It has been a busy year for me as District Councillor for Orwell Ward in spite of a lot of regular meetings and events being either cancelled, postponed or moved to one of the virtual platforms we have all become very familiar with.

My locality fund grant money has been used for a number of innovative community projects in the Ward some of which are, The Shotley Peninsula Cricket Club who are based in Tattingstone, they had money for equipment, Tattingstone Good Neighbour Scheme who had money for start up needs following the lockdown and Wherstead who had some for a much needed drainage project along The Strand.

I was delighted to be given a learning walk round Belstead village to see for myself the issues on the ground with regards to wild life areas and I thank their Parish Council for making it happen.

Apart from my work in the ward with parishes I am on the Overview and Scrutiny and Licensing and Regulatory committees, I have been involved in task groups looking at Active Travel and in the formation of a Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan and the urgency around action with regards to the climate emergency that Babergh District Council have declared can now be seen to be taking shape, albeit slowly.

This is a good opportunity for me to wish all residents in Orwell Ward a peaceful winter break and to hope we can see the light at the end of the Covid tunnel very soon

Jane Gould

Seasonal message from Babergh leader John Ward