Changes to rubbish collection schedules

The message below from Babergh doesn’t affect us in Newmans Green, since next week is a ‘black bin’ week, but others in the Ward will be affected!



‘Around half of the district’s residents are set for a change in their bin collections as Babergh changes the way waste and recycling collections are organised from next Monday (9 November 2009).

At the moment, each week half of Babergh’s residents have their black bins emptied while the other half have their recycling bins emptied.

To increase the efficiency in waste collection and to reduce the refuse vehicles’ carbon footprint across the district, all Babergh residents will be asked to present the same coloured bin on the same week.

Residents who will be affected by the change will receive information stickers on their bins with this week’s collection (w/c 2 November).

Cllr Humphrey Todd, Babergh’s representative on the Babergh and Mid Suffolk Joint Waste Partnership, said: “The change will affect only those residents who are due to put out their recycling bin on week commencing November 9th.

“This will mean that the affected residents will need to keep their recycling waste for an extra week but any extra recycling waste can be put in a clear sack beside the recycling bin for collection on November 16th.

“We apologise for any inconvenience that people may experience during the change, but the message for residents for these few weeks of change is ‘If in doubt – put both bins out’.”

Following this, all residents will be back to alternate weekly collections as follows –

Week commencing 16 November – recycling week
Week commencing 23 November – black bin week
Week commencing 30 November – recycling week

Residents are reminded to please present their waste bins by 06.30am on the day of collection.

If you would like more information on any of the changes, please contact Customer Service Direct on 0845 606 6045 or visit www.csduk.com.’

That's it folks!

Section 106 - a complex issue

Recently the East Anglian Daily Times wrote an article about Section 106 agreements and I would just like to put the issue into proper perspective.
The journalist implied that councils in Suffolk were gratuitously hanging on to over £25 million of taxpayers money when they could and should have been spending it on community assets.
Would that it were so simple!
Section 106 agreements are signed between developers and the council, generally after planning permission has been granted. The grant of permission is often made subject to the agreement which is negotiated between the developers and the officers of the council. The developer deposits money with the Council (which can be the District, the County, or a combination of the two) for specified purposes intended to compensate the community for the loss of amenity caused by the development.
Thus the agreement could be for the provision of extra school places, or highway improvements, or for open space or leisure equipment. Each agreement is different and the timing of the payment of money and the purpose for which it is intended is closely defined. Sometimes, if appropriate use for the money, within the terms of the agreement, cannot be made in time, the money has to be returned to the developer, although clearly the Council will do their very best to avoid this. An important condition is that where the money is for an asset such as play equipment it cannot be for the refurbishment of existing kit, and a new project must be found by the community. This does not always prove possible.
It is important to realise that the situation is very complex, and is being made more so at present due to the fact that many housing developments are currently ‘on hold’ due to the financial climate. This means that the relevant S 106 money is also effectively ‘on hold’ and cannot be spent.
In Babergh’s case Section 106 funds amount to around £1.6m, of which nearly £500,000 is earmarked for affordable housing provision. Parish Councils and Councillors receive reports from time to time on the current status of the moneys.
We are working hard at Babergh to make the Section 106 agreements more transparent, not only for Babergh Councillors and Parish and Town Councils, but also for members of the public. The Information Management Task Group, of which I am the Chairman, recently approved the purchase of a new database which will link the multiplicity of Section 106 agreements seamlessly with other planning documents, and make sure that the agreements are easily available for reference. Eventually they should be available on the Babergh website for all to see.

Coming to a field near you? Police warn on illegal raves.

Suffolk Police, in conjunction with Norfolk Police, are cracking down on illegal raves in the countryside this halloween.

The police rightly make the point that the organisers of these events have little respect for health and safety regulations, or for the peace and quiet of local residents.

Chief Superintendent David McDonnell has sent out a strong message both to potential illegal rave organisers and to the public at large:

‘I want to warn anyone who is considering organising a rave, that they will face prosecution for holding such an event - we have successfully prosecuted people who have organised raves in Suffolk in the past. We will also seek to prosecute anyone attending a rave who commits other offences, such as damage.

I would also like to take the opportunity to appeal for the public’s help to tackle this issue. Early information from the public is critical if we are to prevent a rave from taking place. If we get reliable and timely information about where and when an event is being set up, generally we can get to the site, identify the organisers and seize sound and other equipment before the rave begins.’

Any suspicious activity which may be connected to an illegal rave should be
reported to police immediately, dialling 999 if necessary or 01473 613500.

News from Old School Wood

Yesterday evening’s AGM for Branchlines, Great Waldingfield’s Community Woodland, was considerably enlivened by the news that a donation had been received from ‘one large anonymous donor’.
The size of the benefactors of the project aside, I am happy to report that all seems to be going well at Old School Wood. All of the trees have now been planted and, despite the very dry conditions seen recently, it seems that few have had to be replaced. Progress is now being made towards planting wild flowers and bulbs, and a special report at the meeting informed members that children at the school have already benefitted from learning opportunities connected with trips to the woodland that are enjoyed by all.
There are a number of ways to support the continuation of the project. The one that is, I have to confess, least attractive to me is to participate in one of the regular working parties that take place on the fourth Saturday of every month. Alternatively you might ‘adopt a plot’ by paying £25 towards the maintenance of a plot of your choice. There are 117 plots available, of which at the time of writing 25 have already been spoken for. Each plot is 10 metres by 10 metres and includes approximately 11 trees. In return for your generosity you receive membership of Branchlines for a year, plus a certificate showing the site of ‘your’ plot. Depending on where it is, you could celebrate your generosity by having a picnic under one of your ‘trees’. For more information about supporting Branchlines you should contact Brian or Shirley Rose on 01787 376499.
After the business of the meeting we heard a fascinating talk from Edward Martin of the Suffolk County Council Archaeological Service Conservation Team about ‘Woodland in the Suffolk Landscape’. I was very surprised to hear that as early as the time of the Doomsday Book most of the UK had been deforested, and only 15% of the woodland that originally covered the country was still in place. This process of deforestation has continued over the years, although recently the process has been reversed a little. Branchlines itself has made a small contribution to this trend.
I felt that it was an irony that we were hearing from Mr Martin, given the problems that ‘archaeology’ has caused to the Branchlines project in the past, but all is well that ends well!

Car parking debate continues

Yesterday’s Council Meeting at Babergh was an action packed affair.
Things got off to a rather sticky start however, and Councillors became rather grumpy as a result. This was because a paper aiming to improve the flow of information that Councillors receive about what is going on in their Wards was followed by another item which immediately highlighted the nature of this problem of communication. It appeared that a number of Members were entirely innocent of affordable housing proposals in their areas. These can be rather controversial schemes, so the irritation expressed was understandable. I am pleased to report however that Colin and I are aware of any schemes that are planned in Waldingfield Ward! (at least we think we are).
We then moved swiftly on to the issue of the Council’s difficult financial situation, about which I wrote last week. We were asked to consider the paper, already discussed by Strategy , in which an approach to setting the budget for the 2010/11 financial year was set out.
After a good deal of argy bargy, and despite the clear wish of many of the ‘powers that be’ to avoid it, an amendment was finally tabled that was aimed at removing the vexed issue of car parking charges from consideration by the SFP, the Committee that does the detailed work on the budget. This would have effectively put this matter to bed for the time being. By the time this happened however the assembled Councillors had been so cowed by threats of what might happen to them and to Babergh if they could not produce a credible budget that only the really die hard opponents of Car Parking Charges were prepared to support the amendment. A subsequent amendment was tabled by Martin Booth. He, like me, is very keen to make sure that if car parking charges ARE introduced in Sudbury, then arrangements for residents and others are fair and sensible. His amendment sought to ensure that the investigation by the Committee went beyond the purely financial issues and fully considered other consequences of the changes . The possibility of handing over the management (and the cost) of the carparks to Sudbury and Hadleigh Town Councils is also to be considered.
The budget, including the issue of car parking, will be fully debated at the December Council meeting (15th December) and nothing will be finally decided until that date. Further discussion could continue until February.
It is certain that hard choices are going to have to be made to make the books balance, and, in my view, it is right that nothing, however unpalatable, should be ruled out at present.

Local star performing at the Quay Theatre

Local diva, Elaine Henson, who lives in Great Waldingfield will be performing at the Quay theatre next week in Commedia ‘s production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute.

The show runs from 22^nd to 24^th October and I am sure that it will be excellent. For anyone new to opera The Magic Flute is a good place to start. It appeals to people of all ages. I took my children to it when they were very young indeed and they were spellbound for the whole three hours. Be warned however; once you get bitten by the opera bug you never recover, a fact that I have learnt to my cost!

The Magic Flute was one of the last works that Mozart composed before he died and is full of marvellous tunes, drama, spectacle and comedy.

Hurry along to the Quay theatre and buy tickets before it is sold out!

World War Two connections

It came as a surprise to me, although I am sure that many in Great Waldingfield are well aware, that the site that is scheduled to be developed as a housing estate in Folly Road (the Piggeries site) was once effectively the ‘town centre’ of the US Army Air Force’s camp towards the end of the Second World War. There are still a couple of buildings on the site, one of which served as the camp’s gym, cinema, social centre and church.

This fact has been brought to my attention by Mr. Norman Wells of Pebmarsh in Essex, who recently gave a talk to the Sudbury History Society about Chilton Airfield. He has suggested that, when trying to think up names for the roads in the new development, the Parish Council bear its historic connections in mind! At Monday’s Parish Council Meeting councillors seemed to be receptive to the idea which I also think is a good one. It was felt that perhaps some of the veterans, who still meet regularly in the US, might be asked for some suggestions.

According to Valerie Herbert, who as a trustee of the Sudbury Museum, has been much involved with the documenting and recording of Chilton and Sudbury’s wartime connections, ‘The squadrons had boring numbers but also zodiac names such as Scorpio’. When it comes to naming roads this could be a rich seam to mine.

She also tells me that the part of the Museum Trust website dedicated to Chilton Airfield has just gone live. (To access this go to : sudburysuffolk.co.uk/photoarchive (then click on the Americans button). There is actually a picture of the Folly Road site in the archive which is reproduced below.

Those of you who would like to learn more about Sudbury and District during the war might be interested in buying a copy of Valerie’s new book that has recently been published by the Sudbury Museum Trust. Pre launch copies of the book, No Glorious Dead: the impact of war on Sudbury – a Suffolk market town, are available for sale at a discount price at the Visions of Sudbury Exhibition that is currently taking place at St Peter’s Church. The exhibition continues until Saturday and is open from 10 am until 4 pm.

The book has more than 245 illustrations and includes a map of Chilton airfield. Proceeds from sale of the book will be shared between the Sudbury and District Royal British Legion and Sudbury Museum Trust.