News and information from Jane Gould, Babergh District Councillor,
to the Parish Councils and residents in Orwell Ward
February 2022
Ward news
Most of the parishes in Orwell Ward have some, if not a majority, of their residents living along the B1456, this is the arterial road from Bourne Bridge through to Shotley Gate. Development plans for the old HMS Ganges site at Shotley gate have been in the pipeline for some years and the building work is due to commence in the near future, exact date is still not known but I think we are looking at weeks not months. The developer is looking to engage with local stakeholders and, following dialogue with Babergh District Council, the final draft of their Construction Management Plan (CMP) has been shared with the Parish Councils whose residents will be affected. For Orwell Ward it is Wherstead, Freston, Woolverstone and Chelmondiston and having spoken to most of you I know that it is the arrangements for mitigating and minimising the disruption and potential damage from the construction traffic that is most concerning to us all.
The developers intend to have open and regular dialogue with all Parish Councils throughout the build period and they think it would be beneficial to start as they mean to go on and hold a face-to-face meeting to introduce themselves and discuss any queries there may be with regards to the CMP. There will be opportunity for wider public consultation in due course, however so that the discussion can be focussed on this initial topic, and to establish key lines of communication for each Parish Council, the request is that this initial meeting is not a ‘public’ meeting and is attended only by nominated representatives of each Parish Council. Your Parish Councils will supply the names of the Councillors who will be attending.
To ensure that they are not in breach of pre-commencement planning condition, the developers formally submitted the Construction Management Plan to Babergh District Council on Monday 7th February, which should allow the statutory consultees within the Council their allotted time to review the document from a technical and
compliance perspective, prior to the meeting with our parishes. If there are any parts of the document that, during our meeting, it is decided to amend to suit any comments received, then a revised submission will be made to Babergh District Council within the determination period.
New Whole House Servicing Contract
From February 1, Aaron Services will be working with Babergh DC to deliver the new Whole House Servicing Contract. As a landlord Babergh have a legal obligation to ensure their tenant’s homes are safe and maintained to the highest standards. This includes the repair, renewal and servicing of gas appliances including fires and boilers, oil systems, air source heat pumps, and solar photovoltaics. Following a competitive procurement process, Aaron Services will be working alongside Babergh to deliver the new Whole House Servicing Contract. This contract is the second largest that the Councils manage and provides a level of compliancy with Gas safety legislation unrivalled by most other contracts.
Aaron Services are locally based in Needham Market, with over 35 years of successful delivery experience in the domestic and commercial markets. Aaron Services Managing Director, David Lummis said: "We value the opportunity and the responsibility that has been placed on us to work with the Councils and the Housing teams. Both I and my staff will be working every day to ensure we deliver on the commitments we made in the development of this contract.”
Tenants will see very little change, apart from an engineer arriving from Aaron Services or one of their sub-contractors, rather than Blueflame. Babergh will be informing all their tenants of the changes and monitoring the implementation and successful delivery of the new service through robust contract management, as well as listening to tenants' feedback
Her Majesty the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Celebrations
On Sunday 6 February 2022, Her Majesty the Queen celebrated her Platinum Jubilee, marking 70 years of service. To celebrate this milestone, events will be
taking place across the Country, particularly over the four-day Bank Holiday weekend, 2 and 5 June 2022. This bank holiday gives communities the opportunity to come together and celebrate with their neighbours. On Sunday 5 June 2022, communities are invited to organise a ‘Big Jubilee Lunch’ or street party to celebrate. To mark this special occasion, Suffolk County Council will not be charging fees normally associated with road closures. Applications for road closure must be submitted by 27 March.
As part of the Jubilee celebrations, communities and organisations will be taking part in The Festival of Suffolk. The Festival hopes to be the county's biggest ever community event and will feature activities and celebrations throughout the year.
Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any issues that you think I can help with and all the very best to you all.
Jane Gould
Babergh District Councillor, Orwell ward, Jane.gould@babergh.gov.uk
01473 328147
07548 153 777