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Hillhouse Bluebells 2015

Hillhouse Bluebells 2015 FlyerHillhouse Bluebells 2015

Friends of Hillhouse Wood (in conjunction with the Woodland Trust) once again invite you to attend their annual Bluebell Open Day, timed to catch the Bluebells at their best, on Saturday 25th April 2015.  Having achieved major media credits in the past few years with The Times (April 2013) saying it was:

A superb springtime wood with a flood of bluebells enhanced by the light created by coppicing of hazels.  If you’re lucky, you’ll hear blackbirds and nightingales.

… in an article featuring 30  of the best wild days out in Spring, The Telegraph this year saying:

One of the Top Ten spots to see bluebells in the UK

and then, the BBC featuring the bluebell woods in the BBC2’s show “Great British Garden Revival”, it is really worth a visit.

As ever, Steve Hallam will lead the guided walk, starting at 2pm (weather permitting) from the Old Church to see the bluebells and other spring flowers, butterflies and spring bird life, perhaps including early nightingales.

Maps, nature trail guides and flora and fauna guides can be collected from the Friends’ Information Point at St Mary’s Old Church.  Refreshments will be available from the Friends of St Mary’s Old Church.

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Premises & Recreation – 14th April 2015

The Premises & Recreation Sub-Committee of West Bergholt Parish Council met on 14th April when they discussed a range of issues affecting Orpen Hall & playing fields such as dogs & puppies, football & Bluebells.

Premises & Recreation Report

Sub-committee meeting held on Thursday 14th April 2015 at the John Lampon Hall

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

Victoria Beckwith Cole in attendance.

1.

Orpen Hall
a)   Vicky has heard from firm supplying chairs and has been sent a diagram of how to use the locking clips. VBC
b)   Hall cleaning. Deep cleaning of JL Hall carried out during Easter holidays. Some areas need further attention. Vicky will hold the cheque until these have been rectified. VBC
c)    Security lights at 4 corners of hall changed to LED and are very effective and make the car park much safer.
d)   Some posters for the table top sale held this last month still need removing from village.
e)   Meeting held with Bluebells. Price for hiring hall agreed for the coming year.
f)    Light in main hall requires fixing. VBC
g)    A notice board has been purchased for the kitchen. This will display Health and Safety notice and any information for regular users. VBC
h)   Proposed to attach dado rails along walls in JL Hall to prevent tables from scraping the walls and paint. Murray will ask Scott Thorpe to quote for this job. PW

2

Play equipment
 “Play Equip” has quoted for repairs to play area rubber flooring with guarantee. Planned for 10th June. PW

3

Football Club
Business case re buying of mower discussed and agreed at Finance meeting. PW

4

Dog Warden
Phil met with the dog warden from CBC who investigated specific areas. A dog bin has been located in the Brewery site.
Discussed ordering of new  “anti-dog-fouling” notices. PW

5

Dogs on Orpen Hall site.
Propose to send letter to Football club reminding them that dogs are not allowed on the Lorkin Daniell Field. PW

6

Puppy training in hall.
Some members expressed concern that this was held in the Hall where children are playing at other times. Phil said that the hall was always left clean.

7

Communication
a)   It was proposed by Phil that there would be no Premises sub-committee meeting in July, August and December unless there was urgent business to discuss.
b)   There was an excellent response to the Annual Parish meeting and this was most successful.
c)    Superfast broadband. Many areas of the village still have very slow broadband. We need to discuss how we can get an improved service. Because we have County Broadband providing some service it appears that we do not qualify for Superfast Essex. This does not help the residents who currently have a poor service or no service at all. As a Parish Council we need to find a method of dealing with the problem. How can we achieve an improved service? Agenda Item

Date of next meeting – Thursday 14th May 2015

 

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Environment & Highways – 9th April 2015

The Environment & Highways  Sub-Committee of West Bergholt Parish Council met on 9th April 2015 when they discussed a range of issues including village handyman, traffic safety, beacon, footways & grit spreader.

Environment & Highways Report

Sub-committee Meeting held on Thursday 9th April 2015 in John Lampon Hall

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

 

1

Village Handyman
Arranged for Steve to collect and store the salt bags from around the village.
Ivor arranged to cut the hedge at the Methodist church. Jobs for Steve and Ivor to be arranged by email by Harry. Job specifications agreed between Steve and Harry.		 HS

2

 Traffic Safety Plan
All proposed yellow lines and road signs and 20mph limits have been signed off. The yellow lines apparently will be done in April and the speed limit signage in July. We wait for further confirmation. New Church Road will need potholes repaired and? resurfacing. Agenda item

3

Beacon
The post for the beacon has been put in place by the village sign at the end of Chapel Road. The metal beacon has been stored in the interim. Agenda item

4

Footways
A village resident has proposed the need for a footway along Nayland Road to make it safer for children to walk to school. The suggestion should be sent to the Neighbourhood Plan group as part of the questionnaire proposals. Agenda item

5

Grit spreader
Harry has been trying to contact Tuckwells about the function problems with the grit spreader. He is currently waiting for a response from the firm. HS

6.

Areas of work in village
Agreed to produce a map showing sites of our responsibility in the village. HS

Date of next meeting – Thursday 14th May 2015

 

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Road Closures April – May

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.

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Part Time Job Vacancy – RCCE

RCCE logoPart Time Job Vacancy – RCCE

Partnerships Officer
Circa £24,000 pro rata for 2 days/week (£9,600)

Rural Community Council of Essex (RCCE) is a leading charity working in Essex for over 85 years.  RCCE is looking for a motivated and organised individual with proven excellent administration skills to assist in supporting its partnership work on a part time basis.

The successful applicant will produce detailed minutes for the Essex Rural Partnership and support other areas of partnership work, including arranging events, communications with partners and implementing actions to deliver the Essex Rural Strategy.  They will be confident communicating with people at all levels and enthusiastic about rural communities.

To apply for this post you must complete and submit an application form and an equality monitoring form.  These forms can be downloaded and completed in MSWord format, or downloaded and printed in pdf format to be completed by hand.  All are available at http://www.essexrcc.org.uk/Working_for_us/Partnerships_Officer.aspx or can be requested to be posted in hard copy.

Application deadline: 10.00am Wednesday 22nd April

Interviews: Thursday 30th April

Contact: 01376 574 335 or www.essexrcc.org.uk

RCCE registered charity no 1097009  Registered company no 4609624

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

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Hay fever advice from local doctors

Blossom - guaranteed to bring a smile unless you have hay fever
Brings a smile unless you have hay fever

Hay fever advice from local doctors

The onset of spring with the sunshine and blossoming trees may brighten up some peoples’ lives, for others it means the start of hay fever misery.

The condition, which affects around one in four people nationally, is an allergy to pollen and usually results in sneezing, blocked noses or itchy eyes.

Local GP, Dr Gary Sweeney who is also Chair of the North East Essex Clinical Commissioning Group, said:

Normally around this time of the year, when the weather starts to warm up, more and more of us start experiencing hay fever symptoms. This is when different pollens start to grow which can affect people’s daily lives as well as interfere with their sleep.

However help is at hand through your local pharmacist who can recommend a range of treatment to reduce symptoms including nasal sprays, eye drops and tablets. There are also herbal remedies which are also available over the counter or from chemists.

But the condition can be more serious for some people – particularly those with long term conditions such as asthma.  Dr Sweeney added:

People with these conditions should be very careful about what they take to treat hay fever and if they feel the condition is getting worse, they should consult with their GP.

There are some measures we can take to alleviate some of the symptoms.

  • Stay tuned to broadcast pollen count updates,
  • Staying indoors when the pollen count is very high and keep windows,
  • Avoid gardening or cutting grass.

The Self Care Forum was founded in 2011 by doctors, nurses and patients’ organisations to provide information and advice for common conditions, long-term conditions and healthy living.  Fact sheets and symptom check lists to help people become more expert in preventing and managing health conditions at www.selfcareforum.org.  Its hay fever guide is at http://www.selfcareforum.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/hayfever.pdf.

NHS online advice about hay fever is at http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Hay-fever/Pages/Introduction.aspx.

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Neighbourhood Plan Exhibition & Consultation

Exhibition of the West Bergholt Neighbourhood Plan project

Neighbourhood Plan Exhibition & Consultation

How will West Bergholt change over the next 20 years?

LeafletVisit the Neighbourhood Plan exhibition at the Orpen Hall, on Saturdays 11th and 18th April 11am to 4pm, to find out how the Neighbourhood Plan Group would respond to this question; refreshments will be available.  But the Neighbourhood Plan Group really need your views as well and are looking for a response from as many people as possible.  It takes about 20 minutes to view the exhibition, if you want to discuss any of the proposals, members of the steering group will be available.

Do you like their suggestions? If not, tell them why? THIS IS YOUR CHANCE, TO HAVE YOUR SAY.

Find out more on our website at:

 

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Celebration of Words & Music

The Bevington Organ in St Mary’s Old Church

Celebration of Words & Music

The Friends of St Mary’s Old Church are presenting a Celebration of Words & Music in the historic building of St Mary’s Old Church.  The Victorian hand pumped organ made by Bevington and Sons will be played by Tom Cogan (former Director of Music at Holmwood House School), and there will be readings by local actors. Tickets £7.50, under 16’s free.  Refreshments will be available after the concert.  All proceeds from this concert, which is on Saturday 9th May (6pm start), will go towards the upkeep of the Old Church and churchyard.  We look forward to welcoming you to this community event.

For more information and to buy tickets please call Jane Lloyd 01206 240167, Teresa Morris 01206 241878, Gill and Mike Poole 01206 240512.

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Notice of Local Elections 2015

Election-2015Notice of Local Elections 2015

The Electoral services Officer of Colchester Borough Council has issued two notices of elections inviting nominations for:

  • West Bergholt Parish Councillors (up to 11)
  • Borough Councillor for West Bergholt & Eight Ash Green (1)

Nomination papers must be delivered to the Returning Officer by no later than 4pm on Thursday 9th April 2015, for any contested seats, the poll will take place on Thursday 7th May 2015.

For full details, including those relating to applications for postal or proxy votes, please read the official notices:

Any enquiries about these can be made to:

Electoral Services Officer, Colchester Borough Council
Rowan House, 33 Sheepen Road, Colchester, CO3 3WG
Tel. 01206 282235

 

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Holy Week 2015

Easter crosses for Holy week 2015Holy Week 2015

As we approach Easter there are a lot of services taking place in West Bergholt during Holy Week leading up to Easter and of course for Easter itself.  Services will be taking pace in both the Methodist and St Mary’as Churches, those we are aware of to date are:

Methodist

At the Methodist Church the following services are taking place, all to be led by Rev Ruth Ridge:-

  • Friday 3 April  – Good Friday -11.00am service.
  • Saturday 4 April  – 8.00pm a short reflective service.
  • Sunday 5 April  – Easter Day  – 11.00am service with Holy Communion.

St Mary’s

  • Sunday 29 March – Palm Sunday – 9.30am Joint Holy Communion Service.
  • Thursday 2 April – Maundy Thursday – 8pm Passover Meal and Communion Service. Please could you let Dorothy Chadborn know if you would like to come so that she knows how many to cook for (there is a list in church or you can phone her on 240541).
  • Saturday 4 April – Family Fun Easter Eggstravaganza – 10-12 noon – there will lots of activities for Children and their parents to enjoy, including a prayer station.
  • Sunday 5 April – Easter Sunday – 9.30am Family Holy Communion Service led by Rev Mandy Elmes.

Colchester Service

Friday 3 April  – Good Friday at the Mercury Theatre – @ 7.30pm – A time to reflect through music and word, led by the Bishop of Colchester, Rt Rev Roger Morris

Everyone is welcome to any or all (!) of the above services.