Community, Parish Council & Village
Parish Councillor, Andrew Savage, reports that a canary was found at the end of Pirie Road, West Bergholt last weekend. It was spending most of the time on the ground and was unlikely to survive if not captured. Luckily it was caught and is now being cared for.
If anyone has lost a canary can they please contact Andrew (01206 242015) and he will pass details on to the neighbours who are looking after it.
Help shape NHS decisions – all welcome!The NHS in North East Essex is inviting anyone interested to attend their local Health Forum meeting in Colchester. The main themes for the June 9th meeting include:
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:
The meeting on Monday 9th June takes place between 7pm – 9pm. Please come to the 2nd floor at the Primary Care Centre (upstairs from the Walk-in Centre) in Turner Road, Colchester CO4 5JR.
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://www.neessexccg.nhs.uk/Health%20Forum%20Joining%20Form.html.
An Emergency Plan for West BergholtThis is a plan which has been developed by the Parish Council with the help of Colchester Borough Council and the Emergency Services to help us in the village cope with an unforeseen situation which needs rapid and decisive action. Emergencies can occur with little or no warning and could be caused by many different factors including:
The risk to the village from any of these events is small and difficult to assess. In the event of a situation deemed to be an emergency The Borough Council is the responsible body that will work with the Emergency Services. Our role is strictly to support these actions. The village plan focuses on how The Parish Council would assist in providing an emergency Reception Centre and how it could support vulnerable village residents. The document is deliberately short and hopefully of practical use, to view it click the link – West Bergholt Emergency Plan.
To carry out our role the Parish Council needs access to a team of volunteers who could carry out activities such as staffing a Reception Centre at the Orpen Hall. Various village groups do already have such volunteers and these will be contacted but should you be willing to assist in such activity please contact Harry Stone through the Parish Clerk [antibot mailto=”[email protected]”].
The Parish Council believes that in some emergency situations (e.g. prolonged power failure in severe weather) some vulnerable residents could be at risk. A list of such residents is to be compiled although it is appreciated that holding such information has to be handled sensitively and with the accepted protection. Again existing organisations such as the Care Network and Churches will be contacted but also if a possible resident who it is known has no regular contact from relatives or friends please inform the Parish Clerk. No name will be added without personal contact being made and their agreement.
Locally NE Essex NHS will be introducing a new Hearing Aid service with shorter waiting times and more local access for people over 50 suffering gradual hearing loss.
From June 2nd people in Tendring and Colchester will be able to get their assessment and, if needed, hearing aids fitted in less time as a “one stop” service. At the moment patients sometimes have to wait for several weeks for appointments due to increasing demand and have to come in to Colchester Hospital.
New hearing (audiology) patients will be referred by their GP to the new NHS Community Audiology Service where they can go to clinics at surgeries and clinics locally (see list below). Patients will be assessed for the degree and nature of any hearing loss, and they can then have state-of-the-art free hearing aids fitted there and then if they wish. Those patients already being treated through the Hospital will continue their treatment there, but only new patients who are not medically suitable for the community services will in future be referred to the Hospital.
Dr. Sonica Goel, clinical lead for the project at NE Essex CCG, said: “This new service is a significant improvement for audiology patients now and in future. It costs the NHS roughly the same as the current service, but will offer faster, more responsive and convenient services for patients. It is part of the CCG’s overall approach – getting as much treatment “closer to home” for people as possible, and so freeing up the Hospital to do more of what has to be done in a high-tech acute hospital. All the hearing aids are the best in the business, and of course because this is an NHS service, they are all free to the patient.”
The new North East Essex new NHS Community Audiology Service will be run by GP Care and Scrivens Hearing Care and is now accepting GP referrals. Patients can choose between the two providers, each of whom offers a choice of clinics at several locations:
Telephone Number: 0800 088 3104
Email Address: [antibot mailto=”[email protected]”]
Telephone Number: 0800 085 0372
Email Address: [antibot mailto=”[email protected]”]
Join a sponsored Abseil down Colchester Town Hall on 13th July 2014This is just one of many events that East Anglian Children’s Hospices (EACH) are organizing to support their work supporting families and providing care for children and young people with life-threatening conditions across Cambridgeshire, Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk. They provide care and support wherever the family wishes – in families’ own homes, in the community or at one of their hospices in Ipswich, Milton and Quidenham. Their care teams help children and their families with the emotional and physical challenges they face, helping them to make the most of life.
EACH had already arranged an abseil at Colchester Town Hall in June and that has already sold out so they are now organizing this extra date to Abseil approx 100ft from the roof of Colchester Town Hall!
Entry fees £15 per person, plus minimum sponsorship of £85 for participants aged 17 yrs and over, and £30 for those aged 16 yrs and under (payable on the day or via an online fundraising page).
Minimum age 14 years.
For more information please contact the Essex fundraising team on 01206 848450 or email [antibot mailto=”[email protected]”] or, if you are already convinced, enter with their online entry form.
If abseiling is not for you then to find other events visit the EACH events pages.
The following message about local policing has been received from Essex Police’s Chief Constable, Stephen Kavanagh:
Together with the Police and Crime Commissioner and the Chief Officer team I have decided to align 500 more officers to local policing. I believe the public of Essex want policing delivered locally. For me, it is about locally based, locally accountable, locally led officers, police community support officers (PCSOs) and staff delivering across a range of response, investigation and engagement responsibilities.
The changes are due to come into effect on Monday, September 1, 2014.
As Chief Constable, I have to think carefully about how resources are balanced across the county. I also have to ensure that, operating within a reduced budget, we continue to deliver effective policing to all our communities.
An experienced team within the force has been carefully examining our demand. To give you a sense of the scale, so far six million lines of data, spanning four years, have been reviewed. This work is supported by feedback from communities across Essex, frontline and senior officers, comparisons with other forces and professional judgement on the best way forward.The conclusion I have reached, with Chief Officers, is the need to adjust the current deployment of resources, reducing the number of officers in some specialist functions such as firearms, roads policing and public order and placing more in local policing.
Having discussed this with Nick Alston, the Police and Crime Commissioner, I now want to share my plans with you.
To invest 500 officers in local policing I will align about 400 centrally controlled response officers to the local policing teams and make carefully considered reductions to our firearms, roads policing and public order capabilities.The force retains the right level of resourcing in these important specialist areas. I am committed to policing our road network and the essential task of working with partner agencies and drivers to improve safety. We also maintain the capability to rapidly respond to incidents involving firearms as well as continuing to meet our public order commitments both in Essex and across the region.
These changes support my commitment, shared with the PCC, to ensure Essex has a strong and effective local policing model. Essex Police will continue to have named officers as key points of contact for local communities. They will be supported by locally-based PCSOs, each with designated beats to patrol.
Local policing teams will continue to be led by a district commander. The new officers will provide a round the clock response to local crime and anti-social behaviour. Officers will be part of and accountable to local communities.The district commanders will each have a local policing hub, led by an inspector, to co-ordinate the work of neighbourhood officers, PCSOs, the special constabulary and other local policing staff with community safety partners.
I recognise the value of effective local policing and community engagement and through the summer will be consulting with local communities. This will explore the right structure and frequency for local police, partner and community meetings as I want to ensure they are working as well as they can. It is clear that the existing structure works well in some areas, and less well in other parts of the county.
My plans make clear the commitment to keep local people informed and involved in a way that is sustainable for the future.
In support of the improvements to the local policing model I am delighted to announced that tomorrow, Tuesday, May 20, at 10am I will be launching a recruitment drive to bring new constables into this fantastic organisation. Welcoming new recruits is vital to a strong and vibrant force and continues to be affordable.
The force also continues to develop ambitious plans in other areas. These include:
- Introducing dedicated domestic abuse teams in each of our local policing areas. This will ensure skilled officers are able to work closely with partner agencies to tackle the critically important issues surrounding domestic abuse in our county.
- Transforming the way the public can access policing services recognising the importance of face to face contact as well as web-based, self-help services such as on-line crime reporting.
- Making ever better use of technology, enabling officers to spend more time on visible patrol, or with the public, and less time at the station or dealing with administrative matters.
- Investing in a policing estate fit for future decades.
I believe these changes are a positive move. They will help us continue to reduce crime, bring offenders to justice, improve public satisfaction and work as part of the communities we serve.
Bergholt Heath YFC – Results w/e 18th MayThe last match of the season for Bergholt Heath saw the Under 15’s back in the League Cup final for the second successive year, this time up against newly crowned league champions Notley Youth, at Wivenhoe Town FC. Once again Bergholt were without injured striker James, and the cup tied Joe.
Bergholt started the match brightly on a dry and bobbly pitch, and despite playing against a wind stronger than expected, took the match to Notley with the strikers working hard to prevent the Notley defenders having time on the ball to play their usual long-ball style to their fast running strikers. Apart from a couple of early chances, this pressure was working and pressure paid off with a goal around the 15 minute mark: Aaron came up from right back to pick Ben out with a throw on the edge of theNotley area. Ben got free from his marker to whip in a superb cross that Max rose to head powerfully home at the far post.
Unfortunately the lead only lasted a few minutes when from their second corner Notley equalised – again with a header. Notleywere continuing to try and hit the ball over the top to use the advantage of the wind and their pacey strikers, which kept theBergholt defenders on their toes dealing with a succession of headers. In contrast, Bergholt got the ball down and played through the midfield at every opportunity.
However around 5 minutes before half time the Notley long ball game finally paid off when another ball was played over the top. Sam miss-judged the flight in the wind and for once missed his header. Jamie and Harry tried to get back to cover as the ball ran through with the striker in pursuit, but he had a relatively easy job of poking the ball home past Connor who had not really progressed out of his goal to narrow the angle. HT: 1-2.
At half time the Bergholt manager asked the officials for some protection as there was a tendency for the opposition to jump at players, or pull them back, rather than concentrating on the ball – which was generally going unpunished in the first half. Within minutes of the second half starting, the first yellow card of the game was shown to a Notley player for pulling back Ollie. Another yellow card was shown mid way through the half when yet again a player jumped at the Bergholt defender without too much concern of where the ball was, and this was followed by yet another card for the same offence a few minutes later.
As the game wore on Bergholt had come into the match more and more and half chances came – the best of which fell to Ollie who exchanged passes with Ciaran and curled a superb effort just wide of the goal from outside the area. Ben was pulled back and then fouled in the area all in the same move for what looked like an obvious penalty, but the referee waved away protests.
For the last 10 minutes Bergholt switched to 3 at the back and moved Sam up front to force the game. This tactic worked and saw Bergholt force several corners in the last few minutes, two of which saw Sam get his head to the ball but unfortunately in neither occasion could he direct the ball on target. Bergholt’s final chance came after another corner was cleared but only to Leo, who set Jamie up to hit a half volley from 25 yards that was aiming for the top corner until a Notley defender got his head to the ball to deflect it for Bergholt’s final corner of the game, which unfortunately came to nothing. There was still time, however, for the referee to send off a Notley player when he showed him a second yellow card – apparently for swearing.
Final score: Bergholt Heath 1-2 Notley Youth
This match concluded the Season for Bergholt Heath. The Club is hoping that during next season, if not before the 2014-15 season starts in September, it will have been awarded FA Charter Club Status.
The Player Awards Evening will take place at the Orpen Hall on Saturday 14th June, starting 6pm. The Club AGM will take place at the Queens Head PH on Wednesday 25th June, starting 8pm.
Beware of bogus callers – Colchester woman connedBe aware of bogus callers – they have tricked their way into a woman’s house in Colchester. Two men claiming to be from the council knocked on the door of a property in Rochdale Way, Greensted, at around 7pm on Saturday, May 17 asking to check the water pipes. A woman who lives in the property was alone and allowed them in. Whilst in the premises they went upstairs and stole some jewellery.
The two men had Irish accents and were both described as white.
Anybody with any information about this incident or who may have seen anybody acting suspiciously in the area is asked to contact Colchester CID on Essex Police 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
For more information on staying safe, go to the Essex Police Be Safe pages on www.essex.police.uk.
Burglary HotspotAs a related topic, for the first time since we started receiving neighbourhood crime updates a part of West Bergholt has been identified as a ‘burglary hotspot’ – this is as part of an operation intended to reduce burglary by identifying and then concentrating on areas which, following incidents of crime, are currently considered ‘burglary hotspots,’ these areas will change in response to crime trends.
It is hoped that Neighbourhood Watch co-ordinators and members, as well as other members of our local communities can assist the police by keeping vigilant, and through reporting any suspicious activity, which could relate to burglaries. To report non-emergency incidents, or to give non-emergency information, please telephone 101, and, as always, dial 999 in an emergency.
If you have questions about local NHS Services you may be interested in attending the North East Essex NHS Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) open Board Meeting on Tuesday, May 27th at 2.30pm at the Primary Care Centre (2nd floor, above the walk-in centre) Turner Road, Colchester CO4 5JR.
Everyone is welcome to attend the CCG Board Meeting, which is held in public. There will be a question time session during the meeting when members of the public are welcome to question the Board on any relevant issue.
The Board Agendas and supporting papers are published on the CCG website at www.neessexccg.nhs.uk (click on “Library” then “Board Meeting” or click directly here: http://tinyurl.com/9weepq7 ).
The Agenda for May includes :
Celebrate Local VolunteersCelebrating local volunteers is at the cornerstone of the upcoming Annual Parish Meeting on 21st May starting at 7pm in the John Lampon Hall (adjacent to Orpen Hall). Refreshments will also be available as will the opportunity to discuss other important issues for the Village such as:
Together with the Police and Crime Commissioner and the Chief Officer team I have decided to align 500 more officers to local policing. I believe the public of Essex want policing delivered locally. For me, it is about locally based, locally accountable, locally led officers, police community support officers (PCSOs) and staff delivering across a range of response, investigation and engagement responsibilities.