February is when Parish Councils put forward their requests for funding via the Precept, which comes as part of your Council Tax charge each year. As a former Government Auditor who worked closely...
Melton Messenger
Melton Messenger – A Note from Carol – January 2025
Happy New Year everyone. I hope you had a peaceful Christmas and New Year. Thank you to all those residents who responded to our survey about the Neighbourhood Plan. We received 257 responses,...
Melton Messenger – A Note from Carol – December 2024
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all residents from all the Councillors and Staff of Melton Parish Council. I am sure 2025 will bring about many challenges but I know that with the support...
Melton Messenger – A Note from Carol – November 2024
I took a short break in September but the work of the council never stops! I mentioned last month that we had managed to appoint a new Assistant Clerk, Kelly Thomas. By way of introduction, Kelly...
Melton Messenger – A Note from Carol – October 2024
Well, what an amazing summer this has been. Having successfully recruited a new Clerk, we have also made an appointment of Assistant Clerk. Judi Hallett is our new Clerk and introduces herself...
Melton Messenger – A Note from Carol – September 2024
It’s been a busy summer. Councillors have been preparing for the departure of our Clerk, Pip who has found a new role. Unfortunately, our Assistant Clerk, Fliss, has also given in her notice...
Melton Messenger – A Note from Carol – July/August 2024
At Full Council in May, I was re-elected as the Chair of Melton Parish Council for another year. We had one member of the public attend who raised concerns about the speed and volume of traffic on...
Melton Messenger – A Note from Carol – June 2024
What a busy few months we’ve had. Full Council, the Annual Parish Meeting, and the Beresford Drive Play Park Opening were just some of the key events at a time which is also our financial year...
Melton Messenger – A Note from Carol – May 2024
Pavements Cllr John Bann, our travel and transport lead in Melton reports: The Parish Council is aware of issues that may hinder or stop people walking in our area, from mud, leaves and water on...
Melton Messenger – A Note from Carol – April 2024
Beresford Drive Play Park After months of planning, you may have noticed that the Beresford Drive Play Park has been redeveloped. The Parish Council has been working hard raising funds through...
Melton Messenger – A Note from Carol – March 2024
New Councillors After a successful open evening in December, I’m pleased to say that we received 3 nominations to join Melton Parish Council. At the Full Council meeting in January, Councillors...
Melton Messenger – A Note from Carol – February 2024
I know it’s February but as it’s my first column of the year let me start by wishing you a very Happy New Year. The Council has a busy few months coming up, starting this month with the...
Melton Messenger – A Note from Carol – December 2023
With the unprecedented flooding around Suffolk in recent months, I feel grateful that Melton came off relatively lightly compared to places like Framlingham, Wickham Market and Martlesham. I...
Melton Messenger – A Note from Carol – November 2023
As we move to the end of the calendar year, I am sitting here, reflecting on the amount of work Melton Parish Council must get through in the rest of this financial year and beyond. Engagement with...
Melton Messenger – A note from Carol – October 2023
There has been a lot of discussion about the Love Woodbridge and Melton Project recently on social media. The comments suggest that the purpose of the project remains unclear and residents are...
Melton Messenger – A note from Carol – September 2023
Being nearly September already, I am still looking forward to the summer! The wet weather has meant the grass has never stopped growing. Good in some ways as it means the newly sown grass on...
Melton Messenger – A note from Carol – July 2023
Wow my first month as Chair of the Parish Council is already over and what a busy month it’s been getting about in the community and meeting so many residents. Last month, I introduced myself...
Melton Messenger – June 2023
Farewell from Alan In last month’s Melton Messenger you were promised a few words from me to say farewell. A lot has happened in the last month. Firstly we had a very well-attended Annual...
Melton Messenger – A note from Melton Parish Council – April 2023
Because of the Local Elections on the 4th May, Councillors are not allowed to write directly on behalf of a Council in the period leading up to the election. Therefore, Melton Parish Council has...
Melton Messenger – A note from Alan – March 2023
Quite Lanes After years of waiting Lodge Farm Lane and St Audry’s Lane have been designated as Quiet Lanes. There is no enforcement, but the signs just ask road users to be a bit more...
Melton Messenger – A note from Alan – February 2023
New Islands have reduced speeding Melton Road was set up as a monitored speeding site by the Police, but a few months ago it was downgraded from a green site to a black site. This means it will...
Melton Messenger – A note from Alan – December 2022
Melton Parish Council - A Note from the Chair - Alan Porter The Pavilion The Pavilion is completed. We have built the access road for the emergency services and the public toilet will be open...
Melton Messenger – A note from Alan – November 2022
Melton Parish Council - A Note from the Chair - Alan Porter The Pavilion The Pavilion itself just has a few snagging issues to finish off. We still have to create an access route for the fire...
Melton Messenger – A note from Alan – October 2022
Melton Parish Council - A Note from the Chair - Alan Porter The Queen Like so many of us, the passing of the Queen marks the end of an era. For my part I would say that she has been the Queen...
Melton Parish Council – A note from Alan – August 2022
Melton Parish Council - A Note from the Chair - Alan Porter I usually a yield a sigh of relief in July as I don’t have to write an article for the Melton Messenger as there isn’t a publication...
Melton Messenger – A note from Alan – July 2022
Melton Parish Council – A Note from the Chair – Alan Porter Jubilee Events Well after a lot of work behind the scenes our two Platinum Jubilee events have been held and I think went very...
Melton Messenger – A note from Alan – June 2022
Melton Parish Council - A Note from the Chair - Alan Porter Every year the chair of the Parish Council holds an Annual Parish Meeting, which we have not been able to hold in person since the...
Melton Messenger – A Note from Alan – May 2022
Melton Parish Council - A Note from the Chair - Alan Porter Every year the chair of the Parish Council holds an Annual Parish Meeting, which we have not been able to hold in person since the...
Melton Messenger – A note from Alan – April 2022
Melton Parish Council - A Note from the Chair - Alan Porter Planning Issues One of the areas in which MPC has been heavily engaged in recently is with regard to Planning Matters. Many of you...
Melton Messenger – A note from Alan – March 2022
Melton Parish Council - A Note from the Chair - Alan Porter Precept increase for 2022 Regular readers of my column will know that MPC has an active programme for investing in Melton’s...
Melton Messenger – A note from Alan – February 2022
Melton Parish Council - A Note from the Chair - Alan Porter Happy New Year Well 2022 is upon us and the Christmas decorations are back in the loft. Meetings started in earnest on the 12th...
Melton Messenger – A Note from Alan – December 2021
Melton Parish Council - A Note from the Chair - Alan Porter Vacancies for Parish Councillors Despite previous pleas we still have one vacancy on the parish council. If you’d like to find out...
Melton Messenger – A Note from Alan – November 2021
Vacancies for Parish Councillors Councillor Mark Packard was co-opted on 22nd September at Full Council. That means we still have one vacancy. If you’d like to find out more information please...
Melton Messenger – A Note from Alan – October 2021
Vacancies for Parish Councillors It looks like my request for volunteers has borne fruit and one new person has stepped forward and he was co-opted on 22nd September at Full Council. That means we...
Melton Messenger – A Note from Alan – September 2021
Vacancies for Parish Councillors We still have two vacancies for Parish Councillors. Perhaps now that the Melton Messenger will be delivered from September some new volunteers will emerge. So I...
Melton Messenger – A Note from Alan – July 2021
We held our first council meeting face to face at the end of May, this was a meeting of the Recreation Committee. I must admit it makes a refreshing change from all those Zoom meetings. The...
Melton Messenger – A Note from Alan – June 2021
Our first Full Council meeting in May is effectively our AGM. This is where all the roles are allocated to councillors such as chairs, vice-chairs and representatives to outside bodies. We also...
Melton Messenger – A Note from Alan – May 2021
The eagle eyed amongst you will have noticed that a version of this article appears in the In-Touch magazine. From next month a shorter version will also appear in the Flyer. This while...
Melton Messenger – A Note from Alan – April 2021
Sizewell C (SZC) The Examining Authority’s (ExA) Preliminary Meeting for its “examination in public” of EDF’s planning application for SZC is scheduled for 23 March 2021. A second...
Melton Messenger – A Note from Alan – March 2021
England Coast Path Melton Parish Council has submitted a response to the consultation on the Felixstowe to Bawdsey stretch of the England Coast Path, which runs through Melton along the river...
Melton Messenger – a Note from Alan – February 2021
Firstly a Happy New Year to all my readers. Clearly, I am reaching a larger audience than just writing in the Melton Messenger now that a slightly shorter version appears in the In Touch with Melton,...
Melton Messenger – a Note from Alan – December 2020
Melton Messenger Currently there will be no paper copies delivered and this may not resume until the current Covid-19 crisis has been resolved one way or another. At Melton Parish Council we are...
Melton Messenger – A Note from Alan – November 2020
Melton Playing Fields In order to keep the field in good condition we have spent some money on the grassed areas. The lower field was becoming very weedy and patchy following the dry spell that...
Melton Messenger – A Note from Alan – October 2020
[caption id="attachment_3164" align="alignright" width="232"] John Hargreaves receiving his award[/caption] Melton Award I was hoping to present the 2020 Melton Award at the Annual Parish meeting...
Melton Messenger – A Note from Alan – September 2020
As you know if you are reading this then you are probably reading it via the St Andrews website or off our own Melton Parish Council pages. I don’t think many people are bothering to look online...
Melton Messenger – A Note from Alan – July 2020
Tennis Court Vandalism At the end of May we suffered a spate of vandalism on the tennis courts; the wire was cut in several places allowing people to gain access without a key. Maybe this was to...
Melton Messenger – A Note from Alan – June 2020
Playpark Maintenance As the playpark has been closed due to the restrictions, we have taken the opportunity to give some of the equipment a fresh coat of paint and it looks really great...
Melton Messenger – A note from Alan – May 2020
The Covid-19 Lockdown I must admit I have been a bit slow in starting this month’s Melton Messenger article, time has been passing in a most strange way for us all in these unprecedented times. ...
Melton Messenger – A Note from Alan – April 2020
Coronavirus/Covid-19 Current government advice is for everyone to try and stop unnecessary contact with other people – 'social distancing'. We have decided to cancel all meetings that are...
Melton Messenger – A Note from Alan – March 2020
In the middle of January I walked from Melton Station and then down Melton Road with a delightful lady from Suffolk County Council Highways and David Steptoe who is a friend of the council and a...
Melton Messenger – A Note from Alan – November 2019
The Melton Messenger editorial team were mortified that they had failed to spot the words “oops late again” that had been printed at the top of my article last month. It certainly was not typed...
Melton Messenger – A Note from Alan – February 2020
Christmas and New Year are over and now for the long struggle through January where for many there is too much month left at the end of the money, although I get the feeling that people have not been...
Melton Messenger – A Note from Alan – December 2019
On Remembrance Day, the Book Behind the Name was finally published. Thanks to all involved and I hope everyone has had a chance to see the results. There is one in Woodbridge Library available for...