Welcome to 2020.
The Parish Council have lots of plans they wish to carry out within the village over the next few years. The one area the Council are concerned to reduce is the speeding through the village. As many of you will know we already have the Vehicle Activated Signs up on poles throughout the year. These do slow down traffic initially but their main effect is the data we are able to collect. This stored data has enabled the Council to contact the local Police Speed Force Team to set up speed cameras in New Road. This will be ongoing for the next few months and if any driver is caught on this camera traffic penalties are issued. Please don't be one of those caught. The Council are also looking into getting a new pole for the VAS machine to be sited in Hargrave Road. IF you live on this road you may have already received a letter of notification. The Council are also hoping to start up a Community Speed Watch Team. This requires 6 volunteers and a couple of hours every few months or so. Not a huge commitment to keep Chevington a safer place to live. Please contact the Clerk if you are interested.
Throughout this coming year the Council are also going to be working with Suffolk County Council Waterways and Flooding Team to map the water courses situated in the village. This will help with future proposed building applications and consents. If an area is known to be a flood risk it is unlikely permission will be granted for new builds. Again volunteers are needed for this initiative. There will be further meetings about this over the coming year so please keep a lookout for the advertising posters.
The flooding issues in Church Road are being investigated by Anglian Water due to the Council's persistence in reporting this flooding. Engineers are expected to investigate the possible causes of the flood in the next few months.
The burial ground is going to have a minor make-over. The Parish Council took on the running of the burial ground in 1980 (40 years ago this year) and some of the hedges and trees have grown considerably over this time. The dividing hedge between the burial ground and the church cemetery is to be trimmed and cleared out and the Council are looking into erecting a small shelter with a bench inside for visitors to the ground to sit. We also hope to sort out some sort of water system so visitors can change the water in the vases they bring.
You may have noticed that various grass verges have been tidied up over the past few months and large overgrown hedges have been trimmed back. Your recently re-elected Council are keen to keep the village a safe place to live in for all parishioners, bollards on grass verges are not acceptable in some parts of the village due to the width (or narrowness) of the roads. The year started with the annual village litter pick which culminated in over 10 large black bin bags full of rubbish being picked up from all over the village. This was followed by the overgrown hedge by the bus stop opposite the Greyhound pub being cut back so that everyone could walk past it on the pavement and several parishoners have very kindly cut back large hedges and trees close to the highway too. If you spot any large pot holes or dead branches overhanging the roads please contact the Clerk who can ask Suffolk Highways to investigate.
The Council are also keen to use the section 137 LGA 1972 monies to help local charities that help local people. If you know of a local charity that needs support please contact your local Parish Councillors.
Finally, there are two vacancies on the Council. IF we go below four councillors the Council may lose its right to exist without the District Council stepping in. This means that your precept money from your Council Tax bill goes back to the District Council and is not used for the local issues within Chevington. This also effects the way the Burial Ground is run. PLEASE THINK ABOUT SITTING ON THE COUNCIL. For more information contact the Chair or the Clerk.
Contact the Clerk on 01284810508 or via chevington-pc@outlook.com