28 March 2018: New Date: Old House Wedding Fayre -
Are you engaged, planning your wedding? Then look no further, everything you need for your special day will be at the Old House Wedding Fayre taking place on 20th May 2018, 11am – 3pm, South Street, Rochford.
The Fayre will be taking place the day after the Royal Wedding -
Starting off proceedings will be local radio presenter Su Harrison from Heart Essex, who knows you might even get a selfie or two!
Staff will be on hand to show people the venue and talk them through the processes and procedures required, as well as many local businesses who can help make your big day special. So whether you are just starting to plan your wedding or you are looking for those final finishing touches, come along to the Wedding Fayre and get all the help, advice and ideas you could need to help you plan and organise your perfect day. Entry is FREE and guests will be given a goodie bag to take home with them.
For further information on The Old House wedding venue, please visit www.rochford.gov.uk/oldhouseweddings
27 March 2018: More than £1million grant funding announced to help improve air quality along A127
A new cycle route and rapid charging points for electric cars will be among the measures proposed to improve air quality along the A127 between Basildon and Rochford, as part of the authorities’ response to the Government’s National Air Quality Plan for tackling nitrogen dioxide.
Following a joint submission from Basildon, Rochford and Essex County Council to the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) a grant of £1,258,000 has been awarded to the authorities for initial actions. A sum of £788,000 has been awarded for the installation of a cycle route with the remaining £470,000 designated for the installation of rapid charging points for electric vehicles.
The award coincides with the submission by the authorities of a Strategic Outline Case for reducing levels of nitrogen dioxide to compliant levels in the shortest possible time. Further details of the progress so far are available at www.rochford.gov.uk/soc.
Louisa Moss, Assistant Director of Community and Housing at Rochford District Council says: “This is good news for residents of both Basildon and Rochford living in the vicinity of the A127. We welcome the grant funding for the measures proposed to tackle the issue of air pollution and we would like to reassure residents that there are no plans to implement congestion charges at any point along the A127.”
These measures are required to reduce levels of Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) along the A127 route between Basildon and Rochford. Basildon, Rochford and Essex County Council as the highways authority have been working together to draw up plans to reduce levels of pollution in the shortest possible time. The measures will be completely grant funded meaning there is no impact on local taxpayers.
23 March 2018: Council appoints new Highways Ranger role
Rochford District Council are pleased to announce that in partnership with Essex County Council Highways, they will now be undertaking the Highways Ranger Service as an in-
Cllr Dave Sperring, Portfolio Holder for the Environment says ‘‘As well as working closely with Essex County Council Highways, we will also be working with the Parish Councils in the scheduling of works, to ensure that resident’s voices are heard and responded to in a timely manner. We are pleased that we are bringing this service in-
Initial requests for works will need to be routed through Essex County Council Highways for consideration of the Highways Panel through their ‘Report a Problem’ page at https://www.essex.gov.uk/Pages/Report-
23 March 2018: Easter Waste Collections -
To ensure minimum disruption over the Easter Bank Holiday period, bin collections within the Rochford District Council area will continue as usual. For those residents who have a bin collection on Good Friday (March 30th) or Easter Monday (April 2), please present your bins for collection as normal. Collections will continue as normal over the Easter Bank Holiday period (March 30 – April 2), May Day Bank Holiday (May 7), end of May Bank Holiday (May 28) and August Bank Holiday (August 27). If you require any further information please contact Customer Services on 01702 318111, email customerservices@rochford.gov.uk or visit www.rochford.gov.uk
20 March 2018: Budget Consultation 2017/18
Residents in the Rochford district have responded with views and suggestions in the recent budget survey which will go on to help to shape the services they have identified as being most valued.
The consultation asked residents to name the council services that they considered to be ‘very important’ with the top three being, Waste and Recycling, Safeguarding and Community Safety and Street Cleansing.
When it came to identifying ways to make savings or generate income, a number of ideas were put forward. There was a general feeling that the Council should seek to maximise its income by acting commercially wherever possible e.g. by offering discretionary services for a fee, expanding services where commercially viable and seeking to grow its business rates base.
A number of comments related to the Council being more efficient in its working practices, becoming more streamlined by reducing administration and leadership costs, and striving to become as energy efficient as possible. There were also suggestions that the Council could organise its political administration differently and reduce the costs of some Member services/ allowances.
In addition there were suggestions that services could be reduced in certain areas for example reducing the frequency of some waste/recycling collections. There were calls for greater enforcement of a number of areas including anti-
Some suggestions related to areas which the Council is not directly responsible for including street lighting, public footway and highway maintenance and policing services. Like all local authorities, the council is facing further cuts to the money it receives from the government. It has already made £3.1m of efficiency savings since 2010 and needs to find a further £1.8m by 2022/23.
The feedback from this consultation was considered by Members during the budget process. The Leader of Rochford District Council, Cllr Terry Cutmore said: “We have carefully considered the feedback from this survey when setting the 2018/19 budget, and focused our efforts on achieving efficiency savings from our major contracts as well as driving out opportunities to generate additional income where possible. Given the size of the budget gap the council faces from 2019/20 onwards there will need to be an ongoing effort to identify additional savings and income generation ideas, so we continue to welcome any feedback members of the public may have in relation to how we can best do this.” The budget survey was available online on the Council website with copies of the survey also available at local libraries and distributed at council meetings and events in order to get as many responses as possible.
If you answered the budget survey, or if you want to help shape and inform policy in the future, why not join our ‘Have Your Say’ group?
The group is made up of Rochford residents who volunteer to express their views on the Council’s proposals and local services. The information you provide helps the Council to make its decisions. In order for us to get the information we need, you will be asked to fill in questionnaires and participate in focus groups. When signing up you will be asked to highlight any particular areas of interest to ensure your views are taken into account when relevant consultations come up. You can sign up at the Group at: http://www.rochford.gov.uk/hyssignup
To view the Budget Survey results summary, please see www.rochford.gov.uk/haveyoursay in ‘Related Content’.
16 March 2018: Council re-
A planning application which was submitted to regenerate a property in South Street, Rochford will now be resubmitted by Rochford District Council after listening to local residents.
Revised plans now show the development, council owned, Number 19 South Street will be a scaled back to a refurbishment of the existing building with no additional new build to the rear.
Project Sponsor and Rochford District Council Leader, Councillor Terry Cutmore said: "We carried out extensive public consultation prior to a formal submission of the planning application and had much engagement with our residents. We have listened and responded to suggestions and are pleased with the revised plans. Working together with our local residents helps us bring forward projects that minimise local impact as well as generating an income which will help meet the financial challenges faced by the council.”
Rochford District Council’s Portfolio Holder for Enterprise, Cllr George Ioannou said “As a council we are currently reviewing the future of all of our assets, as we continue to take a forward-
The plans will be available on the council’s website https://www.rochford.gov.uk/planningapps once they have been submitted.
8th March 2018: Parish and Town Council Summit Success
Parish and Town Councils came together yet again for another successful summit hosted by Rochford District Council to enable them to work more closely together. The summit was held on 7th March and follows a successful run of summits held in previous years which was put together in consultation with the Parish and Town Councils. The summit focuses on issues and topics that affect all of the authorities.
The summit was opened by Angela Hutchings, Rochford District Council’s Strategic Director, who stressed the importance of working together to benefit our communities. There were also presentations from Rochford District Council, giving an update on their involvement with the Dementia Action Alliance initiative and Cllr Mike Webb who spoke about the recent success of Rochford’s meal provision for the homeless and those in need.
The day also involved workshops on issues relating to Community Safety, Environmental Health, Housing Options, Private Sector Housing and Safeguarding. These workshops have enabled better communication and have led to further discussions on sharing the support that is already available, and making it more accessible for all residents.
Rochford District Council’s Portfolio Holder for the Community, Cllr Mike Webb said: “The reason for running these summits for parish and town councils is to increase communication and ensure we are working towards the common goal of coming together in the interests of Rochford District residents. It was also a chance for myself to highlight important issues such as homelessness and those in need across the district, updating other authorities on what help is out there for our residents.”
MARCH 2018
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