Lorries in unsuitable places

HGV making its way through Sudbury on Wednesday morning

For some time I have been working with officers and  a small group of councillors at the County Council whose Divisions are particularly badly affected by heavy lorries.  These, as we know,  damage property while terrorising pedestrians and other road users while they make their inexorable way to their destinations.
 
Recently we received some good news from Ordnance Survey who are working in their own way to try to improve matters.  the organisation is creating a product it is hoped will by taken up by the providers of Satnav systems and deter drivers that try to save time and money by taking unsuitable routes.    The product will highlight features on roads such as  weight restrictions and signs informing of unsuitability for heavy vehicles.  It will also give information about the maximum road width.    We have suggested that Ordnance Survey include 'pinch points' too, such as the notorious corner at The Bell in Clare. and other spots in places like Lavenham and Bildeston.


It is hoped that the use of SatNavs that provide this important information, might be made compulsory in due course, but this will depend on new legislation.   The national problem of heavy lorries on unsuitable roads was debated a little while ago in St Stephen's Hall, with our own MP,  James Cartlidge, making a positive contribution.   It is good news that finally this problem, which has become more pressing as HGV's have become larger and larger, appears to be achieveing the recognition that it deserves.

Theatre Royal Bury Children's Festival, 2016.

The Wind and Sun, one of the acts taking part in the Festival

This year I was really pleased to be able to give some of my locality budget* to support the Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds Children’s Festival.  Neighboring councillor, Colin Spence, also provided funding, and as a result during June Lavenham, Bildeston, Whatfield and Cockfield Schools, and also Colin’s schools in Great Waldingfield and Acton, were visited by a troupe of live performers. The children enjoyed drama, dance, music, circus and storytelling and I have had some encouraging feedback about the shows.

There is nothing like live theatre.   I hope that this small move towards introducing children to it at an early stage will encourage them to take an interest in live performing arts, and to become the audiences and players of the future.

This week I received an e mail from Julia Read, the Head of Development at the Theatre Royal on the outcomes of the Festival.   This tells me that the Festival had been a great success, attracting an audience of over 4000.   It visited 24 schools and at 9 other venues, and involved some 15 different theatre companies.  Feedback forms showed an excellent response

Looking to the future, the Director of the Theatre Royal, Karen Simpson would like to reach out to more parents.   In the report she wrote:  ‘We would like to work with schools in the future to invite parents into the performances in schools.  This would enable many more parents to experience the quality and intimacy of the work on offer.  It would also reinforce the experience at home and in school for the child.

In an age where the solitary pursuits of the internet seem to absorb more and more time, sharing a theatrical experience with others is to my mind more important than ever.

*This is taxpayer’s money, a small amount of which, Suffolk County Council allows me to distribute to communities and organisations around the Division

Water reaches Bildeston Church!

 I spent a wonderfully joyous, and relatively cool, afternoon in Bildeston yesterday at the remarkable 14th/15th century church of St Mary Magdalene, pictured above, which stands high on a hill a little way out of the village.

The annual patronal festival of St Mary Magdalene, July 23rd,  was chosen for a service of blessing and thanksgiving to mark the completion of fine kitchen and toilet facilities in the north west corner of the church.   For many years those wishing to hold events in the church were obliged to haul water in diverse containers up from the village, and without a proper water supply the provision of  permanent toilet facilities was impossible.   This proved a serious barrier to fundraising, which is so essential when it comes to maintaining a church of this size.

Parishioners had been working on a scheme to sink a bore hole, which would have been an expensive solution to the problem.  However, a change in ownership of adjacent land meant that a piped supply became a possibility. which was a relief in more ways than one.  Prayers had clearly been answered!

The Bishop of Dunwich came along to yesterday's service and preached an appropritately cheerful sermon, hymns chosen by Rev. Liz had a definitely uplifting and watery tone, and we were entertained by the newly formed Upbeat Contemporary Choir with a number of songs, including The Toilet Song , lyrics provided by the editor of the widely read and admired Bildeston Bugle.

The congregation enjoys singing from the Upbeat Contemporary Choir

After the service the refreshments were wonderful, and it was really good to catch up with so many people from the village, and also with a few who no longer live in Bildeston but who had returned for the occasion.

Very appropriately the Collection supported the Toilet Twinning scheme, which aims to provide toilets and clean water to the many people in the world who do not have them.  Details of this very worthwhile cause can be found HERE.

All in all it was a great way to spend the afternoon.

New kitchen facilities

School update; space allocation season.

This week has seen announcements about the allocation of primary school places across the UK.  In Suffolk over 90% of children will be able to attend their first choice school and 97% will go to one of their top three choices. Although full national figures are not yet available enough is already known to recognise that this is quite a good result.

  

There are variations across the county however with around 90 schools still having to refuse children.  I am happy to say that in the Cosford Division, all 6 schools, Elmsett, Whatfield, Kersey, Bildeston, Lavenham and Cockfield, were able to accommodate all applications for September.

In the case of Lavenham this is a relief since last year around 12 families were disappointed, and this included children from the village living quite close to the school.

Despite the fact that we have outperformed the national picture there is no room for long term complacency as last year's outcome demonstrates.   Demand for school places is likely to continue to grow in the area as a whole and some schools, including some in Cosford, have serious physical space constraints today that need to be addressed sooner rather than later.

When the children arrive at their new schools in September, happily they will be entering an improving education system.  It was revealed earlier this month that the proportion of Suffolk schools rated as Good or Outstanding by Ofsted has just hit a new high of 80%. This represents an improvement of 6 percentage points compared to just ten months ago when 74% of Suffolk schools were Good or Outstanding.

Schools in Suffolk are also improving twice as fast as schools across the country as a whole. Over the last ten months the percentage of Good or Outstanding schools nationally has increased by 3% compared to Suffolk’s 6% increase.

If you know a child who has been unsuccessful in achieving the school of choice and whose parents are unhappy about this an appeal is the only possible remedy.  I have information on this for anyone who wants it.  You should be aware however that an appeal will only be successful if the education authority has failed to follow the correct procedures.

Whatfield and Bildeston Schools win silver road safety awards

The Junior Road Safety Officers at two schools in my Division, Bildeston and Whatfield, have won silver awards for their efforts in promoting good road safety practice.

On Friday afternoon I attended the awards ceremony held at Endeavour House to see the children receive their certificates.  Proceedings were presided over by the new Cabinet Member for Highways, James Finch, and I must say he made a very good job of engaging the children, and the rest of us, in thinking about safety on the roads.

We all learned about a number of ways in which we can all improve road safety.  In addition two of the schools present made excellent presentations about safe cycling to school.  There was also a question and answer session where road safety officers and a representative from the police gave us the benefit of their knowledge and experience.

The Junior Road Safety Officer scheme, which is promoted by the County Council, is a great way to engage children with this important topic.  The children concerned also learn other skills, not least how to promote a campaign to their fellow students. Please get in touch with me if you want to know how your local school can look into participating.

And yes, cycling on the pavement IS a criminal offence!

Pupils from Bildeston School with their certificates.

Bus Route 112

I have had some information about the Bus Service 112 which makes a return journey every Tuesday and Thursday from Hadleigh, through Kersey, Semer, Bildeston, Chelsworth, Monks Eleigh, Brent Eleigh, Milden, Little Waldingfield, Great Waldingfield and finishing in Sudbury.  This is a service that is sponsored by Suffolk County Council.

Concerns had been expressed that this service was to be discontinued.  In response to a request for information the following comments have been recieved:
The 112 bus service which operates on Tuesday and Thursday was initially contracted for one year and I can confirm that we have recently extended the contract with Suffolk Norse for a further period securing the service until May 2016. Whilst the patronage has been variable the overall performance of the contract is such that we were happy to extend the contract. We do not plan to change the timetable or days of operation.

In addition the available budget allocated for passenger transport has remained virtually unchanged. Although this does mean that the department has to absorb any inflationary pressures the work being undertaken elsewhere in the county means that we are confident that (barring any major changes) no service reductions will be necessary.

This is good news, but one thing that residents should note is the comment that 'patronage has been variable'.  When considering a trip to Sudbury do think about taking the bus!  This could be a real use it or lose it situation bearing in mind the need to make continuing 'savings' from County Council budgets.

A concert in Bildeston and picnic in Wattisham.

Yesterday evening Nick and I very much enjoyed a Midsummer Concert at Bildeston Church.

Featuring music from Bildeston Primary, Hadleigh High and Thomas Gainsborough Schools, the money raised was shared between the Church and the B Natural music festival which takes place in the village on the weekend of 6^th and 7th September.

All sorts of music was on offer.  Bildeston Primary got the concert off to an excellent start with a fine rendition of songs from the First World War, including Roses of Picardy, which always brings a lump to my throat.  It was certainly very poignant as rendered here!   The young singers were first rate and are to be commended for having learnt all the songs by heart.  Folk, songs from the shows and others followed, and the evening was brought to a terrific close by the Swing Band from Hadleigh High School.  The audience were literally dancing in the aisles!

Hadleigh High Swing Band

We learned quite a lot about the B Natural music festival and have certainly been inspired to be there in September.  To learn more about the event click here.

Today we were invited to the Summer Picnic in Wattisham in aid of St Nicholas Church Trust.   

 Wattisham is a small place, almost the smallest in the Cosford Division, but it certainly punches above its weight when it comes to event organisation.  Food and drink were copious, dogs were welcome, and all were impeccably well behaved. Helicopters from the nearby airbase stayed at home, and the weather was good.

We were entertained by a series of musicians, and the food, delivered to each table in huge hampers was first rate.  Everyone won a prize on the tombola…and Nick and I will certainly find a place for our two pairs of luminous green and purple sun glasses!

The Church at Wattisham is now redundant, but is used as a social centre by the village and is an attractive space, although much of its furniture has been removed down to Bildeston Church.   At the west end, under the tower,  there is a very odd plaque on the wall, which I will not descibe here, but the contents of which could be one of the great mysteries of Suffolk.  More on this in a later post perhaps.

New facilities at Bildeston Primary School officially opened.

A happy afternoon was spent in Bildeston yesterday where I attended the official opening of the school’s newly installed outdoor activity equipment, pictured above.

Some £20,000 has been raised in record time by parents and children from a number of local Sponsors, including my predecessor Jeremy Pembroke, and the money has been very well spent.  In addition to the run of exciting equipment seen above,  a tyre crocodile, outdoor seating and an outdoor classroom have all been installed in the lovely playing field adjacent to the school.

While we enjoyed the April sunshine, the equipment was officially opened at a ribbon cutting ceremony presided over by a slightly belated Easter Rabbit, brandishing a huge set of golden shears.

The children are clearly very excited about their new apparatus, and wasted no time in showing it off to the assembled visitors who included representatives from a number of the sponsoring organisations.  The names of the sponsors are recorded for posterity on an elegant plaque attached to the new classroom.