NEWS
Felsted Neighbourhood Plan – volunteers needed for Parish features photo survey
The Felsted Neighbourhood Plan group has 2 important dates for your diaries, 2nd April and 14th May. Their news can be read here, and is repeated below.
We are seeking volunteers to help with our Photographic Survey of features which make each part of our Parish unique. If you are interested in volunteering please come along to the Committee Room of the URC Hall on Stebbing Road for an hour between 10am to 11am on Saturday 2nd April or if you cannot attend please email us ku.gro.pndetslef@tlusnoc to express your interest in helping with this, remembering to include details of the part of the Parish in which you live.
The idea is to build upon suggestions received at our Parish Integrity Workshop back on Saturday 26th September, 2015 when we asked participants from those Greens that were represented what in their opinion made the identity of their part of the Parish of Felsted special. From those initial comments we received we now need to record such important features in more detail on the special data recording forms.
Housing Needs Survey – Over 30% of households in the Parish returned their Housing Needs Survey to the RCCE!
This is great news and indicates the level of interest shown by residents in the Housing Needs Survey. The Rural Community Council for Essex (RCCE) are currently analysing the responses, after which the FNPSG will receive the results. We are arranging a public presentation of these results by Edward Rigby of the RCCE for 10am on Saturday 14th May in the Grignon Hall by kind permission of Felsted School. We are also working towards being able to present further relevant data to you at this event. We should be able to answer your questions and hear your comments about how we should interpret and use all this information.
Thank you to the 347 households who completed their Housing Needs Survey
Sent by The Steering Group of FELSTED Neighbourhood Plan
Felsted Annual Assembly
IMORTANT UPDATE: the date for this meeting is now Thursday 28th April, not 13th April, as originally advertised.
The annual assembly of Felsted Parish Council will be held on Thursday 28th April in the URC Hall, Stebbing Road, Felsted.
Alongside an opportunity for residents to ask questions of the council, specific items and reports covered will include:
- Chairman’s Report
- Clerk’s Financial Report
- Reports by the Parish Council’s representatives on other bodies
- Felsted & Ford End District Nursing Association
- Memorial Hall Committee
- Felsted United Charities
- The Crix Green Trust
- The Boteler Education Foundation
- Footpath Wardens
- Felsted Neighbourhood Plan
Please support your Parish Council by attending this meeting.
It is important for us to hear your thoughts and views on the subjects you think we should concentrate on in the year ahead and to know that you are supporting us in our voluntary roles.
Rent an allotment for Spring
Allotments are now available in the centre of the village opposite Bury Chase car park.
If ever there a time to back up that resolution to eat more healthily, get some exercise, and make some new friends, then it is now.
The ground is warming up and now is the perfect time to get seeds planted.
The allotments cost only £27 per year. This is repaid many times over in fresh vegetables and a cheap and healthy replacement for that never used gym membership.
Station Road roadworks
We have been informed by our County Councillor that, commencing next week, Station Road will be reduced to a single lane, so that pipes can be laid between the Skip Yard development site entrance and Flitch Green.
We understand that a contraflow system will be in operation for some weeks, This will inevitably cause delays, particularly during peak periods, affecting commuter and school traffic.
Green waste skip dates for 2016
The green waste skips will be at Bannister Green every Sunday morning from 9-10am, starting on Sunday 3 April 2016 until Sunday 11 December 2016 (both dates inclusive).
This is a service we as a Parish Council pay for so please do make good use of his.
Please also don’t forget that we are running a Litter Pick on Saturday 9 April. It is frustrating just how much litter is dropped (mainly) from cars onto our lanes and verges.
Please do your bit to thwart these litter louts. come along to help in the litter pick and pick up that piece of litter you might be tempted to walk past.
We know it wasn’t you who dropped it, but it could be you who picks it up.
Uttlesford Local Plan Call For Sites initial assessment
Further to our earlier news item explaining the Local Plan call for sites process, Uttlesford District Council has now released their initial assessment of the sites.
The full Local Plan website can be viewed here.
The assessment document for Felsted can be viewed here.
We, the Parish Council, along with other public bodies, have been asked to comment on any areas of factual inaccuracy in the individual assessments.
It needs to be understood that a site being cleared through this assessment is NOT a planning approval to build houses. The assessment means that the site has/has not cleared the initial technical review stage. It is also clear that not all sites offered will ultimately be approved for housing.
This stage also does not consider issues such as congestion or social impact where, for example, 2 or 3 sites close together might all put in a planning application, or the impact on traffic flow through the village centre from a single large development on the edge of the village.
At this stage, UDC are looking for technical errors only, where, for example, a site might be grade 1 farmland rather than its listing as brownfield, or perhaps a stated access to a main road does not exist, or a conclusion does not align with the assessment points.
If you are aware of any factual errors in the assessments, please pass details to the Parish Clerk using the web form. Please include the site reference and brief/precise correction including any evidence.
To give the council time to review and collate responses please ensure that you submit comment before March 20th.
Be assured that your Parish Council remains closely engaged with the Local Plan process and will at all times present opinion and arguments in the overall interest of the Parish. For example, the Planning Application for the Land to the south of Braintree Road, included in the call for sites initial assessment as appropriate for development, has been submitted and the council is objecting.
Village Litter Pick – Reminder
Don’t forget that the village litter pick ‘Clean for the Queen‘, to mark the Queen’s 90th birthday, is on Saturday 9 April.
We will meet at the playing field car park (Jollyboys Lane) at 10am, with the litter pick running from 10am-3pm. All equipment will be provided.
We hope to see you there!
If you cannot make this date then the next one is on Saturday 22 October, put it in your diary now.
Please also think about picking up that piece of litter you see on the side of the road, or on the pavement. We can all do our bit to keep Felsted tidy and stop those less considerate people, who do drop litter, from spoiling our parish.
For more information about the litter pick please contact the clerk, Diane Smith here.
Changes to Felsted bus services
The Public Transport Team at County Hall have achieved their target of making a £1.5 million (18%) saving on the Public Transport budget. This has inevitably had an impact on our local bus services.
Service 133 – service will be reduced to two hourly on Sundays instead of hourly. No details yet of specific timings.
Service 314 – will be withdrawn, with final journey on 9th April. Each passenger was costing around £19, which is judged unsustainable. Unfortunately, the Demand Responsive Transport, which is being introduced in some areas to compensate, will not cover Felsted. We have asked for this to be reconsidered in future.
Service 16 – continues unchanged, having achieved a cost per passenger of just over the maximum of £5 per journey. Although the new contract to run this service is for 4 years, it is clear that the adage “use it or lose it” applies. There will also be a change of operator from Hedingham to Stephensons.
Updated timetables will be posted at bus stops by 10th April, with revised 133 timings starting on 17th April.
Whilst these changes are disappointing, please do remember that Uttlesford Community Transport is available as an alternative to the bus, albeit at a cost, but still cheaper than a taxi.
One other bus service to remember is the service between the Chelmer Valley Park and Ride and Broomfield Hospital. This is currently a one year trial, so again it needs to be used sufficiently to ensure it is retained. It runs every half hour and costs £3 per day return, free to bus pass holders after 9am.
UK Power Networks – Priority Services Register for vulnerable residents
UK Power Networks are the people who are responsible for keeping the electricity on in our area, regardless of your chosen energy supplier. They own and maintain all the electricity lines and cables.
They keep a list of ‘vulnerable residents’ on their Priority Services Register, so that if there is a power cut they can ensure that those who need it will receive extra support. This doesn’t necessarily mean that they can get the power back on more quickly but they can provide :
- A priority number that you can call 24 hours a day if you have a power cut
- Regular text message or phone updates during a power cut
- Extra support from the British Red Cross to visit your home during an emergency (they’ll check with you first).
If you are elderly or disabled, have young children or rely on specialised medical equipment then you can apply to go onto the Priority Services Register at www.ukpowernetworks.co.uk/priority.
Anglian Water launches “Pollution Watch”
Anglia Water has launched ‘Pollution Watch’, a new campaign to ensure that all incidents of sewage pollution are dealt with as quickly as possible, to minimise the impact on the environment.
They are investing £5.5m in network maintenance, but if you spot any potential sewage pollution issues you can now ring their dedicated Pollution Hotline 03457 145145 to report them and so enable them to respond sooner and look after our rivers and waterways.
Pollution can kill fish and other aquatic life and also affect the use of water and land for agricultural, business, community purposes.
Escapes from the sewage system are commonly caused by the build-up of fats, oils and greases, sanitary waste and wipes; all of which cause blockages and reduce the flow of sewage through the network.
There are many tell-tale signs that pollution has entered a river or a stream. These include:
- sewage solids
- toilet debris such as toilet paper, condoms and sanitary products
- soap suds or a milky-looking discharge in the water
- grey coloured water
- a noticeable sewage smell
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