onionbagblog

If it’s Wednesday Week then it must mean that it’s time for a meeting of the lovely Wivenhoe Society committee in the library upstairs at the Nottage.

Hurrah!

Not that I officially sit at the top table for the local group that has Wivenhoe, its heritage and its future at its heart - simply that I have been very kindly invited to come along to the meetings as an interested observer. I think that’s a polite way of putting that I’m a nosey parker.

With kitten commitments eating into my early evening (update: we have litter tray lift off. Oh Lordy…) no surprises that I was running slightly late as I headed quayside.

No worries - the first agenda item was a report on the most recent Wivenhoe Town Council meeting that took place on Monday. Our fine man from the Council was double-booked (and possibly double-parked) and so we had a read out of the minutes from the fine Chair.

It was an interesting blow-by-blow account of potholes, police station sell-offs and public convenience refurbishment updates. It was also a repeat performance for me, and so I wasn’t going to be taken in by any cliffhanger.

Mr Mayor‘s bike left unlocked outside The Greyhound, you say? It ‘aint gonna be a happy ending, fella.

Sticking with WTC, and WivSoc heard how our local councillors are a little cash strapped right now. Not in a personal sense - although there’s no dosh to be made out of volunteering for civic service - but as a consequences of the cuts coming our way via Colchester Borough Council and beyond.

The consequences for WivSoc are all connected to the Colne clean up on the 10th April. Breaking tradition, and WTC has asked for a small payment to cover the cost of two employees to help take away all the crap that has sadly found its way by the banks of the Colne.

A ‘friendly and constructive conversation’ followed. I’m no kiss and teller: in fact I’m lucky if I ever get to reach the kissing stage. But I’m breaking no confidences is stating that the balance sheet of the WivSoc probably can’t stretch to TWO groundsmen, Sunday overtime et al.

At a wider level, this opens up very real questions about who actually holds the responsibility for looking after the Colne: CBC? WTC? WivSoc? *shhh* Dave’s #bigsociety?

Blimey.

It’s all about doing your bit, and helping out wherever and whenever you can. We are blessed in Wivenhoe to have wonderful organisations such as The Hub youth club and Transition Town Wivenhoe, both of whom have very kindly offered to lend some helping hands on the big day of the riverbank clean up.

The river is sadly looking a right old mess heading out towards the Hythe. Time allowing and I sometimes stop to pick up the odd can. Many hands make light work. Two WTC groundsmen may make light work, but they will also lighten the load on the WivSoc bank account.

Speaking of which, I’m playing my cards closer to my chest than a 44FF gifted young lady who is holding all the aces: Yep - it’s only the WivSoc Treasurer’s Report.

A small amount of money has been made from selling calendars. Costs have occurred in printing out the Newsletter up at University, plus the very kind donation from WivSoc to Wivenhoe in Bloom (£200 seeing as though you ask. I think the tight lipped 44FF gifted young lady has just undone a singular bra strap.)

The Secretary’s Report confirmed that the speaker at the WivSoc AGM in April will be the Director of Colchester Arts Centre. This is an ace choice of guest, with three decades of sex, drugs and rock’n roll to tell tall tales of. Oh - and Fairport Convention.

Other AGM plans are now all in place. Most importantly these include the news that Dave Harrison, the Wivenhoe Wine Toaster Extraordinaire is well on the case. Or even the cases.

Chin Chin.

Perhaps the most important part of the evening was the monthly analysis of planning applications. Wivenhoe is full (so said the man who has just moved in…) Even minor alterations can have an impact upon the local infrastructure.

The application for a block of flats along Rectory Road has been withdrawn. WivSoc welcomes this, taking the view that the original plans were cramp and ill conceived.

But the real biggie when it comes to proposed new buildings right now is all about that other lot over the river. The planning application has now been formally submitted for the redevelopment of Rowhedge Warf. It seems that our near neighbours are about to go through what Wivenhoe went through over the past two decades with the residential opening up of the waterfront.

With the original application for 300 new builds being thrown out by CBC, the developers have now come back with a proposal for 170 new homes on the site of the empty wharf.

Don’t be fooled by the reduction - this is the application for only the first stage. Today’s Cook’s Phase 3 is the future Phase 3 for our friends at Rowhedge. A total of 250 new builds is believed to be the aim of the developer.

And so what interest is all of this to WivSoc? Well… that beautiful scenic waterfront view just as the sun is setting over West Quay could look drastically different in a decade from now.

The derelict wharf ‘aint exactly a beauty spot right now, but the opportunity is there to guide and advise as to what might take its place, and help keep the Colne a scenic place in which to live around.

The newly submitted plans seem to suggest that an access road will be built right along the Rowhedge waterfront. On a practical level this allows more property to be tightly packed in.

WivSoc takes the view that the increase in traffic levels, and subsequent noise, are sufficient reasons to oppose this. An access road behind the first row of houses, similar to West Quay, would seem more sensible.

The new set of plans has dropped the proposal for a series of tall residential properties. Two and a half storey is now the average height, with a single flagship taller property as the centerpiece, designed to mirror the splendor of our own St Mary’s.

Good luck on that one.

And so the Rowhedge redevelopment seems inevitable, and if put in place sensibly, most certainly an improvement on the current abandoned wharf. But there’s a huge gulf between local sensibilities and the balance sheet of a corporate developer.

Moving on…

A domestic planning application for Belle Vue Road was briefly touched upon. I have a personal policy of publicly not passing any judgment on non-commercial planning applications - there but for the grace of God, ‘n all that twaddle. Did I mention the plans for a skyscraper extension to our back garden?

Concluding the planning update and the application for Cedric’s Bus Garage has been withdrawn. No reason has been stated. CBC has turned down the planning application for a care home for special needs kids on Cracknall Close, up towards Broomgorve.

Planning sorted, time for some Front of House hospitality. We’re talking in particular here the annual competition to see who can tart up their two up, two down best with hanging baskets and other fauna and flora. Excitement is building within WivSoc (seriously) with the publicity, prizes and judges being organised.

A request was then considered from WTC for a call of interest in helping to put together plans for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations in the town next year. WivSoc collectively may be supportive of the Monarchy, but then again WivSoc *may not* be collectively supportive of the Monarchy. Either way, no official Royalist response is being sent back to the Town Council offices.

On the Social front and a quick read of the officer’s report suggests that WivSoc is one wild abandon of a social party, with an occasional eye on planning applications.

Possibly.

Bookings are already coming in for the November Craft Fair (phew - rock ‘n roll.) A serious fiscal debate then followed, regarding the raising of the entry price from 20p to 50p. It is under such circumstances that revolutions take hold.

The fine Wivenhoe Folk Club and Transition Town Wivenhoe group have both been offered free stalls for the WivSoc Fun Day on 10th September. The rather excellent Judith Chalmers popular combo band has been booked once again for the Post Christmas Party on 7th January.

The NAP minutes were then up for discussion. Once again, I refer my honorable friend to the answer I gave some three weeks ago.

And finally, Any Other Business - always the best part of any local meeting, and the one time when I feel like taking to my feet for a spot of stand up.

But there wasn’t much to laugh about when we went over the escalation during the past month of the blatant vandalism of the Colne vegetation by the Environment Agency. This is an area that was discussed in mild terms last month when the signs first went up.

What has happened in-between has been well documented. There’s one hell of a difference between the posting of some A4 signs along the Colne, and the complete destruction of the once wonderful area of natural beauty.

With spring finally starting to shoot through along the estuary, the one uplifting thought to come out of the very depressing debate was the hint of some guerilla gardening taking place by the Colne.

Cripes.

And then a final, final item agenda, which seems to have slipped into our little local patch almost undetected. Heads up the good folk of the Queens Road Resident’s Association who were very early on the case in highlighting the proposed waste dump site across the river at Fingringhoe Wick.

What is up for grabs here is essentially landfill:

“Thames and Colne have a plan to import and process waste at Ballast Quay. Part of the company’s plans for the expansion of four quarry sites in Fingringhoe involves the import and processing of inert waste material to infill the quarry sites. Processing of the waste will take place at Ballast Quay.”

A huge variety of materials are proposed to be part of the project. This includes plastic and other non-biogradable items. Where this leaves the long-term plan of flooding the marsh remains to be seen.

Of more immediate concern is the 24/7 schedule for the operation. The noise of the mechanical machinery will travel around 1km in distance - easily within reach of the residential accommodation down by Wivenhoe Quay. It is also expected to be a light pollutant as well.

As this is a business proposal and not a residential property development, it seems that the usual channels for alerting and consulting with local residents has passed by under the radar. WivSoc is going to urgently raise the matter with Essex County Councillor Julie Young, and Bernard Jenkin MP.

And so that was WivSoc for another month. With issues covering major commercial and residential development, down to the cost of entering the Craft Fair. The agenda reflects the diverse issues currently taking place around the town, and likewise the need for a diverse range of local representation.

Once again, I feel guided to point you in the direction of the membership page on the WivSoc website. If you join up rather prompt, you might just be in time for the AGM, the debate and… the booze.

Chin chin.