BOROUGH COUNCIL JOTTINGS BY CLLR KEVIN BENTLEY & ANDREW ELLIS

October 2011

Opening of Messing Village Hall extension

In my last column in the Tribune I referred to the opening of the village hall extension in Messing. Well, the ceremony has taken place at last and it was a great day for the village, with many people turning out to witness the historic occasion. The official opening was conducted by the Lord Lieutenant of Essex Lord Petre, who is the queen's representative in the county Other guests included our local MP Priti Patel and Mayor of Colchester Helen Chauh.
It was the first time that Andrew and I had been inside the building since the work was completed and I must say it is hugely impressive: it's virtually a brand new village hall.
The villagers that have worked so hard on this deserve our sincere thanks. Also, the team that served refreshments on the day did Messing proud. A local resident had made a cake that was a replica of the new village hall, and it was so well done that it seemed a shame to cut it. But we did, and all who attended had a piece. It was delicious.
Many clubs are now using the hall and I would urge everyone to join up and visit. Suddenly we are doing well for public buildings in the area, and all through the hard work of local people. For me, this is what localism is truly all about.

June 2011

Birch Airfield waste facility

Messing Village Hall

As I write, plans are under way for the formal start of works ceremony that will launch this great project on Saturday 4 June. The ceremony will be attended by Priti Patel MP, chairman of the county council Rodney Bass, Councillor John Jowers, Andrew and myself. Also in attendance will be many people who have worked hard to bring the project to this stage, as well as villagers who will be the ultimate beneficiaries. It is the culmination of a great deal of hard work and energy by local people and Andrew and I have been very proud to assist them in whatever way we could.

May 2011

Borough Councillor Andrew Ellis retains seat.

Borough Councillor Andrew Ellis finally got to bed at 5am Friday morning content in the knowledge of an increased majority at this year’s local election.

Commenting this morning Andrew asked that the following message be passed on to all residents: - "An enormous thank you to everyone who took the time out of their day to vote in yesterday's Borough Election. Needless to say I am delighted with the result and thoroughly looking forward to continuing in my role as your Borough Councillor, working closely as a team with Kevin Bentley. Your support means a huge amount to me and I will, as always, endeavour to earn it!"

From February 2011

Colchester's budget halves the parish grant
Jotting by Cllr Andrew Ellis

On the night of 16 February, Cllr. Kevin Bentley and I attended Colchester Borough Council's budget meeting where we proposed an amendment to the administration's budget in an effort to reduce the 50% cut they have made to the town and parish council revenue support grant.

We all know that politics is about choices, and it is unfortunate that this 'town-centric' administration feels that village residents can do without £100,000 of the revenue support grant which went some way towards addressing the 'double-taxation' issue from which parish areas suffer. (We pay the same council tax as those living in Colchester, effectively Financing services that they enjoy but we don't, as well as an additional precept / tax to enable the parish council to provide those same services locally).

Despite our best efforts, Cllr Paul Smith, who proposed the administration's budget, said "Those with the broadest shoulders must bear the greatest burden', implying that residents of parishes are wealthier and can therefore afford more. His colleagues agreed and voted down our amendment before voting through their budget. Despite this setback, Kevin and I will continue to fight for additional funding support for our parishes.

Messing dog bin
Two years ago, Kevin and I were promised a new dog bin for Messing (no pun intended). Unfortunately, due to an oversight by Colchester Borough Council it was never installed. We recently took this up with council officers and I am pleased to report that one is now on order and will be installed as soon as it arrives.

New composting plant proposals
At the time of writing, plans for a new composting plant with an anaerobic digester to deal with food and green waste at the existing composting site on Birch airfield had been submitted to Essex County Council. However, they had not yet been validated as an application because the council were seeking further information from the applicant.

Cllr. Kevin Bentley and Cllr Andrew Ellis represent the Birch and Winstree ward on Colchester Borough Council and they are here to help. Kevin is also the county councillor for Stanway and Pyefleet.
Contact Kevin on 01206 382405 or email kevin@birchandwinstree.com, or Andrew on 01206 735166 or email andrew@hirchandwinstree. com.

From January 2011

Well done Messing
Andrew and I would like to congratulate all those people involved in securing the £50,000 Big Lottery grant which will ensure that the village hall extension project gets under way this year. This is a tremendous achievement by a dedicated team of local villagers who have persisted and worked hard. We have both been honoured to work alongside them and to have been able to assist in a small way to get this wonderful project off the ground.

TV comes to Layer Marney Tower
It is great news for one of our wonderful local historic sites and event venues as BBC l's ever-popular Sunday evening programme. Antiques Roadshow, will be filming for its 34th series at Layer Marney Tower on Thursday 12 May. The doors open at 9.30am and close at 4.30pm. Entry to the show is free.

A census reminder
On 27 March the census will count everybody in Colchester so that we can collect facts about the town's make-up and map its population.
The information collected through the census ensures that Colchester receives much-needed government funding to provide our communities with public services. By counting how many people live here we can plan properly for the future and provide schools, roads, healthcare, community services and emergency services and encourage businesses to invest in the area.
How much Colchester receives is related to how many people live in the area, so if the census can't account for everyone we could lose out. Even if it were to end up just a few households short, it could make a very real difference to people's lives.