Burstall
Parish Council
Parish Council
Parish Council
21 October 2025
Offton and Willisham Parish Council public meeting - Norwich to Tilbury Pylons.
Thursday, 30th October 2025, 8pm at Offton Village Hall. All welcome.
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21 October 2025
The Well Minds booklet is a new mental health and wellbeing resource which has been created to support residents of all ages across the county to manage their mental health and emotional wellbeing through signposting to local and national services, and by offering some brief advice.
The booklet, which was based on a version previously created specifically for residents in East Suffolk, has been developed by the Public Health Team at Suffolk County Council in partnership with local partners, and residents with lived experience.
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8 October 2025
NSIP and large-scale energy developments update October 2025
9 September 2025
Electrical Recycling Bins
Babergh District Council has launched six new electrical recycling bins in the district.
They are located at:
This means residents can now recycle their small broken electrical items, like coffee machines, kettles, mobile phones, tablets, and anything smaller than a 4-slice toaster.
Larger items will still need to be taken to a Suffolk Recycling Centre.
You can read the full story and find more information on the Babergh website.
19 May 2025
Local Government Reorganisation
Sent on behalf of Cllr John Ward, Babergh District Council leader
Suffolk’s district and borough councils have just launched a wide-reaching survey inviting residents, businesses and communities to help shape the future of our county.
We want to hear people’s views on Local Government Reorganisation in Suffolk – the most dramatic change to local government in 50 years.
The county’s five district and borough councils believe this is a fantastic opportunity to transform public services, so they work for all our citizens and communities; and we need you to help us shape them.
We want to work with you to design together how any future unitary councils work most effectively with all our towns and parishes.
We will therefore be asking you all what you think; and we want to bring a number of you together in workshops with us to specifically design the best future relationship between parish, town and unitary councils.
If you would like to be involved in these workshops, please register using this link. If you have any other questions about the survey or workshops, email: engagement@baberghmidsuffolk.gov.uk.
We understand Suffolk County Council is inviting you to a series of sessions "to learn more about our response to the government's proposal for local government reorganisation in Suffolk, and why we believe that replacing Suffolk’s district, borough and county councils with one new unitary authority is the best option for our county."
We have not been invited to these sessions, and so we would be grateful if you could let us know when you receive such invitations so we can ensure they do not clash with our own plans to engage with you, our towns and parishes, and other stakeholders.
As you will be aware, your district councils hold the view that a single new unitary council for Suffolk would not be the best approach.
We have not formally decided our proposal as to the 'right' number, size and any boundaries of unitary councils but believe they need to be big enough to deliver and local enough to care. We will not be making a final decision until September 2025 when we need to submit our proposal to Government.
So, rather than telling you what we think, we are instead launching this wide-reaching engagement asking people what they think.
You can also take part in our Shaping Suffolk Together survey by clicking on this link.
20 January 2025
Devolution Update
Suffolk County Council have asked us to share this briefing on the English Devolution White Paper and it's implications for Suffolk.
2 January 2025
To : All Towns/Parishes within the policing area covered by community police officers PC 1293 Niall Johnson and PC Katie Jarrett.
Police need to alert you to a burglary/theft crime series that is occurring across our policing patch (and beyond). I have put a screenshot of map of offences below, this will be more up to date that what you can currently see on the Suffolk Police website, you can see a glow around the square marks in Nayland, that means more than one offence in that specific location. I have some crime prevention tips that we would like you to pass onto as many people in your parishes as possible, feel free to copy and paste the advice between the lines below and share onto members of the public. Burglaries have included some house burglaries, where the offender will simply walk around the back of an address, try the back door, let themselves in and take whatever they can get their hands on in the first room/s, such as handbags/phones etc, this happens when the person is at home and has been occurring typically in the evenings. Some vehicles have been broken into, with items such as wallets and cash stolen. In addition to those type of offences, various sheds, outbuildings, garages etc have been broken into, with items stolen ranging from quad bikes to power tools.
Four individuals were arrested recently and a lot of suspected stolen property recovered, police are working through the lists and examining what has been seized, trying to match it up with crimes that have occurred and return the items to their owners. Despite the arrests, some offences are still continuing. Police are continuing to patrol in an effort to prevent/detect these offences. In addition to the patrols, other policing activity and tactics has been implemented which led to those recent arrests and recovery of property.
CRIME PREVENTION ADVICE – SHORT VERSION
Lock your back door in the evening, even when you are at home. Do not leave valuables on display in vehicles, do not leave valuables in vehicles at all. Consider getting CCTV, even if just a video doorbell (police now recommend the defender video doorbell available here https://defendersecurityproducts.co.uk/ as no subscription fee). Get an alarm for outbuildings, even if it is a cheap battery one that is attached with fishing wire to one item of value, so when moved an alarm goes off and the offender/s will likely flee. Take photographs of your items of value, make a note of colour, make, model and the serial number. Consider security marking up your items, with either UV pen or for power tools even scratching or embossing something identifiable on it. Those final tips are invaluable for when police recover items.
CRIME PREVENTION ADVICE – LONG VERSION
HOUSE SECURITY
On your front door, have a door chain or door bar and viewer (spy hole) * Front boundaries should be less than 1m high (your neighbours and passers-by clearly should be able to see the front of your property) * Rear boundaries should be 1.8m high with locked gates (to prevent easy rear access - also remove climbing aids) * Remove tools/bricks from the garden that could be used to force entry * Always lock garages, sheds and outbuildings * Have dusk to dawn lighting at the front and back * Always lock your doors with the key and keep your windows secure, even when you’re at home * Install an alarm * Install CCTV * Leave lights on timers * Create layers of security * Mark your property with UV pen (I have these available at my monthly events) * Avoid keeping cash at home * Hide car keys *
You can now buy TV light simulators as well, which flash lights as if there is a television on in your house, I would recommend one of those, they are around £10-15. The video doorbell that police now recommend is called a Defender Video Doorbell which can be purchased here https://defendersecurityproducts.co.uk/ and is £100, it has no subscription fee, if you are not installing full CCTV consider one of these at the front and potentially one at the back of your property if/when you can afford it. There are tech sales on right now with large reductions on full CCTV systems. I have recently purchased a Blink CCTV system which seems good, the cameras are wireless and with the use of a USB memory stick put into the device inside your home, you do not need a subscription either.
SHED AND GARDEN SECURITY
* Always keep your shed or garage locked * Use dusk to dawn lights * Use coach bolts to fasten hinged and hasps and staples or pad bar * Fit anchor points to secure items to * Fit an alarm and use it * Avoid storing high value items in the shed * Cover windows in the shed * Use two good quality closed shackle padlocks to secure the shed door * Always lock internal doors between the garage and house * Add ground mounted locking bars to enhance security on 'up and over' garage doors * Use two good quality closed shackled padlocks or a 5 lever mortice and rim lock (BS3621) to secure garage doors * Lock all garage windows * Try to have it covered by a CCTV system *
VEHICLE SECURITY
* Most importantly, avoid keeping valuables in your vehicle and do not leave any on display - including sun glasses and charging cables * Always lock doors and shut windows and remove the key when the vehicle is unattended * Always set an alarm if your vehicle has one and act if you hear an alarm * Park in a garage or secure well-lit area covered by CCTV if possible * Use a physical security device such as a steering lock and/or wheel lock * When you park away from home or work, try to use 'Park Mark' approved car park * Use Secured By Design (SBD) accredited products to add extra security to your vehicle ( link here www.securedbydesign.com ) * Use a Faraday pouch to securely store entry fobs for keyless entry vehicles *
RECORDING / MARKING
Sometimes when searches are made, police recover suspected stolen property, but due to no security markings or due to the victim not reporting the theft (so police have no record of it) the property is hard to return to the rightful owner. For that reason, you should always report burglaries and also keep a note of any expensive property, record the description, make, model, colour and serial number. Personally, whenever I get a new item of property that this is worth doing with, I take a couple of photographs on my phone including the serial number then simply email the images to myself and keep that email safe. It is also worth registering your items on the immobilise website here www.immobilise.com
Burglary Offences in the Hadleigh and surrounding parishes area
PC 1293 Johnson’s patch. 1/11/24 – 22/12/24.
Burglary Offences in the East Babergh area
PC 582 Jarret’s patch. 1/11/24 – 22/12/24.
Please remember not to report individual crimes directly to either myself of Kate, as we only investigate specific crime types. Instead, public should use 999 in an emergency if they think a crime is in progress (or about to be committed), 101 or online via the Suffolk Police website if the incident has already happened and the risk is reduced, or sometimes the Live Chat function is available on the Suffolk Police website as well. Feel free to share any community intelligence about criminality with us directly though and we can offer advice on various police related issues. If anyone has any public events throughout the year, let us know about those as well, as when they fit with our shifts and commitments we can attend with advice leaflets, UV marker pens, colouring sheets, stickers and uniform for children to try on.
I apologise for all the doom and gloom and being the bearer of such news. But prevention and target hardening can make a real difference and can certainly reduce the likelihood of crime happening to someone if they follow the above advice. Please remember to follow the Hadleigh and East Babergh Facebook page to see community related posts from myself and Kate and encourage your residents to do the same.
29 October 2024
A1071 / The Street Junction
The Parish Council would like to thank Steve Hicks and his 'band of volunteers' who have cleared the mud out of the pit around the culverts, and cut away the surrounding brambles. This should mean that the potential flood hazard to motorists is now virtually eliminated.
The main cause of the problem was a bucket that had wedged bottom first into the lower culvert and was stopping any water draining away. This led to mud gradually being deposited at this point instead of being washed away.
Following the ditches being cleared by the farmer, it was clear to see that the pipes were blocked; a report was submitted to Suffolk County Council Highways alerting them to the problem. The volunteers stepped in to undertake the investigations and works following the Suffolk Highways response that having visited the site, and assessed the situation against their Highway Maintenance Operational Plan (HMOP), they would not take action as the situation did not meet their intervention criteria.
Once again, we'd all like to thank the volunteers who came together for the benefit of the village.
23 October 2024
Communication from Groundwork and Comic Relief
Comic Relief Community Fund - grants of up to £5,000
Groundwork and Comic Relief have announced a new funding programme to support community groups and grass-roots organisations to deliver services and activities that benefit local people across England.
The Comic Relief Community Fund, which launched on Monday 14 October 2024 sees applications open for grants of up to £5,000 for core organisational costs, direct project related costs or a combination of both, on a flexible basis and depending on need.
Voluntary or community organisations including registered charities and not for profit companies which deliver against any of the four thematic areas can apply; tackling immediate impacts of hardship, building resilience to poverty and hardship, working to support equity and inclusion, or working to support climate justice.
Groundwork has worked with Comic Relief since 2019 as an intermediary funder in England with £5.9m invested to over 1,300 projects.
9 October 2024
Communication from Babergh District Council
"We wanted to make you aware of the Facebook post we have put out regarding changes to bin collections in 2026.
Babergh post: From 2026, you’ll be able to recycle... - Babergh District Council | Facebook"
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