December 2022
District Councillors Report: Cllr John Hinton.

Another month has gone by and according to the meteorologists, it has been significantly
warmer than average. It has certainly been wetter and I am sure that the damp has meant
that lot of us have felt cold. It’s important that we stay warm, it affects our health both
physical and mental so wrap up warm and if you qualify, access the Governments many
schemes to help with those often frightening energy bills.
Some good news for the village on that front is the success of the Tennis Club and the
Constable Hall in their applications to the Babergh Winter Warmth Support Fund.
Congratulations, the application window was very tight and the young and older residents of
the village will benefit from your efforts. Babergh were also successful in an application for
Changing Spaces funding, from Government. Essentially it is for the provision of improved
facilities for disabled persons. New facilities have been funded in Sudbury and at Flatford. I
was only told about this after the bid was successful, so communication within the council
needs improving!
On that front as Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee I am proposing to delve
deeply into the often apparently secret workings of the “Public Sector Leaders Group” which
has been making representations on “our behalf” to Government about possible changes to
Governance across the county. As elected members I think that ALL councillors should be
aware and involved in any discussion on that front after all we are supposedly representing
the people! Full Council recently tasked my committee with examining the deplorable state
of our rivers, through sewage discharges, and we are contacting the various organisations to
ask them to come before the committee for questioning. We cannot “instruct” them and we
have no power to “require” them to do anything but the more publicity this issue gets the
more likely it will be that Government will act more decisively than it has up to now!
The “End of Term” report on what the council has achieved during the last four years, (
Elections for a new council are in May 2023) is available online. Unlike previous issues, to
save paper and the environment, it is only available online, but it is possible to request a
paper copy for those residents without the electronic means to access this document. I have
requested some copies to make them available to anyone interested.
The Joint Local Plan is still struggling through its examination phase, so we have to rely on
the 2006 version which is still valid. I am sure that by the time the process is completed
Central Government Planning rules will have changed and so the DLP plus our
Neighbourhood plans will need to be revised! This is after all a bureaucratic process that is
self-perpetuation or so it seems after 20 years of involvement with it!
Behind the scenes, movement is taking place on the two major development sites in the
village. Winter is not normally a time of starting construction, even our weather is not that
benign, so Spring should see the paperwork sorted and construction start in earnest, that is

unless the economic omens are to be believed and house prices will fall whilst cost go up!
My crystal ball is a little foggy otherwise I might be writing this from somewhere warmer!
My comments last month on the lost of three trees on Heath Road should be taken in
context with the planting of thousands of young trees around the millennium by the
previous land owner. Laudable though this extensive tree planting was, nothing can replace
a 200+ year old tree removed contrary in my opinion to planning rules by the developer.
Two steps forward one step back is hardly a mark of real progress. Let’s save all our existing
trees, big and small and very carefully consider the implications of the removal of any one of
them.
This is the season of good will to all men, and we can all enjoy the Christmas parade that
takes place around the village and admire the effort and enthusiasm that the volunteers
have put into the decorations. I was fortunate to see the Carnival Parade in Wells, Somerset
recently, and although our parade is not on the same scale, 40+ floats and displays taking
three hours to pass, the passion, creativity and dedication is just as rewarding and inspiring
in our village as in major events elsewhere. Well done and thank you to all involved.
A Happy Christmas and all the very best for the New Year to come to you all.
Cllr John Hinton
01206 298309