As we move into a period of colder weather, Bellway will imminently be topping up salt in the two bins that are on the development, the locations of which are shown on the image below.
At present DJC do not provide regular gritting as part of their service offer however the salt is available for all residents to use as necessary and can be opened with a triangle (gas) key.
There will be no cost to residents for the salt provision.
Please do keep access to the bins clear!
Remedial Work to Kerbs & Raising of Ironworks
Please see below a drawing showing the area where Barconn will imminently be carrying out remedial works to the kerbs and raising ironworks on the roads in readiness for the tarmac topping.
The site team envisages that the remedial kerb works will be completed within 2 weeks however the raised ironworks will remain until the road is ‘topped out’, which is booked for early March 2019.
Residents may be interested to know that following preliminary discussion with Chelmsford City Planning Officers, there is an intention to bring forward a planning application for a David Lloyd Health & Racquets Club on the land shown below:
This information has come to light through a letter received by Little Waltham Parish Council on behalf of the developer.
As part of the community engagement process, residents are welcome to attend the next Parish Council meeting to better understand what is being proposed and to ask questions about the plans. The developer (or their representative) will be present.
The next Parish Council meeting is scheduled for Tuesday 5th February at 7.30pm at the Tufnell Hall, The Street, Little Waltham.
The Winter Edition of the Little Waltham Parish Magazine is published and available on the Parish Council Website for viewing.
By way of a reminder, don’t forget to sign the petition to invoke the process for amendment of the Parish Council boundaries. If you have not yet signed and want to, fill in the form below and someone will visit with a clipboard and a pen over the next few days!
The next Parish Council Meeting is due to be held on Tuesday 8th January at 7.30pm at the Tufnell Hall, The Street, Little Waltham. At each meeting there is an opportunity for residents to raise issues that are relevant to the Parish. Future meeting dates can be found here.
Would you like to work with your neighbours to make your area a great place to live where crime and antisocial behaviour are less likely to happen? Members look out for each other and work together alongside the police sharing concerns and observations, reducing crime and fear of crime.
Neighbourhood Watch can make a difference.
In response to residents flagging that we should have an estate-wide Neighbourhood Watch, the Bellway at Channels development is now recognised as a Neighbourhood Watch ‘District’ (which includes the existing area of Jigger Gardens in Aqua Verde). We now need engagement from residents across the entire development to get involved and make our Watch a success!
There is more information about Neighbourhood Watch here but most importantly we need residents to become members:
Our Neighbourhood Watch co-ordinator is John Buckberry and if you have any questions, he can be contacted via e-mail as follows: john.buckberry@channelsresidents.org.uk
Please find a summary of action taken so far in relation to the Channels Bus Service. Rachel Fennell collated this information for the Chair of Little Waltham Parish Council who has been giving evidence to the Inspector in relation to the proposed Chelmsford Local Plan.
It appears that assertions have been made by the representative from Essex County Council who deals with roads and infrastructure claiming that the buses serving the Channels Development are a great success!
The Chair of the Parish Council was, through the information provided, able to challenge and evidence the poor public transport and access issues at the recent open meeting on the Chelmsford City Plan. We understand the independent Inspector was very interested in the evidence and will use this when considering the content of his report.
Nevertheless, the document provides a concise summary of everything that has been done so far and makes clear the work that is on-going to ensure the bus service is fit for purpose.
We have also recently received confirmation that as part of S106 planning requirements, we will have: “high quality bus stops incorporating shelters, seating, timetables and real-time bus information“.
With thanks to Rachel Fennell who has been leading on the Bus Service issues on behalf of residents 🙂
Following updates from the site team, we have been informed that all missing lamp posts have now been installed into their designated positions. The diagram below indicates the current position:
Where possible the position of some lamp posts has been amended as a response to residents concerns however there is little scope to make significant changes as Bellway are not permitted to deviate from Highways & Planning requirements.
There will be some remedial work required around the lamp posts following connection but at least all lights shown as connected should be working. The lamp posts at the bus stop have been scheduled for January as further discussions need to take place in relation to the bus route as this will be impacted by the ground-works.
Update 18/12/18
The following problems have been encountered:
31A (Outside Plot 80): The Site Team has not yet gained permission to dig up a trench in the clients front garden and therefore will not connect this lamp post until permission is granted. Even if permission is granted, as it will not be possible to reinstate this garden and the road in time for Christmas a decision has been taken to wait until the new year.
56A (Outside Plot 74): Although the lamp post is now fitted a shroud needs to be fitted due to the proximity of the lamp to the clients window. This connection will be carried out once the shroud has been fitted.
12A (Outside Plot 131): The trench has been open and ready for connection however the Site Team have been advised by the Utilities Company that the wrong cable was exposed. For now the ground-workers have been instructed to make safe the trench currently excavated and await permission from the Utility Company to reopen the trench ready for connection. This will not happen until the new year.
Estate Management: Remedial Works
Members of the Community Group Committee met with Bellway, DJC and a Channels Estate representative on 22nd November to undertake an inspection of the on-going remedial works, specifically in relation to soft landscaping.
Due to over-running civil engineering works, we have missed a key window for undertaking some key landscaping work (e.g. grass re-seeding), and it became apparent that a number of areas will not be ready for sign off and handover until Spring 2019. There is also a great deal of work required in relation to weed treatment that needs to take place during the winter months and this also needs to be completed prior to sign off.
Committee Members are meeting with Bellway on Friday 30th November to specifically discuss the on-going management of the remedial works and to ensure that all necessary work continues to be carried out at no additional cost to residents.
Service Charges
Residents should have received notification from DJC (Housing Association tenants may receive notification directly from their Housing Association) of the Service Charge for the period 1st January 2019 to 30th June 2019. Please note that this is merely the second half of the annual charge notified in June this year and there have been no changes to the chargeable amount.
Committee Members will begin discussions with DJC early in the new year about how future service charges are calculated so that residents can be clear where the money is being targeted and to ensure there is transparency that we are paying a fair price for the services received.
Parish Counncil Boundaries
There have been 59 responses to the survey in relation to Parish Council boundaries. Whilst the vast majority (96%) feel that we should fall within the Little Waltham Parish, we will need 250 electors willing to sign a petition before the City Council (and indeed the Little Waltham Parish Council) will consider progressing a Community Governance Review.
Please complete the survey if you haven’t done so and encourage anyone else you know to do the same!
https://surveyhero.com/c/ecbb111b
Neighbourhood Watch
Exploratory work is on-going to determine whether we can expand Neighbourhood Watch across the development (there is currently a ‘watch’ set up for Jigger Gardens), what this might involve and whether there is the desire from residents to get involved.
There is some useful information on the Chelmsford Neighbourhood Watch website which is worth a read.
Following a meeting with the site team yesterday, it appears that there are more issues with lamp posts than previously expected. Based on the latest information, and excluding the current building site area, there are 12 lamp posts which are not connected (or are connected but not working) and 3 lamp posts that are missing and which need to be installed.
The diagram below shows the current position:
The site team are working with the various sub-contractors to expedite this however it is unlikely that all lights will be on and fully functional until the end of December. As it has been noted that the entrance to Fairway Drive is particularly dark, this area will be prioritised:
Further updates will be posted as and when new information becomes available and if you believe that any lamp post flagged as operational not to be working, do report this via the Log A Concern page on the website.
Channels Community 
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