The Community Group is now a recognised ‘good cause’ and is part of the Essex Lottery! This means that you can buy tickets, have a chance of winning £25,000 and 50% of all ticket proceeds will come to the CRCG to further its aims & objectives for the benefit of the local community 🙂
Just pop over to the CRCG Essex Lottery Page, become a supporter and buy some tickets!
Good luck 🙂
Please find an update from Essex Police (pdf format) about current scams including Council Tax refunds, Puppy scams and spoofed text messages.
Essex Police Fraud Alert (31/07/20)
Chelmsford City Council is carrying out a review of the way decisions are made on local issues and wants to hear your views. This process, called a ‘Community Governance Review’, will look at whether a parish council should be created in unparished areas or whether changes need to be made to an existing parish.
You can give your views online now at:
www.chelmsford.gov.uk/parishconsultation
The closing date for comments is Friday 25th September 2020.
Two years ago the Community Group attempted to invoke a Community Governance Review on the basis that the Channels development is split between the Parish of Broomfield & the Parish of Little Waltham. Due to a number of factors, the review was not invoked and once we became aware that a wider review was to take place across Chelmsford, there was no point in continuing with our own process.
We currently have three residents that sit on Little Waltham Parish Council although recently we have been working with Broomfield Parish Council on a number of projects. A visual explanation of the current Parish Boundaries can be found here .
To find more, visit www.chelmsford.gov.uk/news/help-shape-the-future-of-local-democracy-in-chelmsford/
You can currently view updates from ECC about the release of plans for the Chelmsford North East Bypass and Beaulieu Station through a specially created ‘virtual village hall’ event following the award of £218million of Government funding for the schemes.
To find out more information about the schemes please visit the Chelmsford North East Bypass website and visit the exhibition as if you were attending in person at the following link:
www.essex.gov.uk/chelmsford-north-east-bypass
The virtual exhibition is optimised and therefore best viewed on a desktop/laptop rather than a mobile device.
As previously flagged, the Community Group is applying for a Grant from the Community Initiative Fund to enhance our communal spaces.
It’s really important to gather comments and ideas from the community so if you want to know more or want to add to those already suggested by residents, take a look at the latest update here.
Ideally we would have circulated some form of leaflet/questionnaire however the timescale for completion of the application will not allow for this. So, have a chat to your neighbours about it, discuss the list of ideas currently on the short list and get involved by giving us your thoughts!
A suggestions form can be found here!
We need someone (or even better a small team) that can assist in heading up the delivery of an exciting project for our community.
The Community Group is applying to the Community Initiative Fund to further develop some of the communal land which would create spaces suitable for future events and to generally enhance the areas for all residents to enjoy year round.
We can apply to the Community Initiative Fund for up to £10,000 for a project that can:
Projects need to highlight the benefit to the wider community and show that community engagement and co-production has occurred in the design and delivery of the project, demonstrating a real community need.
An expression of interest form has already been submitted and we have now been invited to complete a full application form.
Our project lead would work with the various CRCG sub-committees and other community partners to complete the full application form (deadline 16th August 2020) and progress the project to full implementation.
If you are interested in getting involved in this exciting opportunity, drop us an e-mail via the form below:
Construction Site Issues
Since the re-start of construction work following the easing of lock-down, many residents have flagged an unacceptable increase in dust, noise and vibration from the sites operating around us.
As a result we made contact with Planning Officers at Chelmsford City Council to ensure they were aware of the issues and to ask whether anything could be done to mitigate against them and reduce the impact on the surrounding area. Our concerns were also brought to the attention of local City Councillors.
The City Council has taken the concerns seriously and the Principal Planning Officer has fully briefed their Public Health team and an officer has been asigned who will fully investigate our concerns and those already aired by other Channels residents.
There is more detail, including a summary of responses from developers and some updates on construction working hours, here.
Essex Police: Do Even More Online
Essex Police are offering new online services to those who live in, work in and visit Essex, making it even easier to contact the local police service.
From 3rd June, you will be able to do much more via the Essex Police website like reporting anti-social behaviour, requesting information about yourself or others, notifying about something you have seen or heard, or asking to talk to someone about an existing case you are involved in or report you have made.
There is also ‘Live Chat’, a new online text facility where you can message an operator online, live, between the hours of 7.00am and 11.00pm.
More information about the new services can be found here.
Gardening Club
There is a new local group for anyone that is interested in gardening and plants! At present, and as the club is just starting up, membership is open to residents from Eagle Rise and Aqua Verde (Bellway).
If you are interested in joining, visit the Gardening Club page, fill in the form and someone will be in touch!
Chelmsford North East Bypass Update
Engagement on this scheme was planned for this Spring however because of the ongoing Covid-19 outbreak, this engagement and events have now been postponed. It is hoped that Essex County Council will be able to proceed with the scheme engagement later in the year once the situation eases.
In the meantime updated information is available here.
Phased Re-Opening of Libraries
Essex County Council is preparing a phased approach to re-open libraries in line with Government guidelines. The library in Chelmsford will be included in the initial phase with limited opening and restrictions as from 6th July.
You can find out more information here.
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COVID-19 Test and Trace
The NHS Test and Trace service has now started contacting people who have been in close contact with confirmed coronavirus cases. Make sure you self-isolate for 14 days if you are alerted that you have been exposed to someone with coronavirus.
More advice and information can be found here #StayAlert
We have received confirmation that there are Brown Tail Moth caterpillars on the development which can cause an allergic reaction if touched. At present they have been found nesting in one tree on the communal area between Eagle Rise & Aqua Verde:
In addition they have been found nesting in the hedgerow that runs along the border of Channels Drive, into the Bellway estate area and along the stretch of Fairway Drive opposite the bowls club.
The larvae are dark brown and hairy with a series of white marks down the side and a characteristic pair of orangey-red ‘warts’ at the rear end.
They spend the winter months in tough webbing nests and emerge in spring to feed communally until about the end of May. Although occasionally found on oaks, brown-tail moth larvae are much more common on hedgerow trees such as blackthorn and hawthorn or on scrubby plants, especially bramble.
Note:
The hairs of these larvae can provoke an allergic reaction, so contact with the larvae or their nests should be avoided.
Channels Estates will be treating all infestation sites imminently and will ensure that clear signage is visible when doing so. Until the issue has been completely dealt with, please stay away from any areas where the nests are evident and take extra care when near the hedgerow as there is a greater risk of brushing against them.
If you come across similar infestations in other locations across the wider development, please flag it via the form below:
Please note that the above form should only be completed for sightings of the Brown Tailed Moth caterpillar on communal land!
It’s Neighbourhood Watch Week from Sunday 7th June 2020 and it’s all about celebrating your neighbours!
Find out all about it at www.ourwatch.org.uk/letsstayconnected where there are lots of activities and ideas about how to celebrate your neighbours and further build a sense of community.
Don’t forget that if you are not yet part of the Channels Community Neighbourhood Watch Group, you can find out more here and its easy to join by signing up here:
Channels Community 
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