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 Emerson, Hillier and De Vita were co-opted onto the council. This brings our numbers back up to 14. We still have one vacancy and ideally would like a Councillor with finance skills. If you are interested please get in touch for a chat.
The new Councillors will be introducing themselves in future publications of the Melton Messenger. My thanks to each of them for agreeing to give up their time and get involved. I look forward to working with them going forward.
Sizewell C
You may be aware that the Sizewell C Development Consent Order was triggered in January, which gave the green light for the construction phase of Sizewell C. There are going to be regular Community Forums which will be attended by members of Melton Parish Council and a £250m package for local communities is to be activated. This will be available in phases over the construction period. We have been advised that there will be noise mitigation measures available for residents who live near the railway line and residents should contact the SZC team directly to find out more: info@sizewellc.com. We will keep you informed as we receive any further information.
Melton Fete
We have received some offers of help from local residents for the Melton fete on the 22nd June. It’s lovely to know local people want to get involved in delivering this key annual village event. We have booked the very popular Punch and Judy and the Hospital Band for entertainment. There will be a dog show, archery, BBQ, bar and numerous stalls including the coconut shy. It’s already promising to be another great year. Save the date or better still, get involved. If you want to help or have a suggestion for a stall, please drop me a line through the office.
Speed Reduction
Hopefully you will have seen the legal publications advertising the proposed speed limit reduction on the Wilford Bridge Road from 60 to 30mph. We have been campaigning for this to happen for some time now because the stretch of road between the Sutton Hoo roundabout and the Melton Station Level Crossing is very busy with vehicles, bicycles and pedestrians. This is the next step needed to make that road safer for all users and I hope you will give it your support.
Buses
Just before Christmas, we worked with Woodbridge Town Council and our County Councillors to submit a bid for funding to improve the local bus services. There were over 60 applications for this small pot of money, and unfortunately, on this occasion, we weren’t successful in securing our bid. But not all is lost. Suffolk County Council is working with us to make some improvements to the local bus stops including providing timetable cases for the bus timetables and collecting survey data at our bus stops.
Melton Road
In December, I tripped badly on the ridge of road outside the Spar Shop on Melton Road. Two weeks later, we had a report that another person had tripped and fallen into the road at the same spot. Councillor Nicoll and MPC Councillors have been trying to get this stretch of road repaired by Highways as we have heard anecdotally that others have tripped on the same stretch of road. I’m trying to get enough evidence to show that this road needs urgent repair because it is an accident waiting to happen. If you are one of those who has tripped there I would be grateful if you would get in touch with me through the office.
Hedge Laying
Suffolk Wildlife Trust have been relaying some of the hedge at the boundary of the Melton Recreation Ground and Hutchinson’s Meadow. This will provide increased habitat for nesting birds, help the hedge grow thicker, give the trees within the hedge some much needed space and tidy up the boundary. Our thanks goes to SWT for doing this much needed work.
Precept
Each year the Parish Council has to submit their Precept request to East Suffolk Council. This is the amount of money the Parish Council will receive from the Council Tax charge. This year it was agreed to increase the Precept by 6.44%. This equates to a monthly increase of 32p, or £3.88 per Band D charge per year, bringing the charge per Band D property to £64.15 a year. This is to cover inflationary increases and to cover the decrease in Precept received of nearly 1% as a result of changes in the tax calculation.
Pavilion
From March there is now some availability to hire the Pavilion on weekday evenings. Full information can be found on the website or by contacting the office.
https://melton-suffolk-pc.gov.uk/pavilion/
Carol Gradwell
Chair of Melton Parish Council
