Steeple Village News
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Steeple Issue No 78 Village News March 2017 HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY! Mothering Sunday Service Steeple Church on 26th March at 9.15 am All are welcome to join the congregation and children will receive a potted plant to give to their mother Page 1 Formerly Mundon Fuels Coal and smokeless in 25kg pre-packs, logs and kindling all at competitive prices Phone: 01621 774944 (new number) Mobile: 07860 773933 E-mail: [email protected] Steeple Road, Mayland, CM0 6EG Page 2 Steeple Parish Council The Parish Council received just one application for the councillor position vacated by Barbara Holdsworth who has recently moved to Leigh-on-sea. This was from Kay Davey who has attended several recent Council meetings as a member of the public and therefore had some knowledge of the procedures of Steeple Parish Council and the roles and responsibilities of a councillor. The Council confirmed Kay’s appointment at its January meeting and Maldon District Council has been notified she is now a Steeple Councillor. Back in September, our Parish Clerk and Financial Officer, Ele McRae notified that she would be giving up the position at the end of March when she moves to Derbyshire. Councillors were grateful to be given plenty of time to find a replacement and were delighted when Julie Chandler agreed to fill this vacancy. The fact that Julie can ‘shadow’ Ele for a few weeks will ensure an orderly transition. Ele has kindly agreed to complete the Council’s accounts for the year ending March 2017 which enables Julie to focus on the new accounting year starting in April. The Council’s January meeting was unusual in that there were two Planning Applications to consider, each proposing seven new houses and both being controversial. More than twenty residents came to the meeting, most to express their opposition to the Application that proposed two terraces of houses on the graveyards of the former Congregational Chapel in Batts Road. It’s understood that when The Ecclesiastical Church sold this property some years ago it attached covenants protecting the graveyards from development. Ecclesiastical has assured residents that it’s in contact with Maldon District Council and strongly opposing this Planning Application. Steeple Councillors decided to oppose this Application, partly in recognition of the strong public concerns about graves but also on ‘planning policy’ principles relating to the adverse visual effect of high density development so close to the Victorian chapel building and safety concerns about additional cars exiting onto Batts Road so close to the road junction. The other Planning Application proposed redevelopment of the industrial area adjacent to High Steppers on Batts Hill for residential housing. Although Steeple Councillors recognised that this might be defined as a ‘brown field site’ they decided to oppose the Application Page 3 because they considered that doubling the number of houses in an area more than half a mile outside Steeple’s development envelope to be undesirable. Road Surface For several years the Parish Council has been badgering Essex County Council to improve the road surface though the village. Councillors have been particularly concerned about the areas where traditional wooden houses are positioned very close to the carriage- way. If you look at the historic photographs on display in the pubs you’ll see that the road surface used to be several inches lower than today. Over the years it’s been resurfaced many times with the result that the roadway is now almost level with the footway at several points. That means storm water can enter people’s homes, causing damage to their property including potential structural decay. Additionally, the very low kerbs do nothing to protect pedestrians from passing vehicles. In the June 2016 Steeple Village News we said we were encouraged to see that Essex County Council had been taking road core samples through the village as it suggested improvements were being evaluated. Things have now moved a big step forward because Essex County Council has given formal notice that sometime between now and August 2018 they intend to plane off and renew the surface of the road through Steeple, all the way from New House Farm (the green at the entrance to ETS) to the Stansgate Road junction with Bradwell Road. The Parish Council now has to make sure that they remove enough material to achieve significant lowering of the surface in the critical areas. Although this is amazingly good news, it will also cause considerable inconvenience. The initial preparatory work will probably only require brief interruptions from temporary traffic lights and therefore not be too disruptive. But when the major work of planing off the existing surface and replacing with new gets underway we’ll have to endure road closures, diversions and parking restrictions. After a pause, we can expect temporary traffic lights again when they come back to reposition manhole covers and drain gratings and then finally reinstate the road markings. Some time ago, Councillors were made aware of studies in other villages that suggest subtle changes to road marking can have a Page 4 beneficial influence on vehicle speeds. In particular, positioning the kerb-side white lines further in from the kerb at critical points gives the impression that the roadway is even narrower than it really is, causing most drivers to slow down. Given that other measures seem to have had little effect, the Council is determined to ensure that the reinstated road markings meet our needs. Meetings of Steeple Parish Council Parish Council meetings are held on the fourth Wednesday of each month in the Committee Room of Steeple Village Hall, starting at 7.30pm, unless otherwise advertised. Wednesday 22nd March 2017 Wednesday 26th April 2017 Wednesday 24th May 2017 Wednesday 28th June 2017 Members of the public are welcome to attend all meetings and can ask questions at the end of a meeting or when invited by the Chairman. Letters to the Parish Council should be sent to: The Clerk to Steeple Parish Council, Until end of March, the address is: 20, Woodrolf Park, Tollesbury, Maldon, CM9 8TB. From 1st April, the address will be: Jays, Maldon Road, Steeple, Southminster, CM0 7RT Electronic contact details remain unchanged. The e-mail address is: [email protected] The website is at: www.essexinfo.net/steeple-parish-council Public Services The Mobile Library comes to Steeple on alternate Fridays throughout the year. It will stop at the entrance to Garden Fields from 10.50 until 11.10 am on the following dates: For March, 3rd, 17th and 31st For April 28th only For May 12th and 26th For June 9th and 23rd Page 5 Tel: 01621 773933 Mobile: 07850 773933 E-mail:[email protected] Page 6 . Page 7 A warm welcome awaits you at The Sun & Anchor The Street, Steeple. Tel: 01621 773756 Open Noon – 11 pm Pop in for a tea or coffee Food served Monday ‐ Saturday, Noon – 3 pm & 6 – 9 pm Sunday Roast, Noon ‐ 5 pm, £7.50 or £5.00 for OAP’s Please book to avoid disappointment Quiz Nights 1st and 3rd Tuesdays Page 8 Knightswood Centre As you probably know, Knightswood has been providing social care and companionship to elderly members of our community for the past few years. This is particularly valuable in the Dengie where many feel isolated and lonely. The Dengie Project Trust, which runs Knightswood, charges modest fees for the services, just enough to make ends meet. Up until now, they have been helped by the fact that Essex County Council, which owns the building, was charging them no rent. Unfortunately, that’s having to change. The new rental charges make the whole operation uneconomic so the Trust is planning to relocate to Asheldham where they have been offered accommodation at much lower rent. Conversion of the buildings and equipping them is currently in progress so the relocation should be achieved this year but there will be need for on-going major fund raising. Meanwhile, the excellent work at Knightswood continues and they are looking to recruit more staff and volunteers to expand their services. If you feel you could help in any way, please call The Knightswood Centre on 01621 774532 To advertise in Steeple Village News, please contact: Peter Marshall on 07711 472132 email: [email protected] Page 9 Down Hall Luncheon Club The Down Hall Residential Home at Bradwell-on-Sea is home to several former Steeple residents. Their Luncheon Club meets on the second Tuesday of each month, and for only £6.00, you can enjoy a hot meal and a natter. On the last Friday of each month, Down Hall Residential Home hold their Coffee Mornings. All are welcome! Tuesday 7th March at 2.30 pm, a Badger Talk by Martin Taylor Tuesday 28th March at 1.30pm for 2pm, a talk on Essex Crime Both will be in the Functions Suite in aid of 'Residents Amenities'. For further information and details of future events, please call Louise on 01621 776509 THE STAR INN Glen and Lisa are now serving food all day Monday to Saturday (except Thursday) Noon to 9pm 2 course special at £8.95 Traditional Sunday Roast, Noon to 5pm Fantastic choice of Lagers and Real Ales En suite accommodation available Site for Touring caravans, with hook ups Reservations: 01621 772646 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 ELMWOOD EQUESTRIAN CENTRE Riding School & Livery Yard RIDING TUITION FOR ALL AGES & STAGES EXCELLENT HACKING HORSES TAKEN FOR BREAKING/SCHOOLING MANY FOR SALE OR LOAN AT THE YARD PHONE: 01621 783216 (long ring) or Mobile: 07974 243767 Also Jade's Tack Shop New and used riding gear 01621 928175 or 07981 878067 Café open Mon - Saturday 8am to 3pm Elm Farm House, Maldon Rd, Burnham-on-Crouch CM0 8NT Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Services at St Lawrence & All Saints Church, Steeple Because Steeple Church is closely linked with Southminster, most Sundays worshippers have three choices, 9.15 am at Steeple and 8.00 am or 10.45 am at St Leonard’s Southminster.