Report from Cllr Bryn Hurren November 2024.

Firstly, many thanks for enquiries, concerns and best wishes for my health, like many others I have had an everlasting cough and associated very debilitating symptoms that go with it like restricted voice and hearing. Gradually recovering now, maybe try to take my much-needed annual day off soon. 

As always, Council and village duties are very demanding, but the role of Councillor continues to be very satisfying although always challenging and hard work.

Many will have noticed that the Hadleigh to Sudbury old 91 bus route is now being run by Chambers, this is due to the cuts introduced by Beestons not providing an adequate service between these two towns and the villages in between. 

This change in service was initiated by Boxford PC and is as a result of a partnership between the District Council and CC transport who are providing a temporary grant to help fund this new initiative. I hope this new service is of help to our beleaguered public transport system for the Babergh area and is well used and appreciated by the users, it can be tweaked to make it better and I am aware of some suggestions already, such as dovetailing into other routes and additional pick-up points. The grant will run out after its allotted time and its continuation will, like everything else, depend on footfall and usage. Please see the new timetable at **  Although this service is aimed at folks without other means of transport, it is available to all and the fares are subsidized by the council grant, i.e. we can travel for £2.00 per journey. Maybe we can all leave the car behind sometimes now.

In my ward of Box Vale, we are very lucky to still have access to most basic services and some brilliant luxury and pleasure establishments as well and while it is nice that we are trying to give more mobility to travel elsewhere, it is also of vital importance that we all support what we have in our own villages, such as shops, butcher, garage, 6 brilliant pubs and two Post Offices.

While most are in Boxford, the satellite villages around have their part to play in our community hub also.

Of huge concern to us is the proposed closure of Boxford Surgery, which is due to financial constraints and funding cuts, should this be the driver in the efforts to close it, I think not. 

We await the decision, which could have a very detrimental effect on the local parishes and those that live in them.

Big apologies for the temporary closure of the Kingfisher leisure pool due to a leaking roof and need for subsequent checks and we are doing our very best to get it back up and running for our many swimmers and aqua aerobic classes a.s.a.p.

Meanwhile all other aspects of the Sudbury Kingfisher leisure centre remain open and members can use the facilities at Hadleigh under their present membership scheme.

Due to the difficulties with keeping our heads afloat and above the water with household bills during the cost-of-living crisis, my council has bid for and obtained some extra grant monies from the new incoming Government to help those in general serious financial trouble. Please don’t suffer in silence, you are not alone, and we will help you if we possibly can. We are not the UK’s best local District Council for nothing, and we can prove it. My contact details are as always at the end of my column. Don’t be afraid to ask and we will do our best to help.

We continue to engage with the sixth form and other senior students from across our area, while so much is broken across our nation from the last ten years of chaotic, self-serving and very corrupt national government, I do feel this is the best way to start building up trust again from the bottom up towards the top. Also, citizenship being part of the national curriculum again might help spread the word that politicians are not all corrupt and trust can be built back given time. I would have to say that the young students we have engaged with so far are top notch and are a real credit to their schools and society in general.

We have now to work upon ways to incorporate the collecting of glass and compostable food waste into our kerbside collection rounds as dictated by both the last and present government, this is going to be very difficult in our rural area and not aways viable or necessary in my view. Although our fleet of vehicles run on bio fuel (vegetable oil) it will still cost money to travel miles to pick up a few bottles with a lorry from a very remote area, especially if that village has access to a bring site with a bottle bank that is being used anyway. This method also raises and puts money back into the local community, which is understood anyway.

When will national ministers realise that one size does not fit all and biggest is not always best!

Hopefully your local councils with good co-operation from our public can get maximum collection and re-cycling rates of all materials from our new range of bins with a big reduction in what is sent to the power from waste plant via the black bin.

Raw materials are becoming more expensive now, so vital we save and recycle anything we can.

Really enjoying the latest strictly series and the blossoming football at Portman Rd.

Come on you Blues, you can do it. Keep Well Bryn.  XX

Bryn.hurren@babergh.com  tel 01787 210854.  Mob  07771 508348