In Touch April 2022
District Council Report Cllr John Hinton
East Bergholt Ward.

Welcome to the month of Daffodils, and of course “all fools day”! We could hope for more Spring
like weather but as we live in the UK that is something we can never rely on! The nights are getting
lighter and we can only hope the days will become warmer.
There was an excellent piece in the East Bergholt Parish magazine on the history and removal of Fen
Bridge. When you consider the size of the crane used to remove it and the short time it took after
years of preparation one has to wonder “why the replacement was not ready and put in place as
part of the same action”?
Babergh has set its council tax on a 2% increase. I was against it, especially as we had a surplus last
year and were predicting another one this year! Equally the increase in council property rents when
publicity recently shows how there are some major problems with damp and plumbing in some of
our stock was equally perverse. Why no increase in garage rents? Are we expecting to use them as
budget accommodation for our residents?
After it was raised at the Budget meeting the ordinary staff have been awarded the 1.75% increase
that was budgeted for in April 2021 but sat upon because of union negotiations! Coming up is the
renewed discussion on senior officers pay levels. Interesting is that there will be a straw poll of
councillors to see if there is 50%+ support otherwise it will not go to council! Not sure that that is
democratic and rather reinforces the case for a ”committee” system rather than cabinet to involve
more councillors and to make sure that they are all involved in decision making rather than just a
few. Having been postponed once that discussion is due for the next council meeting otherwise
there is no way it can be implemented before the elections next May (’23). Interesting times.
National Power are consulting on routes for pylons to take electricity from the offshore windfarms
to where it is required. No more discussion yet on “mini nuclear reactors” positioned where the
power is needed to avoid the need for overhead or underground transmission the cost of which is
added to our bills. We fit them in submarines so to put one on the land should be a simple
adaptation! It would reduce still further the need for Chinese money and Russian gas for a back up
when the wind does not blow, or as recently, blows too hard.
In June we have a long weekend holiday to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee of Her Majesty the Queen.
I am sure that the village will be planning already to make it a fitting celebration of what has been a
70 year period of unstinting service to the nation and one which should be appropriately recognised
and celebrated. I would like to personally thank Her Majesty and wish her many more years as our
sovereign.
I look forward to the celebrations in June.
After Southend being made a city, no I am not campaigning for East Bergholt to be one, the
“Levelling Up agenda from central government has awarded the council some extra funds as part of
a pilot so that we can facilitate more neighbourhood plans. After the debacle that was the 2011
Localism Act, to give more power to local communities, and how the goal posts have been adjusted
so many times since to maintain the status quo good luck to anyone spending thousands of hours
producing a Neighbourhood Plan hoping that it will make a difference!

Planning has been particularly slow with only minor modifications to existing permissions being
considered. Apparently there are some stumbling blocks concerning conditions on existing planning
applications that have been granted, that have to be overcome. Work has started on the bungalows
on Hadleigh road so now we have to wait and see what happens on the other two sites in the village.
The council has approved the reserved matters on the 56 homes between East End and Brantham
off of Slough Road. Initially it was refused but the developer won their appeal and SCC Highways saw
no problem in the extra traffic on Slough Road as I assume they were convinced they would all turn
towards Brantham and join the A137!
The Annual Monitoring report created a stumbling block for the Draft Local Plan in that it showed
that Babergh had some 4,928 dwellings with planning permission but not yet started! The Draft
Local Plan was worked up using the national standard methodology which targeted Babergh with
building 403 homes each year so a ten year plan would require 4030 homes. But wait, we already
have 4,928 permissions in place so why do we need to plan for more? Hence the dilemma that the
Planning Inspector found with the Plan. Developers of course sit on permissions to wait for the price
and market to give them an advantage. Only Central Government can change the rules to make a
link between granting a permission and building the homes.
This month, April, has some notable events, Easter and the increase in fuel tariffs, pus the increase in
NI contributions and the “easter egg” from Babergh of higher council tax. I have already commented
on the weather, but let us hope that it is warmer so that we have time to adjust to everything being
more expensive.
And on that cheerful note, let me wish you all a Happy Easter, and stay safe.
Cllr John Hinton.
March 7
th
2022.