Waste & recycling collections
The Parish Council have received the following update from Matthew Young, Head of Street Services at Colchester Borough Council:
We are carrying out refuse and recycling collections today and Paul English, the Street Care and Recycling Operations Manager, will inform you of our success rate at the end of the working day and we will ensure that the website and media are updated. Staff worked very hard yesterday and most collections were able to be made.
The weather forecast for the next few days shows little sign of improvement and therefore the same arrangements will apply where we will try to collect as much as we can using a variety of vehicles. We constantly review the situation and ensure as many collections as possible and Paul and his team will carry out a final review of the situation in the morning before crews are deployed. It is worth noting that collections are taking longer than normal in most areas but collection times may also be earlier as drivers choose the most suitable routes. It is therefore imperative that residents have their waste available for collection by 0700 and remain patient until 1600. We will not collect in the dark where conditions are much more hazardous.
I would also ask that any communication residents may wish to make is through our Customer Service Centre on 01206 282700 or [email protected] and not on direct lines. We greatly appreciate Members who do pass on emails to residents as communication is vital to service success. I would though point out that we will not be deviating from our normal schedule and therefore residents who do not receive a collection by 1600 are advised to simply retrieve and store their waste and recycling.
Gritting of roads and pavements
The gritting and salting of the highway network is the responsibility of Essex County Council. They have informed us that they will focus their gritting resources on keeping major roads clear. This includes all ‘A’ and ‘B’ roads, access routes for emergency services, rural link roads and major public transport routes. Therefore, estate or residential roads are not included whether they are on inclines or not. Colchester Borough Council will be keeping the pavements clear on the roads included in the memorandum of understanding and the list of the roads is on the CBC website linked here. If residents want to try and keep the paths clear in their roads then they need to follow the instructions we sent round yesterday to Members.
As you did earlier this year your assistance in this matter would be appreciated.
Thanks,
A copper lightning conductor was stolen from St Margaret’s Church, Woodham Mortimer, Maldon (pictured right) between the evening of 28th October and midday on 30th. The conductor was worth some £200 but the damage caused by cutting it off is likely to cost £1000 to repair. A similar crime was committed at St Peter’s Church, Totham between November 2nd and 3rd.
About 30 members and visitors attended our October meeting when Mr. Patrick Forsythe came along to tell us about getting “Travel Books Published”. Patrick had worked in Management Training and successfully written a training book and then joined a writing group before having two travel books published. The first “First Class at Last” comparing budget travel with first class travel to Asia and the second “A land like none you know” all about Burma. He told us that having had the idea for the first book he sent the draft idea to several publishing companies and got rejected. He persisted and finally when following them up, one of them asked him to resubmit his ideas, he got an email saying “a contract was on its way”. He then had the problem of funding his trip so he contacted various airlines, hotels etc. who agreed to fund him in return for a write up. He read out a number of paragraphs from his books which were highly amusing and very entertaining. We also had a Silent Auction which once again proved highly successful raising £87.50 for our funds, which was a fantastic effort.
Essex County Council has announced the temporary closure of Abberton Road, in the Parish of Langenhoe, from its junction with B1025 Mersea Road to its junction with Fingringhoe Road.
Following the meeting we held in February, our latest plans for a new village hall for Peldon will be on display at an open meeting and coffee morning on