DISTRICT COUNCILLOR REPORT TO PARISH COUNCIL
October 2026
Money for biodiversity and food production

• In September, Babergh District Council approved a proposal to allow funding
for nature recovery schemes in parishes. The Community Infrastructure Levy
(CIL) is money paid by developers towards community schemes. Babergh DC
sets the rules around eligible schemes and communities can bid for this money.
East Bergholt has been the recipient of CIL as a result of recent housing
developments in the village. For example, the tennis and cricket clubs and the
sports pavilion have new facilities as a result of CIL.

Now, communities can apply for money to purchase land to create nature
habitats or to recover existing habitats. Deer fencing and pond creation are
two examples of the type of project that could be funded by CIL. If you have
identified a piece of land with public access which might be suitable for nature
recovery, consider contacting Babergh DC. As we are short of green spaces
within East Bergholt, this is an opportunity.

• CIL can also be used for community agricultural schemes such as orchards
and allotments. Given that climate change may lead to food shortages, food
resilience may become increasingly important in our area.

Break in at Fields Farm
Last week burglars broke into Fields Farm Shop and Café and violently gained
access to the safe. This was a shocking event for the owners especially but this is
a very popular and resilient business and had a great deal of support from
customers and the community. Given that the Co-Op was burgled about a year
ago, you would be forgiven for thinking that East Bergholt is in the midst of a crime
wave. We are not. In fact, Suffolk is the second safest place to live in England
and Wales with the second lowest rate of reported crime. Our crime rates are well
below the national average. When crimes do happen, they are shocking because

they are uncommon. The most prevalent crime in East Bergholt is ‘violence and
sexual offences’ which encompasses domestic abuse. There were 62 recorded
episodes in the year to April 2026 compared to 9 burglaries.
If you want to see the crime statistics for East Bergholt and Suffolk go to the Suffolk
Observatory website: www.suffolkobservatory.info
Village Assembly
I chaired the very first Village Assembly meeting on 24 September. Around 30
village organisations were represented. It was decided that we would work on a
directory of village organisations and a village diary (we used to have a physical
diary in the post office). Depending on resources, we also aim to set up a
Facebook page so all the events in the village can be seen in one place. It was
great to see Dan Woodcock, the Headmaster of the High School, in attendance
and hoping to forge stronger links between the village and the school. Thanks to
Louise who organised and attended the event.
Planning
On 19 October there will be a parish liaison meeting with the planning policy team
at Babergh. We will discuss the changes to the National Planning Policy
Framework and what this means for Neighbourhood Plans. Basically, if a
Neighbourhood Plan does not allocate sites for development, the plan will hold no
weight at all in the planning process. We will need to explain this to our residents.
We cannot shut the doors and refuse to have any further housing in the village – if
we do that, development will simply be imposed on us and we will have no influence
over that development. There are many parishes who have done just that –
allocated no sites in their neighbourhood plan, thinking they will have no
development. I am glad we are not one of them.
Circles
We have now reached a position where Circles, the alternative education site in
East End are organising a parish liaison meeting. We will hopefully find a suitable
date soon and residents will be invited as well as representatives from the Parish
Council.

Local Government Reorganisation
The government has ‘paused’ the far-reaching reform of local government.
Babergh was due to become part of one of three unitary authorities in Suffolk, with
elections next May. A Unitary Council is one council carrying out all functions
instead of a two-tier district and county system. Shortly after Andy Burnham
became Prime Minister, the reorganisation was halted leading to further
uncertainty. A great deal of time and money has been spent on preparing for the
new unitary structure. Let’s hope it is not wasted effort. There will be elections
next May for the existing District Council.
Devolution, which will lead to a joint Mayoral authority in Norfolk and Suffolk is still
going ahead but we do not know when the elections will take place.

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