Category: Notices/Information

ESCC – Launch of Household Support Fund across East Sussex

East Sussex County Council have launched their Household Support Fund across East Sussex to help residents who will be most in need this winter.  Please see below the details from Councillor Carl Maynard.

From: Councillor Carl Maynard <Cllr.Carl.Maynard@eastsussex.gov.uk>
Date: 19 November 2021 at 15:34:33 GMT
To: ~D All Councillors <~DAllCouncillors@eastsussex.gov.uk>
Subject: Our launch of £3.9m Household Support Fund for East Sussex

Dear colleague,

Today we’re launching the Household Support Fund across East Sussex to help residents who will be most in need this winter.

The fund assigns £3.9m of extra support to our county and we’ve allocated it so as to give a hand to families and individuals who are struggling with basic living costs at the moment. We are also working with all our partners in borough and district councils and with the county’s excellent voluntary services to ensure we use these resources effectively in every part of East Sussex.

More than half of the fund will be directed to families with children. It will pay for free school meals for those who are eligible in the two-week Christmas school holiday, in the week of half-term in February and the two-week Easter holiday in April. Schools will work with families who qualify to help them take up the offer.

We will also target some of the money at families with whom Children’s Services are already working, because they have particular needs.

Elsewhere, households who are struggling to meet the cost of food, energy or water bills will be apply to apply to their borough or district council for support. They’ll be considered for this support if they’re 18 or over and receive a means-tested benefit (including universal credit, pension credit or working tax credit among others).

They should contact their borough or district council as follows:

Eastbourne Household Support Grants – Lewes and Eastbourne Councils (lewes-eastbourne.gov.uk) 01273 471600

Hastings  Household Support Fund | Hastings Borough Council 01424 451066

Lewes Household Support Grants – Lewes and Eastbourne Councils (lewes-eastbourne.gov.uk) 01273 471600

Rother Household Support Fund – Rother District Council  01424 787000

Wealden Household Support Fund (HSF) – Wealden District Council – Wealden District Council 01323 443322

Resources for this element of the fund have been divided among boroughs and districts according to their relative number of recipients of universal credit and pension credit.

We’re also allocating some of the fund to strengthen the existing good work done by the Keep Warm and Well service in East Sussex. They can offer a free warm homes check for people struggling to heat their homes and can offer advice and sometimes grants for extra works like insulation, window replacement and boiler replacement.

There’s also more funding for Citizens Advice who operate from several sites in East Sussex and can direct people to the best sources of help.

And we’re adding more than £1 million to foodbanks and other volunteer-led organisations across East Sussex to help meet the rising needs the county will see this winter, along with the rest of the country.

The government grant, which largely replaces the previous Winter Covid Fund Support Grant and the Covid Local Support Fund Grant, is most welcome and I believe we’ve planned to use it as effectively as we can. Officer working groups from both the county council and district and borough councils will ensure delivery of the Household Support Fund by March.

We wanted to ensure you had the latest information about how the scheme will work. There is more information on the ESCC website: Household Support Fund – extra help for those most in need | East Sussex County Council

We’ll be happy to answer any further questions you might have.

Yours sincerely,

Cllr Carl Maynard and Cllr Bob Bowdler

Mountfield Family Fireworks and Bonfire Night 05.11.21

The fabulous Mountfield Family Fireworks and Bonfire Night will take place on 5th November 2021 at the Bonfire Field in Solomon’s Lane.
The gates will open at 6pm, donations at the gate, burgers/hot dogs and refreshments available.
This is a community event, organised by Mountfield Village Hall, and all are welcome.
MOUNTFIELD BONFIRE NIGHT 5-11-21

Coppice work in Darwell Wood

Forestry England are starting coppice work in September in Darwell Wood.  The details, from Forestry England, are below

I am writing to inform you of the coppice work that will be starting in September at Darwell and should run through until December.

Here’s a summary of what we are doing and what we are trying to achieve.

The coppice rotations are based on small coupes (< 2ha) being felled each year, using a ‘little and often’ system designed to create rotational open space which will benefit a number of species of butterfly and other invertebrates across the woodland. Birds which benefit include nightjar in the open stage, and once the natural regeneration matures to thicket stage, it will provide quality habitat for Schedule 41 species such as nightingale, turtle dove, cuckoo and willow warbler.

Brash will be cleared (raked and put into neat dead hedges or chipped and removed from site) to allow light to the forest floor and reduce the nutrient content encouraging the growth of wildflowers amongst the sapling stage natural regeneration.

Veteran trees and standing deadwood identified within the operational area will be retained for their conservation value. The ride management rotation will start to bring connectivity to the woodland which will be particularly beneficial for butterflies.

The areas selected for this year’s work have been prioritised as they are populated with dead or dying Ash as a result of Hymen scyphus Fraxinus (Ash dieback). It is important to remove the trees in the interest of safety as well as ensuring they still remain a marketable crop.

The intention is to stack the timber at roadside in small quantities – 30 m3 or 60m3. This will allow for greater competition in the market, enabling offers from buyers who may only be able to purchase in small quantities. Sales will take place as and when adequate quantities have been put to roadside.

Due to the site being Ancient Semi-Natural Woodland the approach to restocking will be natural regeneration.

In regard to safety. I have informed the Rights of Way team about the work and the footpaths likely to be affected. Warning signs will be at entrances to the site. Site users are asked to follow the safety instructions and to keep well clear of harvesting machinery.

If you would like any more information, please get in touch with jadie.baker@forestryengland.uk

Location Darwell Coppice 2021

Operation Map Darwell Coppice 2021

British Gypsum tree felling

Many of you have contacted me and MPC Members worried about the British Gypsum tree felling.  It is all in order and done to preserve the woodlands.  Our Tree Warden, Nick Betts, has emailed me giving details – see below:

I walked past this afternoon, been away for a while so missed all the action, BG have thinned the plantation, it’s a recognized forestry management operation. Basically, making space for the better trees to reach maturity whilst removing the weaker trees as a first crop, it looks drastic at first but releases a lot of light to the forest floor which should result in an increase in ground flora for a number of years before the remaining trees mature to final crop. They have also removed a lot of ash suffering from ash dieback.

Kind regards 

Nick 

RIP John Snuggs

We are very sad to announce that John Snuggs died yesterday.  John joined the Parish Council in 2015 and resigned in 2021.  John was well known for his walks around village, almost daily, checking up on things that needed reporting to Highways and RDC.
MPC will be making a donation to a charity of his family’s choice in memory of John and his contribution to Mountfield
Our sincere condolences to Susan and the family.

Potential waste collection disruption

Rother District Council have sent this notice to all residents signed up for their email alerts.

Dear Resident
In common with many other local authority areas across the UK, waste and recycling collections and street cleansing services in Rother are being affected by high levels of staff absence.
As the local Covid infection rate increases, Track and Trace instructions to isolate, combined with a general shortage of HGV drivers, means that collection services could soon be suspended for a period until the situation improves.
Several actions are being taken to maintain services, including early morning and late evening work, so residents are being asked to regularly check their local council website, register for information bulletins and look out for communications in local media regarding their local services.
We are asking residents to refrain from using the local bring sites as reduced staffing levels means they will not be emptied frequently; please use your household recycling collection or take recycling to the Heathfield, Pebsham or Mountfield Waste Recycling Sites.

Click on this link to sign up for email alerts from Rother District Council