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, which was lower than we had hoped but the Consultant assures us this is quite normal. To get the exceptional turnout we had when we had the referendum for the previous plan, it is clear we need to do a lot of work to get residents involved. We are still looking for volunteers to join the steering group to help shape the outcome and this includes setting out the villages needs for new dwellings up until 2036 .
The next steps will be consideration of the data including analysing the survey results to see what themes are coming forward and what needs to be included. An example might be: Should we be looking to identify sites where additional housing could be built?’ and ‘What are the priorities for Melton in the coming years?’
Melton Parish Council will, of course, be keeping everyone informed about what’s being proposed through this article, In Touch and on our website, We will also be dedicating the Annual Parish Meeting in April to the Neighbourhood Plan. Hopefully, you will find out what’s going on through these channels.
Thank you to those who have offered their help so far. We do need more residents to come forward, so if you are interested in how Melton develops over the coming years, please get in touch. If you want to help shape the plan, do get in touch in the usual ways either through the Clerk at clerk@melton-suffolk-pc.gov.uk or by leaving a message on the phone 01394 382224.
At the Sizewell C Southern Transport Forum in November, the issue of the cumulative impact of the construction traffic from all the large-scale energy projects was raised and in particular the problems that will result at the Friday Street junction once the Scottish Power’s projects begin next year. The unsatisfactory response to the issues raised at the meeting caused dismay amongst attendees. The problems with traffic will no doubt impact many of our communities. If you share these concerns, please do express them by writing to your District and County Councillors. The more people who write, the more likely there will be meaningful engagement on this.
I know many Melton Residents, but particularly in The Street, were distressed about the disruption caused by the laying of internet cables in November. We realise that many residents felt very inconvenienced by the late working and the temporary surfaces put down on the pavements. We had been working closely with the team but unfortunately, communications between us became less frequent as the project went on making it difficult for us to keep you informed. The good news is that the work in Melton is due to be completed by the end of January. Many residents have found the benefit of having high speed broadband available in an area where mobile signals can be patchy has been a real benefit to the village. Today, unfortunately, much of what we have to do in day-to-day life relies on having the internet available, and I’m sure many locals will find it much more convenient in the long run, so thank you to those who have had to endure whilst the work has been ongoing.
I am pleased to say that at the meeting in December, Cllr Alexander Nicoll joined us as a Parish Councillor. Many of you will already know that Alexander has been a sponsor of many of the projects we have completed in Melton over a number of years, and no doubt, will continue to be a significant help in the projects we have coming up. My thanks to him for volunteering to join the team. We now have a full compliment of Councillors.
In the coming year, MPC will be concentrating on completing the refresh of the Neighbourhood Plan and we hope to do some work to update the children’s play equipment at the recreation ground. We are promoting the use of the Pavilion, which continues to go from strength to strength. It still has vacancies, mostly at the weekend, so if you know anyone looking for a clean, well equipped modern space to hire, do recommend us.
We have already started the work of organising the Summer Fete which will be on Saturday, 14th June and no doubt, there will be plenty of other work coming our way! So wish us luck and do get involved. Not everyone wants to be a Councillor but there is always other jobs that needs volunteers which keeps our village running like the pavement group, litter picks, helping at the fete, tree planting and adopting, good neighbours scheme to name just a few. We have a great community that runs because of you. So thank you all and keep on volunteering.
