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BELCHAMP ST PAUL & BELCHAMP OTTEN PARISH COUNCIL |
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Welcome to the Belchamp St Paul and Belchamp Otten Parish Council website
Contact Clerk: John Douglass
Tel: 07551 005757
E-mail: belchamps.pc@gmail.com
Belchamp St Paul and Belchamp Otten are situated in the beautiful Stour Valley on the Essex/Suffolk border.
A distintive landscape with many ancient villages that has inspired such famous artists as John Constable and Thomas Gainsborough. The Belchamps are mentioned in the Domesday Book.
These two beautiful villages, deep in the heart of East Anglia, each have a public house and Belchamp St Paul also has a very well respected Primary School and The Community House.
PARISH NOTICE BOARD
PROPOSAL TO BUILD SOLAR FARM IN BAKERS RD, BELCHAMP ST PAUL
BELCHAMP ST PAUL DEFIBRILLATOR NOW WORKING
(Posted 15 July)
The Belchamp St Paul defibrillator has now been repaired by East of England Ambulance Service and is back in place at the Community House. Many thanks to Councillor Robin Lock and others. The machine 'talks you through' exactly what you need to do, step by step, to operate it successfully. Anyone can therefore use it at any time.
LOCAL DESIGN CODE PRIZE DRAW
(Posted 13 June)
The winners for the Local Design Code Questionnaire prize draw were picked using a random generator on the 6 June 2024. A big congratulations to Alice Middleditch and Patrick Bell who won the £40 and £20 vouchers respectively.
ROAD SWEEPING
Road Sweeping Schedule
CASUAL VACANCY FOR COUNCILLOR TO REPRESENT BELCHAMP ST PAUL
(Posted 28 June)
Following the resignation of Cllr Harvey Bamford, the PC have now been authorised to fill the vacant seat by co-option. If you are interested in becoming a Councillor please contact the Clerk.
PC MEETING DATES FOR 2024 (Posted 10 December)
The PC have agreed the following meeting dates for 2024: 16 January, 27 February, 9 April (starting at 8pm as it follows the BSP Annual Assembly), 28 May (Annual Council meeting), 2 July, 3 September, 15 October, 26 November 2024.
The Belchamp Otten Annual Assembly will be held on Monday 8 April (at The Red Lion PH, Belchamp Otten) and the BSP Annual Assembly will take place on 9 April (at The Community House). All meetings are held in The Community House at Belchamp St Paul and commence at 7.30pm unless otherwise stated. Members of the public are welcome to attend all meetings.
VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT CODE WORKING GROUP
You will all be aware that the PC have set up a Working Group to produce our own Village Development Code (formally known as a Village Design Code) for the combined villages of Belchamp St Paul and Belchamp Otten. To keep up to date with progress by the Working Group please visit the new dedicated tab on the left hand side of this page.
NEW COUNCILLOR FOR BELCHAMP ST PAUL
At the May 2024 PC meeting Alexander Bills was co-opted onto the PC to fill the Belchamp St Paul vacancy. We hope that he will enjoy his new Parish Councillor role.
DISTRICT AND COUNTY COUNCILLOR REPORTS TO BE PUBLISHED ON THE PC WEBSITE (Posted 31 October 2022)
Following a suggestion from a resident at the last PC meeting, the PC will in future be publishing the reports from our District Councillor Iona Parker and County Councillor Peter Schwier which are provided for each PC meeting. These can be found on the website under the 'Minutes' tab.
DEFIBRILLATOR AT BELCHAMP OTTEN
Following a successful application for funding to the National Lottery, a defibrillator has been installed in the former Telephone Box, The Street, Belchamp Otten CO10 7BG for use by residents in an emergency (to restart someone's heart). The defibrillator is in a locked cabinet and in an emergency you need to dial '999' (from your mobile phone) to obtain the code to release it. The machine then 'talks you through' exactly what you need to do, step by step, to operate it successfully. Anyone can therefore use it at any time.
Please note that there is also a further defibrillator on the outside wall of The Community House in Belchamp St Paul which was installed a couple of years ago.
PLEASE NOTE THAT TRAINING IS NOT ESSENTIAL TO USE THE DEFIBRILLATOR AS DETAILED VERBAL INSTRUCTIONS ARE PROVIDED DURING OPERATION.
EMERGENCY SUPPLY OF BDC RECYCLING RUBBISH BAGS (Posted 2016)
All households receive a regular supply of Recycling Bags direct from BDC. If however you run out before the next scheduled delivery you can obtain an emergency supply from the Clerk.
ANGLIAN WATER LAUNCH "POLLUTION WATCH" (Posted 2016)
AW have launched a new campaign to ensure that all incidents of sewage pollution are dealt with as quickly as possible to minimise the impact on the environment. They are investing £5.5m in network maintenance but if you spot any potential sewage pollution issues you can ring their dedicated Pollution Hotline 03457 145145 to report them and so enable them to respond sooner and look after our rivers and waterways.
UK POWER NETWORKS - PRIORITY SERVICES REGISTER FOR VULNERABLE RESIDENTS (Posted 2016)
UK Power Networks are the people who are responsible for keeping the electricity on in our area, regardless of your chosen energy supplier. They own and maintain all the electricity lines and cables. They keep a list of ‘vulnerable residents’ on their Priority Services Register so that if there is a power cut they can ensure that those who need it will receive extra support. This doesn’t necessarily mean that they can get the power back on more quickly but they can provide a priority 24 hour telephone number/ regular text or phone updates/ extra support from the British Red Cross to visit your home during an emergency (they’ll check with you first).
If you are elderly or disabled, have young children or rely on specialised medical equipment then you can apply to go onto the Priority Services Register at www.ukpowernetworks.co.uk/priority.