WELCOME TO FELSTED
Located in north-west Essex and with a population of around 3,000, the Parish of Felsted has at its heart the historic village of Felsted, surrounded by Greens and Hamlets, in a beautiful rural setting.
Felsted retains the underlying charm and attraction of a rural parish, with the community and village at its heart. This is what attracts people to the area and what we as the Parish Council see as our historic duty to protect. Preservation of our heritage is balanced with a duty to ensure that the Parish thrives and meets the future needs of our community.
Winner of RCCE Village of the Year 2015
“One of the best places to live in the East of England” – The Sunday Times (2013)
LATEST NEWS
Holy Cross Church
The Parochial Church Council has dissolved and in the interregnum period the administration of the churchs will be undertaken by the Rural Dean and the Archdeacon.
Until a new vicar is appointed, the PC understand that there will be some reduction in services at both churches.
The Parish Council hope that a new vicar will be appointed soon and that both churches will once again fully occupy their important places in their communities.
Parish Council Office Opening Hours
From the beginning of June the Parish Council Office Opening Hours are changing to:
Tuesdays 10am – 12.30pm
Please feel free to drop in no appointment necessary.
Pre-Weekend Update from UDC on Willows Green and Milch Hill
Please see below an update from UDC’s Head of Enforcement:
I am conscious that the second Bank Holiday is upon us. I will provide a current position statement.
I will start with a summary of where we are:
Willows Green (Site 1)
This has a Temporary Stop Notice (TSN) served on 5 May
The TSN was apparently immediately breached. The sanction for this is prosecution through the Magistrates. This is still an option for UDC, but this requires securing Magistrates Court space, sometime hence, and is not considered the immediate effective route at this stage.
A Temporary Injunction was served on this site on 7 May. With a High Court Hearing on 13/5. At the request of the travellers this was adjourned, to a Hearing on 18/6. This retains the injunction. There was activity on this site on the morning of 13/5. The travellers claimed that they were in occupation of the site at the time of the hearing. Following site visits by officers on 13/5; the Court were content that the site wasn’t occupied by travellers, at the time of the hearing, and this was made very clear in the adjournment judgment. Clearly any occupation would bring in welfare considerations etc.
The Council has been made aware of further caravans being brought on the site with some indications of lights overnight (either alluding to or actually occupying the site).
Milch Hill (Site 2)
No activity had occurred on this site, but this site was highlighted to the Council from numerous sources over the past fortnight, as a likely second site. Fears were exacerbated by planned Affinity Works after the Bank Holiday to install Mains Water.
On the basis of this information, the ownership of the site and the activities on Site 1 (in close proximity), UDC secured a Temporary Injunction on this site which was served on Saturday 16/5. This has a hearing scheduled for 2 June.
Council Officers have been monitoring this site. We have received reports of activities around the site, but currently nothing on the site.
I have been liasing with Affinity Water who in knowledge of the injunction has taken its own legal advice and has called off the planned works. If they haven’t already they will inform the local residents.
Looking Forward Into this Bank Holiday Weekend
Both the sites are now subject to Temporary Injunctions. It is for the Court to enforce the injunctions. Any action from the Courts would be on the basis of evidence provided by the requesting authority (UDC).
We are aware of alleged breaches at Site 1; this appears to be seeping actions of additional caravans and some activity. As I have stated there is currently no apparent activity on Site 2.
To Manage Expectations: Any further activity, even after hours, will be progressed during office hours as this would have to be presented to the Court, this is not an emergency issue for the Courts. Therefore, any evidence gathered, would not be able to be progressed through the Courts until working hours. As such local residents should not expect any Council Officers to attend the site over the weekend. Council Officers would not be able to physically prevent any incursions or activity on the site; and as you appreciate I do need to put the safety of officers at the top of my considerations.
Although this is understandably worrying for those locally, this would not be considered an emergency if referred through the Council’s out of hours channels. However, I will add the Council continues to take this matter very seriously and will continue to act robustly, within the confines of the process. The process is now very set in office time and there is nothing either physically or legally that can now be achieved out of hours.
We have no indications of what will happen over the weekend. Both sites have impending High Court dates regarding their injunctions. Officers will be agile and ready to move on Tuesday should any activity occur. That is the earliest time for any action. I am confident that anyone planning activity over the weekend is well aware of the confines of the system.
The Role of the Police
Throughout, officers have liaised with the police on the matter. I should clarify that currently the police have no enforcing role regarding the injunction. They have no right to arrest persons for breaching the injunction or to seize equipment etc. Any arrest powers can only be on instruction by the Courts; we are certainly not at that stage.
The police also would not have powers to prevent any access to the site.
The police’s role is solely around any issues of Breach of the Peace and any other alleged crime and would be contactable through the usual emergency channels.