January Newsletter
Published: 11 December 2020
REPORT FROM ECCHINSWELL, SYDMONTON AND BISHOPS GREEN PARISH COUNCIL MEETING
Your parish council held another virtual meeting on the 9th December, and we are pleased that most parish councillors and our borough and county councillors were able to attend.
The Borough Councillor reported that Covid infection numbers are low in national terms, but high in Basingstoke and went on to say that “we have no expectations of moving out of Tier 2 at this stage”. He then spoke briefly about Brexit preparations and said that these were going well.
The County Councillor was pleased to report that vaccinations were being rolled out across the county as they prepared to vaccinate everyone. He went on to explain that the County had spent in excess of £180M on the Covid response so far and was expecting this figure to rise further.
It was reported to the Parish Council that someone had taken a fall when they slipped on a wooden bridge in the parish. Repair work is being undertaken shortly to prevent this from happening again at this location, but if you spot any issues like this then please let your Parish Council know.
Some great news from BGCA that a contract for a youth provision service has been agreed for 2 nights per week, so this is something to look forward to in the New Year.
Along with other local parish councils, we recently attended an online meeting with our local Borough Police Commander – Chief Inspector Karen McManus – on the topic of rural crime - She recognised that this was a growing problem – theft of machinery and plant, drug dealing and speeding.
The good news is that she has had an increase in staffing for the new year – an additional two PCs – focused on rural crime which bring her total complement to 4 PCs, 4 PCSOs and 4 special constables.
In particular, the theft of quad bikes is a national issue and over 80 of them have been stolen in our area since March – some have been traced to Germany and Bulgaria which indicates that this is being conducted by organised gangs. She recommends that trackers are fitted to all these vehicles to give a much better chance of recovery.
The main request she had for our parishes was to report any suspicious vehicles – dates, times and registration numbers – because it all helps to build an overall picture of offenders’ activity.
Speeding was also a consistent complaint and she is mobilising a borough wide ‘Speedwatch’ team to help local parishes tackle this problem. Please note, we’re taking action on this in our parish and we will shortly be consulting with parishioners on how best to tackle it.
Finally, it was wonderful to see Santa doing his rounds across our Parish on December 11th and we hope he visited you over the festive season.
Please contact us if you have questions concerning the work of the parish council, if you have any concerns that you feel the council should be aware of or where it can help or support you. Our next meeting will be on 13th January 2021 and will be conducted on Zoom. Links will be provided nearer the time and everyone is welcome.
Cllr Mark Stamp