vasectomy and female sterilisation services are being reviewed by the CCG as these services have no or limited clinical value – rather they are considered as one of many forms of contraception. Both vasectomy and female sterilisation will however be available in cases of complex health needs.

Please see our consultation document with further details at www.neessexccg.nhs.uk

The CCG is holding a number of engagement events over the coming weeks aimed allowing local people to find out more about its plans.

Date	Venue
Friday 26 June (3pm)	Clacton – Sam’s Hall, CVST, Rosemary Road, Clacton CO15 1NZ
Tuesday 7 July (6pm)	Colchester – Room 12a, Primary Care Centre, Turner Road, Colchester CO4 5JR
Friday 10 July (2pm)	Clacton – Princes Theatre, Town Hall, Station Road, Clacton CO15 1SE
Thursday 16 July (6.30pm)	Clacton – Princes Theatre, Town Hall, Station Road, Clacton CO15 1SE

Please email to confirm your attendance at any of the above events –

[antibot mailto=”[email protected]”]

The closing date for feedback on our IVF proposal is Monday 7 September 2015. If you have any feedback in relation to these changes, please email your comments to [antibot mailto=”[email protected]”] or write to PALS, North East Essex CCG, Primary Care Centre, Turner Road, Colchester CO4 5JR.

June 15, 2015

Local Community Action Panel – Have your say with Essex police

Local Community Action Panel

Local Community Action Panels (L-CAPs, formerly NAPs) are multi-agency problem solving groups addressing local crime, anti-social behaviour and quality of life issues. They bring together representatives from statutory agencies such as Essex Police, Borough Council, Parish Council, Essex County Council, Local Community Groups, Councillors, Community Leaders, Neighbourhood Watch and Residents Associations. Each L-CAP serves to identify and achieve short, medium and sustainable long term solutions to local community needs and problems, and to improve the quality of life for the local area.

West Bergholt is in the North Colchester Zone 3 together with Wormingford, Gt & Little Horkesley, Boxted, Langham, Dedham, Fordham, Myland, Eight Ash Green, Highwoods, St Johns & Mile End and the upcoming meetings for this zone are:

14th July 2015 – starting at 2pm in St Johns Church Community Centre, St Johns Close, Colchester, CO4 0HP;
8th October 2015 – starting at 2:30pm in The Bluebell Centre, Jack Andrews Drive, Colchester, CO4 9YN; and
14th January 2016 – starting at 2pm in The Bluebell Centre, Jack Andrews Drive, Colchester, CO4 9YN.

All are welcome to attend. If you require any further information, dates and times of future, or other zone, L-CAP meetings please contact [antibot mailto=”[email protected]”].

June 5, 2015

Essex Police Challenge

Essex Police Challenge – 9th June

Do you want to challenge the Chief Constable of Essex Police (Stephen Kavanagh) or the Police & Crime Commissioner for Essex (Nick Alston) about their performance? Unfortunately we seem to have missed a more local opportunity (March 2015 in Witham) but the next Essex Police Challenge event will take place at Epping Forest College on June 9th, and residents are welcome to turn up and ask their question in person or submit a question by email. The event will give residents the chance to raise their concerns and questions about crime and policing in Essex.

Essex Police’s Chief Constable Stephen Kavanagh will give an update on the performance of the force, whilst the subjects of the night-time economy in the Epping Forest district, travelling criminality, and the new police IT system Athena will also be discussed.

The event – which has taken place across the county – was devised by Nick Alston, Police and Crime Commissioner for Essex and forms a key part of his work to scrutinise the force and hold the Chief Constable to account.

It also gives members of the public a unique and valuable opportunity to have their questions answered by both the Chief Constable and PCC. Mr Alston said:

People still have time to submit their questions ahead of the event as well as joining us on the evening to see scrutiny and democracy in local policing in action.

The Essex Police Challenge takes place on Tuesday June 9 from 7.30pm at Epping Forest College in Borders Lane, Loughton, IG10 3SA.

To submit a question for the PCC and/or Chief Constable write to the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner at 3 Hoffmanns Way, Chelmsford, Essex, CM1 1GU or alternatively:

Send your question by email

[antibot mailto=”[email protected]”].

June 2, 2015

Youth Group Organize Family Fun Day

Bergholt Youth Group – BYG – is holding a family fun day at the Orpen Hall and Lorkin Daniel field on Saturday 27th June, from 2-4pm. There is no entry fee to the event and all family members are welcome to come along and see what the Youth Club provides for children in the village.

As well as having most of the usual Youth Club equipment out for people to try, including the pool and table tennis tables and the various PlayStation, XBox and Wii games etc., BYG will also be running tennis sessions, a penalty shootout competition and some poor unsuspecting soul will be in the stocks ready for target practise with wet sponges! There will also be afternoon “tea and cake” on sale, in addition to the normal Club tuck shop.

BYG is run every other Friday evening from September through to July for children of school year 6 and above. It has been running for over 6 years, staffed by volunteers. BYG currently has around 90 members and the Club evenings are regularly attended by over 50 children. There will be a Club info table displaying further information and the Club volunteers – “Crew” – will be on hand to answer any questions people may have.

June 1, 2015June 30, 2016

Cricket Festival 2015

This year West Bergholt Cricket Club’s annual cricket festival runs from Wednesday 1st July to Sunday 5th July and features the following events:

The Queen’s Head Challenge – a T20* Match, with Bar & BBQ, taking place 6pm – 11pm on Wednesday 1st July,
A T20* Match, with Bar & BBQ, also between 6pm – 11pm on Friday 3rd July,
Six-a-side* tournament, with bar, BBQ & side stalls, between 10am – 7pm on Saturday 4th July,
Quiz night, with bar, BBQ & side stalls, between 7:30pm – 11pm,
Junior six-a-side* tournament, with bar, BBQ & side stalls on Sunday 5th July (times TBA).

The Saturday & Sunday events are geared towards fun for all family members to engage with.

*nB. For those unfamiliar with cricket formats, both T20 and Six-a-side are short formats designed to provide for more exciting matches. T20 comprises a single innings of no more than 20 overs for each team whilst Six-a-side are a number of even shorter matches of just 5 overs where a number of teams play each other acquiring points to determine the winning team.

Don’t Forget

The Club’s other great event coming up is the Treasure Hunt in aid of the Tom Bowdidge Foundation, the closing date for entries, 5pm on 18th June, is fast approaching.

May 28, 2015February 23, 2019

Colchester News, Market, Park & Ride

Colchester News – Market, Park & Ride

Latest news updates received from Colchester Borough Council…

Colchester Market has a stylish new home

Colchester Market has moved to its new home on Colchester High Street. The new site has bigger, sophisticated, branded stalls providing a mix of exciting new products alongside regular favourite traders. Find out how you could become a trader to trial your small business idea here>>.

Park and Ride service now open

Essex County Council have launched the new Colchester Park and Ride facility. With a car park situated north of the A12, just off junction 28, it links to Colchester Railway Station and Colchester Town centre.

Fares

Adult daily: £3 (Monday to Saturday)
Adult weekly: £15
Adult monthly: £55
Children (aged between 5 and 15 years inclusive) – daily £1, weekly £5, monthly £20.
Children under 5 years old travel for free at all times

Concessions

Concessionary pass holders travel free after 9am Monday-Friday and all day Saturdays.

Find out more here>>

Have your say on The Wonderhouse

The Wonderhouse is an exciting new concept, which will transform Colchester’s heritage offer and provide an innovative attraction for local residents and visitors. We would like to hear your views on it.

The distinctive history and heritage of Colchester, Britain’s oldest recorded town, is reflected by the rich range of objects collected by Colchester Museums for over 150 years.

The three museums; Colchester Castle, Hollytrees Museum and the Natural History Museum; highlight selected objects from the collection, which showcase the town’s key stories and unique character.

However, it’s impossible to display everything. A wealth of collections are also stored by the museums service. These objects include items from Colchester’s more recent history, archives, photographs and oral history- all awaiting discovery by the public. A new collections centre, ‘The Wonderhouse’, will provide the key to unlocking their potential.

Councillor Tim Young, Portfolio Holder for Licensing, Community Safety and Culture comments: “The Wonderhouse is an exciting project that will add to Colchester’s already rich heritage offer. It will be a real draw for residents and tourists alike.

Colchester is extremely lucky to have a wealth of internationally significant objects. The Wonderhouse will give people the opportunity to discover and appreciate them for the first time.

This project will also unveil a vital piece of the town’s previously hidden Roman Wall. It will create a launch pad to explore Colchester’s many historic sites. I’d invite residents and visitors to complete the survey and let us know their views on this project.

Find out more here>>

May 26, 2015May 26, 2015

Job Vacancy with RCCE – Rural Housing Enabler

Full Time – 35 hours per week
Salary circa £24,000

Job Vacancy with RCCE
Rural Housing Enabler

Rural Community Council of Essex (RCCE) is a leading charity working in Essex for over 85 years. We provide assistance to people and communities throughout rural Essex to build a sustainable future

RCCE is looking for a new Rural Housing Enabler to help rural communities in Essex provide the housing they need.

You will promote and advise on affordable rural housing, working with parish councils, registered providers and local authorities to achieve this. You will attend community events, deliver presentations at parish council meetings and undertake housing needs surveys.

You will also have the opportunity to work on other community engagement projects that include wider housing and development priorities or needs.

You will be a confident communicator, able to prioritise and problem solve and be enthusiastic about rural communities, especially in terms of affordable housing. This role will require flexibility, as it involves some out of hours working. We are particularly interested in hearing from applicants that have experience of affordable rural housing or planning/development.

Application deadline: 12 noon Wednesday 3rd June

Interviews: Wednesday 10th June

Contact: Sarah Sapsford (Community Engagement Manager) – 01376 574 330, [antibot mailto=”[email protected]”] or www.essexrcc.org.uk.

RCCE registered charity no 1097009 Registered company no 4609624

To apply you must complete an application form and an equality monitoring form, which can be downloaded from RCCE’s website: www.essexrcc.org.uk/Working_for_us or can be provided by contacting us (see above).

For any queries relating to the posts or application process, or informal discussion please call 01376 574 330.