Weeley Residents Association – Weeley in Bloom sub-committee 18.6.18

Proposal to Essex County CouncilBy Weeley in Bloom

Enhancing the area around the North base of Weeley Bridge

2018/19

Angela Barnes, WRA, Weeley in Bloom Chairman

5 Bentley Road, Weeley Heath, Clacton-on-Sea, CO16 9DT

Tel: 830778 e-mail:weeleyresidents@yahoo.comwww.essexinfo.net/weeley-residents-association

1. Introduction2. Map of area 3. Purpose of Proposal

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Weeley Residents Association – Weeley in Bloom sub-committee 18.6.18

4. Sections –i. Area 1 ii. Area 2iii. Area 3iv. Area 4

5. Community Involvement6. Financing7. Timescale 8. Conclusion

1. Introduction

Weeley Residents Association (WRA)was formed in December 2015, in response to concerns about the area and lack of community spirit. The Association now has 376 members and is growing fast. A sub-committee was formed at the end of 2016 to promote Weeley in Bloom, and to enter the Anglia in Bloom competition for 2017.

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Weeley Residents Association – Weeley in Bloom sub-committee 18.6.18

The community spirit is now flourishing as a result of all our activities, and there has been a lot of support for various projects around both the Village and Heath,

The area around the North base of Weeley Bridge, a property asset of Essex County Council (ECC) has been gradually deteriorating especially over the last decade, although some remedial works were carried out on the underside of the road bridge arch in Spring 2017.

Residents in the area of The Street and Second Avenue and the management of Weeley Bridge Holiday Park have been expressing their concerns about the state of the area around the roadways around and under the bridge, and the fact that it has been attracting anti-social behaviours as a consequence of being so run down, shabby and neglected.

There is a flourishing community will towards making small improvements which will raise the look of the area, without costing large amounts of money, and which will allow parts of the community to take a pride and responsibility for the whole appearance of the Bridge underpass area.

2. Essex County Council Map of area

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Weeley Residents Association – Weeley in Bloom sub-committee 18.6.18

3. Purpose of Proposal

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Weeley Residents Association – Weeley in Bloom sub-committee 18.6.18

A meeting was held on Friday, 25th May between Ruth Whitworth (Station Adopter), Trevor Mills (TDC Open Spaces, advising), Sadie Collison (Willow Park Resource Centre), Colin Crane (Chairman, Weeley Residents Association) and Angela Barnes (Weeley in Bloom Chair, WRA Treasurer/Membership). The meeting was held at the underpass area to identify what needed doing, what was possible, and what ideas we had for the area that were realistic and achievable.From this meeting several areas were identified as being worthy of community attention and care. The purpose of intervening being to improve, enhance and generally create areas of interest and environmentally friendly habitats which would benefit those living in the area, and those visiting on holiday or to be with family. The grey drab exterior surfaces will be brought alive with the contrasting colours of plants and murals.Apart from painting on the metal door and window coverings on the exterior of the bridge at the bottom of The Street, there is no intention to touch the structure of the bridge at any point. For decades the area has been neglected, and with Essex County finances being as confined as they are, it behoves communities themselves to try and improve areas which could do with care and attention.A breakdown of the areas and the type of interventions we propose are as follows:

4. Sections –1. Station Approach (Raised Beds)

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Weeley Residents Association – Weeley in Bloom sub-committee 18.6.18

Replace the green weedy areas with raised beds, surrounded by railway sleepers. There would be planting with small shrubs and bedding plants. Each bed is approximately 3 metres length/width curving towards the bridge.

2. Bottom of the Street (Meadow Planting)

For this area of green grass - Grass border surrounding area of plug meadow plants creating a colourful ‘meadow area’ to encourage wild-life.

3. Window and Door Coverings (Repaint/Murals)

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Weeley Residents Association – Weeley in Bloom sub-committee 18.6.18

This is an area of 4 metal covered doors and 6 windows. These are unsightly, it is hoped that murals can be painted on the door and window coverings to brighten the grey appearance, and allow the area to look less neglected and forlorn. We would envisage a competition with ECC and community involvement in the process.

4. Bottom of Street (Flower Bed)A further patch of green grass by the last door looks forlorn and unkempt. A triangular flower bed, with colourful low-lying planting is envisaged at this point covering an approximate area of 4 metres, with the bed lying at least 1 metre away from the kerb.

5. Community InvolvementThe station adopters Ruth and Robin Whitworth have worked hard to create beautiful garden areas around and on Weeley Station entrance and platforms. Disappointed at the

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Weeley Residents Association – Weeley in Bloom sub-committee 18.6.18

encroachment across the approach to the Station at the moment, they are keen to enhance the area further by creating the raised beds, and look forward to innovative and colourful planting.Willow Park Resource Centre are keen to be creative with their entrance area and involve their service users in planting and creating colour in the plain grass areas on the Street side of the Bridge.It is envisaged that various organisations might like to sponsor &/or design a window or door covering for a mural, with perhaps a competition, in partnership with ECC and WRA, and local art college

6. FinancingWeeley in Bloom fundraises throughout the year to help pay for bulbs, flower beds, troughs and plants. We also actively submit grant bids for various projects. It is envisaged that the bulk of costs will be borne by Weeley in Bloom, through donations, grants and obtaining sponsorship. However, we hope that ECC will be able to help the project by smartening some of the exterior fabric especially the Station Approach doorways, and by possibly helping us to source the wooden sleepers forming the raised beds.

7. TimescaleIt is hoped that once the appropriate licences are obtained, some work can begin in late Autumn 2018. We would hope that the planting will be ready for the In Bloom competition in 2019. As far as the murals are concerned this may be a year or more

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Weeley Residents Association – Weeley in Bloom sub-committee 18.6.18

in order to get the correct permissions, run community competitions and get the work completed.

8. ConclusionWe consider that this proposal is a necessary and much needed refurbishment of a run-down and neglected part of Weeley, especially when it is so near to the Station and to a Holiday Park. The area has been neglected for far too long, and we feel it is imperative that something is set in motion NOW.

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