Message from the Chairman April 2026
News from the Chairman of the Parish Council covering topics from their recent meeting.
Published: April 20, 2026
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Cotton End Tidy Week
Message
from the Chairman of the Parish Council
April 2026
Dear Residents,
It was reported at our recent meeting on the 9th of April that planning permission for application 23/01833/FUL for the construction of 8 houses on land at 161 High Road has been denied, one of the long list of reasons it was refused is because it did not meet the requirements of our Neighbourhood Plan. Similarly, another application 25/01689/PIP for 9 self-build houses at the end of Wood Lane was refused largely because there was not a demonstrable demand for self-build houses in the area and because the site is outside of the Policy Settlement Area of the village which is clearly defined in the Cotton End Neighbourhood plan. Both these refusals were welcomed by your Councillors.
I have previously reported on the Speed Cameras and we have had an update from January to March this year. There were 779 offences with one person caught travelling at 60mph in a 30mph zone. The majority of offences, 689 were under 40mph.
One of our residents, Chris Potter, has kindly offered to purchase a bench to be installed in the open field at the Village Hall it is expected to be positioned along the southern edge of the field near to the play area fence. I am sure many residents will appreciate this for many years to come. Many thanks Chris.
A new contractor has been appointed to do the grass cutting in the play areas. The Parish Council approved the cost of repairs to some of the equipment in the play areas that needed attention. To give you a perspective on the costs involved, the total spend for Playgrounds, Grass Cutting, and Repairs and Maintenance in 2025/26 was £8,795, which equates to 34.5% of the PC’s £25,500 precept.
Like me, I am sure you are proud of Cotton End and where you live. In order to keep our village a pleasant and agreeable place to live we will be holding our Tidy Week in the village in May so watch out for the signs. If you are not familiar with our Tidy Week project, it is very simple, some residents volunteer to undertake various projects to enhance the village,. We meet at 10:00am on the Saturday (to be announced) at the Village Hall. For all other residents we simply ask you to take a look at your surroundings and if you can see any way of improving the way it looks feel free to make it look better so that we can all continue to enjoy our surroundings.
We welcome your suggestions if you feel that the Parish Council should spend on projects that you feel would be to the benefit of Cotton End Residents.
Andre Merel
Chairman, Cotton End Parish Council
Full details of other items discussed are at meetings is available in the minutes of meetings on the Parish Council Website www.cottonend-pc.gov.uk and on the Parish Council Noticeboard.