NEWS

As part of the process to develop the Felsted Neighbourhood Plan, dates for the next 2 workshops have been announced:

Saturday 26th September, 2015 – Open WORKSHOP in the Grignon Hall at Felsted School from 10am until 1pm. To work through the implications of the suggestions received under the two consultation topics of Planning to Meet Future Housing Needs and Protecting the Integrity of the Parish including wildlife.

Saturday 24th October, 2015 – Open WORKSHOP in the United Reformed Church Hall on Stebbing Road from 10am until 1pm. To work through the implications of the suggestions received under the three consultation topics of Planning for ‘Health Services, Educational Excellence and Increased Number of Visitors’.

Please drop in – All are welcome.

The analysis of information gathered for the Neighbourhood Plan, as reported here, has been completed.

The results of the survey can be viewed here.

The next stage in the Plan information gathering process is an Open Workshop – 2pm – 5pm Thursday 27th August in the URC Hall, Stebbing Road.

You can read more about the workshop, and the Plan progress in general, here.

The Council’s Housing Strategy Team would value your help with a piece of research they are undertaking.

They are interested in the housing choices and affordability issues of key workers or public sector workers who work within the health, education, security or safe-guarding services.  The Council is refreshing a piece of work that was conducted back in 2004.

The data will guide the Councils’ Housing Strategy and Local Plan policies, to support the protection of jobs and services whilst promoting community well-being and long-term sustainability.

They are interested in hearing from employers of key public services as well as their employees. This allows the research to get a balanced view of how housing issues affect the individual households and whether there is an issue with staff recruitment or retention for employers.

For employers, please click link below

Please click here to complete the employer and representatives’ survey >>

For employees, please click link below

Please click here to complete the employee survey >>

The data is held externally to ensure anonymity and all surveys should be completed by 30^th September, 2015.

As a small incentive, the Council is offering a £25 gift voucher to one lucky employee whose name will be drawn out of a hat after the closing date.   Participants can add their details at the end of the survey and this data will not be used to identify any responses given.

Residents of Felsted are able to use the MUGA, without charge, for informal play.

It is also available for formal groups and teams to hire, by the hour, for their exclusive use.

The MUGA is fully fenced and floodlit and car parking is available on site. It is available both during the day and evenings up to 9pm.

If you are interested in hiring this facility please contact the Clerk, Diane Smith, on 01371 823071 or e-mail ku.vog.cp-detslefobfsctd-75c62c@krelc

Following the Public Meeting held on 9th May, the Neigbourhood Plan group has been busy analysing the data collected over the course of the past couple of months.

A list of nearly 500 post-it note suggestions left on the various stations throughout the hall have been boiled down to key statements for each of the seven core elements. The group will be compiling a more detailed report which will be published on the website and a detailed summary should appear in the Autumn Parish Newsletter.

If you visited the doctor’s surgery between 18th May and 2nd June you may have noticed that a specific survey was running there to gather information about the use of the surgery. This was designed to help asses the use of the surgery services and any associated traffic issues. Once again the group is now in the process of analysing almost 300 responses over the course of the two weeks. The results of this will also form part of the final report.

A further on-line survey, which comprises a series of 19 simple questions, and should take no more than a few minutes of your time to complete is now running.

Pleases follow this link to complete this survey:

The team appreciates that it may appear that they are conducting a lot of different surveys, but the consultation process is a vital part of any Neighbourhood Plan. We therefore need as many people participating and contributing as possible. Please take the time to complete the on-line survey, it is very much appreciated.

If you have any additional comments outside the remit of the on-line survey, which does include an optional free text comments box at the end, then please email them to ku.gro.pndetslefobfsctd-365be5@tlusnoc.

If you did not attend the open day on 9th May or would like to say more under the seven topic headings you can still download and complete the ‘Setting the Agenda for Consultation’ pdf booklet from the surveys page of our website, here.

An open workshop is being held on Thursday 27th August at 2pm in the URC Hall to discuss the options identified from all contributions received so far under our ‘Historic Village Centre’ topic heading – all are welcome.

The Steering Group of
FELSTED Neighbourhood Plan

The following update has been received from Essex County Council regarding the Area Bus Review:

As you may recall Essex County Council carried out a countywide consultation over the spring to allow people to tell us what aspects of the bus network they valued and where areas for improvement might be. This consultation closed on 31^st March. We are now able to publicise the results of the consultation which can be viewed by accessing the web link below.

In addition, you may recall we carried out a series of Area Review meetings across Essex during June and the beginning of July to assist with our network planning process. A copy of the presentation slides used at these meetings have also been added to the web link below, along with a copy of a document outlining alternative transport options that could be used (“How Transport Could be provided”) and copies of the strategy documents, recently approved by Cabinet.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for attending the meetings, and help to promote the public afternoon sessions. We are now collating the information we received during the Area Review meetings, and the afternoon public sessions and a further consultation will be carried out early Autumn.

www.essex.gov.uk/busreview

Felsted has won the title of RCCE Village Of The Year.

The award was presented at the Rural Communities Council of Essex (RCCE) AGM and awards night, by David Boyle JP DL, President of RCCE. The announcement of the winner was said to be the “climax of the evening”.

All who presented to the judges when they visited the Parish two weeks ago were invited to the awards evening. However, due to existing commitments, some of the presenters were unavailable to attend. Cllr John Moore and Cllr Anna McNicoll therefore joined two of the presenters, Cllr Andy Bennett and Diane Smith, our Parish Clerk, to hear the results and receive the award on behalf of the Parish.

Alongside a certificate and a cheque for £500, a new shield was presented in celebration of the 60th anniversary of the award. We shall forever be first on this prestigious award.

The award was described as being won by only the best villages, demonstrating that they are vibrant, energetic and caring.

Pictured above are Graham Harvey, Chair of Felsted Parish Council, celebrating the news with members of the Council and residents of Felsted.

The award belongs to all those in the Parish, both individuals and groups, often acting in a voluntary capacity, who work so hard and do so much to make the Parish a lovely place to live. Congratulations to everyone.

We will be marking the award through signs in the village, but would like to hear your ideas for how we should spend the £500 prize.

You can read more coverage from the event in the local press here.

Taylor Wimpey are currently building a development of 25 houses in Watchhouse Green.

The Parish Council has been given the opportunity to name the road into the development. We would like to give residents, particularly those in Watchhouse Green, the chance to provide suggestions.

The name should have either a historical link to the area, or perhaps a simpler link with Watchhouse Green itself, possibly along the lines of ‘Watchhouse Close/Mews/Lane’.

If you have any ideas then please send them in to the Parish Clerk before the end of July.