Village improvements, roads and policing discussed at Debden Annual Meeting

R4U’s Cllr Stuart Luck reports that the Debden Annual Meeting was held last week. The annual budget was approved. Topics discussed included rural crime, potholes and support for the village’s young people. Representative were on hand from Essex Police, ECC and UDC to present and answer questions.

Parish and District Councillor Stewart Luck said “It was a full hall, and we covered many important topics for Debden. The annual budget, which was approved, included funding for improvements to the village, landscaping and maintenance; the provision of a new defibrillator; and Jubilee events. PC Steve Dale, from Essex Police, explained how Debden could follow other local communities with funding support for our own PCSO. A straw poll of attendees showed that there was strong support, so it should be considered.”

Cllr Luck continued “Now that Debden has R4U councillors at parish, district and county levels, there can be better joined-up thinking for residents. The historically poor state of our village roads is a good case in point, particularly toward Henham and through Debden Green. Coordinated work, since Cllr Martin Foley was elected to ECC last May, has already seen a number of highways improvements delivered and more planned. These were welcomed and both Martin and UDC Leader Cllr Petrina Lees were on hand to add residents’ issues to their punch-lists. Those on Debden Parish Council will now consider all that was discussed at the meeting, and I’ll continue to coordinate activity across all three councils for village residents.”