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The office and Council Chamber of Rayleigh Town Council has now relocated to the Pavilion in the King George V Playing Field. The move was prompted by the expiry of the lease at Bellingham Lane and all necessary permissions from the Charities Commission, the National Playing Fields Association, Rochford District Council and Essex County Council have been obtained.
A major benefit is that the Town Council will now pay rent to the King George’s Trust and this will help to finance the maintenance costs and improvements to the playing field. The Town Council intends to hire out the Council Chamber to other local organisations for meetings, which will further increase the income of the Trust. Please contact the Town Clerk if you would like further information on hire fees and conditions.
Rayleigh in Bloom
The Town Council received a Silver award for the fifth year running in the Large Town category at the annual Anglia in Bloom awards ceremony, which was held in Ipswich last month. We are pleased to report that we have improved in two of the five categories and received a Gold award for Rayleigh Mount and the Recycling Centre and a Silver Gilt for public awareness. The Lower Wyburns Allotment site was nominated for a ‘Grow Your Own’ award. The Town Council held its own annual Rayleigh in Bloom awards ceremony on 2nd October in the Parish Rooms of the Holy Trinity Church when all of our competition winners received their trophies and certificates. It was well attended and our thanks go to all the members of the Rayleigh in Bloom Committee, competition sponsors and entrants, schools, and volunteers who all helped towards these achievements and in making Rayleigh look so good gain this year.
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King George V Playing Field
The football season is upon us again and both football pitches and the sports pavilion are being hired out at the weekends for matches and training. We are currently looking into the possibility of making improvements to the drainage of the pitches to try to avoid waterlogged conditions in future. The Town Council hired the playing field to a variety of organisations this summer including the bouncy castle fun days and two fun fairs.
The Rayleigh Lions Firework display will be held this year on Saturday 3rd November. Gates open at 5.30pm and the Sir Henry Bards Regiment of the Sealed Knot will perform at 6.30pm. The fireworks display commences at 7.30pm. It will be necessary to close the playing field at 11.00am on this day to allow time for the event to be set up. Tickets may be obtained from Ronas Estate Agents, Huttons Newsagents and Wards School Wear or at the gate on the night. Please note that sparklers must not be used at this event.
Work is currently underway for the installation of a Teen Shelter in the playing field with access from the Websters Way car park. This will be for a 6 month trial and consideration will be given to its removal if problems occur.
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CCTV
The first phase of the replacement of CCTV in the town centre is now complete. The cameras are regularly monitored by the police and the Town Council’s monitoring company. The project was financed by the Town Council with the help of a grant from the Community Initiatives Fund. The next phase of the project is due to be considered later in the year and consultations will be conducted with the police, the Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership, the Chamber of Trade and Rochford District Council.
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Rayleigh Carnival
The Town Council is due to consider the reintroduction of the Rayleigh Carnival. If you have any interest in this or would like to become involved in the organisation please contact the Town Clerk.
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Christmas Lights
The switch on event will take place on Thursday 29th November between 4.30 – 6.30pm. The Town Council has purchased a further 20 motifs for lamp posts and a cross road decoration, which will be erected from the library to the other side of the road. Southend United Football Club will be the main sponsors again this year and will switch on the lights at 6.30pm. Due to the enormous success of last year’s event the High Street will be closed from Crown Hill this year to allow more space for stalls and visitors. The road will be closed to traffic from 3.00pm and will reopen at 7.30pm to allow time to set up and tidy away. The diversion routes will be along Websters Way and Crown Hill. The High Street bus stop will not be available during the road closure and there will be no access to the entrances of the car parks in Bellingham Lane. It is therefore advisable to leave the car at home for the evening. We have invited the Mushroom Theatre Company and all of the local schools to perform again this year. There will be a Town Crier, Newfoundland Dogs, Father Christmas and his sleigh, children’s rides and a variety of stalls. BBC Essex will attend and the Best Dressed Shop Window competition winner will be presented with the trophy on the night.
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