East Bergholt Bells

The bell-ringers are very disappointed, we have been told we are not to ring the bells during the current COVID-19 crisis. Hopefully, it will not be too long before their merry chimes brighten our lives again.

East Bergholt Parish Council

R. (on the application of East Bergholt Parish Council) v Babergh District Council and others

It is with real disappointment that the Parish Council must report that we have lost our appeal in the Court of Appeal against the Judicial Review decision of December 2018 to allow the building of two big estates and a smaller estate on Area of Natural Beauty land in East Bergholt. The written judgment acknowledges that the applications would have been refused under both District Council and East Bergholt Neighbourhood Plan policies, but the Judges decided that as a point of law Babergh were within their rights to use their planning judgment to determine their approach to calculating the housing land supply figures that in 2017 were used to set aside the policies in favour of a presumption to approve the applications.

The Parish Council will be assessing the implications of this judgment and will decide later this week what to do next.

I stress that the Parish Council is decidedly in favour of building the right houses, that is houses that are very much needed in our village for young people and families at a cost they can afford and for older people in need of accommodation. You will find our support for this set out more fully in the Neighbourhood Plan East Bergholt Neighbourhood Plan, but we are not in favour of uncontrolled growth of the kind of housing that just adds to the congestion of village facilities and threatens to damage the special character of our village.

Councillor Joan Miller, Chairman, East Bergholt Parish Council

Better Broadband for Suffolk

Local residents may be interested to know that a partnership scheme for better broadband in Suffolk has been set up between Suffolk County Council, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, the New Anglia Enterprise Partnership and Suffolk's District and Borough Councils.

broadband@suffolk.gov.uk

East Bergholt Parish Council

During the Coronavirus lockdown, the Parish Office at The Gattinetts is closed. The Parish Clerk, Graham White, is working from home and may be contacted by phone on 07801 368283 or by email at east.bergholtpc@btconnect.com

New Regulations have relaxed the law regarding Council meetings which may now be held remotely and the first remote Council meeting will be held by means of Zoom technology on Thursday 9 April at 7.30 pm. Members of the public may obtain remote access to view the meeting and to participate. Details of how to join the meeting are available on the Council’s website and on its Facebook page.

The above arrangements will continue until further notice.

Graham White

Parish Clerk

8 April 2020

East Bergholt Parish Council

Council Meeting 9 April 2020 at 7.30 pm

This is a remote meeting conducted via Zoom

Members of the public can attend this meeting remotely and participate during the Open Public Session.

To join the meeting, download Zoom to your device then enter this URL into your browser:

https://us04web.zoom.us/i/3434968336

Use it or lose it!

Suffolk County Council (SCC) are withdrawing bus subsidies at the end of September. This means a number of services will disappear and East Bergholt will wave goodbye to the 796 and 94A.

This comes on top of SCC withdrawing free bus passes for new students at East Bergholt High School. Consequently, even more cars will enter the village daily.

There is a faint chance that there may be a last minute review where passenger numbers increase. Please look on line at the timetables and 'spread the word'.

796

Manningtree station 6.25am---East Bergholt 6.33am Manningtree station 18.35pm--- East Bergholt 18.46pm

East Bergholt Lambe school 6.05am---Station 6.14am East Bergholt Lambe school 18.17pm---Station 18.26pm

94A

Ipswich (Cattle Market) 17.55pm---East Bergholt L.S. 18.35pm

Suffolk County Council Highways - Reporting Problems

Two Parish Councillors recently visited the local Suffolk County Council Highways Service Delivery Centre. The Highways Officers advised our Councillors that the most effective way of reporting any Highways issues is via the County Council's online reporting tool. Any problem will then be picked up and allocated a reference number. The issue will be looked at by an appropriate member of the Highways Team, prioritised, the area will be inspected if considered necessary, and a solution to any required work will be allocated, if considered appropriate.

https://www.suffolk.gov.uk/roads-and-transport/highway-maintenance/report-a-highways-issue/

Link to Parish Councillors Registers of Interests

The Parish Register of Interests demonstrating openness, fairness and transparency of the Parish Council can be found at the following link:  Babergh Members Register of Interests Any queries please contact Babergh/Mid Suffolk District Council by telephoning 01473 296376

Parish Council Budget & Precept for 2019-2020

After detailed consideration and meetings of all Committees of the Parish Council (representing different areas of responsibility within our Village), a Budget/Precept for 2019-2020 of £145,000.00 was resolved. Including;

• Revisions to the East Bergholt Neighbourhood Plan;
• New mower which is needed to keep the Village tidy
• Contingency cost in the event of the imminent 4 yearly Parish Elections being contested;
• Increased budget for Red Lion Car Park and Public Conveniences and work needed;
• This is a Tax Band D amount of £126.29. It represents an increase of 38.29% on the 2018/19 Precept. 

The Parish Council is committed to continue to ensure that East Bergholt is a good place to live, work and visit.