Events

Events Harvest time

Links to Events Below

Save Our Village Quiz Night

Saturday 21st June at Elsenham Village Hall

An excellent evening organised by Petrina and Andre Lees, Jennifer Jarvis, Ruth Fulton and all the other helpers. The hall was full, (I believe there were seventeen tables), and the food, especially the cakes was great. The questions were very fair and it was obvious that everyone had a great time. A splendid £851 was raised towards campaign funds. Thanks to all involved and all who attended. Brilliant!!

Rounders Tournament 1st June at Woodend Green

A thoroughly enjoyable afternoon which saw ten teams from Henham fighting it out to become the 2008 Save Our Village Rounders Champions. Over the afternoon, an estimated 400 people turned up to watch the competition, sample the excellent food and drink, picnic on the green and generally have a great time. Many thanks to the organisers, especially Gerry and Sheena Bigland, Karen Lafferty, the umpires, people manning the stalls and all the other helpers. So far the grand total raised is a magnificent £610. Brilliant!

The finalists were the 'Tennis Juniors' and the 'Little Fishes' seen above. The Tennis Juniors won by a convincing 13 points to 4 1/2 and Alice Brooks, their team captain received the trophy from Councillor Don (Indiana) Sturgeon.

Well done everyone!

70's Disco In Aid of Campaign Funds.

Saturday 19th January 2008
at 7.00pm at The Cock, Henham

An outstanding success and a great time was had by all.

COFFEE MORNINGS

Starting on Thursday 7 February,

Jennifer Jarvis and Ruth Fulton will be holding Coffee Mornings every fortnight in the Memorial Hall, Elsenham between 9.30am and 11.30am.

Originally our intention was to donate the proceeds to local charities, however in view of recent events, we will be donating initially to the "Save our Villages" fund.

All food will be home-baked - come and have a coffee and a natter!!

Whilst helping to support your local community.

End of Consultation Rally - Outside the Council Offices, London Road, Saffron Walden

Friday 11^th January 2008 – 1.30pm

To mark the end of the six week Consultation Period, a good crowd braved the rain to go to the Uttlesford District Council Offices in London Road Saffron for a rally,
	The meeting was addressed by Petrina Lees and Stuart Pimblett, the Chairman of Elsenham Parish Council. Both thanked everyone for their efforts tremendous efforts over the past few weeks and Stewart presented Councillor Susan Barker, the Chair of the Environmental Committee with the Elsenham objections to the Preferred Options, see above. Henham’s had been submitted earlier in the week.



Councillor Barker then made herself available to answer questions and whilst perhaps not all her answers were received with acclaim the people present appreciated the opportunity to talk to her and express their views. Click here to see a letter from David Morson, District Councillor for Henham and Elsenham

Young People of Henham and Elsenham Petition Presented

Friday 4th January 10.00am

With just a week to go before the end of the consultation period, a good crowd of children and parents went to the Council Offices to see Councillor Catherine Dean, the Chair of Uttlesford District Council receive a petition containing more than five hundred signatures of children and young people from our villages.

It was presented to her by Alice Brooks aged 15 from Henham who read her a prepared speech setting out the opposition to the options. (Click here to see the full speech)

Councillor Dean accepted the petition and promised to pass it to the U.D.C. planning department.

Catherine Dean passing the signatures to Roger Harborough

A few minutes later Catherine passed the signatures to Roger Harborough, Head of Planning and Housing Strategy.

Contrary to what some people in the Uttlesford Council may have thought, this was not a 'political' demonstration. It was young people showing their concern about what the U.D.C. intend to do to our villages.

Boxing Day Walk (by Don Sturgeon)

Around 100 people, including mums, dads, assortments of children and dogs arrived at the Elsenham top playing field at 11.00am, just in time for the photo shoot where the children took centre stage with the SAVE OUR VILLAGE banners. A few stragglers caught up as we formed a long snake of well wrapped bodies on a beautiful morning which had been preceded by Christmas day rain causing several children’s buggies to get stranded. Lifting gear had to be called for at several points but apart from a few muddy coats, no major incidents. We were taken around the field’s ear marked by Fairfield, passing the badger sets and the stunning views of which we are currently blessed. There was a positive atmosphere and lots of banter which continued in The Crown public house where the walk finished at around 12.45pm.

Boxing Day Walk

Our thanks to the organisers of this event and to all who took part in what is an annual Elsenham event, this year slightly marginalised by several of us Henhamites!

P.S. My apologies to those I was talking to en route who may have noticed a slightly unpleasant whiff. My dog, Jedi (coz he only has one eye!) left a deposit on the path at a very early stage which quite appropriately ended up in a plastic bag in my wax jacket pocket for the whole of the walk!

Tasmin Makes The Front Page in The Herts and Essex Observer - see the latest edition and also below. She takes on the Uttlesford Councillors.

Tuesday 11th December - 7.45 pm. A very brave and articulate Tasmin Lees aged 12 from Elsenham addressed the meeting of the full council at Uttlesford Council Chambers.

She had written her own speech and gave council leaders her not too flattering opinion on their behaviour in promoting the building of 3000 or more houses in her village. The Chair of the Council, Councillor Catherine Dean, congratulated her and added that Tasmin was probably the youngest person to ever have spoken at such a meeting.

Tasmin's mother, Petrina then followed with very well reasoned observations on the way the Consultation Period was being conducted. She was particularly critical of the quality of the consultation leaflet and the fact that the full consultation document was very difficult to download. She stressed to council members that too much reliance had been placed on the use of the internet and that many residents did not possess computers whilst others did not have either the skill of ability to respond electronically.

A question and answer session followed and again the manner of consultation was questioned by some members. I personally found the responses defensive and less than satisfactory and in the main unhelpful. Councillor Barker totally rejected a request to extend the Consultation period and stated that she had never referred to the proposed development as an 'eco-settlement'.

Both Petrina and Tasmin were subsequently interviewed by The Breakfast Programme on BBC Radio Essex this morning, 12th December, but I unfortunately was not up early enough to hear it. I did hear it later by listening to it via their web site but the link has now been removed.

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