Parish Council
White Colne
Parish Council
White Colne
Parish Council
White Colne
Parish Council
April 2009
New event ! Village Garage Sale -
Time to have a good clear out of your garage and loft and turn all those unwanted items into hard cash.
Our new community event -
Residents wishing to open their garage,front garden or yard are asked to register NOW in order that we can judge support.. The more garages we open, the better it is for everyone, but to make it worthwhile we do need a minimum of 12 garages.As soon as enough people commit to sell we can start advertising the event throughout the Valley.
A small fee will be charged to include your garage, but of course you keep all the proceeds from the sale of your items. If you are thinking of selling, try to find at least one good value item which may be of special interest. In this way we can make a point of advertising these bargains to attract the buyers. Maps will be produced to sell to customers, showing the situation of each garage. Balloons and signs advertising each garage will be available to help to decorate the village and make the whole afternoon inviting.
We have lots of ideas to make this a really fun afternoon, for all the family, but we need YOUR support.
To find out more or to register your garage please email janetaylor@whitecolne.com
Please note that this event will replace the scheduled summer Swap It session.
Repair work to the wall on Colneford Hill to start
The work will commence on Monday May 18th , and will take up to three weeks to complete.
Three-
Bus shelters on their way
Following confirmation from Essex County Council's Highways Department that they
are funding raised kerbs and bus shelters at bus stops along the A1124, the Parish
Council approached them about the possibility of upgrading the bus stop outside the
Fox and Pheasant Centre. Jane Taylor and I had a site meeting on 7th April with Paul
Cansdale from ECC and he agreed that Highways would be able put in raised kerbs on
both sides of the carriageway and, although there was insufficient room for a shelter
on the south side of the carriageway, which we would have preferred, they are happy
to erect one on the north side for passengers wishing to travel into Halstead. So
villagers should hopefully soon be able wait for their buses with a little more protection
from the elements and we are told that the shelter proposed outside of the old King's
Head pub should be with us very shortly
The Essex Air Ambulance made a presentation at the Annual Electors' meeting supporting their proposal to use Earls Colne Airfield as the new base for their helicopter.
- Essex helicopter been operating out of Boreham since 1998
- Operating base is a second world war airfield facility
- Land and property there is owned by Ford Motor Company
- Ford sold gravel extraction rights for whole of site
- Thought we may get another 5 years at location but extraction has increased dramatically
- Lease of facility is now on a rolling 12 month notice condition which necessitated the drive to find another suitable location
- Option appraisal carried out on a number of locations in Essex
- Earls Colne by far came out as the most favourable location.
- Currently seeking separate 106 agreement to operate helicopter from airfield
- Seeking planning permission to change use of a hangar to convert into Charity offices
- There are a number of benefits by moving offices some of which are;
v locating charity with helicopter helps fundraising
v Charity has outgrown current accommodation
v Plans include a visitors centre as a local attraction
- Charity understands public concern about potential for more noise at the airfield
- Pilots are very experienced and do not have to use fixed wing routes in and out of airfield
- Unless an incident happens at a local village there is no need to fly over at low altitude and “no fly zones” obeyed
- Unlike police helicopter there is no requirement to hover over urban areas for any length of time
- The operation now has a doctor of at least registrar qualification on board with pre hospital care experience
- When aircraft unavailable crew man a car so local area has an additional medical response over and above normal ambulance
- Already flown aircraft in for a “trial noise” test. Further tests to be carried out
Early Birds welcome new arrival.
An early start at the Village Hall on Sunday 26th April brought an unexpected surprise.
A Turtle Dove fresh from its migration from the Sahara was spotted before we left
the carpark! We saw many different birds as we strolled down Colneford Hill following
the White Colne Heritage trail.. A song thrush, black birds starling, sparrows, gold
finch, rooks, collared doves could all be seen around the village green. As we headed
along the footpath by the sewage works we saw whitethroats, red legged partridges
geese and swans. The open fields and parkland offered up fewer birds but as we started
towards Insteps farm we heard and then saw a cliffhanger and long tailed tit. Bures
Road also didn't disappoint with Linnets and Pied Wagtail. In total 36 different
species of bird were spotted.
Thanks to Glenn Moore who was able to share some of
his knowledge with us. We were once again blessed with wonderful weather. Glen has
offered to run a similar walk again if people are interested.
click here if you want to register your interest in another walk
Parking on the Village Green
Representatives from Essex County Council Highways attended the recent Annual Electors' meeting. The damage to the bottom of the village green was discussed. The Chairman said that the parish was protective of parking as there were few parking places in White Colne. Double yellow lines would stop residents parking and when we conducted our own tests with no vehicles parked at the bottom of the village green, damage has still been caused there. Various options were discussed and Highways agreed to review the issue in full, using if necessary a computer model to understand traffic movements.
'Spring Watch' bird walk in White Colne
26th April at 8.00am
from Glen Moore
Get some fresh air, join us for a ramble around the village footpaths. We will be taking a very relaxed stroll, trying to identify as many birds as possible. If you have binoculars bring them along but you don't have to be Bill Oddie to join in!
Meet at the village hall at 8 a.m. The walk should last a couple of hours -
Essex Air Ambulance -
We are coming to the end of our Council Year and looking forward to the Annual electors
meeting where the whole village has the opportunity to see and have their say on
what has been happening and is planned for White Colne. One of the current "hot"
topics in the village is the proposal to move the Essex Air Ambulance Helicopter
base to Earls Colne. We will have a presentation from The Air Ambulance Trust at
the Electors meeting so please come along to find out more about the project and
share your opinion.
We have received a
Planning Application for tree works 09/00078/TPO -
The application can be viewed on the following link:-
http://www.braintree.gov.uk/Braintree/planning/Development+Control/View+Planning+App/How+to+find+a+Planning+Application.htm Comments by 14th May
A beautiful day on the Meadows again.
Unfortunately few villagers supported the FREE event.
Even fewer supported the Swap It.
It begs the question 'Do the people of White Colne actually want free events organised in the village?'
If so what would they be prepared to come along to?
Any feed back would be appreciated.
41 Colchester Road -
Following the appeal in the 'Council Chamber' on the 3rd March 2009 fhe Parish Council is pleased to confirm that the Planning Inspector has rejected the appeal by the developer. The appeal sought to overturn Braintree District Council's decision to refuse planning permission at 41 Colchester Road.
More information will follow in due course.
John Watt
White Colne
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