NEWS

We are very pleased to advise that the play areas around the Parish are now open.

We have installed Covid related signage to help remind people of the rules we must all follow, along with a few simple, but sensible, precautions we can all take to help keep ourselves and others safe.

During the lockdown period we have undertaken a number of upgrades and improvements to the games areas, including new edging and play bark where needed.

The largest project undertaken was in the Mutli-Use Games Area (MUGA), sited next to the main village playing field.

With the area having been well used since being installed in 2009, we felt it was extremely important to bring this much loved and valuable village asset back up to scratch.

We have installed two brand new sets of recessed/integral 5 aside goals, with new basketball hoops fixed permanently at either end of the MUGA.

The surface has also been professionally repaired and the games lines resprayed.

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ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATION ACT 1984 – SECTION 14(1)

Temporary Traffic Regulation Order of Stebbing Road, Garnetts Lane, Felsted

Please click on the following link https://one.network/?tm=117724958 to find details of the intended closure of Stebbing Road, Garnetts Lane, due to commence on 14th July 2020 for 10 days. The closure is required for the safety of the public and workforce while Gigaclear Limited undertakes Installation of fibre optic cables in the area for fibre optic broadband.

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Please be aware that  Felsted Parish Council will not be opening our play areas today.

Opening is at the discretion of each Parish Council and, having attended a safety seminar yesterday, we are arranging for safety signs and safety measures to be put in place. We expect safety measures to be ready by Monday 13th July, but will be following Government guidance.

During lockdown we have improved some equipment, with additional work  being undertaken the week after next to replace the Memorial Field play bark and edging, so this area will not be fully open until after the work is completed.

The safety of children is of the highest priority to Felsted Parish Council and we appreciate your support and cooperation.

Graham Harvey

Chair, Felsted Parish Council

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Please see the following press release from Uttlesford regarding their Business and Charity Grant scheme:

Applications are now open for the Uttlesford Discretionary Business Grant scheme.
Uttlesford District Council has been allocated approximately £1 million of government funding to support certain businesses and charities that have been impacted by Covid-19 but were not eligible for either the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund or the Small Business Grant Fund.
The scheme opened today (Friday 5 June) and applications must be made by the closing date of Sunday 21 June.
Grants of up to £10,000 will be available, and in exceptional circumstances a grant of £25,000 could be paid out. As there are limited resources available, the council expects most grants awarded will be under £10,000.
In line with government guidance, the council will prioritise support for small businesses in shared offices or flexible work spaces, regular market traders with fixed building costs, small charity properties, and bed & breakfast establishments which pay council tax instead of business rates.
Applications will also be invited from small local businesses that can demonstrate exceptional hardship relating to ongoing fixed property-related costs and a significant loss of income due to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, it should be noted that the grant fund is limited and the council will look to award businesses that meet the national priorities first.
Cllr Neil Hargreaves, Portfolio Holder for Finance and Budget, said: “We know there are businesses in Uttlesford that have not been eligible for any government assistance so far. It is vital we support our small businesses at this very difficult time and so I am pleased the discretionary grant scheme is open for applications.
“I would encourage any small business owner who thinks their business may be eligible for a grant to make an application and access all the help that is available.”
A dedicated page on the council website – www.uttlesford.gov.uk/small-business-discretionary-grant – includes information on the criteria for which priority businesses are eligible to apply, the application process, and FAQs about the grant scheme.
ENDS

NOTES
• For more details on this media release please contact the Communications Team on 01799 510442 or ku.vog.drofselttuobfsctd-82284f@aidem
• Follow us on Twitter @Uttlesford DC
• You can also follow our Business Development Team @UDCBusiness, our Communities Team @UDCCommunities, and our jobs feed @UDCJobs
• Follow us on Facebook at www.facebook/UttlesfordDC

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If there is one thing that helps some colour into these difficult times it is the sign of summer approaching and the simple beauty from summer blooms.

In Felsted every year we have David Dempsey and his band of hard working volunteers to thank for planting up the multitude of tubs around the Parish.

With David and his team practicing safe distancing, they have once again planted up the flower tubs ready for us to all enjoy in the coming weeks.

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Please see the following message from Uttlesford District Council regarding the NHS Track and Trace system:

With the development of Track and Trace, many people have been asking for advice around how this works.

Please find below the official advice from the GOV.UK website on how the system works and advice on how to avoid being the victim of any possible scams as a result of the implementation of this system.

When we contact you

If the NHS test and trace service contacts you, the service will use text messages, email or phone.

All texts or emails will ask you to sign into the NHS test and trace contact-tracing website.

If NHS test and trace calls you by phone, the service will be using a single phone number: 0300 013 5000.

All information you provide to the NHS test and trace service is held in strict confidence and will only be kept and used in line with the Data Protection Act 2018.

Contact tracers will:

• call you from 0300 013 5000
• send you text messages from ‘NHS’
• ask for your full name and date of birth to confirm your identity, and postcode to offer support while self-isolating
• ask if you are experiencing any coronavirus symptoms
• provide advice on what you must do as you have been in contact with someone who has tested positive for coronavirus

Contact tracers will never:

• ask you to dial a premium rate number to speak to us (for example, those starting 09 or 087)
• ask you to make any form of payment or purchase a product of any kind
• ask for any details about your bank account
• ask for your social media identities or login details, or those of your contacts
• ask you for any passwords or PINs, or ask you to set up any passwords or PINs over the phone
• disclose any of your personal or medical information to your contacts
• provide medical advice on the treatment of any potential coronavirus symptoms
• ask you to download any software to your PC or ask you to hand over control of your PC, smartphone or tablet to anyone else
• ask you to access any website that does not belong to the government or NHS

For the full guidance/information please check the GOV.UK website – https://www.gov.uk/guidance/nhs-test-and-trace-how-it-works

Remember our advice

If in doubt use the A, B, C of scam awareness:

A- Never Assume a caller, email or text is genuine.

B- Never Believe a caller, email or text is genuine.

C- Always Confirm by contacting a trusted number, family member, friend, your bank’s fraud department or the police to check if it’s genuine.

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Felsted Parish Council has objected to an application on our Parish boundary with Rayne, for 150 new houses. 19/01326/OUT.

Our concern centres on the traffic impact, particularly on Willows Green, from both construction traffic, for which Willows Green is the most likely access route for large lorries, and ongoing traffic congestion, for which a Highways Assessment has not been completed.

The application was refused by Braintree District Council, but has now gone to appeal.

We thank Rayne PC for helping us in providing the following information.

In light of the Covid 19 outbreak, the Planning Inspectorate has advised that the appeal is still going ahead. However, it will now be heard by Inspector Frances Mahoney via a virtual planning inquiry starting 15th June 2020 and will proceed possibly for a further 7 days. A timetable of events will be released and shared soon.

MS Teams will be the online platform used and residents will be able to watch proceedings via this method, IF they have registered a request to do so. We will share details of how to do this here, once this information is available.

Rayne Parish Council will be represented at most if not all of these virtual sessions. Felsted Parish Council will be represented at key sessions. The Inspector has given us the right to question the Appellant on matters that concern us and our Village. To keep ‘the flow’ of the inquiry and to prevent many people stating the  same thing over and over again, the Inspector has asked the Parish Council to coordinate the gathering of residents’ views, as they would like them expressed and that a representative of the parish council then delivers those expressed views during the hearing (whether it be in objection or support of the development).

If you wish to state your views regarding the proposed development please send them to Cllr Bennett (ab.felstedpc@gmail.com), no later than 5th June.

The appeal documents can be found on BDC’s planning portal: https://www.braintree.gov.uk/ search for 20/00022/NONDET

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We are very pleased to advise that UDC has arranged to re-start the weekly Green Waste collection from Bannister Green this coming Sunday 31 May, between 9-10am as usual.

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