HALSTEAD IN BLOOM
Minutes of a meeting 29 th February 2024 at 6.00p.m. at Royal British Legion Club
Chairman welcomed all present and accepted apologies from those who could not attend.
Minutes of the meeting of 25 th January 2024 had been circulated and were adopted although
Chairman pointed out that a venue for wreath making has not yet been finalised.
UPDATES and NEWS: *Christmas Card donations – amount of £60 realised. It was decided to
donate this to Hope for Tomorrow, the Cancer Treatment ‘bus. (Linda announced that the recent
‘Cuppa for Cancer’ event held at Queen’s Hall by Halstead Town Council raised £2,350.00 for this
charity, a brilliant effort). *Calendars ’24, all but 11 were sold/donated an excellent effort.
*Afternoon tea at Queen’s Hall – all agreed that this was a lovely event and the food was delicious!
Chairman gave thanks to Margaret T who had arranged the afternoon. *Factory Shop VIP event –
HiB was thanked for attending as several places were invited but attendance (apart from HiB
team) was poor. Everyone attending was given a special scratch card giving a discount on future
purchases! *Co-op Community Payment – first instalment has been received amounting to
£603.46. *High Street Parking – proposal for paid parking on High Street and The Centre was
discussed and HiB has written to North Essex Parking Partnership asking that this proposal be
reviewed. Debra thought that a scheme for 30 minutes free parking and then an hourly charge
might not be a bad thing. Anyone wishing to lodge their thoughts can write to NEPP. *High Street
Regeneration proposal: HiB has been told that scheme plan has been lodged with Essex CC but
that it has been said that appropriate licences need to be sought. HiB, together with Clerk of
Halstead TC walked round the town with ECC officer about 5 years ago and all planting was
logged, containers measured, etc. and all was agreed. HTC should hold licences. *Halstead
Flower Club, that disbanded last year, has donated their remaining funds of £46.39 to HiB and has
been thanked for this gift. *Essex Life magazine will be running an article on Halstead in a future
issue and has asked HiB for some details and photos (they have been supplied)
EVENTS: *Next community litter pick is planned for 31 st March (Easter Sunday). Meet at 10.30 in
Chapel Street Car Park (there’s lots of litter to collect after the recent high winds!!). *Next River
Clean event will take place on 3 rd March. *Great British Spring Clean will take place 15 th March-31 st
March ’24 – HiB’s target is 50bags *HiB Plant Sale will be on Saturday 11 th May, Joan will
purchase plants, some have been offered to us. Pat has knitted some stunning flower displays
that will be on sale *Summer Plant Sorting Saturday 18th May, Planting commences Sunday 19 th
May *Halstead Summer Fayre ’24 will be held on 3 rd August. *There is proposal for a Guys in the
Park event again in 2024-details when released. *Annual Town Meeting will be 29 th April, 7.15pm
at Queen’s Hall.
ANGLIA IN BLOOM 2024. Spring Launch will be held on Thursday 28 th March at the Rugby
Club, Wymondham. Cost is £20per person and refreshments will be provided. Doors open 10am
for 10.30am start. Jon Wheatley, an eminent garden designer and member of the RHS Federation
who has recently been given a prestigious award by RHS, is coming to speak and there will be
information about themes for the year celebrating 60 years of Britain in Bloom. Please let
Margaret E know by Tuesday 5 th March if you’d like to attend – there is a cap of 4 people per
delegation.
It was announced that entries for Its Your Neighbourhood in 2024 will be given a National Garden
Gift Token of £15 – to be distributed
Recent Comments