March 2020 2012
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Woodham Ferrers & BicknacreBicknacre ParishParish CouncilCouncil Newsletter DecemberMarch 2020 2012 2 www.wfandbpc.org.uk PARISH COUNCIL OFFICERS/REPRESENTATIVES—2020-2021 3 www.wfandbpc.org.uk CHAIRMAN’S REPORT CLLR. JUNE SALTMARSH Change is forever with us – and our Parish has / is seeing some changes for 2020 and beyond. Now looking forward - lots of things are happening...... Welcome to the new Parish Councillors – Cllr. Cathy Amos and Cllr .Mary Shay both of whom have joined the Parish Council very recently. Whilst we’re still on the subject of Councillors and the service they give to the Parish, I would especially like to give a special mention to Cllr. Sandy Sinclair who has been responsible for the VERY successful and flourishing Bicknacre Friendship Club. This initiative has been acknowledged by the United in Kind group for Essex which aims to reconnect neighbours and communities to help overcome loneliness. Sandy has championed this initiative here in Bicknacre and the success of this group has been spread far and wide – all the way to the USA would you believe. Well done and thank you Sandy! Unfortunately, I have to confirm that we have one Councillor who has resigned from the Council. Raymond Blanks has served the Council for many years but took the decision recently to give up this role. He has been a constant support to the Council over several years but we respect the decision and wish him well for the future. The vacancy has been formally advertised and we await the appointment of a new Councillor in the near future. There are some other very exciting / varied events for the community that Karen will tell you about in her report. Duffield Bridge—we have received a petition from residents and have sent this together with a strongly worded letter to Cllr. Kevin Bentley @ ECC referring to the unacceptable length of time for the works to be completed. The new, Liberal Democrat, administration at Chelmsford is rightly concerned about limiting the supply of single use plastic but this needs more consideration. Initially it was said that this was the reason for discontinuing the supply of dog waste bags despite the fact that in seeking an alternative supply dog owners will still need plastic bags in which to 4 dispose of waste. www.wfandbpc.org.uk The City Council is under considerable pressure to cut costs. The cost to the Council to supply the whole of the Chelmsford district is £5,000 per annum. This is peanuts. Despite making strong arguments I have not been able to persuade the elected administration to change its mind. Green plastic dog bags will no longer available from the Parish Council or elsewhere. However many local Parish Councils are very concerned about this and it may be that their joint representations will make the City Council change its mind. Have you recently moved into the Parish? Then you might like a little bit of history which I’ve lifted from the PC website: “1972 a scheme was initiated by Essex County Council to develop the area into a ‘New Riverside Country Town’ and South Woodham Ferrers became a standalone Parish and Bicknacre and Woodham Ferrers were subsumed into the SWF Parish Council. Bicknacre, Woodham Ferrers were represented by a subcom- mittee, the Bicknacre contingent of which was largely made up by members of the then Bicknacre Village Hall committee. Just prior to this, in the early 1970s, Bick- nacre too started to develop reaching its current size in the late 1970s. May 1987 an all new Woodham Ferrers and Bicknacre Parish Council was formed consisting of 9 members, 3 to represent the Woodham Ferrers Ward and 6 to rep- resent the Bicknacre Ward. Eight councillors were elected unopposed and the ninth councillor was co-opted shortly afterwards. There have been 6 Clerks, Ka- ren Kuderovitch being the current Clerk since December 2005!! The Woodham Ferrers and Bicknacre Parish Council currently serves an elec- torate of approximately 2400 people living in 1200 dwellings being divided ap- proximately 400 electors and 200 dwellings in Woodham Ferrers and 2000 electors in 1000 dwellings in Bicknacre.” Help us please: We are looking at ways to reduce the amount of paper being used and Par- ish Councillors are looking at ways achieve this. For instance: If you would be happy to receive this Newsletter electronically – can you please let the Clerk know at: [email protected] The links provided on our webpage assists residents to make contact via the Internet. However, if you are not connected to the internet, you should find a lot of the same contact telephone numbers somewhere in this Newsletter including those of the Parish Councillors and our Clerk, Karen Kuderovitch. Both our Chelmsford City Councillor (Cllr Richard Poulter) and our Essex County Councillor (Cllr Ian Grundy) contribute to the Newsletters and can be con- tacted with issues related to their particular responsibilities. As always, a big THANK YOU to all those fantastic volunteers within the Parish of Woodham Ferrers and Bicknacre. 5 www.wfandbpc.org.uk CLERK’S REPORT KAREN KUDEROVITCH As we move into Spring, we have so many exciting projects and positive news to bring you. New Parish Council Office The office will be relocating to White Elm Garden Centre at the end of March 2020. The decision was taken for two main reasons; mainly financial and also the desire for the Parish Council to be more accessible to residents. We will have a unit in the retail area and will have allocated times of the day where residents can pop in to see the Clerk about any issues/or seek information, or by appointment to meet with a Councillor. We are very excited about the move and the opportunity to better connect with residents. Our thanks to the Woodham Ferrers Village Hall for the last 12 years. The telephone number for the PC Office will be changing—to be advised. Annual Parish Meeting—Friday 15th May 2020 –doors open 7pm We look forward again to a great line up of speakers and encourage you to attend. We will have lots of local organisations with stands and an opportunity to come and share your views. Local Council Accreditation Scheme—Foundation We are currently re-accrediting to the scheme and once we have achieved the Foundation Level we will seek to apply for Quality. New Equipment We have recently installed a set of gym equipment, a Basketball (£500 grant) and fenced off the smaller children’s play area at the Hooe. At Lodge Road we have installed a second set of gym equipment. We continue to work hard to improve our open spaces and are seeking funding opportunities to improve the Bicknacre Village Green footpath with something more sustainable/hardwearing. 6 www.wfandbpc.org.uk New Bus Shelter Essex County Council will shortly be installing an new bus shelter on the Main Road near Trio Lodge. This comes free of any charges. Petanque Please let the me know if you would be interested in having a court in the Parish. Petanque is a type of French Boules and a great outdoor game for all to enjoy. 7 www.wfandbpc.org.uk Tackling anti-social behaviour We have recently installed a gate separating the Priory School Car Park with the Parish Council owned top car park at Bicknacre Playing Fields. We are also looking at upgrad- ing the current outdated CCTV system as well. Woodham Ferrers Xmas Lunch A great time was had by all and we will repeat this again for 2020. Our thanks to Emma Hunnable for allowing us to use the Chapel, Cllr. Amos & Molly Kuderovitch for giving their free time to serve, Cllr. Sinclair for making the table gifts and Vikki Seaman of Aquila Catering for providing an excellent lunch. Christmas Carols Event December 2019 Again another successful event enjoyed by many. Our thanks to the Priory Primary School for organising the hymns and hosting the after event. 8 www.wfandbpc.org.uk DATE EVENT LOCATION TIME INFO FRI 27TH MARCH QUIZ NIGHT BICKNACRE 7.30PM FRIENDS OF VILLAGE HALL PRIORY FIELDS MON 6TH APRIL BICKNACRE THE BELL 12,30PM BOOK FRIENDSHIP WOODHAM 01245 320443 CLUB LUNCH FERRERS £9 2 COURSES SAT 18TH APRIL LITTER PICK PRIORY CAR PARK 10AM—MIDDAY REFRESHMENTS AFTERWARDS FRI 24TH APRIL FOPF AGM BICKNACRE 7.30PM FOPF VILLAGE HALL FRI 1ST MAY AFTERNOON TEA BICKNACRE 1PM—3PM FUNDRAISING VILLAGE HALL ESSEX & HERTS AIR AMBULANCE SAT 16TH MAY OUTDOOR BICKNACRE 7PM—8.30PM BRING OWN CINEMA PLAYING FIELDS FILM START RESFRESH- MENTS/CHAIRS SAT 20TH JUNE DOG SHOW/ LODGE ROAD PLAY- MIDDAY—4PM PARISH COUNCIL VILLAGE FETE ING FELDS EVENT www.essex.police.uk/do-it-online/report-a-crime/ 9 www.wfandbpc.org.uk CLLR. RICHARD POULTER CHELMSFORD CITY COUNCIL Chelmsford City Council has a policy of requiring that on all new housing developments of over ten homes at least 35% have to be affordable. We hear a lot about affordable hous- ing but what exactly does it mean? It does not include the purchase of open market hous- ing although there are incentives for first time buyers. There are three types of affordable housing: affordable rent, social rent and shared own- ership. The 35% contribution will be approximately 23% rented and 12% shared owner- ship. The usual practice of developers is to sell the properties designated as affordable housing to a social housing provider such as Chelmer Housing, which will then make them available for rent or shared ownership. In the vast majority of cases Chelmsford City Council will have nomination rights for the rented accommodation and will offer this to applicants from its housing register.