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 pandemic. This year it was in the Burness Rooms as it can hold more people than our office.
The first thing I do is to present the Annual Melton Award and this year it goes to David & Carole Steptoe. They are both involved in various things in the local area, one of which is their activities in Transition Woodbridge. David also designed the layout for the new car park in the recreation ground and they installed the hazel fencing at the Recreation Ground amongst other things.
At the meeting I spoke about our achievements in the last year and advised some of the things that are coming in the next year.
The year 2021 – 2022 achievements
As I said earlier it has been a busy year, here is a list of some of our achievements.
- Melton Road Playing Fields
- Tennis Court fencing replaced
- Car park resurfaced and enlarged
- Installation of bike racks in the recreation ground
- Tree planting including memorial trees
- Hedge planting and hazel fencing
- Demolition of the Pavilion
- Maintenance and improvements to play park equipment
- New benches fitted
- Hall Farm Road Sports Ground
Consultation carried out and programme of works planned including tree planting and bench installation this year. Wild flower seeds sown.
- Installation of two new grit bins (St Andrew’s and Beresford Drive), dog poo bin and rubbish bin at Longwood Fields and other dog poo bins around the village
- Purchase of Speed Indicator Devices – one on Woods Lane and a portable device that is moved to several sites around the Parish
- Improvements and maintenance to play equipment at Beresford Drive
- Replaced the steps on the footpath behind Saxon Way
- Tree planting at various sites within the village, over 400 since January
- Improvements to the reedbed area and clearance of the drainage ditch to prevent flooding
- Attending ESC planning meetings and appeals – Carter Warburg (rejected), Woods Lane (dismissed) and Yarmouth Road (to be decided)
Projects for 2022/23
- Rebuilding the Pavilion at the playing field including the provision of a WC and a flexible community space for hire
- Pedestrian island crossings on Melton Hill and Melton Road
- Further enhancements to Hall Farm Road Sports Ground including tree planting, football goal and basketball hoop
- Improving the parking provision on The Street by Winifred Fison House opposite McColls
- Suffolk Wildlife Trust events in the Easter, May and Summer holidays – building bird and bat boxes and habitat hotels
- Working with Highways to implement parking restrictions by junctions on Melton Road/Hill
- Lighting the Beacon on 2nd June complete with Majesty bugle call & raising the flag
- Fete – 4th June 2022 – to celebrate the Queen’s Jubilee
- A third speed indicator device will be purchased
I often get stopped by local people in Melton whist walking my dog or out shopping to discuss local affairs. People do appreciate what we do and kind comments like this make it all worthwhile.
Thanks very much for your kind words of support & encouragement during the year. It is most appreciated as indeed is all the work still being done by the Melton Good Neighbour scheme which we fully support. There are so many good people in Melton and that is something to feel proud of.
We are here to listen to the residents of Melton and help them where we can, which I hope you see with the things that we are doing.
Melton Fete
Melton Parish Council welcomes you to our annual Fete on the 4th June between 11-3pm at Melton Recreation Ground to celebrate the Queen’s Jubilee and to mark our coming together again after what has been a difficult two years.
We have on offer children’s entertainment by Chris the Clown or why not try your hand at have a go archery, the coconut shy, along with mini-golf and junior football skills. There will be a belly dancing troupe to entertain you as well as music by the Ipswich Wind Ensemble.
There will be the opportunity to build a large-scale bug hotel as well as visiting our community stalls and admiring classic cars. The traditional BBQ as well as oven fired pizzas will be available along with delicious tea, cakes and ice-cream.
Paws of Parham are kindly hosting a dog show and dog agility trials. Come along and register at 11am when the fete opens to see if your pooch has got what it takes. The dog show has categories such as best in show, best senior and rescue.
The raffle is in aid of fitting out the new pavilion if you would like to donate a prize then please contact the office.
There’s lots for all the family to do and free entry and affordable activities should make it a great day out. Look forward to seeing you.
Queens’s Jubilee Celebrations
On June 2nd at 9:15pm we will light the beacon in the Recreation Ground, read the proclamation, raise the union flag and Steve Smith will play the Majesty bugle call that has been written to herald the lighting of the beacon. Steve plays his cornet at the service of Remembrance and has kindly agreed to play for us.
The Pavilion
I think many people have noticed the major works in the Recreation Ground, see below photo taken on Tuesday 12th April.
This is the biggest project ever untaken by MPC aside from the purchase of the Riduna Park office. We are making decisions all the time about security, power sockets, light switch positions, storage facilities and a whole lot more. This new facility will have a public toilet available free of charge during daylight hours. This new pavilion is “Ours” and therefore all Melton people have a stake in it. It is perhaps the most exciting thing to happen in Melton for a while and I do hope people will use it and support it. The raffle at the fete is going to raise money for items for the new building so please support that.
We have allowed for the unexpected so we can deliver a great top-quality building that we can all be very proud of.
I hope to see many of you at the beacon lighting on June 2nd and at the Fete on June 4th.
Alan Porter
Chair – Melton Parish Council
