Annual Review
Photo front cover supplied by Nwy photography - www.nwyphotography.co.uk
2012-2013
RCCE Registered Charity No 1097009 A company limited by guarantee and registered in England No 4609624
Thanks
Rural Community Council of
Essex would like to say a
special “thank you” to all
organisations that have
funded or sponsored its work
over the past year, and to
those that have pledged their
support for the year ahead.
Defra
Essex County Council
Braintree District Council
Brentwood Borough Council
Chelmsford City Council
Colchester Borough Council
Epping Forest District Council
Maldon District Council
Rochford District Council
Tendring District Council
Uttlesford District Council
AON Limited
Village Halls Plus Group
Village Guard Insurance
Blackwater Building Services
Trusted Supplies Limited
Trim Acoustics
Erich Kadow Design
Greenfields Community Housing
Digital Outreach Ltd.
Essex Community Foundation
English Rural Housing Association
Hastoe Housing Association Ltd.
Colne Housing Society Ltd.
CHP
Home Group
Citizens Advice Bureau
Natural England
Essex & Suffolk Water
Worldbridge Limited
Lodge and Sons (Builders) Ltd.
Essex Biodiversity Project
Essex Life
Augustine Courtauld Trust
Newport News
Big Lottery Fund Family Learning
Programme
Big Lottery Fund Local Food
Programme
Premier Print and Promotions
Parsons & Whittley
DCH
Ingleton Wood
We would also like to record
our thanks to our Auditors,
Whittle and Co.
RCCE Office:
Threshelfords Business Park
Inworth Road, Feering
Essex, CO5 9SE
RCCE Registered Charity No. 1097009.
A company limited by guarantee and
registered in England and Wales No.
4609624. Registered office as above.
Auditors:
Whittle & Partners LLP,
Chartered Accountants,
Century House South,
North Station Road,
Colchester,
Essex CO1 1RE
Putting Localism into
Practice
Community Engagement
District Councils, Parish and Town Councils, and
community groups seeking to capitalise on
opportunities provided through the Localism Act have
all been anxious to utilise RCCE’s expertise in
community engagement.
Big strides have been made this year as RCCE
secured new contracts with Braintree, Uttlesford and
Maldon District Councils, under which its Community
Engagement Team will promote localism in these
districts, with particular emphasis on Neighbourhood
Planning, Community Rights and more traditional
Community Led Planning. In Uttlesford, RCCE is
already fully engaged in helping Great Dunmow
Town Council with the preparation of its
Neighbourhood Plan.
Across the county as a whole, 13 new
Community Led Plans, mainly Parish Plans, were
completed this year, with a further 44 in progress.
The Community Engagement Team augments its
work on the ground, with an active training
programme which this year included an event on the
new Community Rights. Another innovation was
‘Faith in Localism’, an event which provided clergy
from the Diocese of Chelmsford with an introduction
to localism, community development and key rural
issues.
Rural Housing Enabler
Providing young people and families with the
opportunity of a home in their own community is
critical to securing the economic and social
sustainability of our villages. RCCE’s Rural Housing
Enabler service offers a tried and tested way of
doing this, by linking development on exception
sites to local need established through a
confidential Housing Needs Survey.
Evidence of the success of this approach came
this year with the official opening of a new scheme
at West Hanningfield and the development of
others at Great Bardfield, Manuden and Tollesbury.
The publication of the Government’s new
National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) did raise
concerns about the future of rural exception sites,
as it would for the first time permit some open
market development
on them in order to
provide cross-subsidy
for affordable
homes. RCCE has,
however, responded
positively and is
currently reviewing
the format of its
Housing Needs
Survey to bring it
into line with the
changes initiated by
the NPPF.
Tel: 01376 574330 www.essexrcc.org.uk Email: [email protected]
Supporting Communities...
Village Halls and Community Buildings
One certainty of rural life is that there will always be work in progress
and funds being raised to safeguard the future of local village halls.
The vast majority of halls are not run by local authorities but are
independent charities that provide a focal point for community life. For
the volunteer trustees that run them, RCCE’s Village Halls and
Community Buildings Advice Service provides an indispensible lifeline,
offering them help with every aspect of hall management including
licensing, charity law and VAT. Over 220 individual halls across Essex
currently affiliate to the service.
An essential part of RCCE’s role is in supporting redevelopment
projects, including advice on funding sources and the preparation of
bids. Particular success stories this year were the completion of an
ambitious project, worth in excess of £250,000, to modernise and
extend the village hall and sports pavilion at Alresford (the 2012 RCCE
Essex Village of the Year) and the opening of a brand new hall at Great
Horkesley.
Edible Essex
More people in rural Essex are now growing, sourcing and using local
food thanks to the impetus provided by RCCE’s Edible Essex project,
which is funded by the Big Lottery Fund’s Local Food Programme and
supported by Essex County Council. By offering practical support for the
development and restoration of community allotments and orchards,
Edible Essex has, in less than two years since it was launched, supported
23 new projects and attracted large numbers to its training and
promotional events. More than 200 people came to listen to James
Wong, the ethnobotanist, television presenter and author, talk about his
‘Homegrown Revolution’ at Writtle College in November.
Another big success this year which attracted national publicity was
the ‘Packed Lunch Plot’ competition, which invited primary school
children to plan what they could grow in a small plot to use for a healthy
packed lunch. An astonishing 1,555 entries were received from 65 Essex
schools.
Essex Rural Fund
A significant landmark this year was the award of the first
grants from the Essex Rural Fund. The four projects
supported; East Hanningfield Village Hall – for energy
efficiency improvements, Age UK Essex - for an intergenerational project at Fordham,
Home-Start Uttlesford – to support trained volunteers, and Cressing Community Hall
Fund – for a website and volunteer training, illustrate what the Fund is about. Set up in
2009, as the centrepiece of RCCE’s 80th anniversary celebrations, the Essex Rural Fund
aims to provide independent funding to support community groups and charities
working in rural Essex. It is managed for RCCE by Essex Community Foundation.
Grant making will need to be limited as much more needs to be done to meet our
£1 million goal but, thanks to the efforts of RCCE trustees, staff and supporters, over
£135,000 has been raised in less than 4 years.
Tel: 01376 574330 www.essexrcc.org.uk Email: [email protected]
...and People in Need
Patron:
Lord Petre, The Lord Lieutenant of Essex
Village Agents
RCCE’s team of Village Agents are making a real
difference to the lives of a growing number of elderly
and isolated people in Mid Essex (Braintree,
Chelmsford and Maldon districts). This year the
service recorded its 3,000th registered user and
exceeded 10,000 referrals since its inception in
October 2009.
The team of 12 Agents are trained advisers who
work in clusters of villages, providing free,
independent personal advice to help people in need
secure better access to services and information.
Issues dealt with can range from home adaptations,
advice on fire safety, help with understanding pension
and benefit entitlements, healthy living advice and
guidance on social, leisure and learning opportunities.
Essex County Council, who will continue to fund
the service in 2013/14, and many other partner
agencies have acknowledged the positive way in
which early intervention by Village Agents is
promoting health, independence and resilience
among older people in rural areas.
The past year also saw RCCE become a partner in
the Surviving Winter Fund administered by Essex
Community Foundation. This gives it the capacity to
make small grants to people in need identified by the
Village Agents. It can be used in particular to address
issues of fuel poverty.
Vice Presidents:
The Revd. Canon John Brown DL
Christopher Manning-Press DL
Professor Jules Pretty OBE, FRSA, FIBiOL
Richard Woolley
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Chairman:
George Courtauld DL
Members:
Ralph Bray
Simon Brice DL
Martyn Drain
Gillian Hayter
Jill Hinds MBE
Simon Lyster
Mick Page
John Porter
Mary St Aubyn DL
Mavis Webster OBE
Treasurer:
Paul Conway FCA
scheme, which costs from £20 a year to join, saving
on average £53 per 1,000 litres ordered against the
average price quoted.
With some 138,000 homes in rural Essex
without access to mains gas and many businesses
similarly affected, there is great potential to develop
the scheme. One collaborative venture already in
progress, involves RCCE
joining forces with
Greenfields Community
Housing (based in Braintree
district) and Holdfast Credit
Union to assist Greenfields’
tenants to join the scheme.
Innovative Transport – the Dengie DaRT
The Dengie DaRT, the first demand-responsive
transport service in Essex, has continued to record a
month on month growth in passenger numbers,
helping to improve access to healthcare, work,
shopping and leisure for people on the Dengie
peninsula, one of the least accessible parts of the
county. It has proved so successful that a second DaRT
service was introduced this year, running between
Burnham on Crouch and South Woodham Ferrers
along the southern part of the peninsula. The original
DaRT continues to link parishes on the Dengie with
Maldon and Broomfield Hospital.
The DaRT is run by Arrow Taxis (Essex) in
President
David Boyle JP, DL
Vice Chairman:
Nicholas Charrington DL
Oil Buying
Growing concerns about
fuel poverty and rising
energy bills prompted
RCCE to launch a new
Community Oil Buying
Scheme in April 2012.
The countywide
syndicate for heating oil is being run through
RCCE’s new Community Interest Company, RCCE
Trading CIC, which is affiliated to a national
network, initiated by Oxfordshire RCC and now
embracing over 20 counties. This harnesses very
considerable buying power, and initial returns in
Essex have been impressive, with members of the
Who’s Who
partnership with Essex County Council and RCCE,
who developed the idea and managed the pilot
contract. It is in effect part bus and part taxi,
operating from scheduled bus stops but also offering
a home pick up service in the parishes it serves.
Tel: 01376 574330 www.essexrcc.org.uk Email: [email protected]
THE STAFF
Executive Director:
Nick Shuttleworth
Finance Administrator:
Dave Andrews
Edible Essex Project Manager:
Sophie Blythe
Community Engagement Officer:
Jan Cole
Community Engagement Officer:
Michelle Gardiner
Village Agents Manager:
Brian Goodwin
Rural Housing Enabler:
Moira Groborz
Development Manager (Partnerships):
Suzanne Harris
Development Manager (Business):
Shelley Labbett
Partnerships and Projects Officer:
Amanda Plummer
Development Manager (Community
Engagement):
Sarah Sapsford
Village Halls and Community Buildings
Adviser:
Sue Sheppard
Administrator:
Sara Ward
Finance and Administration Manager:
Martin Woodrow
Village Agents:
Sally Austin
Chivonne Claydon
Peter Darlington
Jan Hawkins
Lydia Howat
Jayne Laken
Christine McDonald
Jo Metson
Richard Ould
John Peart
Brenda Smith
Laura Stacey
Thanks
Life Members
Sir Jeffery Bowman
Mrs S Cohen
Mr K Edwards
Mr & Mrs C B Manning-Press
Mr & Mrs R G Richmond
Mrs B Shuttleworth
Mrs M J Thorogood
Mrs E F Toes
Mr J Vesey
Mrs M G C Watson
Wilkin & Sons Ltd
Individual and
Corporate Members
Age UK Essex
Mr S A Aldridge
His Honour Christopher Barnett
Rodney Bass CC
Mrs L Belgrove
Mr D T A Boyle JP DL
Mr R Bray
Mr S Brice DL
The Rev J D Brown DL
Mr N Charrington DL
Mr George Courtauld DL
Mr J H Culley
Mr M Drain
Essex Archaeological & Historical Congress
Thos. G Fairhead Farms Ltd
Mr & Mrs Foreman
Mr J W Gibson
Hastoe Housing Assoc. Ltd
Mrs G Hayter
Mrs J Hinds
Miss H Hiscock
InFocus Essex
Sir Alex Jarratt
Mr S Lyster
Mrs L McWilliams
Mr P Martin DL
Col. G C P Morgan
National Farmers Union (Essex County
Branch)
Mr Mick Page
Mrs M J Peel
Lord Petre
Mr & Mrs J Porter
Professor Jules Pretty OBE, FRSA, FIBiOL
Mrs M St Aubyn DL
H Siggers & Sons
Mr A Stark
Mr D Stewart
Mrs B Sutton
John Swire 1989 Charitable Trust
Mr & Mrs P Tolhurst
Mr & Mrs R I Turpin
Mrs M Webster
Mr J Whitehead
Mr J Williams
Mr R Woolley
… and 221 village
hall management committees
From the Chairman
A whole host of new community projects have come to fruition across rural
Essex over the past year. Such projects belong to the community. They are
invariably inspired by the vision and dedication of local volunteers and
parish councillors, but many owe much to the advice, guidance,
facilitation and professional expertise of RCCE and its staff.
As this review demonstrates, RCCE continues to empower
communities. We help them to set priorities through Community Led
Planning. We find solutions to problems such as the shortage of
affordable housing and community facilities. Some of our services also
help individuals in need; for example more than 3,000 customers have
used our Village Agents over the past three years.
It is important that our extensive knowledge and experience of
rural communities is utilised by those in authority. An excellent
example this year is the new link-up between Defra and the Essex Rural Partnership,
which RCCE manages. There are many other wide ranging examples of effective collaboration with Essex
County Council.
At our Board of Trustees ‘Awayday’ last November I was delighted to welcome Cllr. Peter Martin, at that
time Leader of the County Council, and Cllr. John Jowers, Cabinet Member for Communities and Planning,
Their presence was very helpful to us as we considered our future direction: it represented a strong mark of
acknowledgement for the work of RCCE. We are very grateful for the backing we receive from our County
Council.
Encouraged by this support and with our new Strategy now in place, we look forward to achieving more
for hard pressed rural communities in the year ahead.
George Courtauld DL, Chairman
Facing the Future
In 2012 the Board of Trustees instigated a major
strategic review beginning with a consultation
exercise involving a sample of user and partner
organisations. The feedback showed that RCCE’s
work is widely recognised and well respected, and
expressed the opinion that it should not drift from its
traditional focus on supporting and sustaining rural
communities.
With these views in mind, the Board unveiled a
new ‘Strategy 2013-16’ in March this year. This
reinforces RCCE’s mission as being ‘to provide local
communities with the skills, resources and expertise
necessary to achieve a thriving and sustainable
future’, and establishes three priority areas of work
for the coming years:
RCCE is proud of its record of support for rural
communities in Essex which extends back over 80
years. It is equally committed to reviewing the
effectiveness of its work and is constantly exploring
opportunities to develop its role in response to the
needs of the communities it serves. Successful
innovations in recent years have included the
introduction of Village Agents, the Edible Essex
project and the Dengie DaRT.
•
•
•
Localism and Community Engagement;
Providing Services to Communities and
People in Need;
Strategic Influencing and Partnership Working.
The new strategy aims to equip RCCE to operate
effectively in an environment of continued austerity
and increasing competition for funding.
Tel: 01376 574330 www.essexrcc.org.uk Email: [email protected]
Representing Rural Essex
Essex Rural Partnership
The Essex Rural Partnership (ERP), the umbrella
grouping managed by RCCE, which brings together
a wide range of organisations to co-ordinate action
on the major issues facing rural Essex, took on an
important additional role this year as a member of
the new Rural and Farming Network set up by the
Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs
(Defra).
Defra uses Network members to gather advice,
intelligence and evidence from across rural England
which can be used to help shape future policy. In
keeping with this new approach, David Heath MP,
Minister of State at Defra, visited Essex in January
for discussions with ERP members, including
representatives of RCCE. Topics raised with the
Minister included affordable housing, changes to
the planning system, rural broadband and the
impending review of European funding
programmes.
In July 2012 ERP celebrated its 10th anniversary
with a special event that reviewed a decade of
collaboration between the county’s rural partners.
The key note speaker was Cllr. Peter Martin, Leader
of Essex County Council and the original Chairman
of ERP.
Keeping an eye on public services
The current Government has embarked on an
ambitious agenda for public service reform, with
significant changes enacted in the National
Health Service and with the introduction of
elected Police and Crime Commissioners.
RCCE has an important role to play in
monitoring the impact of these changes on rural
communities. In this way, it has engaged with
the Whole Essex Community Budget public
service reform programme and the preparation
of the county’s new Health and Wellbeing
Strategy. This year also saw the creation of
Healthwatch Essex, a new representative body
for patients and the public which assumes
statutory status in April. RCCE was successful in
winning the contract to host and provide
support services for the new body.
Further recognition of RCCE’s role came
when it was invited to join the new Partners’
Forum on Rural Crime, established by Nick
Alston shortly after his election as the county’s
first Police and Crime Commissioner.
Broadband is a different form of public utility
but better connectivity is critical if rural areas are
to retain economic competitiveness and enjoy
better access to services. RCCE has continued to
promote rural needs through its membership of
the Superfast Essex Project Board. This body
agreed the Local Broadband Plan for Essex which
this year secured £6.46 million from Broadband
Delivery UK (BDUK). This will be used alongside
funding from Essex County Council to make
superfast broadband more widely available in
rural areas.
Tel: 01376 574330 www.essexrcc.org.uk Email: [email protected]
Thanks
Parish and Town Council
Members
Basildon
Billericay TC
Little Burstead PC
Ramsden Bellhouse PC
Ramsden Crays PC
Shotgate PC
Braintree
Alphamstone & Lamarsh PC
Belchamp St.Paul & Otten PC
Belchamp Walter PC
Birdbrook PC
Black Notley PC
Borley PC
Bulmer PC
Bures Hamlet PC
Castle Hedingham PC
Coggeshall PC
Colne Engaine PC
Earls Colne PC
Feering PC
Finchingfield PC
Foxearth & Liston PC
Gestingthorpe PC
Gosfield PC
Great Bardfield PC
Great Maplestead PC
Great Notley PC
Great Saling PC
Great Yeldham PC
Greenstead Green PC
Hatfield Peverel PC
Helions Bumpstead PC
Kelvedon PC
Little Yeldham, Tilbury Juxta
Clare & Ovington PC
Panfield PC
Pebmarsh PC
Rayne PC
Ridgewell PC
Rivenhall PC
Shalford PC
Sible Hedingham PC
Silver End PC
Stisted PC
Terling & Fairstead PC
Toppesfield PC
Wethersfield PC
White Colne PC
White Notley & Faulkbourne PC
Wickham St Paul PC
Witham TC
Brentwood
Blackmore PC
Ingatestone & Fryerning PC
West Horndon PC
Chelmsford
Boreham PC
Danbury PC
East Hanningfield PC
Galleywood PC
Great Baddow PC
Gt & Lt Leighs PC
Great Waltham PC
Highwood PC
Little Baddow PC
Little Waltham PC
Margaretting PC
Pleshey PC
Rettendon PC
Runwell PC
Sandon PC
South Hanningfield PC
Stock PC
Woodham Ferrers & Bicknacre PC
Writtle PC
Colchester
Aldham PC
Birch PC
Boxted PC
Chappel PC
Copford with Easthorpe PC
Dedham PC
East Donyland PC
East Mersea PC
Fingringhoe PC
Fordham PC
Great Horkesley PC
Great Tey PC
Langham PC
Layer Breton PM
Layer de la Haye PC
Little Horkesley PC
Messing cum Inworth PC
Mount Bures PC
Stanway PC
Tiptree PC
West Bergholt PC
West Mersea TC
Wormingford PC
Epping Forest
Chigwell PC
Epping TC
Fyfield PC
High Ongar PC
Matching PC
Moreton, Bobbingworth &
the Lavers PC
Nazeing PC
Ongar TC
Roydon PC
Stanford Rivers PC
Theydon Bois PC
Waltham Abbey TC
Maldon
Althorne PC
Burnham on Crouch TC
Cold Norton PC
Great Braxted PC
Great Totham PC
Heybridge PC
Langford & Ulting PC
Latchingdon PC
Maldon TC
Mayland PC
North Fambridge PC
St Lawrence PC
Tillingham PC
Tollesbury PC
Wickham Bishops PC
Woodham Walter PC
Rochford
Ashingdon PC
Barling Magna PC
Canewdon PC
Foulness Island PC
Great Wakering PC
Hawkwell PC
Hullbridge PC
Rawreth PC
Sutton PC
Tendring
Alresford PC
Brightlingsea TC
Elmstead Market PC
Frating PC
Frinton & Walton TC
Great Bentley PC
Great Bromley PC
Great Oakley PC
Lawford PC
Little Clacton PC
Manningtree TC
Mistley PC
St Osyth PC
Thorpe le Soken PC
Thorrington PC
Wrabness PC
Uttlesford
Ashdon PC
Aythorpe Roding PC
Broxted PC
Chrishall PC
Clavering PC
Debden & Debden Green PC
Elsenham PC
Felsted PC
Great Canfield PC
Great Chesterford PC
Great Dunmow TC
Great Easton & Tilty PC
Great Hallingbury PC
Hatfield Broad Oak PC
Hempstead PC
Henham PC
High Easter PC
High Roding PC
Langley PC
Leaden Roding PC
Little Dunmow PC
Little Easton PC
Littlebury PC
Little Hallingbury PC
Manuden PC
Margaret Roding PC
Newport PC
Quendon & Rickling PC
Radwinter PC
Saffron Walden TC
Sewards End PC
Stebbing PC
Takeley PC
Thaxted PC
Wendens Ambo PC
White Roding PC
Widdington PC
Wimbish PC