The new edition of the Burwash Village Magazine is out now.£500m Hardship Fund to provide council tax relief
£500m Hardship Fund to provide council tax relief
The Local Government Secretary, Robert Jenrick MP has announced today (Mar 24) the confirmation of a £500m Hardship Fund that will provide council tax relief to those most affected by coronavirus.
Vulnerable households who would otherwise struggle to pay council tax will be supported by the new package of funding announced today.
The Fund, announced in the Chancellor’s Budget, will be distributed to local authorities in England in order to reduce the 2020 to 2021 council tax bills of those currently receiving Local Council Tax Support.
Other support arrangements on a discretionary basis will be available for councils to utilise such as Local Welfare Schemes.
Local Government Secretary Rt Hon Robert Jenrick MP said:
“Providing the necessary financial support to people and families is critical at this difficult time when many people will be concerned about changes to their income.
“That’s why we’re giving local councils an additional £500 million, to ensure help is available for the most vulnerable people in our society who are struggling to pay their council tax bills.
“The government is on your side and will do whatever takes to help.”
This announcement comes after an additional £1.6bn in funding was announced to allow councils to respond to new coronavirus pressures surrounding their services.
This includes supporting the most vulnerable people in communities and those that may be unable to pay their council tax at this time.
Billing authorities will also want to establish their own local approach to using any remaining grant to assist those in need, as part of wider local support mechanisms. These may include:
- council tax relief using existing discretionary discount/hardship policies
- provision of support outside of the council tax system through Local Welfare or similar schemes
- offering a higher level of council tax reduction for working-age Local Council Tax Support recipients whose annual liability exceeds £150
The guidance released today aims to bring clarity to councils on the best way to allocate the funding to their communities.
Appeal for funding for Blacksmith’s Tea and Coffee shop
The Burwash Community Interest Company is looking for top-up funding to ensure the success of Blacksmith’s tea and coffee shop on Burwash High Street.
The CIC says support from the community has been brilliant so far but a further £10,000 is needed to complete the fit-out of the former Freeman Forman estate agency.
The cash is needed by the middle of March to make the project a reality.
”No donation is too small or too large,” the CIC says. “£10 will buy a teapot, £20 will buy a chair, £150 will buy a worktop, £500 will buy the lighting.”
To make a donation, you can pay directly into the CIC bank account. The details are:
Account name: Burwash CIC
Account number: 90028631
Sort code: 82-11-07
Or contact the CIC on 01435 882918 or email burwashcic@btinternet.com
Click here for an earlier story on this community project.
Job Advertisement: Parish Clerk/ Responsible Financial Officer Needed
Burwash Parish Council seeks a confident person with an interest in the local community for the post of Parish Clerk/Responsible Finance Officer from April 6th 2020.
The Clerk is responsible for managing the Council’s day to day business, providing advice and implementing decisions.
Applicants will need to be computer literate, able to prepare council agendas and record minutes, be familiar with bookkeeping and financial procedures and be able to correspond with external organisations on behalf of the council.
Working hours are 44/52 hours per month at £15/hour with core hours being two days of 3 hours a week (days and hours to be arranged) in the Parish Office, with some attendance at council and committee meetings which are predominately in the evenings; the remaining hours being worked at either home or in the office. The Clerk would be required to attend the Full Council Meeting, which is on the 2nd Tuesday of every month in the evening, with other committees on an ad hoc basis.
Formal training with a detailed handover and continued help will be available.
For an informal discussion and an application form and job description please contact the chair of HR Bob Franklin 07802 771329 or email cllr.Robert.Franklin@burwashpc.org.uk.
Closing date for applications – Friday 20th March 2020.
Interviews to be held during the evening of Thursday 26th March, and the morning of Friday 27th March.
Parish Office closed throughout February for renovations
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One step closer to new tea/coffee shop in Burwash High Street
Burwash is one step closer to having its own tea and coffee shop again in the High Street.
Rother District Council has accepted an application for a change of use on the site of the former Freeman Forman estate agency in the village.
If you would like to support the project, click Rother Planning Office online and add your comments.
Alternatively you can write to :
Strategy and Planning, Town Hall, Bexhill on Sea, TN39 3JX
A new organisation – the Burwash Community Interest Company (BCIC)- has taken on a lease for the site and has raised money locally to pay for refurbishing the premises ready for a new tea and coffee shop operator. Plans are well advanced.
There will be regular updates on the Burwash website, the Burwash App and the Burwash E-Bulletin.
It is hoped that that the new shop will be up and running by late Spring.
For further information and offers of support, please email BCIC at burwashcic@btinternet.com or telephone 01435 882918
Update on consultations about the latest draft development proposals for Watercress Field
A series of presentations about the latest draft plans to build 30 homes on Watercress Field – the site at the end of Strand Meadow – were attended by 76 people.
Asked to comment on the plans by developers Park Lane Homes, 68 people completed feedback forms. Two were in favour of the plans while the remainder were against.
A public consultation with the architects of the new scheme was held on Wednesday 8th January in the Parish Room (Internet Café) in The Bear car park, Burwash. The presentation materials were available to the public in three sessions later that month.
Following extensive local opposition, led by Burwash: Save Our Fields, the previous proposals were rejected unanimously by Rother District Council and, in January 2019, by a planning inspector after an appeal.
Issues raised by residents at the latest sessions included:
- The housing proposed does not meet local need – it is not social housing and there is not even ‘affordable housing’
- Accessibility to the village by any method other than by car is challenging
- Traffic issues in Strand Meadow
- Traffic issues on Shrub Lane
- Concerns about impact on residents of Rother View
- Impact on the AONB
- The house designs are ‘suburban’ rather than rural
- The site is overdeveloped
- Steepness of the site
- Ground Water present at the site
The feedback has been shared with the architects as agreed.
76 people attended the sessions with the largest number being 46 on the Wednesday where the architects were in attendance. The developers were not represented at any of the sessions.
Many residents have been concerned about the lack of materials available. The Parish Council has been in contact with the architects about obtaining an electronic copy of the Pre-Application Enquiry Supporting Document but have had no response. Extra copies have now been printed off for residents to view either at the Internet Café or the Parish Council Office.
Residents will be able to comment directly to Rother District Council once the formal planning application for the scheme is submitted. This is expected soon. The Parish Council has resolved that it will consider the application at an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM).
For those interested in the sorts of standards expected for new developments in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, you can click on the High Weald Joint Advisory Committee design guide here.
The latest Park Lane proposal is for 28 houses and 2 flats. There will be 22 three-bedroom houses, seven properties with two bedrooms and one single-bedroom flat.
None of the proposed housing will be ‘affordable’ according to the government’s definition of 80% of the market price.
The architects have said that all the proposed developments will be two-storey and set lower in the site than previous proposals.
Burwash Save Our Fields have already drafted a response to the proposals. Click here for details.
Click here for more background.
There remains outline planning permission for 30 houses on the site. To see a pdf overview of the new plans click here.
On the 26th November the architects presented the initial new set of plans to the Planning Committee of Burwash Parish Council. You can read the minutes of that meeting here.
Wild About Burwash StarGazing Event now on the 23rd February at the Village Hall
The Stargazing event has had to be moved to another venue as The Bear is closing for 2 weeks from 10 February, so it is now taking place on Sunday 23 Feb at the Village Hall.
Anyone who has bought tickets and can’t come on 23 February can get a full refund from Celia Caulkin. Please email her at wildaboutburwash@gmail.com
Burwash Scouts, Cubs and Beavers need your help
Burwash and Etchingham Scouts group needs volunteer leaders to help build on its continuing success. You really can make a difference by joining one of our top community groups. Go here to find out more.