April Chair Letter: Yorkshire Water, Parking & Spaldington Wind Farm Grant
Dear Parishioners of Bubwith, Breighton and Willitoft
I hope this finds you well and making the most of this gloriously sunny weather.
It has been another busy month for the Parish Council responding to some of the genuine concerns being raised with us by our local residents.
Steve Young and I recently did a walkabout in Breighton to see for ourselves the state of the verges, protruding manhole covers, progress on the housing development and concerns about dog fouling. The state of verges is a standing item on the Parish Council agenda, there has been ongoing correspondence with officers from ERYC and 3 years ago we met with some in Breighton to ensure they were sighted on the issues. Later in the Bugle you will see the latest correspondence directed at officers within ERYC and also an update regarding the housing development.
Last month I mentioned our focus on Drains and Sewage following a number of incidents affecting residents in December and early January. We met with 4 members of the Yorkshire Water team (2 Operational Managers/Engineers and 2 Corporate Affairs) on the 18th March. The meeting was attended by 5 Parish Councillors and some locally affected residents.
In preparation the PC purchased plans of the system and developed questions and themes of our discussion were, historical issues, current issues and future proofing.
Our questions included:
When was the system built and for what capacity of housing?
How does it work?
What is the maximum capacity with which it can deal?
When was the system last improved/expanded and where?
Where are the pinch points and why (we have had recurrent problems on Breighton Road and more recently Main Street)?
How many complaints have they received from residents in the past year?
What is the maintenance schedule?
What is the schedule for improvement?
What upgrades and developments are planned to meet increased housing numbers in Bubwith? It was a very frank, open and productive discussion and the PC learned a lot about the role of Yorkshire Water in planning new housing developments, they are not a statutory consultee and therefore simply have to respond to new properties being added to the existing system. However, they were extremely helpful in identifying where the PC can hone its game in relation to surface water and drains as a statutory consultee.
They were not able to respond immediately to all our questions but have undertaken to investigate and meet with us in about 4 weeks to give us a full response. At that time, I will do an in-depth briefing similar to the one I did about local health care services last year.
In the meantime, there were a few points we agreed to highlight locally:
Prevention – only flush the three Ps: pee, poo, and paper
Reporting problems – Please report any issues to ensure the log of problems is being addressed, this impacts of resource availability within Yorkshire Water
Priority Services Register – this service is for vulnerable people or people with specific needs such as visually impaired, deaf, having home dialysis, wheelchair or mobility concerns, a new parent, concerned about unwanted callers, would like someone to manage their account or need extra support for any other reason. People can register via the website:
www.yorkshirewater.com or by phone tel: 08001387878
Help also – for Bereavement, worries about paying your bill or understanding how charges have been calculated.
At our recent Parish Council meeting the difficulties of parking in the village was brought to our attention again. Vicarage Close on Breighton Road is particularly challenging as people find it increasingly difficult to park near their own home and park further afield. We have picked up the challenge to see if something can be done to develop some off-road parking immediately in front of the bungalows, but we anticipate this will be linked to available local authority finance and not a quick fix. In the meantime, it would be a great kindness if people would consider the restricted mobility some older residents of the bungalows may have compared with their own and leave some spaces for those residents by parking further down the road. Many thanks.
Finally, the Spaldington Windfarm Community Grant fund will shortly be open for applications for 2025. Details are to be found on the ERCC website https://www.eastriding.gov.uk/council/grants-and-funding/rural-funding/spaldington-wind-farm community-fund/ Good luck with any applications.
Best wishes. Sandra Hills, Chair of Bubwith Parish Council
PS. I’m always glad to hear of concerns and issues.
Email: Mob : 07748965779
https://www.facebook.com/BubwithParishCouncil