Tag: colchester

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Homefinder

homefinder_schemeJoin Colchester Borough Council’s (CBC’s) Homefinder scheme today and you could secure a steady return on your property with no arrangement fee. CBC urgently need landlords for families waiting to be housed. Many of their customers want to rent in the private sector. This is a positive choice and CBC can help them, and you, sustain a positive tenancy.

Before CBC put any families forward for a private tenancy they check they are capable of sustaining a tenancy and make sure that this is the best option for them.

When you join Homefinder you can choose either:

  • a full property and tenancy management service which offers guaranteed rent, together with regular property checks and protection against tenant damage…. Call 01206 244700 OR
  • if you’d prefer to manage your property yourself, we can give you peace of mind with our free property checks and the first month’s rent and deposit paid directly to you…Call 01206 506513

Download the Homefinder leaflet by clicking here.

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Colchester Customer Survey – be heard

cbc-survey-jul11Colchester Borough Council has launched a Customer Service Survey to understand why residents access Council Services in the way that they do. From 11th July the Council begun to gather customer feedback to ensure it is providing the right services at the right location. Customers visiting the Customer Service Centre, High Street will be asked to take the opportunity to have their say, by participating in the survey and shaping the future delivery of Council services. The Customer Service Survey asks:

  • Why customers prefer to visit their office rather than use the phone or email and
  • Where they have travelled from and what mode of travel they use when they come into town to visit CBC.
  • Whether they would prefer to access Council Services within their local community from locations such as library or Parish Council premises.

Cllr Beverley Oxford, Portfolio Holder for Customers, said: “The Council is committed to providing excellent customer service to residents and the business community, and wants to future proof its services so that we can ensure we are providing customer service in a format and location that meets our customers changing needs. “Residents’ views are very important in helping us to shape the future of Council services. Complete our customer survey and communicate your priorities and needs to the Council.”  

Customers can also complete the survey online at www.colchester.gov.uk/customersurvey until 2 September 2011. Following the 2 September we will collate and consider responses as part of the first stage of the Council’s customer services consultation. 

 

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Recycling and rubbish collections over upcoming Bank Holidays period

Lego Waste CartRecycling and rubbish collections will take place one day later than usual over the Easter and early May Bank Holiday period, as in previous years.

From Good Friday 22 April until Saturday 8 May all recycling and rubbish will be collected the day after your usual collection day.

This also means that if your usual collection day is Thursday, you will receive a collection on the Royal Wedding Bank Holiday Friday. If your usual collection day is Friday, you will receive a collection on Saturday for three consecutive weeks.

Please remember to put your recycling and rubbish out by 7am on the morning of your collection day. All collections will return to your normal day from Monday 9 May.

Click here for more details about collections over this Bank Holidays period.

Click here to check the opening times of the recycling centres for household waste (the ‘tip’) over the Bank Holiday break.

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Work together to combat flytipping

Fly-tipping in a stream
Fly-tipping by road or water-side is unsightly and harmful to wildlife
Colchester Borough Council and Essex Police need residents’ help to crack down on fly-tipping in the local area.

Rural areas around Colchester have suffered significant amounts of fly-tipped refuse and waste, which is dumped illegally and is spoiling the environment.

Although fly-tipping in Colchester has declined in the past year, outlying areas have remained hotspots for such activity, and is something that both the Police and the Council are working hard to tackle and enforce.

Residents are encouraged to be vigilant and inform the Council of any fly-tipping in their area, or to report any suspicion of fly-tipping activity.

We are now also asking for members of the public to take details of any vehicles, particularly tipper and flatbed lorries, carrying waste and to report them immediately to the council on the number below,  please include the type of waste being carried, time, day, date, registration and ideally any person(s) seen at the time.

Although the act of fly-tipping may not be witnessed, the Council is still able to investigate any reports of vehicles carrying waste, ascertaining if the owners have the correct and legal paperwork in place to do this.

Any person identified carrying waste illegally may be issued with a £300 fixed penalty notice or prosecuted which carries a maximum fine on conviction of £5000.

Dumping waste where it is not allowed, or allowing others to do so, is a criminal offence. You could face a very large fine or even be sent to prison if you fly-tip waste on land that does not have a license to receive it. It not only drains resources provided by the council in order to clean it up but has been responsible for several near misses with vehicles nearly ending up in ditches on the dark back roads trying to avoid it.

If you are hiring someone to dispose of waste on your behalf, check that the company or person you give waste to have a license to carry it – if the waste is dumped illegally, you could still be liable for prosecution. Protect your environment and help us to take action.

From Shane Taylor Colchester Borough Council Street Services, “Colchester Borough Council will not tolerate this eyesore. I strongly encourage residents to find out how to dispose of your waste correctly, as well as help us take action on fly-tippers by being vigilant and reporting any incidences of fly-tipping in your community.”

Local Police Officers will be looking for potential carriers and suspicions of fly-tipping activity, but it is hoped that through residents’ reports and noted activity, the Council and the Police can develop an intelligence system to spot potential patterns in fly-tipping activity in the Borough.

To report any incidences of fly-tipping in your community, contact (01206) 282700 or email [email protected].

To contact Pc Mel Wilson – 07966 197 404

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NEW 2011/12 Recycling Calendar out now

As in previous years Colchester residents are now receiving a copy of the new 2011/12 recycling calendar in the post with their Council Tax bill.  This year deliveries will be made between 9 and 18 March.  The recycling calendar applies from April 2011 onwards unless you use communal recycling and rubbish bins.  Please look out for your calendar and help Colchester recycle even more this year. The Calendar includes information on:

  • what you can recycle in blue and green weeks
  • when and how to put your recycling out for collection
  • the enhanced garden waste collection of up to 8 sacks from 1 November 2011 

Visit www.colchester.gov.uk/recycling for information and online services to help you reduce, reuse and recycle your rubbish, home compost and much more.   Alternatively email [email protected] or phone 01206 282700.  The Recycling Calendar can be viewed online where you can print replacement copies.  It is also available at a range of outlets across the borough including the Customer Service Centre on Colchester High Street.  You can also go online to find information on when rolls of recycling and rubbish bags will be delivered to households (except to flats with communal bins), and find where to get more recycling boxes, bags and sacks.

For collection news, handy tips and local events register online for the Recycling and Waste E-Newsletter and ‘like‘ Recycle for Colchester on facebook. 

Thank you for recycling your rubbish!

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Refuse, gritting & other snowy updates

Waste & recycling collections

snow-ballThe 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,

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Your Colchester – Your Budget

your_colchesterAs balancing the budget becomes increasingly difficult, Colchester Borough Council needs to make some tough decisions that will impact on you as local residents.

Residents’ views are critical in helping the Council to shape the future of its services and Colchester Borough Council would like you to share your priorities with them. Simply tell them which services are most, and least, important to you.

Say what you think. Complete the quick questionnaire by visiting www.colchester.gov.uk/yourcolchester or share your ideas on Twitter at www.twitter.com/yourcolchester.

The questionnaire asks you to state the 3 most- and 3 least-important services to you from the folowing list:

  • Activity Centres
  • Arts and Culture
  • Benefits
  • Building Control
  • Business and Economic Development
  • Car Parks
  • CCTV
  • Cemetery and Crematorium
  • Community Support
  • Council Tax
  • Customer Service Centre
  • Housing and Homelessness
  • Licensing
  • Mayoral and Civic Duties
  • Museums and Heritage
  • Parks and Recreation
  • Planning
  • Planning and Transportation Policy
  • Regeneration
  • Sport and Leisure
  • Street Cleaning
  • Street Wardens
  • Support Services
  • Tackling Anti-Social Behaviour
  • Tourism
  • Waste and Recycling Collection

It also invites you to contribute any ideas you might have to save money or increase income.

The questionnaire will be available to complete until 4 October 2010. The Council will then collate and consider your responses as part of the first stage of its budget consultation.
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