VILLAGERS can look forward to up to £500,000 of improvements as council bosses look set to secure funding from housing developments. Sible Hedingham Parish Council has announced it is in line to see the huge windfall donated for village projects. The money has been be secured from development sites in the village. The chief source of the funding is believed to be from the Premdor regeneration site which makes up around £430,000. The site is being developed by Bloor Homes and is called Earls Garden. The funds have already been earmarked for improvements around the village. Council bosses say the money will be spent on some prior S106 development agreements including ongoing improvements and maintenance to the village’s Riverside Walk.
PLANS to bring a coronavirus vaccine centre to Halstead remain in doubt after contradicting reports. Residents in the Halstead area will have to travel to Earls Colne in order to get their jabs after it was confirmed the Pump House Surgery in the village is the area’s primary vaccine centre. With the Earls Colne Centre opening last Thursday, residents in Halstead and villages such as Sible Hedingham raised concerns about the distance vulnerable residents would be forced to travel to get the vaccine. Some residents were left hoping for a centre to open in Halstead to spare vulnerable residents travelling the long distances.
REVISED plans to bring a new housing estate to Sible Hedingham have been rejected by council planners. Developers Land Allocation and EHA Farms wanted the go-ahead from Braintree Council to build 73 homes just west of Prayors Hill. The plans were first submitted back in October 2019 and looked to bring 90 homes to the area. However, there was strong opposition from residents and Sible Hedingham Parish Council with the original application sparking more than 50 objections. Residents were against the application at the time due to concerns over road safety at the site’s two proposed access junctions on Wethersfield Road and Prayors Hill.