 The purpose of this newsletter is to provide updates to town and parish councils about Uttlesford District Council services, consultations, grants and events. You are welcome to share the appropriate content within your community networks, distribution lists and on parish notice boards.
In this edition:
- Voluntary sector "speed dating" information event for towns and parishes
- Town & Parish Forum – save the date
- Resident satisfaction survey
- Local Plan
- LCTS consultation
- Waste Strategy for Essex
- Election canvass
- Local Nature Recovery Strategy
- Verge protection measures
- Energy Learning Network
- Event invitation: Feasibility study for village heat network
- Webinar: Find out more about the Zero Carbon Communities Grant
- Leaky Homes Roadshow
Monday 23 September, 2pm
Little Canfield Depot, High Cross Lane CM6 1TH
We have been looking at how we can work with the voluntary sector to achieve better outcomes for residents.
At a recent meeting with voluntary organisations, there was discussion about how we they could work with towns and parish councils to serve communities better. There was a real interest expressed in more collaborative working.
This builds on a proud tradition of the joint working between parishes/towns and the voluntary and community sector, and we know there are plenty of examples of where this happening throughout the district.
We would like to invite your council to an information sharing event where you will hear from the voluntary sector about what it could potentially offer your communities. There will be an opportunity for you to present case studies of your own existing partnerships and how this is working in your area.
Please let Sue Hayden know if you would like to attend. Up to two spaces are available per town/parish.
The date for the next Town & Parish Forum is Monday 7 October, starting at 7pm.
This will be held at the Council Offices, London Road, Saffron Walden.
The agenda will follow shortly, via email.
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We will shortly be carrying out a residents' survey to find out how satisfied local people are with Uttlesford District Council services.
This will run in parallel with the national survey run by the Local Government Association.
Please note, this is not a wide-ranging public consultation that is going to be sent out to everyone. Instead, the survey is being carried out by a specialist marketing company who will be contacting a number of randomly-selected people in the district to ask for their views.
The survey will be carried out in mid to late October by a company called Yonder Data Solutions.
If you, your members or your residents have any concerns, please do contact us on 01799 510510 or uconnect@uttlesford.gov.uk.
The closing date for the local plan consultation is Monday 14 October.
The slight extension to the consultation is due to additional transport data being incorporated into the existing Transport Study Document within the evidence base. The information was previously summarised in the main reports.
The best way for people to have their say on the plan is via the online consultation portal.
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The Local Council Tax Support scheme proposals for 2025/26 was approved for public consultation by Cabinet last week (5 September).
The consultation opens on Monday 16 September and closes on Monday 28 October.
The easiest way for residents to respond is via the online questionnaire (which will go live from Monday) or by emailing comments to consultation@uttlesford.gov.uk.
Town/parish clerks will shortly receive an email with details on how they can submit their comments.
Uttlesford District Council adopted the new Waste Strategy for Essex at a meeting on 16 July.
The strategy sets out the shared vision of the Essex Waste Partnership – of which Uttlesford is a member – and the targets for managing recycling and waste in the county for the next 30 years.
You can find out more about the strategy and what this means on the Love Essex website.
The annual canvass got underway in July with data matching and emails being sent to households where we have this information. We've also sent 16,000 green letters to households where we believe there has been no change and 10,000 yellow letters to households to update their details.
These will be followed with canvass forms being issued and canvassers going out door-knocking to chase up non-responding households. Last year we visited just 5% of all households in the district.
Please note the canvassers:
- will carry ID and will identify themselves
- will NOT enter homes
- will NOT ask for personal details like national insurance numbers or bank details
- will leave a calling card if they get no reply
- may leave a form asking households to confirm if all the details they have are correct
Please help us by encouraging residents to respond to the communications they may receive about the canvass. Residents who do not respond as appropriate risk being removed from the electoral register.
The public consultation is now open for the Essex Local Nature Recovery Strategy. Everyone is encouraged to have their say on the future of our natural spaces.
Please do help in sign-posting residents to the public consultation landing page, where they can view the draft strategy, maps and give feedback:
https://consultations.essex.gov.uk/c-e/lnrs-public-consultation/
The timeline for the strategy and FAQs can be viewed on the Local Nature Partnership website and we are also helping to share this short video that has been created to encourage members of the public to take part in the consultation.
The consultation closes on 25 October.
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The North Essex Parking Partnership (NEPP) receives many complaints about parking on grass verges, particularly during the wetter months of the year, due to the damage that parked vehicles can cause. Essex is one of the few counties that has its own specific legislation that can be used to prohibit parking on mown verges.
NEPP is able to use the Essex Act to restrict parking on mown grass verges. There is a charge to cover the cost of signs and some mapping work that is needed to allow patrolling to take place. These charges are much less than the usual traffic regulation order costs and the restriction can be introduced within weeks rather than the months/years.
If you would like to discuss the use of the Essex Act in any locations in the district, please contact techteam@colchester.gov.uk so that the site can be investigated.
Town and parish councils are invited to submit expressions of interest to join the Energy Learning Network.
The initiative has been launched to provide support to community energy groups and it is looking to work with local councils to help deliver community energy activities in their area.
Expressions of interest must be submitted by Tuesday 17 September.
Wednesday 25 September, 7pm to 8.30pm
Littlebury Village Hall
The Littlebury Energy Project was successful in receiving a grant from the Community Energy Fund (CEF) for a feasibility study on delivering a heat network for the village.
Consultants Bioregional and EQUANs will be presenting the findings of the study at this information event. After completing the study, the village project hopes to be in a position to apply for the CEF stage 2 development grant.
This event is open to all.
► Get further details and register for the event
We will shortly launch Round 3 of the Zero Carbon Communities Grant Fund which supports community groups in Uttlesford take action on climate change.
Non-profit groups or organisations, including town or parish councils, can apply for funding for new projects that are focussed on carbon emission reduction, community engagement in climate change action, or ecological restoration and enhancement in the community.
This round of funding is open until early December. Grants of between £1,000 and £20,000 are available. The application portal will be live on 30 September.
Webinar
To find out more and hear about previous projects, and other district climate action projects, please join the Zero Carbon Communities webinar on Thursday 10 October, 7.30pm to 8.30pm.
► Join the webinar
Meeting ID: 313 525 162 782 / Passcode: mZKc4C
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The Leaky Homes Roadshow is a thermal imaging camera event aimed to help homeowners find out where their homes are leaking heat. It’s a visually appealing and relatively low effort way for climate action and community groups to engage in their local communities.
Each home survey takes about 20 minutes on average, and is only taken outside the home. It doesn’t give all the answers, but it starts the conversation about energy efficiency and can help start householders on their journey to retrofit their homes to make them waste less heat and cost less to run.
Community Energy South’s CommuniPower Essex project is offering local groups in Uttlesford support to run events – if you are interested in finding out more, please email Kirsty Shanahan.
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