News/Key Issues

VACANCIES (as at August 2024)

Note that there are TWO vacancies for a councillor at present. Please contact us if you wish to fill one of these positions. It is a great way to volunteer and contribute towards maintaining our idyllic village lifestyle. It will help you to get more involved in the local community

Information supplied by Chelmsford City Council regarding roadside vegetation

Essex County Council are the “Highway Authority” which means that they have a statutory responsibility for the maintenance of adopted roads and footpaths.  This includes dealing with overhanging or encroaching vegetation. In respect of hedges on private land encroaching on the highway and footpaths, the Highway Authority can either serve notice on the landowner to deal with the issue, or if the landowner fails to do so, the Highway Authority can undertake the work themselves and charge the land owner for the cost of the work.  Please note the City Council does not have any powers to do this on behalf of the Highway Authority.

You will also be aware, that from April 2023 Essex CC withdrew funding for the Highway Ranger service which was operated by the City Council on behalf of the Highway Authority. This service was used on occasion to cut back overhanging vegetation where this caused a safety concern. This clearly now doesn’t take place, so any issues must now be reported to ECC Highways via their on-line reporting tool which can be found here :

https://www.essexhighways.org/tell-us/trees-hedges-and-weeds.

 With regards to CCC owned hedges, these are part of a maintenance/cutting regime and are monitored regularly to ensure they do not obstruct the highway.. With regards to weed growth, weed spraying is also the responsibility of ECC as the Highways Authority and should be reported via the link above

 I hope that helps to clarifies the situation and will help you deal with enquiries of this nature from your residents.

Hammonds Farm development

There is a proposed plan to develop the Hammonds Farm estate. A coalition of councillors from local parishes have formed to stop the urbanisation of our countryside. You can get up to date information by clicking on the link below:

Say No to Hammonds Farm 

Warehouses in Howe Green

There is talk of a warehouse development by junction 17 on the A12. A local group has been formed to find out more. Please see their latest discussions on the SPC Facebook page:

The link is HERE

Local Elections 4th May 2023

Note that Sandon Parish Council will have eight councillors following the recent parish boundary reorganisation. This is an increase of one. There will be local elections held 4th May and you are welcome to put yourself forward to fill this, as well take the place of current councillors. If you are interested in finding out more, then please see the following notice – Become a Parish Councillor for Sandon

The following is the formal notification of the Election of Parish Councillors – Notice of Election

If you would like a Nomination Pack, then either contact the election office at CCC, or the parish clerk.

SANDON – A VILLAGE HISTORY by Reg Bush.

This book has been republished by the Parish Council. It is a fascinating read which covers the history of the village from its earliest known origins up to the end of the twentieth century.  If you would like a copy then please contact the parish clerk. They will cost £10.each. All profits will go towards The Friends of St Andrews. Order a copy now and remind yourself about the history of the Parish as well as supporting the upkeep of the church!

Superfast Essex

Superfast Essex is part of a national programme, working to provide broadband speeds of 24Mbps and above to more than 120,000 homes and businesses in Essex.

See if your home or business has already been covered, or is part of their future plans, by using the Interactive Map on the website:
http://www.superfastessex.org/maps

Superfast Essex recommend using the BT DSL Checker to check which cabinet you are connected to and cross-referencing with the map to find out which cabinet serves you. So far, Superfast Essex has enabled with fibre two cabinets within the Sandon area as part of Phase 1 of the programme, with an extra seven cabinets in the locality due to be upgraded as part of Phase 2.

Follow Superfast Essex on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to see the cabinet rollout announcements every Friday and find the list of all live cabinets on the website.

To register your demand for faster broadband and to receive Superfast Essex quarterly programme updates via email, please complete the Make the Connection survey.