 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 content within your community networks, distribution lists and on parish notice boards.
In this edition:
- Festive bin collection arrangements & Christmas tree recycling
- Community grants
- Benefits information and support
- Cyber security guidance
- Nominated assets of community value
- Dead or injured animal reporting
- Register of electors
- Parking consultation
- Uttlesford Business Awards – application process now open
- Employability training for over 50s
- Uttlesford cycling and walking networks – consultation
- Bike loan scheme extended across the district
- Satisfaction survey results
- External Corporate Peer Challenge
Christmas/New Year bin collections & Christmas tree recycling
There are some important changes to the bin collection schedules over the Christmas week and the New Year week.
A leaflet with the details has been sent to households in the district. We have also been sharing the information on our social media channels, via our e-newsletters and on our website.
Meanwhile, the real Christmas tree recycling dates are on Saturday 11 and Sunday 12 January.
Please do share this information with residents in your parish.
Festive opening times
The UDC Christmas and New Year opening times and out of hours contact details are available on our website.
The closing date for applications for our community grants has been extended to 10 January.
Community and voluntary groups that work in the following areas will be able to apply for funding:
- Providing information, advice and guidance
- Rural isolation and community transport
- Healthy, resilient and active communities (including mental health, sports and leisure)
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Youth services
You can see more information about the grants.
In addition, there will be some money available for small one-off projects – we will let you know the details when the scheme is launched in the New Year.
We have recently updated the benefits section of our website to make it easier for people to use.
The webpage has dedicated areas for Universal Credit, Housing Benefit and other Uttlesford-specific funds such as the and for residents who need some extra support.
Elsewhere on the website, we have details about the , a multi-agency initiative that can help residents with mental health, cost of living, housing and addiction issues.
The drop-in service runs on the last Thursday of each month (10am to 2pm) in Saffron Walden, and on the second Thursday of each month (9am to 1pm) in Takeley.
You may have heard about local government websites being attacked.
The National Cyber Security Centre has some useful guidance to help organisations understand and mitigate DoS attacks.
All the current applications and updates are listed on our website – as well as information on how to give feedback.
You can find details of nominated assets of community value on our planning portal. Enter the reference number (starting UTT) to see the nomination papers and relevant dates.
We have created a new section on our website with information for residents about what to do if they see a dead or injured animal on the road or pavement or in a public space.
It includes a new reporting form as well as links to external organisations such as the RSPCA.
We have produced our revised register of electors, which is about six weeks later than usual this year due to the general election.
The response from households to the annual canvass has been good – of the 41,222 properties, the response rate was 97%. This is about the same as last year, although there were an extra 1,000 or so properties to canvass this time.
For all those parish clerks that have the register, these have now been sent. If anyone wants the register or some parish statistics, please get in touch with the elections team.
We will shortly be starting a public consultation in Takeley and Little Canfield to try and seek a resolution to the problem of fly-parking in the area.
A leaflet will be delivered to households in early January explaining the options.
Full details will be available on our website soon.
In the meantime, we know many residents who live in areas close to the airport are concerned about people misusing residential or on-street parking in order to park for the airport. We have put together some guidance to help residents understand what, if anything, can be done and how they can report it.
 Last year we received over 200 nominations for the Uttlesford Business Awards and we are hoping for more this year.
It is free to enter the awards and there are 13 categories to choose from. Please spread the word to your local businesses and encourage them to enter the awards – or nominate a business yourself!
Applications need to be with us by Friday 31 January.
Together, let’s celebrate the spirit of entrepreneurship, innovation and the incredible contributions of small businesses across Uttlesford.
Running from 20 to 24 January, Re-ignite is tailored towards residents over the age of 50 either returning to work or looking to improve new job prospects to help them refresh key job skills, boost confidence and prepare for today’s job market.
Each 2.5-hour session is run online in small groups. All sessions are from 10am to 12.30pm.
Residents who are not confident using Zoom or do not have access to an appropriate device are encouraged to attend one of our digital inclusion hubs where assistance can be given to help them get online and take part.
Residents can sign up for the courses via our business website.
We’ve extended the bike loan 'try-before-you-buy' scheme and now anyone in Uttlesford can hire an e-bike, e-cargo bike or pedal bike.
The bikes can be hired from one month to six months and users can pay monthly by subscription, with no deposit and stop at any time. The bike will be delivered to their home or work address.
This is ideal for anyone who would like to try out a bike or e-bike before buying.
Please direct residents to the Saffron Walden Bike Club website where they can choose the type of bike they would like to hire.
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We’ve been involved in completing a study to create the framework for developing cycling and walking networks, with the aim of providing residents with more sustainable travel options.
The focus is on our main settlements, rural connections and linking key destinations such as schools, town centres and transport links.
The Uttlesford Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan study will support future funding bids and provide guidance on planning and design decisions over the next 10 years.
We now need help to identify and refine the proposed routes using local knowledge. Residents and business owners are encouraged to complete the consultation.
Find out more...
The Essex County Council Active Travel team will be at Great Dunmow Leisure Centre on Friday 20 December, 1pm to 4pm – anyone can pop along to find out more about the project and how they can take part in the consultation.
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We recently commissioned a survey to find out how satisfied local people are with Uttlesford District Council services. This was run in parallel with the national survey run by the Local Government Association.
About 500 randomly-selected people in the district were contacted and asked for their views. We would like to thank everyone who took part.
The results will be published on our website in due course.
“The council is seen to be a very different organisation to that of a few years ago – centred on a strong drive for an improvement and an increasing opening up as an organisation."
This is just one quote from a detailed presentation we have received at the end of a three-day visit to Uttlesford from a Corporate Peer Challenge team (3 to 5 December). The team looked at our finances, governance, partnerships, capacity to improve and much more.
You can read a summary of their feedback, or if you would like more detail ahead of their report arriving in the new year, you can see the slide presentation.
Even ahead of the final report arriving, we can already see how the wide-ranging and comprehensive feedback and recommendations will be helpful to us. We are very grateful to the 120 staff members, councillors and external partners who met with the review team to share their perspectives.
Cllr Petrina Lees
Leader of Uttlesford District
Peter Holt
Council Chief Executive
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