Community, Parish Council & Village
St Mary’s Table Tennis Club is no more after 11 years. The club which played in the Colchester & District leagues achieved some success over the years but reducing numbers of players have meant the club had to stop. Read more in the next edition of the Bulletin (archive copies here).
An update on this project, which will necessitate some overnight closures of the A12 Colchester Bypass in July, is now available on our website here.
The new junction will serve an area of redevelopment land to the south of the A12 in the vicinity of Weston Homes Community Stadium, enabling the development of residential areas and other mixed uses.
It will form a direct link between the A12 and the new Northern Approaches Road, and serve the relocated BP Services and the proposed Park and Ride.
This years Historic Vehicle Show takes place on Saturday and Sunday 23/24 July in the fields off Nayland Road in the village beginning at 10am. Over 500 historic vehicles, trade stands, static exhibitions and charity stalls, a parade of Suffolk horses and quad bike plus other attractions will be on view. The arena events on Saturday include a 70th Battle of Britain fly-past by a Spitfire and helicopter plus vehicle parades.
Members and guests enjoyed the annual outing to Carters Vineyard in Great Horkesley. The history of the vineyard from inception followed by a tour of the wine making process was fascinating. Before lunch a selection of wines were tasted including red, white and sparkling.
Join the Friends of Hillhouse Wood for a Butterfly, Dragonfly & Summer Insect Walk on Saturday 17th July. Joe Firmin and Philip Smith will lead a summer insect walk in and near the wood, offering a chance to see whiteletter hairstreaks and other special
butterflies plus some unusual dragonflies and damselflies.
Meet at the Old Church at 2:30pm (weather permitting).
Vice president Bea Girkin took the meeting as the president attended the National Federation AGM in Cardiff. A delegate is required to report on the County Annual Meeting in Clacton later this year, 3 other members may attend at £5 each.
After the committee meeting at the president’s home on 29 June a programme planning meeting follows at 11am. Please bring along suggestions for 2011.
Contributions to the stall at the school fayre can be brought at 1pm or taken to the president’s home the day before.
Maureen Williams from SAGA spoke about the various services and holidays available from the company. 
The recent Summer Fayre held in the grounds of the school raised £2,000. Thank you to all the organisations who took part.
A Paper Evening is taking place on Thursday 8 July in Heathlands school hall New Church Road from 7pm to 10pm. Entry is £2 with 11 therapists offering different treatments for a mere £5 each. Money raised will go to Breast Cancer Care and school funds. For further information on advanced tickets call 01206 240312.
Colchester Borough Council is supporting Recycle Week and is encouraging residents to recycle their small electrical and electronic equipment (anything with a battery or plug) at local Recycling Centres for Household Waste.
What can be recycled?
Waste electrical and electronic equipment that can be recycled includes:
Nearly 40% of UK residents say they are ‘electrical lovers’ with a quarter missing out on time with family and friends, and 33% losing sleep to spend time with gadgets such as laptops, mobile phones and iPods. Each of us accumulates an average of three new electrical items a year, or 173 million nationally, but only 1 in 5 small electrical items gets recycled each year. The valuable materials such as silver that these items contain can be used again which saves precious new resources from being used. When recycled, just one toaster can provide enough steel to make 25 new cans.
Where can residents reuse or recycle electrical and electronic equipment?
Recycling Centres for Household Waste in the Colchester area are at Shrub End, West Mersea and Lawford. Click here to find the nearest site and information on all items that are accepted there.
Alternatively unwanted working electrical and electronic equipment can find a new home by donating them to charities, including the British Heart Foundation, or on reuse websites. Click here for charity and reuse website contacts.
De-clutter your e-clutter
Nearly 40% of UK residents have at least one electrical item from the last decade stored unused at home. So whether clearing out cupboards, the attic or shed during Recycle Week or throughout the year residents can give all their old, broken or unwanted small electricals the chance to be useful again. There’s no need to hang on to these items due to not being sure of what to do with them or hoping they will come in handy one day.
Residents can pledge to recycle their waste electrical and electronic equipment, enter a prize draw and find more interesting facts and tips by visiting the Recycle Week website.
Another step forward was made in our quest to provide high-speed broadband services to our village on Tuesday 15th June when County Broadband carried out an access point survey.
It is necessary to identify suitable sites to locate the access points that will fulfil two purposes. One or more of these access points will provide termination points between the village and the broadband network whilst others will distribute the radio signals that underpin the service to our residents and businesses. A number of sites were identified that will be fed into a network planning software tool to determine those sites that provide optimal coverage. The survey will also clarify how many access points the village will need to meet user demand, which in turn will determine the cost of providing service into the village.
We still await the outcome of our grant application to Essex County Council, which will help meet the costs associated with service provision. Confirmation of this decision is expected at the end of July.