Letter to Residents December 2020

By Admin

Tuesday, November 17, 2020

Dear Residents

It is another drab day in mid November in lockdown. My only outing this week has been to the socially distanced Farmers Market in High Easter where I stocked up on their excellent pork and looked at their Christmas offering, including the option of half turkeys! I took the opportunity for a short car ride to look at the newly re-surfaced Dunmow High Street and some highways issues reported to me. It is always easier to report something when you have seen it first hand.

The rain over the last few weeks has caused flooding in a number of areas across my division but I am delighted to say that Highways will be revisiting High Easter in early December to jet the drains in the Street yet again and discuss the resolution to this problem. They will also be visiting Bellhouse Villas where there is a long standing issue. In Little Canfield and in Hatfield Heath there are further outstanding problems.  Flooding can be a blocked Highways drain but it can also be lack of maintenance of an adjacent ditch or drain that is in private ownership and Taxpayers’ money should not be funding these works. My ditch luckily is between fields rather than adjacent to the highway!

Along with other retail outlets Essex Libraries have closed for book borrowing but you can of course join and borrow free of charge from the Library service. There are e books, e audio as well as magazines, papers and comics. When we re-open in December we hope to have almost all Libraries open until 7 p.m. one evening a week.

I have now spent all of my County Council grant pot of £10,000 giving to High Easter for a playground, Great Hallingbury for Beekeeping equipment, Hatfield Broad Oak for a Petanque space & a Covid help group, Great Canfield towards Village sign repairs, Hatfield Heath towards the War Memorial upgrade and dry rot in the URC, Takeley for works to the Football pitch and a Hearing Loop for the Church, High Roding for village sign repairs, Rodings primary for outdoor space improvements, Barnston for curtains in the Village Hall, Dunmow towards publication of a newsletter and Little Canfield for seats and cycle maps for the Flitch Way.

I do still have a small amount left in my District grant pot if there is a project in High Easter, Aythorpe, High, Leaden or Margaret Roding. Money from that grant pot has been spent on a Defibrillator in Aythorpe Roding, a Rodings help group making Scrubs etc for Broomfield in the first wave and High Roding memorial.

Uttlesford Council will soon be dealing ( I am writing this on 17th November) with further grants to businesses affected by Covid. For retail businesses affected this will be relatively straightforward but If you think you may qualify for a discretionary grant please check the website or get in touch.

May I take this opportunity to wish you and your families and Friends a Happy Christmas and a peaceful New Year

If there are any queries that you think I can help with please do contact me.

Susan Barker

01245 231250

[email protected]