Category: Uncategorised

There are two items of interest in this November News Letter

 LEAF COLLECTION  

The leaf collection has been arranged for two dates, Saturday 7th December 2024 and Saturday 11th January 2025.

The refuse lorry will be in two locations each Saturday: –

On 7^th December the D in Woodlands, between 09:00-10:30 and then far end of Welshwood Park Road between 10:30-12:00.

On 11^th January Welshwood Park Road between 09:00-10:30 and then the D in Woodlands 10:30-12:00.

All residents who have paid their annual subscription (£10) to the Association or who pay on the day are able to dispose of leaves and other garden waste.  The refuse lorry will have an open back so will be unable to empty the brown wheely bins. Only bags and sacks can be emptied into the vehicle.

Ardleigh Scout Group are willing to collect bags of leaves from residents homes and take them to the refuse lorry and return the empty bags for a donation to the scout group. If you would like the scouts help, please reply to this email with your name and address or contact the Association Secretary so we are able to identify the demand for this service.

Please note the annual subscription to the Association will still need to have been paid or paid on the day.

Welshwood Park Residents Association bank details: – Sort Code **-**-**  Account Number ********

Please enter your address as reference e.g., Wel 21, Wood 21 or Glade 21 if there are limited character allowed otherwise put the full road name and house number.

 The Tendring Colchester Garden Village Consultation

You will have received the flyer delivered through your letter box advising of the third public exhibition of the Garden Village plans. The locations and dates of the exhibition roadshow are on the flyer with the closest to us on 20^th November 16:00-19:00 at the Oak Tree Centre, 252, Harwich Road.

With all planning and development consultations the more public involvement indicates residents take an interest in their area meaning poor decisions won’t get pushed through. A good turnout is helpful.

Brian Todd

Chairman

Wednesday 18th September 2024 at The Oak Tree Centre, St Anne’s Community Hall, 252 Harwich Road, Colchester.

Apologies   were received from fourteen residents.

Minutes of the AGM held on Wednesday 20th September 2023 were approved.

Matters Arising   Nothing was raised.

Chairmans Report

Another quiet year with only a couple of matters that required our attention, those being the requested change of use for number 7 Welshwood Park Road and our appeal for a reduction in the cost of vehicle hire for the leaf collection.

With regard to the change of use, I would like to thank one of our residents for the expert advice she provided which I am sure helped us get this application rejected. Had this been approved it would have allowed the property to be used for activities that would have been detrimental to what is primarily a family oriented private residential area.

The lorry hire seems to get more difficult every year and we have a constant battle with the Council regarding the cost of this service. They now want to charge us for the hire without giving us the credit they receive of £30.70 per tonne from Essex County Council. Having persuaded them to deduct this, as they have in the past, we then had to challenge their final figure for a three-hour service when we had requested only two hours on the second collection. Apparently, we should have known that there would be no reduction if we requested a shorter time, but nobody advised us of this when we put in our request. Our local Councillors advised us to challenge this and the outcome was a reduction in the final bill.

This all seems very petty, but it causes a lot of unnecessary extra work for our secretary.

The Garden Village project that we are relying on to help protect us from further development on the surrounding fields seems to be a matter of one step forward and one step back. We understand that the link road between the A120 and the A133 will only need to be built after the first 1500 houses have been erected. Sounds good, but we then learn that the Planning inspector has recommended modifications which are now open for our thoughts and feedback until 21 October, after which they will be reviewed by said inspector before he finalises any modifications. If this was not bad enough, we have now been told that our City Council is required to up its annual new homes building programme from 900 to 1200. If its any consolation, I have lived here for 44 years and for most of that time there have been concerns regarding the fields. There have even been times when we have been offered the opportunity to purchase some of the land.

Finally, I would like to thank your committee for their continued support and also our local Councillors who never fail to attend our meetings and give us helpful feedback.     

Planning Matters

The Tendring Colchester Border Garden Community Development Plan modification for consultation from the Inspector, section MM64 part 1 “Before any planning approval is granted for development forming part of the Garden Community the full delivery of the A120-A133 link road must have secured planning consent and a commitment to full funding must be demonstrated”. Without the commitment to funding and the road plans approved no planning approval to commence building the garden community can be approved, which could hold up the garden community project and leave the field around the north east of Colchester vulnerable to developers.

The councillor responsible for Colchester City Council planning is keen to get the link road approved and completed, the main impact for us would be to keep construction traffic off the Bromley Road.

The delays on Clingoe Hill are caused by the development of a Rapid Transit system to the east of Colchester. 

Neighbourhood Watch   No problems in our area.

Unfortunately, unregistered electric motor bikes are becoming a problem on the public footpaths around the estate due to their silent approach these can be very dangerous for walkers. Please report these incidents to the Police on 101 or online. If enough reports are received from our area, it could encourage more Police presence.

A councillor reported that a recent initiative in the City Centre has reduced anti-social behaviour and shoplifting.

Environment & Trees   

The leaf collection dates were agreed as Saturday 30^th November 2024 and Saturday 4^h January 2025. Sharing the location between Woodlands and Welshwood Park Road.

We will be contacting Ardleigh scouts to see if they can help with the bag collection to the refuse lorry.

The garden waste has remained at the same volume since the introduction of the brown wheely bins.

There was discussion on the 9 saplings the Council was proposing to plant in the estate however our bid has not been successful yet. As a result, it was suggested the Residents Association could fund saplings for planting on verges, in the location the council had suggested, no conclusion was reached.

Finance   

It was agreed to maintain the annual donation of £10 to cover the cost of the leaf collection refuse lorry hire.

The treasurer prepared the accounts showing a bank balance of £*,***.**.

Please see Treasurers Report was provided. The accounts were approved.

Election of Officers   

The Chairman stood down at this AGM after 16 years as Chairman covered two 8-year periods. Those attending the meeting thanked him.

The election to the committee of a Chairman and Committee member was approved with the existing committee members unchanged. The secretary said he would be standing down at the next AGM.

The committee consisting of: –

(Chairman)    

(Secretary)     

(Treasurer)     

(Neighbourhood Watch)

Two Committee members.

Any Other Business 

The secretary wants to Thank a local resident for picking up litter as he walks around the estate.

A councillor stated there are Litter Warriors who organise litter collecting throughout the city.

Chairman thanked all residents who attended and closed the meeting at 9:08 pm

Minutes of Welshwood Park Residents Association Annual General Meeting

Wednesday 20th September 2023 at The Oak Tree Centre, St Anne’s Community Hall, 252 Harwich Road, Colchester.

Apologies   were received from ten residents.

Minutes of the AGM held on Wednesday 21st September 2022 were approved.

Matters Arising   Nothing was raised.

Chairmans Report

This has been another fairly quiet year with the biggest headache caused by our Council who decided that they were going to charge us what we considered to be an extortionate amount for our two leaf collections. At first, we had great difficulty in persuading them that it was necessary and, once we had pointed out that this had been an annual event for several years, they started with a figure of £920.00. We then asked for a breakdown of this figure and after much discussion between us and our local Councillors who intervened on our behalf, we agreed to this figure but less the £30.70 per tonne green credit that they would get from Essex County Council and which we had always had in the past.

Because this had taken so long to process it meant that the collections were delayed and we finished up with dates in December and January and with a smaller lorry on the first date. In total we paid £310.16 for the experience. Dealing with the Councils new hiring system was a challenge but the delay worked in our favour as there were very few leaves down in November.

As there was no interest in arranging an event for our late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee it was decided that the Association would leave residents to plan their own celebrations for His Majesty the King’s coronation.

Our Secretary managed to catch our grass cutter on both his Spring and Autumn visits and he was quite amenable to our request to cut down the grass and nettles through our footpaths.

I am sure you will have noticed that the wooden fence at 3 Welshwood Park Road has been removed and we are grateful to the residents for complying with the court order.

Our Secretary held a site meeting with our county councillor to discuss the poor state of the pavements in Welshwood Park Road but because ours are not considered to be as bad as many others it may be some time before remedial work is undertaken. We have also been informed that to even consider putting up No Through Road signs at the entrance to Welshwood Park we would need to provide photographs of large vehicles entering in error.

As our Secretary says, apart from these issues it has been a quiet year, and at this point I really must thank my committee members for their continued support.

Planning Matters

Local Councillor explained the Colchester Local Plan Review which has to take place 5 years after the plan commenced, the council are seeking the views of local groups and organisations. The Local Plan sets out a vision and framework for the future for housing community facilities as well as a basis for conserving and enhancing the natural environment mitigating and adapting to climate change. To protect the bio diversity of north east Colchester by protecting the fields and open space around Welshwood Park it would be helpful for residents to write to the council explaining the benefits to health and wellbeing, the environment and green networks (hedgerows and wooded areas) by keeping the green environment around us. You can email comments to the Planning Policy Team at planning.policy@colchester.gov.uk 

The more comments indicate a community cares, no comments the council assumes the community don’t care what happens.

You will have received a leaflet through your door for the Tendring Colchester Boarders Garden Community consultation, it is your chance to find out about the project and provide feedback to help develop the plans. Please attend one of the exhibitions, again, the more engagement from our area indicates the community cares, few people turning up may allow a development plan which is not beneficial to our area.

The recent government policy changes require the City council to have greater bio diversity (trees, hedgerows and open space). The council owned former Gas Board recreation ground bordering Welsh wood is to be placed on a register of potential sites as an area of Bio-Diversity by the council for developers to acquire (buy credit for an area to offset the space they need for their development) if the site they are developing does not have the space for Bio-Diversity

Neighbourhood Watch   No problems in our area. However please report any issues as they will be logged and appear on statistics which could result in more Police funding for our area.

Environment & Trees   

The leaf collection dates were agreed as Saturday 9^th December 2023 and Saturday 6^th January 2024. Sharing the location between Woodlands and Welshwood Park Road.

We will be contacting Ardleigh scouts to see if they can help with the bag collection to the refuse lorry.

From January 2024 Colchester City Council are to start charging for garden waste collection, an enrolment fee of £35 for the wheely bin and £55 per year charge for the collection. Residents can have more than one wheely bin but will have to pay the £35 enrolment fee for each additional wheely bin and the £55 per year collection charge. Each wheely bin will have a bar coded sticker attached to confirm eligibility for collection.

The general black bag waste collection will continue unchanged by black plastic sacks.

Finance   

It was agreed to raise the annual donation to £10 to cover the cost of the leaf collection refuse lorry hire.

The cost has increased significantly over the last three years 2021 £0,    2022 £310, 2023 between £500 to £600.

The treasurer prepared the accounts showing a bank balance of £****.**).

The accounts were approved.

Election of Officers   

The Chairman advised he will be standing down at the AGM next year and stated the committee needed more members for the association to remain viable.  Being on the committee does not require a lot of time and it would be good to have new people and ideas coming onto the committee.

The election of the committee was approved.

The committee consisting of: –

(Chairman)

(Secretary)

(Treasurer)

(Neighbourhood Watch)

One committee member

Any Other Business 

A resident with oak trees enquired what the liquid weeping down the trunk was, the meeting thought this was not good but could not provide more information.

The association put in a bit with the council for trees to be planted on council verges on the estate, we are awaiting the outcome of our bid.

Residents in Woodlands and The Glade have recently had a week with no Royal Mail letter deliveries; however, Welshwood Park Road appear to have received deliveries as normal.

Chairman thanked all residents who attending the meeting on a wet and miserable evening and closed the meeting at 9:15 pm

LEAF COLLECTION  

The Residents Association has been in discussion with Colchester Borough Council about having the refuse lorry for the leaf collection, unfortunately the council hire charge for a single visit is the same as the Residents Association collects annually from subscriptions. As a result, the Residents Association has decided not to have the leaf collection on Saturday 19th November.

The leaf collection on Saturday 10th December 2022 will go ahead.

The refuse lorry will be in two locations this autumn, in the D in Woodlands, between 09:00-10:30 and the far end of Welshwood Park Road between 10:30-12:00.

All residents who have paid their annual subscription (£5) to the Association or who pay on the day are able to dispose of leaves and other garden waste.  Containers should be emptied into the lorry and taken home.

On Saturday 10^th December Ardleigh Scout Group are willing to collect bags of leaves from residents homes and take them to the refuse lorry and return the empty bags for a donation to the scout group. If you would like the scouts help, please reply to this email with your name and address or contact the Association Secretary so we are able to identify the demand for this service.

Please note the annual subscription to the Association will still need to have been paid or paid on the day.

NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH

Our Community Policing Team have highlighted the Vehicle Crime occurring in Colchester Town Centre, the New Town and Hythe communities, which are close to us.

Do ensure that vehicles are locked when they are not in use and ensure no valuables are left in vehicles overnight. Recent weekly crime statistics show a number of motor vehicle offences in these areas and while the police have plans in place to reduce this, simple crime prevention should also help prevent occurrences in this area.

Minutes of Welshwood Park Residents Association Annual General Meeting

Wednesday 21st September 2022 at The Oak Tree Centre, St Anne’s Community Hall, 252 Harwich Road, Colchester.

Apologies were received from nine residents.

Minutes of the AGM held on Wednesday 22nd September 2021 were approved.

Matters Arising

A letter from eight residents was received by the Residents Association requesting that “No Parking on the Verge” signs be placed on the first three lamp posts in Welshwood Park Road. This was discussed at last year’s AGM where it was decided not to proceed with the North Essex Parking Partnership enforcing the no parking on the verge. There was considerable discussion before a vote was taken on three options: –

1 Do Nothing. 0 votes.   2. The legal route (North Essex Parking Partnership). 1 Vote.

3. Local residents to make their own decision.  Majority vote.

It was suggested that No Through Road signs be attached to the Welshwood Park Road name signs to prevent large vehicles incorrectly thinking they can get access to somewhere else. The committee to look into the possibility of getting the sign installed.

Chairman’s Report

This has been a fairly quiet year in which planning applications have taken up quite a lot of time. We objected to an extra four houses being built at Nobby’s Place on Bromley Road but Tendring District Council gave the go ahead in February. Well, they would wouldn’t they!

We are also keeping an eye on the wooden fence at 3 Welshwood Park Road. The occupants were taken to court for exceeding the legal height of the fence and have given an undertaking to the court to remove the remaining fence by the end of November this year.

An application has recently been submitted for alterations at No 6 Welshwood Park Road to which we object, but this will be discussed further under “Planning Matters”.

Our secretary has arranged a meeting for 10^th October with Essex County Councillor Crow regarding the uneven pavements in Welshwood Park Road and some tree trimming that needs attention.

Some public footpath signs still need attention but we have a new dog bin at the end of the footpath between 15-17 Woodlands. This must be such a relief to our four-legged friends!

You may recall that we were advised that if we wanted double yellow lines at the entrance to Welshwood Park Road we would require 75% of our resident’s request for it even to be considered. Only four households responded.

The suggestion of a garden walk followed by refreshments at my place obviously did not appeal as we only had one response. So, I held my own garden party to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee.

The use of two locations for our annual leaf collection proved to be a great success and will be replicated again this year. Dates to be mentioned later.

We were sent an email including a photograph of the mess outside No5 Welshwood Park Road where refuse had been put out very early for collection and our local foxes and birds had a field day. As none of the nearby residents saw fit to clear it up, my neighbour and I did so. We do recommend that you put all your black bags in a bin to help solve this problem as this is far from an isolated case.

You will have noted that our finances continue to be healthy and I will leave our Treasurer to update you later.

Finally, my thanks go to all the committee members but especially to the secretary, who I seem to remember I told there wasn’t really a great deal to do when I conned him into taking on the task. Also, thanks to our local councellor.

Planning Matters 

The Residents Association objected to the planning application at No 6 Welshwood Park Road for a garage / gym, being building on the front boundary of the property. Other properties in Welshwood Park road are set back from the road boundary of the property complying with the building line and maintaining the special and spacious character of the area.

The Residents Association has no objection if the proposed garage / gym is moved further back into the plot 

The wooden fence at 3 Welshwood Park Road, the residents were taken to court for exceeding the legal height of the fence and have given an undertaking to the court to remove the remaining fence by the end of November this year. The Residents Association will continue to monitor.

The Colchester Local Plan 2017-2033 has been adopted by Colchester Borough Council. The area around Welshwood Park and St Johns is protected by the Local Plan as “zoned not for housing”.

The next stage is to link Churn Wood to Welsh Wood and round to Bullock Wood with a nature belt / wildlife corridor.

Persimmon are still paying a retainer to the farmer of the fields behind St Johns Road for the option to purchase the land.

Neighbourhood Watch

Nothing to report close to our area. Although the City Centre is a cause for concern due to drugs in the evening.

Environment & Trees

The autumn garden waste and leaf collections are proposed for Saturday November 19^th and December 10^th with the refuse lorry in two locations, 09:00-10:30 the D in Woodlands 10:30-12:00 at the far end of Welshwood Park Road, the dates and locations have to be confirmed with the council. The association will also contact Ardleigh Scouts to see if they are prepared to help collect bags from residents homes again this year.

The pavement in Welshwood Park Road has very uneven slabs causing people to walk in the road, the association has contacted Essex County Council councillor Crow to request the slabs be levelled a site meeting has been arranged for 10^th October.

We recommend that you put all your black bags in a dust bin without a lid and not a wheelie bin with a lid, as a recent incident has identified that the refuse collectors are not obliged to collect black rubbish bags from wheelie bins, the council says this is for their health and safety.

It is possible the council will plant nine trees in our area three in The Glade and six in Woodlands dependent on the approval of a funding bid by the council.

It was proposed that a water trolley be paid for by the Residents Association to get the trees established in hot weather, the meeting approved.

Finance

The treasurer prepared the accounts showing a bank balance of £#####. Please see Treasurers Report below for more detail. The accounts were approved.

It was proposed that the voluntary subscriptions remain at £5 for the coming year, with electronic banking the preferred method as well as cash.

Residents can pay in to: –

Welshwood Park Residents Association.  Sort Code 20-22-67  Account Number ######

Please enter your address as reference e.g., Wel 21, Wood 21 or Glade 21 if there are limited characters allowed otherwise put the full road name and house number.

Or cash to the treasurer if in an envelope please put your name and address on it.

Election of Officers

The committee consisting of (Chairman) (Secretary) (Treasurer), (Neighbourhood Watch) the election of all was approved.

Any Other Business 

None

The Residents Association now has a web site where current information from the association and local neighbourhood watch information can be viewed, please look at the following web address: – https://welshwoodparkra.co.uk/

The chairman thanked all residents for attending and closed the meeting at 9.15 pm

Minutes of Welshwood Park Residents Association Annual General Meeting

Wednesday 22^nd September 2021 at The Oak Tree Centre, St Anne’s Community Hall, 252 Harwich Road, Colchester.

Apologies were received from, 8 residents.

Minutes of the AGM held on Tuesday 7^th May 2019 were approved.

Matters Arising these would be covered later in the meeting.

Chairman’s Report

This has been a difficult time for all of us, our committee meetings have not taken place as we would wish and there have been few news letters to keep you up to date. However, we have not been idle as quite a lot has been achieved in the intervening period since the last AGM.

1. We were able to hold our annual leaf collection last November / December which went off very well considering the Covid-19 restrictions in place. Only 11 tons of green waste was collected as opposed to our normal tonnage of 14 / 15 tons and we were unable to use the services of the Scouts.
2. A private enquiry by a committee member has been made regarding the quantity of lime being applied to land for the Belway development of 140 homes off Bromley Road as this will leach into Salary brook.
3. We have asked Colchester Borough Council (CBC) to replace a damaged dog bin at the end of footpath between 15-17 Woodlands.
4. We have dealt with a slippery muddy footpath and cut back the undergrowth, we have subsequently asked the CBC grass cutter to cut back the undergrowth on this path and that opposite between Woodlands and Welshwood Park Road which he was only too happy to do.
5. The depression in the verge on Parsons Heath which we considered a potential hazard to the person cutting the grass has been dealt with.
6. A bollard knocked over by the post box was reported to Essex County Council (ECC) who did not think it dangerous enough to fix was replaced by the owner of # Welshwood Park Road who had contractors on site at the time.
7. We were able to recreate the rather confusing CBC recycling calendar issued during Covid-19 lockdown and sent it to all residents.
8. Assistance was offered to any resident who needed assistance with shopping etc during the lockdown.

Planning Matters 

Double yellow lines for No Parking at the entrance to Welshwood Park Road were not included in the plans approved by the council for the three houses being built opposite Welshwood Park Road. If double yellow lines are to be installed 75% of residents will need to sign to say they are required for the council to consider installing them. If you want double yellow lines at the entrance to Welshwood Park Road please reply to the residents association email confirming you want the yellow lines or advise the association secretary.

The request to local councillors for signs on lamp posts in Welshwood Park Road requesting cars not to park on the grass verges similar to those in Eastwood Drive. The council passed the request to North Essex Parking Partnership who want to fine people caught parking on the grass verge, the councillor explained this had caused a lot of discontent on St Johns where signs are in place and people had been fined for parking outside their own homes. A resident believed the Parking Partnership use a camera car that could record a vehicle with wheels on the mown grass, the registered owner could then receive a fine. Noted three emails from residents who could not attend the meeting wanted signs and the Parking Partnership fines. The meeting voted unanimously against the signs and Parking Partnership.

Tendring District Council have received an additional planning application for four dwellings in the area known as Nobbys Place on Bromley Road, the association has objected to the four additional properties in the past, this is another attempt to get planning approval. The meeting agreed the association should object to the planning application for several reasons but primarily because the Tendring Colchester Borders Garden Community project once approved wants to protect the Salary brook valley as parkland between the garden community development and Colchester, if these properties are allowed it could set a precedent for other development in Salary brook valley.

The Japanese knotweed in the hedge on the footpath behind Woodlands is still being treated by Essex County Council, this was first reported in June 2018 the plant appears to have been dead for several years, we are pleased Essex County Council continue to treat the stump.

The association received numerous complaints from residents about the timber fence erected at the front of #Welshwood Park Road, the association wrote to Colchester Borough Council enquiring if the fence complied with planning rules. The council confirmed that the fence did require planning permission as it is higher than one metre above ground level and asked the home owner to put in a planning application unfortunately this did not happen so the council issued an enforcement notice to remove or reduce the height of the timber fence by 28^th August, this has not happened, the next step the council can take is to prosecute the home owner who will in all likelihood receive a fine and order to pay the Councils costs, and would still need to comply with the enforcement notice.

Neighbourhood Watch

Nothing to report close to our area. The main issues are scam emails and phone calls.

The association receives calls about motorbikes on the footpaths and in Welshwood, we advise people to call the Police who may be able intercept them on the highway as most appear to be unregistered.

If a vehicle is acting suspiciously on the estate, make a note of the registration number, in case a problem is reported later.

We have had reports of vans cruising round looking at properties, stopping, people getting out and putting objects in the van, they are probably looking for scrap metal, most usually knock and ask to take scrap metal however others just help themselves. Again, if suspicious make a note of the registration number.

Finance

The treasurer prepared the accounts showing a bank balance of £####. The accounts approval was proposed by and seconded by residents.

It was proposed that the voluntary subscriptions resume at £5 for the coming year, with electronic banking the preferred method as well as cash.

Residents can pay in to: – Welshwood Park Residents Association bank account.

Please enter your address as reference e.g., Wel 21, Wood 21 or Glade 21 if there is limited character allowed otherwise put the full road name and house number.

Or cash to the treasurer if in an envelope please put your name and address on it.

Election of Officers

A committee mumber is standing down from the committee, the chairman thanked her for her good work for the association.

The committee consisting of Chairman, Secretary and two committee members who were prepared to stand for another term, new committee members Treasurer, Neighbourhood Watch with one other, the election of all was proposed and seconded by residents.

Any Other Business 

Concern was raised that a significant number of healthy mature trees have been heavily pruned and within a few years have died and are then allowed to be chopped down, reducing the character of Welshwood Park. Before a tree can be taken down a replacement trees has to be agreed with the council tree officer at the time of the request to remove the tree, however this does not seem to be happening. this is being followed up by a committee member.

The autumn garden waste and leaf collections are proposed for Saturday November 20^th and December 11^th with a proposal of having the lorry in two locations 09:00-10:30 the D in Woodlands 10:30-12:00 in Welshwood Park Road, the dates and locations has to be confirmed with the council. The association will also contact Ardleigh Scouts to see if they are prepared to help collect bags from residents homes this year.

Residents can ask for salt for winter use from our local councillors although there is limited supply.

A councillor provided an update to the Tendring Colchester Borders Garden Community development, the planning approval for the new road linking the A120 to the garden community is in progress at present, if this road does not go ahead the garden community development may not proceed. Let’s hope it gets approval.

The footpath in Welshwood Park Road has very uneven slabs causing people to walk in the road, the association to contact Essex County Council and our ECC councillor to request the slabs be levelled.

A request was made for a donation from the association to Colchester Food Bank, this is not allowed in the association’s constitution, however the councillor pointed out it is better value for money to make food donations directly to the food bank than give money.

The residents association now has a web site where current information from the association and local neighbourhood watch information can be viewed, please look at the following web address: – https://welshwoodparkra.co.uk/

The Chairman thanked all residents for attending the meeting in a different location and closed the meeting at 9.20 pm

LEAF COLLECTION  

The Residents Association has arranged with the council for a refuse vehicle to collect leaves and garden waste on Saturday 21st November and Saturday 12th December 2020, between 9:00 & 12:00. The location will remain in the D in Woodlands, all residents are able to dispose of leaves and other garden waste.  Containers and bags should be emptied into the vehicle and taken home.

The Residents Association has suspended the annual subscription for 2020 due to the current environment with Covid-19.

Please be aware of the following Covid-19 guidance agreed with the council while disposing of garden waste into the refuse vehicle: –

• If you are feeling unwell do not come to the refuse vehicle.
• Only one person will be allowed at the back of the refuse vehicle at a time.
• While waiting to empty bags stay 2 metres apart in the queue.
• Residents will need to be able to lift their own bags into the rear of the vehicle.
• The council staff member has been instructed to remain at a safe distance and will not be able to assist with any lifting of bags.
• Please do not congregate around the refuse vehicle, this is not a social occasion.
• The refuse vehicle will be in Woodlands for 3 hours, please try to avoid the busy period between 9:30 and 11:00.
• Residents arriving by car, please queue on the left-hand side going down Woodlands the same side as the refuse vehicle and wait for the car in front to leave.
• Face masks are not required being outside, however residents may wear one if it makes them feel safe.

Keith Baines

Chairman

Dear Resident

Please see the information below from Colchester Borough Council for waste and recycling collections for Welshwood Park. From next Wednesday 27th May, Garden Waste will again be collected.

Key points you need to know:

Collections of garden waste will restart on Wednesday 27^th May

Special Collections for bulky items will restart on Monday 1^st June

Temporary four-weekly collections of paper/card, cans, glass and plastics remain until Wednesday 17^th June

Recycling and rubbish collections will return to normal on week commencing Monday 22^nd June (excluding textiles)

Stay Safe, Stay Alert

David Furse

Residents Association Secretary

Dear Resident

The Annual General Meeting which is due to be held in May is being postponed due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, as May is thought to be when the peak number of virus cases will occur, so not a sensible time to hold the meeting.

If you have anything you would like to discuss as a result of the postponement of the Annual General Meetings please reply to this email or contact a committee member below.

The leaf collection in November / December 2019 collected in excess of 14tonnes of garden refuse.

It is hoped that residents who are having work undertaken to their properties in Welshwood Park Road will ensure that their contractors make good all the damage done to the grass verges.

At this time, it would be nice to offer a neighbour help and support should they need it to collect shopping, picking up medication, or just a friendly phone call. (As a result of self-isolation).

James and Sarah Prince the Residents Association Neighbourhood Watch coordinators have offered their help to anyone who may need anything collected and can be contacted evenings only. Additionally, David Furse and myself are happy to receive calls and pass on requests for assistance.

Keith Baines

Chairman