The Council

The Councillors

Mr B Turner (Chairman)
Mr I Moore (Vice Chairman)
Mr P Bunting
Mr T Harris
Mrs M A Hughes MBE
Mr M Jones
Mr D Lennox
Mr R Marriage
Mr M Strain

Parish Clerk

Mrs Sarah Hughes
Oaklands, 153 High Road, Layer de la Haye, Colchester CO2 0EB
Telephone: 01206 738056
Email: layerclerk@hotmail.com

The Parish Council is the manager of:

The recreation field, Malting Green, the Cross Green and War Memorial, multisports courts, the village hall car park, Heatherfields and the play area at Millfields. We try to keep them as tidy, pleasant areas for the village to use. May we remind you that the playing of golf is NOT allowed on either the recreation field or Malting Green. There should be NO schooling of horses on Malting Green. Heatherfields is rented by the parish council for the use of the village. The paths through the woods are permissive paths and no one has the right to ride a horse or bicycle on these paths. NO bonfires should be lit in the woods.

We also make a plea if you are using any of these areas to exercise your dogs, then please clear up behind them. Dog poop bags are available from Mrs Brown at 17 High Road and there are various dog poop disposal bins, dotted around the village.

Parish Council Meeting Dates

The Parish Council meets on the second Monday of each month in the Committee Room at the Village Hall, New Cut at 8pm.

Getting to Know Your Village Booklet

If you do not have one, please contact the Clerk on 738056 and we will make sure you receive one.

Register of Electors

The Borough has a policy of rolling registration, which is updated once a month. If you are new to the village you can register your name at the Borough at any time. Phone 282820 (Elections Office). If you register by mid-month, you are included in the next month's register. Visit their website to download a voter registration form - www.colchester.gov.uk, then go to "elections".

Borough Councillors

Our Borough Councillors try to attend all our monthly meetings and are always willing to help in any way they can. They have already been of great assistance over various village matters. To contact them, their details are as follows:

Kevin Bentley
Willoughby End, 32 Willoughby Avenue, West Mersea CO5 8AU.
Home: 01206 382405
Work: 01206 548100
Email: kevin@birchandwinstree.com
Andrew Ellis
Ransomes, Wigborough Road, Peldon CO5 7RA.
Home: 01206 735166
Mobile: 07768 986611
Email: andrew@birchandwinstree.com
Jackie Maclean
The Old Rectory, Church Lane, Stanway, CO3 8LT
Home: 01206 213041
Work: 01206 212128
Mobile: 07590 453234
Email: jmaclean263@aol.com

Definitive Map of Public Rights of Way

The parish council has the new consolidated map, which supersedes all previous documentation. If you wish to view this map, please make prior arrangements with the Clerk (738056)

Village Library

The Village library will be re-launched shortly.

Tennis Courts

These are sited in Church Road and are available for hire. Bookings are taken by Ian and Marilynn Moore on 01206 734267. There is a £5 deposit for the key. Cost to hire is £4.00 per hour for adults and £3.00 per hour for children. Thank you to Mr and Mrs Moore for this service.

Housing Associations

In the village are properties managed by Housing Associations. These are flats at The Buntings and bungalows at Heather Close for over 50's; houses at Millfields to rent and for shared ownership. We fought long and hard to have the right for people with village connections to be housed in them. We can only help if you let us know of your needs eg; an elderly parent who needs to live closer, a grown up child who wants to live in the village, but cannot afford to. When a house of flat becomes available, we need to be able to pass names to the associations. Vacancies do not happen very often, but there is nothing more disappointing than finding out about you after the event. Contact Mrs Anne Hughes (734168) for application forms.

Refuse Freighters

Colchester Borough Council provides attended refuse freighters on several dates during the summer. They will be situated at the village hall car park from 09.45 to 10.45 on the following Saturdays:

4 June

30 July

This is for small domestic loads and bulky items not normally collected. Green waste separately. No fridges or freezers, no commerical refuse or hazardous waste.

Parish Gazette

This is a magazine produced monthly by the local Church, for the residents of the village. It contains Church news, information about village events and for a fee you can advertise your business. Space is limited, but if you would like to submit information about your local organisation, then they will do their best to accomondate you. If you would like the gazette delivered at an annual subscription of £7, then contact Martin or Diana Piper on 734369. Martin can also help if you would like to place an advertisement martin.piper369@btinternet.com. If you would like to submit an article please deliver it to Liz Lazell, 100 High Road, Layer de la Haye (Telephone 734625). Typed articles should be A5 size. If possible e-mail items to Liz at layermag@hotmail.com

Youth Organisations

Fortunately our youth organisations continue to survive and we are all very grateful to those leaders, who give up much of their free time to run the various groups. All the organisations are desperate for help. Can you spare some of your time? Please get in touch.

The Village Hall

The QE II Hall and Annexe are run by the QE Hall management committee, trustees of the QE Hall charity. The committee is made up of representatives from all the organisations who use the hall, as well as 5 elected members. The hall is licensed for the sale of alcohol if required - the Licensee is Mrs Sue Priestland 734708. The hall caretakers are Mrs Marilyn Moore 734267 (Bookings) and Mrs Jackie Pudney 738967 (Caretaker). The Chairman is Ian Moore (734267), Vice Chairman - Vacant, Treasurer is Richard Larkins and Secretary is Carole Littlewood.