Walsham le Willows

Dear Residents,

We would like to take the opportunity to thank all of you who attended the Special General Meeting on the 28^th October in the Priory Room and for your support in appointing a new Executive Committee of the Community Council.

As we write we remain in a period of transition but we will keep you all fully informed of developments via the pages of the Walsham Observer and the village website.

Many thanks

Amanda Ellis – Chair | Ian Campbell – Vice Chair | Caroline Niall – Treasurer | Ian Bartholomew – Secretary | Honorary Officers, Walsham le Willows Community Council

Minutes of the AGM held on 28 October 2019

With Christmas fast approaching, find below the most up to date information about waste collections and recycling over the festive period from The Waste Team at Babergh and Mid-Suffolk District Council.

• Christmas calendars and information about Christmas tree recycling
• Tool to check your collection day
• 2020 collection calendars for Babergh and Mid-Suffolk
• Information about reducing waste
• What can go in your bins
• Glass recycling
• Recycling Centres
• Recycling specific items A-Z
• Home composting

Interested? Then please contact the Clerk with a short statement by 6th January 2020 setting out your reasons.

You would be asked to read LTN 8, a briefing note on qualifications and disqualifications with regard to becoming a Parish Councillor, before signing a declaration of eligibility prior to your co-option onto the Council.

If you would like to speak to someone please give the Parish Clerk a call or contact any Parish Councillor. Find contact details on the Parish Council page along with more information about the Parish Council.

Carol Concert – Saturday 4th January 2020 at 7.30pm

This year the Epiphany Singers will give their 50th annual carol concert in St Mary’s Church in Walsham le Willows. The Conductor will be Simon Carrington, Yale Professor emeritus, and the Organist will be David Hill of the London Bach Choir.

If you enjoy beautiful music and the most wonderful singing this is an evening not to be missed. Tickets are not required but there will be a retiring collection.

Epiphany Choral Eucharist Sunday 5th January 2020 at 11.00am

The Epiphany Singers also sing at this service. Drinks will be offered in the church after the service. Everyone is very welcome.

Private View Friday 22nd November 2019 – 5pm – 8pm

Saturday 23rd November 2019 – Monday 25th November 2019 10.00am – 6pm

For more information visit the group’s page.

The external audit of the Parish Council finances for 2018/19 has now been completed and there were no other matters were found which gives the Parish Council a ‘clean bill of health’.

The Notice of Conclusion of Audit is shown below with details of how to arrange to inspect the Annual Governance and Accountability Return in person and the cost for copies.

Fact Sheet | Memorial Hall Trust Deed | Community Council Constitution

Fellow residents of Walsham le Willows,

Following a recent Freedom of Information Request the Charity Commission has confirmed that the prevailing Constitution of Walsham le Willows Community Council is the document last amended in June 2010.  Clause 7a of this document clearly states that “the Annual General Meeting of the Council shall be held not later than the 30th of June each year”. 

Despite numerous protestations from the undersigned and others this has not happened.

In the absence of an AGM being held in June we have obtained advice from an independent legal source cognisant of charity law which confirms that with effect from the 1st July 2019 the Executive Committee of Walsham le Willows Community Council effectively ceased to exist and that any decisions or transactions undertaken since that date in the name of the Community Council are null and void.

In order to remedy this situation formal notice is today being issued on behalf of all members of this charity (the residents of the village at large) to convene a Special General Meeting on Monday 28^th October 2019 in the Priory Room at 7:30 pm.

A copy of this notice is posted below for your information.

As we are keen to involve as many villagers as possible in this process can you please share this information with your friends and neighbours.

We look forward to seeing you on the 28^th.

Many thanks

Cheryl Bartholomew

Ian Bartholomew

Ian Campbell

Amanda Ellis

David Murray

Caroline Niall

Jean Nielsen

Trevor Roberts

Shirley White

The grant is designed to help people and their families cope with challenges of living at home with long term health conditions. The scheme is open to all homeowners, private tenants and council property tenants in the district.

For more information call 0300 123 4000.

Public Notice

This consultation is part of the initial stages of plan production and is being carried out under Regulation 18 of the Town and Country Planning (Local Plan) (England) Regulations 2012.

The Joint Local Plan will inform how Districts develop over the next 18 years. It will establish how much housing and land for businesses will be needed and where it will go, alongside protecting and enhancing the environment and delivering infrastructure.

View the consultation document online, and to submit your comments

Have Your Say on the draft Local Plan as well as viewing dates for drop in sessions around the District.

Paper copies of the consultation document are also available to view at libraries within the Districts and at the Councils’ office for the duration of the consultation period.

Walsham-le-Willows currently has two vacancies, one for a parent governor which can only be filled by a parent or legal guardian of a child on roll at the school, the other for a Local Authority governor and could be filled by a member of the local community.  

Would you like to apply? Do you know someone who might like to apply?

If so please email Lyndsay Cook, Governor Development Advisor at Suffolk County Council | 01473 260163

This meeting has traditionally been arranged by the Parish Clerk but is not a Parish Council meeting. Attendance by Parish Councillor’s is not required but it is considered good practice for them to do so and for the Chair of the Parish Council to give a report.

A wordpress update has introduced a new ‘block’ editor for the creation and updating of pages and content. This cannot be reversed. Therefore each page will have to be revised in the new editor. There is a bit of a learning curve involved in this, so please accept the webmaster’s apologies whilst this is worked through.

The events calendar has been removed as this was becoming increasingly time consuming to update, was causing issues with other plugins and and was not always displaying correctly.

Given that most of the calendar content was regular weekly events, these will be added back as a listing on a dedicated page where the event/organisation does not have a dedicated page already.

Pages on the site for specific events and organisations will be updated to include contacts and next event dates at the top of the page.

Contact the Clerk to make arrangements for inspecting the accounting records between 17th June and 26th July.