Etchingham Parish Council.
During a lively Public Time session at the last Parish Council meeting it became obvious that, in spite of all efforts, the various communication channels offered by the Council in order to keep the village fully informed of what it is up to, and why, and how, and what it’s going to cost, are not themselves well known enough.
Cllr Colin Boylett, who administers most of these channels single headedly, has detailed these channels below. In future a list of these will available on village notice boards, in the Parish Magazine – not the next issue as we have missed the deadline – occasional reminders via all the routes to cross reference the others and the Parish Office.
Parish Council website;
The Parish Council has a website https://etchinghamparishcouncil.org.uk/ where you can find the details of Council members, agendas, minutes and other documents relating to Council activity, there are also sections provided with village items. The site is provided and maintained by a company that specialises in providing websites to Town and Parish Councils, ensuring it meets all current compatability, accessability and GDPR requirements. For the most recent information check the ‘News’ or ‘Notices’ tabs, routine documents (most are archived for the past 4 years) can be accessed from the tabs on the top bar.
Email update service;
The website has linked to it an email update system, this is used to distribute current Council information to those who register to recieve the updates. This is used to provide details of upcoming meetings, flood alerts, road closures and any other information that the Council needs to send out. The emails are all sent using Bcc, so no email addresses are distributed. To register for the emails go to the Council website, scroll to the bottom of any page and enter your name and email address in the boxes, the rest will happen automatically and you will recieve the emails from then on.
Facebook;
The Council uses a Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/etchinghampc for adding updates and information, many items are also posted on the ‘Etchingham Community Information and Help’ Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/etchinghamcommunityinformation this has been set up as a ‘Private’ group to guard against a flood of spam posts, so you need to join the group to access.
Twitter;
Occasional use of Twitter is made, but because of the short length of the posts on Twitter it is often difficult to get all the details accross in one post.
Parish Magazine;
The publication dates of the Parish Magazine mean that it is used to publicise items that are not time sensative such as reports, surveys and details of future events.
Leaflet drops;
There are occasions when the Council needs to get information to every household in the village, for those things a leaflet drop is arranged, this is done through the Post Office so that it is delivered to every house by the Postmen
Notice Boards;
Of course, those who do not have internet access are not completey left out, as much information as possible, is posted on the notice boards at Parsonage Croft (outside the Parish Office window) and at the Post Office (by the Pillar Box), limited space permitting.
Annual Report;
At the end of each Council year (April) an Annual Report of Council activity is presented, this is published in paper form and uploaded to the Council website https://etchinghamparishcouncil.org.uk/document-category/annual-reports/
Bexhill & Battle Observer;
Some of the items distributed on the channels above are also included in the weekly village column in the Bexhill and Battle Observer.
E-Bulletin;
And, of course, there is this e-bulletin, that you are currently reading this on, this is used as much as possibe to get information regarding Council mettings and activity distributed. If you know people who are not receiving the bulletin tell them all they need to do is send an email to nicky@homebirth.net with a request to recieve the bulletin.
Contacting the Council;
Your councillors are there for you, speak or email them direct – they do want to know what is bothering you. However, don’t be disappointed if they then have to refer you to the Clerk for further action as that is the way Parish Council rules work, all parish councils not just Etchingham. For meeting details, how to speak or request an item to go on the agenda – a week’s notice for that please – contact the Clerk direct. Paulette Barton on paulette.etchinghampc@gmail.com, 01580 819048, the ‘ansaphone’ is always on, or by mail to The Parish Office, Parsonage Croft, TN19 7BY
