Community, Parish Council & Village
Congratulations to Mark & Gill on the birth of James, and also to Gemma & Andy on the safe arrival of Samuel!
The following dates listing services and events up to the end of June, have been advised to us by St Mary’s, note italicised services are not in the village. Continue reading “St Mary’s Update – 24th May”
The Premises & Recreation Sub-Committee of West Bergholt Parish Council met on 2nd May when, among other items, they discussed asbestos, licences, Poors Land, bollards, MUGA, Orpen Hall toilets, storage and BHYFC.
| Councillors present | Brian Butcher (Chair), Murray Harlow (Vice chair), Jenny Church, Harry Stone, Bob Tyrrell. |
| Apologies |
Also in attendance Victoria Beckwith-Cole (Hall Administrator)
2. |
Matters from Last Meeting |
|
2.1
|
Health and Safety QuestionnaireVBC sourcing suitable course and will report back at the next meeting. |
VBC |
3. |
Clerks & Administrator’s Report |
|
3.1 |
Bar LicenceLW has been in contact with CBC Premises Licence, £70 is due 1st September 2016. LW had given a copy of the Licence to BB. BB to check with Orpen Players what involvement Bernard (Social Club) has when it comes to them selling alcohol at their productions. |
BB |
3.2 |
Hall Administrator Holiday CoverPrior to the meeting it was discussed and agreed that Zoe, the cleaner, had agreed to cover the Hall Administrator’s holiday. |
|
3.3 |
TablesMore research/investigation into cost/storage/quantity will be sought by VBC for next meeting. BB will inform the Finance Committee of potential forthcoming expenditure once further costings were known. |
VBC/BB |
3.4 |
Draft T&C for one-off hirersin progress will update at next meeting. |
VBC |
3.5 |
BollardsVBC now have copies of keys for both bollards. The yellow bollard key is yet to be out in the key box. VBC to contact JG-R to arrange receipt of the key. |
VBC/
JG-R |
3.6 |
Scouts – Asbestos SurveyLW will chase the Scouts again. |
LW |
4. |
Provision of ‘MUGA Spectator’ benches |
|
| Following on from last month’s meeting with BYG offer to contribute towards the benches it was agreed this would not be necessary/forthcoming. VBC is waiting on quotes before work is instructed and benches be put in positon. PC to agree location. POST MEETING NOTE the matter of benches will be taken forward by the Environment committee.
BB brought up the MUGA and its usage and that we should be maximising the use of it. BB would like to know what the planning conditions for use are, if any it is thought use is at the discretion of the PC. HS mentioned that VBC and he are on the West Bergholt Sports Facility – Advisory Group – who happen to have a meeting on 5th April and invited BB to attend, which unfortunately, he could not. VBC confirmed that as Chairman the Minutes will be copied to BB. To be discussed further at next month’s meeting. |
||
5. |
Bergholt Heath Youth Football Club |
|
| BB and MH met with Mick and Terry of the West Bergholt Football Club before this meeting and BB confirmed there was an understanding on – way forward which BB will progress. VBC confirmed that BHYFC had not come back with a list of managers to enable them to use the Orpen Hall toilets. | BB | |
6. |
Refurbishment of Orpen Hall Toilets |
|
| Final drawings had been approved. LW had chased three potential companies to see if they wanted to tender. BB said the time for works to be done was from 16th July to 29th August 2016 – time is running out and may have to look at alternative companies to tender. VBC to liaise with hirers nearer the time to notify them of the works and alternative toilets to use while works are in progress. The refurbish will not be able to be phased. | BB/LW/VBC | |
7. |
Storage Units |
|
| a) Orpen Players – Roger is on holiday when proposed meeting was intended and BB now has his telephone number and will liaise with Roger and HS to arrange meeting up.
b) Bluebell – In a separate meeting Bluebells showed interest that racking could be a way forward. MH has a potential supplier and will liaise with Jackie Leach what is required and come back at the next meeting with a design and quotes. The PC has not yet agreed to fund. c) Flower Club – it was agreed that their cabinet in the garage be moved to the meeting room upstairs. This would then leave a gap between the two garages which will need to be bricked up when the WC’s are refurbished. d) Environment Equipment – BB made enquiries to seek which option would be allowed by CBC to construct a new storage unit to the front left-hand corner of the carpark – unfortunately, this was not forthcoming and prior to this meeting BB had spoken with CS and it was agreed architects would be needed to draw up plans and hence obtaining a quote for the work to eventually submit to planning, but not until a pre-app had been made. |
BB/HS/MH | |
8. |
AOB |
|
| 1) Queen Elizabeth Birthday Celebrations – An accident occurred when a member of the pubic tripped over the ramp at the back of the JL Hall. BB gave VBC a suggested template accident form to implement rather than what is currently being used. Note to Environment Committee as a starting point to paint yellow lines along the edges until a potentially suitable solution can be agreed to be sent by BB. | JGR/
VBC |
|
| 2) Poors Land – VBC made BB aware of a hirer wishing to use the Poors Land for a football birthday party. “Re-seeding” is to take place in middle May and the football pitches will not be available for use. VBC to go back to hirer and ascertain how much of the field is required and reiterate that the football pitches are out of use but any area outside this can be used. | VBC | |
| 3) In a prior meeting with the Orpen Players it was asked if the PC could look into revising the number of seats at their productions as the size of the chairs have changed. BB has taken this on board and after this meeting will measure and discuss this whilst the Orpen Players are using the Hall. BB has asked VBC to look into what the fire rating is on the existing chairs. | BB | |
| 4) West Bergholt Football Club – according to the Agreement every three years the rent is reviewed. 2016 is the year and it was agreed to increase the rent from £450 to £475 and VBC to issue invoice to them. | VBC | |
| 5) Storage – All other storage hirers to be increased by 5%. | VBC | |
| Meeting closed at 8.50pm | ||
9. |
Date of next meeting |
|
| 6th June 2016 – 7.30pm John Lampon Hall |
The Environment & Highways Sub-Committee of West Bergholt Parish Council met on 12th May and discussed a range of issues including Youth Football, MUGA Benches, Parking, Storage, Handymen & ongoing actions. Continue reading “Environment & Highways Report – 12th May 2016”
Hopefully you will have seen the recent news item and/or the presentation given at last month’s Parish Council meeting. There are a number of possible options available to the village for Better Broadband from a range of service providers. Of these County Broadband and Voneus are already actively looking to engage the village with their proposed plans by both direct mailing and local meetings.
The following dates listing services and events up to the end of June, have been advised to us by St Mary’s, note italicised services are not in the village. Don’t forget – the collection on a Sunday morning is now being taken during the service just before communion. Continue reading “St Mary’s Update – 10th May”
Essex Challenge launches with a Families Included PrizeEssex County Council are launching a new initiative called Essex Challenge Prize on 12th May. The Families Included Prize is the first in a series of Challenge Prizes. Challenge Prizes are a tried and tested method of generating a broader range of original ideas to solve difficult problems. Over the next few years ECC intend to run a series of prizes to address the diverse issues facing Essex. Along the way they will offer a range of support to nurture and develop the ideas of individuals, communities and organisations, as well as awarding a prize for the winning solution.
We are looking for great ideas, projects and solutions from Essex that involve local families with young children in opportunities that enrich their lives. Ideas can relate to any aspect of life including personal and social experiences. They can look to address the problem across Essex or focus on a local community. All we ask is that solutions come from people or organisations in Essex and will make a positive difference to Essex families.
Entry will be open between 12 May and 14 July 2016. After this a team of assessors and judges will choose the most promising ideas to go forward to receive further support to test and progress their solution. The winner will receive a prize of £10,000 to help them take this forward. We don’t know what the winning idea will look like. It might be a product, a service or a clever bit of tech. It could be completely new or an adapted way of doing things.
Bluebells & Dawn Chorus Guided WalksGuided walks at Hillhouse Wood are a regular feature of the calendar, Steve Hallam reports on the two Spring walks deciding that 2016 is a year of ‘firsts’:
Each Spring the Friends of Hillhouse Wood organise two guided walks – one to look at the Bluebells, and a Dawn Chorus one. These are normally 2-3 weeks apart, to match each one to when its subjects are at their best. However this year things were different, and for the first time ever we ran both walks on the same weekend. Continue reading “Guided Walks at Hillhouse”
Great Interest in Better BroadbandLast week’s Parish Council meeting saw more than 40 residents attending in order to hear Aaron Williams’ presentation on the options available for better broadband delivery to West Bergholt. His presentation set out the options available to the village, comprising improved connectivity via Continue reading “Great Interest in Better Broadband”
Hillhouse Wood for Nightingales & moreIf you miss out on the guided Bluebell walk today, why not come to the Dawn Chorus walk tomorrow morning? Led by Steve Hallam, this walk offers the chance to see nightingales and many other brilliant choristers. Previous years’ walks have seen and/or heard over 20 species, for example, in 2013 the following list was collected:
The walk will start from the Old Church at 3:45am on Sunday 8th May. You should bring warm clothing, stout footwear, a flask of hot drink and a torch – please note that the walk will only go ahead weather permitting.
If you haven’t been on one of these walks before you will find it a rewarding and delightful experience at a very special time for the wood’s varied wildlife; if you would like to know more then check out this report from the 2013 dawn chorus walk.
Other useful links are:
Local Knitting Club, Knit One Down One, who regularly meet in the White Hart, were the featured knitting club in the recent edition of Simply Knitting. One of the founders, Julie Bennett, was already running an after-school sewing club (Sewcool) when she had the idea of an adults knitting club, another member, Kate Cornes, joked: Continue reading “Knit One Down One Featured”