East Bergholt Parish Council DISTRICT COUNCILLOR’S REPORT October
2025
Easier Window Installation for Listed Building Owners
Babergh District Council has achieved a first for a rural area in the UK – a blanket
grant of listed building consent, which means that owners of Grade 2 listed buildings
will not have to make individual planning applications when installing double glazing.
The grant is called a Local Listed Building Consent Order and applies to:
• installation of secondary glazing to historic windows
• installation of double glazing, or energy saving glass, to windows which have
previously been consented and introduced after listing – or which are already
installed within a consented modern or post-listing extension
This Order gives a very clear signal to residents and businesses that we take the
need to drive down carbon use seriously – and we are prepared to be proactive in
achieving this.
This initiative was led by Green Party councillors and could encourage more building
owners to act, rather than being deterred by the application and consent process.
We are also working on a similar measure for solar panels on outbuildings next to
listed buildings.
If you own a listed building and want to improve your windows to make the building
warmer and more energy efficient, go to the Babergh District Council website and
you will find the relevant form and details there.

Asylum Seekers and Refugees
There has been a great deal of media coverage about housing asylum seekers in hotels and
other types of accommodation. Asylum seekers are held initially in centres for days or weeks
and are then ‘dispersed’ to longer term accommodation while their claim is processed. This is
the situation in Babergh:

There are no initial holding centres in Babergh
There are currently no asylum seekers housed in hotels in Babergh.
Serco run the Home Office contract to find ‘dispersal’ accommodation in the East of England.
This means Serco makes the decision about where to house asylum seekers. The company
seeks to find accommodation in the private sector for this purpose. Serco do not use social
housing – (council and housing association properties).
Serco consults the county and district councils, police and health service when looking at
properties to accommodate asylum seekers. Babergh officers inform the district councillor for the
area and feedback to Serco any concerns raised by council departments, for example about
Asylum Seekers and Refugees
There has been a great deal of media coverage about housing asylum seekers in hotels and other types of accommodation. Asylum seekers are held initially in centres for days or weeks and are
then ‘dispersed’ to longer term accommodation while their claim is processed. This is the situation in Babergh:

There are no initial holding centres in Babergh
There are currently no asylum seekers housed in hotels in Babergh.
Serco run the Home Office contract to find ‘dispersal’ accommodation in the East of England. This means Serco makes the decision about where to house asylum seekers. The company seeks to
find accommodation in the private sector for this purpose. Serco do not use social housing – (council and housing association properties).
Serco consults the county and district councils, police and health service when looking at properties to accommodate asylum seekers. Babergh officers inform the district councillor for the area and
feedback to Serco any concerns raised by council departments, for example about community tensions, anti-social behaviour, lack of public transport and other services. Ultimately the decision
where to place asylum seekers will be made by Serco and the Home Office. Babergh meet with Serco regularly to monitor placements.
Babergh has no duty to house homeless asylum seekers. The situation is different for Refugees. A refugee is a successful asylum seeker and the Home Office is satisfied their case is genuine. A
refugee is entitled to homelessness assistance.

community tensions, anti-social behaviour, lack of public transport and other services.
Ultimately the decision where to place asylum seekers will be made by Serco and the Home
Office. Babergh meet with Serco regularly to monitor placements.
Babergh has no duty to house homeless asylum seekers. The situation is different for Refugees.
A refugee is a successful asylum seeker and the Home Office is satisfied their case is genuine.
A refugee is entitled to homelessness assistance.
There is no help available for ‘irregular migrants’, These are people who, for various reasons,
have no right to stay in the UK. They are not entitled to benefits or homelessness assistance.
This is called ‘no recourse to public funds’.
I must stress that the number of asylum seekers housed by the government in Babergh and Mid
Suffolk is extremely small compared to other areas of the country. Rural areas are often not the
best place to house asylum seekers.
Call for Sites and Assessment of Call for Sites 2024
The Strategic Housing and Land Availability Assessment for Babergh was released last month.
This gives us the results of the call for sites carried out in 2024. There are just two sites in East
Bergholt – one of which is the Heath Road Hills site which has been rejected as unsuitable by
Babergh because it already has a planning permission. The other, on land north of Wheelers
Yard on Putticks Lane, is potentially suitable but is outside the built up boundary of the village
and is too far from the primary school. You can find the document here:
Babergh and mid suffolk Joint local plan
There will be another call for sites later this month which will last until January 2026.

Local Government Reorganisation
Suffolk County Council and the five district and town councils in Suffolk have now approved and
submitted their proposals to central government for how local government should be reorganised
in Suffolk. We now wait for the government’s decision. The government is expected to launch a
public consultation in November 2025, running until February 2026, before making a final
decision.

The Grange Country Park
As we discussed at our last meeting, the operators of Grange Park have applied for permission
to increase the number of holiday caravans on the site by 25. At the same time, they have
applied to make 80 of the units permanent residential homes.
We had some questions to put to Babergh planning department. We now know that the
residential caravans will be subject to council tax. I am waiting for a response on what this will
mean for our council tax base and precept. I am arranging a meeting to discuss with Babergh
There is no help available for ‘irregular migrants’, These are people who, for various reasons, have no right to stay in the UK. They are not entitled to benefits or homelessness assistance. This is
called ‘no recourse to public funds’.
I must stress that the number of asylum seekers housed by the government in Babergh and Mid Suffolk is extremely small compared to other areas of the country. Rural areas are often not the best
place to house asylum seekers.

Local Government Reorganisation
Suffolk County Council and the five district and town councils in Suffolk have now approved and submitted their proposals to central government for how local government should be reorganised in
Suffolk. We now wait for the government’s decision. The government is expected to launch a public consultation in November 2025, running until February 2026, before making a final decision.

Councillor Sallie Davies. Sallie.davies@babergh.gov.uk

whether these units will count towards East Bergholt’s housing figures and how the remaining
holiday accommodation will be monitored in the future.

Care Home in Holton St Mary
A new care home in Holton St Mary has been approved by Babergh Planning Committee. The
application was submitted by APT Holdings Limited who plan build a 28-bedroom community
care, rehabilitation and respite centre at Holton Hall Farm.
There were 29 objections from residents including the impact on the character of the village, the
loss of agricultural land, light pollution and a lack of local shops or public transport. Against this
were arguments that there would be new jobs, provisions for elderly residents, environmentally
friendly design and biodiversity net gain. The permission was granted with a long list of
conditions designed to address the community’s concerns.

Councillor Sallie Davies
Sallie.davies@babergh.gov.uk