Suffolk Libraries, safe for another five years.

Sudbury Library

When so many libraries across the country have closed it is good to read today that Suffolk Libraries have signed a further five year management agreement with Suffolk County Council.

There are 44 libraries across the county, and not one has closed during the current period of Government cuts.  This is in stark contrast to other parts of the UK.  It is not a statutory duty for councils to run libraries and therefore they are vulnerable to closure as councils cast about for additional savings.  Future success depends on making up the shortfall by continuing to encourage volunteering and the encouragement of friends groups and other sources of local financial support.

There is an added incentive for the County Council to make sure that the libraries keep open.  A year or so ago Suffolk was identified as a council that had done particularly well in a national report that examined the future of libaries nationwide.  It would be a pity if that good reputation was damaged.

Many people have written off the library in an electonic age, but real books are actually proving very resilient against the onslaught of the kindle and other devices.  Libraries are also about a lot more than lending books.  In Sudbury the library  is much enhanced by hosting the services of the Tourist Information Centre, and it is still an important point of call for those wishing to know what is going on in the area.  A quick look at the website shows that the library organises a number of interest groups for local people of all ages,  and thus is an important point of contact and social centre too.

In addition to that Sudbury Library must be one of the most attractive libraries in the country! Formerly the Corn Exchange the building was designed by H.E. Kendall and was completed in 1841.  The poet John Betjeman was among those who fought to save the building when it was threatened with demolition.  It is now Grade 2 listed.

Annual Parish Meeting Season

I am now in the thick of the Annual Parish Meeting Season.

This is quite a busy time for me since I represent 18  Parishes, most of whom hold Annual Meetings.  The meetings often fall on the same night which means a whistle stop tour around the lanes, aiming to arrive at the last event before everyone has gone home.  This week I have two this evening, three on Thursday, and one on Friday,  which may prove something of a challenge.

So, assuming that I manage to arrive in time to speak, what will I be reporting this year?

Firstly, I will be telling residents that Suffolk County Council's share of the Council Tax bill has risen by 2%.   The increase is entirely due to the Social Care Levy, a ringfenced sum which will be spent 100 percent on looking after the elderly and vulnerable in the County.   Unlike many other councils we have not increased the level of general council tax, so Suffolk taxpayers will be paying less than those in other parts of the country.

Secondly I will be reporting that not only have educational standards in the county shown improvement, but also that the services that we provide for looked after and vulnerable children received an OFSTED 'good' rating earlier this year.   Only a small proportion of authorities have received a 'good' rating, so this is a credit to our officers.  

I will be saying a little about Devolution, a subject that I have written about on this site previously.  Suffice it to say here that at the time of writing it is still not clear whether or not Cambridge City or Cambridgeshire County Council will agree to join the so called 'Eastern Powerhouse' and there is little sign of the Government recanting on their enthusiasm for an elected mayor.

I will touch on the recent consultation about the Fire Service, the results of which are now available on the County Council Website.   No final proposals have yet been published following the consideration of residents' views, but I know that these will be taken seriously by the Cabinet when decision time arrives.

Then I will talk a little about what I have been doing locally.    During the year there are generally issues raised by individual residents, not to mention work that has been done in co-operation with the Parish Council to sort out problems specific to the village.  High Speed Broadband is almost certain to be on the agenda, either because it is working fine, or, more problematically, because there is as yet no sign of its arrival.  Parts of Cosford are among the most 'remote' in the county and there remains a good deal of uncertainty at present with regard to when some areas will be connected.

My only hope is that those who remain 'unconnected' will not shoot the messenger!

Revised opening hours proposed for Suffolk Recycling Centres.

Last year Suffolk Waste carried out a customer survey which suggested that residents would like to see sites open for longer at the busiest times.  They are therefore reviewing opening hours at all Suffolk Recycling Centres. 

It is proposed that opening hours should be extended on Sundays and Bank Holidays,  and also that sites stay open for longer one day a week during the summer (from March to October).   In order to do this without adding to service costs, they are considering closing the Recycling Centres for one day during the week. This is likely to be on the quietest day which is a Wednesday.

Views are sought on these proposals from all who use the Recycling Centres.

Please click here to complete the survey.

News from Margaret Maybury

Margaret litter picking

Margaret Maybury, who is one of the District Councillors for Waldingfield Ward, has written a review of her recent activities, and also commented on what is going on at Babergh.  This can be found by clicking on the 'Margaret Maybury' page tag above.

While her report will be of particular interest to readers from Waldingfield, (Little and Great, plus Acton and Chilton),  I believe other Babergh residents will also find this useful.

In her report Margaret refers to the annual Acton Litter Pick, which this year will take place on Wednesday 16th March at 10 a.m. Meet at the entrance of Queensway.

Acton store transformed.

 For some months now what was once Bob's Stores in Acton has been a building site. Some doubters had been heard to wonder whether anything would ever emerge from the chaos.  Well it seems that their worries were unfounded.

The other evening I was driving through the village and I saw a beacon of light in the middle distance.  On closer inspection I realised that this was the newly refurbished Acton Store, from whose large glass windows, a good deal of light was streaming into the cold winter gloom.

I decided to go down to visit the store on Friday morning, and speak to Muku, the owner pictured above, who comes from the north of Sri Lanka.

As can be seen from the pictures the cozy interior of Bob's, which did have its charms,  has been completely updated to provide a 21st Century shopping experience!  The shop has re-opened under the 'Costcutter' name.  This is essentially a buying organisation that helps small retailers to enjoy better buying power in order to compete with larger stores.

Muku tells me that in addition to sourcing branded goods through Costcutter, he is keen to stock local produce. Bread will be coming from Lavenham for example.

In Acton we are very lucky that an entrepreneur has decided to make this investment.  Elsewhere village stores are closing down, and there were real fears that this would be Acton's fate too at one time.

I hope everyone will support Muku and ensure the future of  the Acton store    

Lavenham Library tomorrow

I will be in Lavenham Library from 10 a.m. to 12 a.m. tomorrow if anyone has any issues they want to discuss with me concerning the County Council, or anything else.

Jenny

New Parish Clerk needed in Kettlebaston

The small parish of Kettlebaston, which is just to the north of Monks Eleigh, lying between Hitcham and Preston St Mary, is in need of a new Parish Clerk.  This is a paid part time role.

Although an experienced clerk would be ideal, there might be a chance for someone with office experience who is interested in local council work to take on the role.  Full training is available and the previous clerk has agreed to give some guidance.

The council meets about four times a year in the village hall.  In recent years these meetings have been held on a Saturday morning.  There is also a certain amount of paperwork to be done at home.

If you are interested please get in touch with me on

jenny@antillantill.com

and I will pass your details on to one of the parish councillors.

The decline of the Annual Parish Meeting

The round of annual parish meetings has started and I have been going along to deliver my ‘annual reports’.

I have not been to too many so far, but I have been struck by the declining popularity of these events in some villages.  I will not name names, but some meetings that used to attract a good number of interested residents have shrunk to a few brave souls still keen to tell a few others about the activities of their group or association.  Even the provision of delicious refreshments has failed, in some cases, to attract many attendees.

I find this rather surprising, and disappointing, given the increased emphasis on localism and the need to build the ‘community capital’ that councils are hoping to build on in times of financial austerity. 

But is it really a sign that there is less ‘community spirit’ about, or are people just less inclined to turn out in the evening to sit in the village hall?  I do not detect any overall falling away of societies and organisations.  Indeed, I understand that the WI, following a long period of decline, is now picking up strongly once again.  The success of Little Waldingfield’s quite recently formed History Society does not need repetition here.  Book groups and other special interest groups remain popular, and the ongoing mapping exercise of community activity, currently being undertaken by the County Council is throwing up plenty of local activity.

Moreover, the decline of the annual meeting is not seen everywhere.  The turnout in my own parish, Acton, was not too bad, although the event was enlivened by the appearance of the County Council's Richard Webster, who came to explain about the intelligent lighting system that the council can now provide. The meeting also however managed to get sucked into a protracted wrangle about power lines, trees and an obstructed footpath for which no one wanted to take responsibility.  As the clock ticked past 9 p.m. I was reminded, perhaps, of why people might prefer to stay at home and watch Masterchef!

Nonetheless annual parish meetings generally include much of local interest, and they offer an opportunity to meet neighbours that you do not know.  What is more (although this might not be much of an attraction) there is generally a chance to question and challenge your local councillors at every level.

Who 'owns' the verge?

Yesterday I had one of my regular meetings with Steven Merry from Highways.  Steve 'looks after' the roads in Babergh and he is our first point of call when we have problems, or if we want to spend some of our highways budget.

Given that the Cosford Division stretches from Cockfield in the north west to Elmsett in the south east, taking in Lavenham, Bildeston and Kersey on the way, I have more stretches of road, and thus more problems than most!

I have developed a nice spreadsheet which I share with Steve when we meet, which shows us where we are with various issues in different parishes.

One of the more interesting problems at present concerns a road which is closely bounded by a small river a yard and a half or so to the south of the road.  On the bank between the river and the road are a number of bushes and small trees.  From time to time these grow out across the road, to the annoyance of local farmers who cannot get their machinery through.   When this happens the Parish Council draws it to the attention of the Council and eventually they come along and cut it, if the farmer has not got there first.  When I was elected the Parish Council asked me if I could look into the question of whether the County Council 'ought' to cut these bushes as a matter of course because ' it is their responsibility'.

We have not finally got the answer to this question yet as some 'deep research' will need to be done looking at old maps and so on.  In theory keeping foliage etc. from the highway is the responsibiltiy of the landowner who owns the land over which the road runs.  Often landowners on either side of the road will actually own the land 50% of the way across it.  It is actually very rare for the County Council to 'own' the verge, or indeed the land, although it will keep a stretch of a couple of feet or so from the carriageway clear.  In this case the council is happy to do this, but along most of the stretch this two feet does not include much of the foliage, which stands further back.

So assuming that the land does not belong to the council, who does own the land between the road and the river?  This depends on where the ancient boundary actually runs, along the centre of the road, or along the centre of the river.  In the former case, responsibility for the hedgecutting will rest with the landowners on the south side of the road, and they will also own all the land over which the river runs.  If the latter, then the residents on the north side of the road will own  the land over which the road, and half of the river bed, and it will be up to them to cut the hedges.

I fear that one set of residents won't be very happy when the outcome of Steve's research is known.  Perhaps it would have been better to leave the 'informal' arrangements in place?

Wartime life around Lavenham, a new book.

We rent out the cottage at the end of our house because living in the whole building would be much too big for us, and to be honest it is nice to have a neighbour. Tenants come and go, and in general we have enjoyed having them next door.   This weekend we are very sad to be saying goodbye to Stella and her little dog Marmeduke.  Stella has found a nice house in Acton village that she is doing up, and we are very pleased that she is going to be living nearby.

Stella has now partially moved out, and we have been going in and out of the cottage to arrange redecoration and the like.  I noticed that Stella has not yet removed her picture of bombers flying over Chilton Airfield that hangs over the fireplace.  It is interesting how the memory of the American airmen who came to Suffolk towards the end of World War II lingers on and catches the imagination of many.

I understand that a new edition of a book about 487 Bomb Group, which was stationed at Lavenham Airfield is shortly to be available for sale  at the Tourist Information Bureau in Lavenham. The writer is Lisa Parnell, and she has spent 20 years researching the book, speaking to members of the Group and collecting their stories.

To obtain a copy of the book, which is called, Off the Runway, memories of wartime life in and around Lavenham, you can either try the Tourist Bureau, or contact Lisa direct on lparnell806@btinternet.com. The cost of the book is £15, plus £20 postage and packing.

Lavenham Library looks to the future.

Yesterday evening I went to a meeting for the new Friends of Lavenham Library.  Attendance was reasonable, the level of interest and enthusiasm high, and the quality of refreshments very good.

In the face of financial pressure, Suffolk County Council has managed to keep all 44 libraries in the County open, but this has been achieved by what might be considered  quite a high risk strategy.   The branches have been hived off into a not for profit mutual company, and, although some local government funding will remain, money for the new organisation is tight.  Some local fundraising to support the libraries will now be essential if they are to flourish and grow.  It remains to be seen whether all Suffolk libaries will survive in the new environment.

The Friends Group has been formed to support the Lavenham Library, not just with money, but also, where appropriate, by encouraging volunteers.   For example, it may be possible to increase the opening hours, but this would have to be achieved with the help of volunteers since there is no cash for additional paid staff (at least at present).

A significant advantage of the new set-up is that the Library will be able to control its own destiny to a much greater extent.  New activities and clubs can be established, and outside funding for projects and equipment can be sourced.  A first project is to the be establishment of Wi-Fi  in the Library area, offering residents, particularly those coming from the outer villages, speeds that are much higher than those they enjoy at home.  Residents will be welcome to bring their laptops along and accomplish tasks that might be quite frustrating at lower speed.

Lavenham Library will this year be associated with the Lavenham Literary Festival in November.  Book signings are likely to take place on the premises, and this will support what is already a bright future for the Library with an element of celebrity.

Management of the Library has recently changed.  The new manager, Debbie Roots, has long experience of running Long Melford branch, where similar changes are underway.

 
If you want to become a Friend and get involved information is available at the Library.