Time to plan a visit to Great Blakenham.

I understand that all is proceeding relatively smoothly at the new Energy from Waste facility at Great Blakenham.  By the end of the year the plant should be ready to receive its first visitors, and if you are interested in being among the first to see it, the time has come to plan a visit.

The facility is now in its commissioning stage, and despite one or two inevitable glitches, all is on track to be ready on time.   The two waste processing lines, each capable of handling 380 tonnes a day, are being tested, which involves steam cleaning the boiler.  I understand that this has resulted in some interesting pink steam emerging from the plant.

This week the first waste from Norfolk has been processed.  Recently Suffolk County Council signed an agreement with our northern neighbours to process some 40,000 tons per annum on their behalf.  This is a good deal for both sides, with Suffolk gaining through increased economies of scale, and Norfolk saving money by avoiding landfill charges.

The visitor centre is currently being planned, and the interactive and other displays will be installed in the autumn.  The centre will be open to visiting groups of all kinds.  If you know of  a school or adult group,  who would be interested in enjoying what promises to be a most interesting experience, you should contact suffolkefw@sita.co.uk

A meeting in Semer

Semer Church

Yesterday evening I took a stroll along Ash Street with two members of Semer Parish Council. 

We looked at one or two signage issues and discussed speeding on the Bildeston to Hadleigh Road.

Semer is a very dispersed community and the parish has no real centre. It has been one of the least troublesome of my 18 parishes, and, indeed, I was unaware of the existence of a Parish Council in the village until relatively recently, having been mininformed that it 'never met', which is, it turns out, not true. 

Semer is the home of  the excellent Hollow Trees Farm Shop, which is a regular stopping place for me on the way home from Ipswich or Hadleigh.  I understand that quite a few other businesses operate from homes in the parish, which means that everyone is hoping that high speed, or even just improved, broadband will arrive in the area soon.  I understand more news on this may be forthcoming in October.  I have learned however not to get too excited about such promises.

The Parish owns around 4 acres of open land close to the very attractive parish church.  The church, which is in a lovely setting,  is very well written up on the Suffolk Churches Website,  click here  and I am hoping to find time to go back to take a look inside before too long.

Rights of way under threat

Some of Suffolk’s rights of way are under threat due to the planned closure by Network Rail of level crossings that carry footpaths and bridle paths.  The closures are a reaction to what is seen as an unacceptably high number of deaths of pedestrians who have been hit by trains when crossing the rails.

At Suffolk County Council Cabinet meeting this morning we received a report from the Suffolk Local Access Forum (SLAF), a body that develops and supports access to the countryside for walkers, cyclists and horse riders.  The Forum is very concerned about Network Rail’s plans, which it believes will threaten rights of way across the county, many of which have been in existence for centuries.

At Needham Market it is planned to replace the rail crossing with a stepped footbridge.  This will not be a good outcome for cyclists, or for less able walkers.  SLAF is working hard to persuade Network Rail to install an underpass rather than a footbridge at the site, but I find it difficult to see how they will manage to force the railway company to do this.  Other, more remote, rights of way could well be severed for good.

SLAF have a good record of fighting battles to preserve footpaths.    The group won a famous victory over the Highways Authority in securing the construction of an underpass to accommodate a bridleway which passes under the newly ‘dualled’ A11.  Network Rail may however prove a tougher nut to crack.  Despite funding being available, and an understanding being reached with Babergh, they ultimately refused some years ago to install a new station in Great Cornard on the Sudbury to Marks Tey line on the grounds that the timetables could not cope with an additional stop on the line.

The rest of SLAF’s report made for interesting reading. In addition to the struggle with Network Rail, the group is working with EDF to ensure that rights of way at Sizewell are not too disrupted when and if work gets underway on the construction of Sizewell 3.

Barbecue in Chelsworth

Newly restored oak tree

Yesterday lunchtime Nick and I were lucky enough to be invited to a barbecue that was held in Chelsworth Woodland.

The community woodland is on the site of an old clay pit.  In the past much of the building materials for the older houses in the village must once have been extracted from here.   It is a very pleasant spot, and the views of the surrounding countryside from some parts of the wood are lovely.  There is an open space in the centre which makes a good spot for an open air event.

The reason for the barbecue was to thank members of the village for their help in supporting the woodland, and also to declare a 500 year oak tree, pictured above, 'safe' once again, following coppicing and other tree surgery work to restore it to health.  I was really pleased to be able to contribute to the not inconsiderable costs of this work from my County Council locality budget.  It is good to be able to support ecological conservation work of this type, and the project made a nice change from leaking village hall roofs and other similar works.

A good time was had by all and the rain more or less held off!

I was able to catch up with some old acquaintances, and also meet some new people, some of whom were new to the village. 

We, (Nick, Rendle and I),  would like to thank the members of Chelsworth Woodland for their kind invitation to a very enjoyable event.

Check your chimneys!

 Although we are having some good weather once again,  the evenings are drawing in and getting a bit chilly.   At this time of the year I look forward to the time when we light the stove, even though I know that by the end of the winter we will be tired of bringing in the fuel and stoking it up.  The prospect of enjoying the comfort of a real fire is one of the compensations of the approach of winter.

We had our annual visit from the chimney sweep a few weeks ago.  I have been much more diligent about arranging for him to come regularly in recent years since we had a chimney fire – a quite frightening experience.

The fire came to mind because today I had a notification that Chimney Fire Safety Week starts tomorrow. 

Apparently there are approximately 7000 chimney fires in the UK annually, around 200 of which are in Suffolk.  Most of these fires are preventable.

The most common causes of a chimney fire are

• ·          The wrong sized wood burners or flues for the fire place
• ·         Burning unseasoned wet wood
• ·         Infrequent sweeping and cleaning
• ·          Overnight burning or smouldering wood for long periods in wood stoves.

Regular chimney cleaning is important if you wish to avoid a chimney fire.  If you just burn wood a quarterly clean in the burning season is recommended, otherwise an annual sweep will do.  It is best to use a professionally qualified sweep, such as those registered by NACS (The National Association of Chimney Sweeps).  If you are in doubt visit www.checkatrade.com the online directory of local tradesmen who have been checked by Suffolk Trading Standards and who make a commitment to treat customers fairly.

Here are Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service’s top tips to make sure that you stay safe this winter:

·   

• ·         Use a fire guard
• Clean your chimney regularly
• ·         Make sure the fire is out before going to bed, or leaving the house
• ·         Use good quality fuel
• ·         Never use petrol or paraffin to light your fire
• ·         Do not overload your grate or stove
• ·         Above all make sure that you have a working smoke alarm on every floor of your home.

A resistable invitation from UKIP

The beginning of September, schools go back, and a new sense of vigour and purpose fills the air at Endeavour House.  

The regular Budget meeting at which members of the Group examine parts of the County Councils' budget was particularly well attended yesterday, and some interesting ideas, both financial and non financial,  about highways maintenance were shared and developed.  It is remarkable what can be achieved when a group of frustrated councillors start to brainstorm! 

Other groups are equally upbeat it seems, in particular our UKIP members.  Clearly they are very excited by the defection of Douglas Carswell in Clacton.  So much so that a notice reading 'Defectors queue here' has appeared on the door of their Group Room.

I have not noticed any takers so far, but I suppose a council seat in Suffolk representing UKIP is less appealing than a parliamentary one in Essex.