Kesgrave Town Council

The Town Council’s Main Areas of Responsibility:

We have 14 Seats on the Council, (usually with a few vacancies), all are volunteers, who:

• Provide guidance, direction and governance of the Council and its office/employees.
• Hold meetings in public (usually four per month) to discuss and manage the work of the Council – Finance & Governance, Planning & Development, Community & Recreation and Full Council.
• Get involved directly with the events and activities of the Council i.e. support the Market and events and undertake background research to support its projects.
  

  We own our own office from which we:

• Run the Kesgrave Emergency Support Group (Covid-19) – this has coordinated over 80 volunteers in our community collecting prescriptions and food, providing a chat service and undertaking other small tasks, along with keeping in touch with the supported residents from time to time. It has also liaised with East Suffolk Council on referral requests, helping those in difficulty and supporting initiatives such as Christmas Parcels and the High School Pen Pal scheme.
• Deal with 1000’s of issues from Kesgrave residents every year and liaise with other authorities as needed.
• Provide useful pamphlets and leaflets to help residents, including a set covering local Parish Walks, in and around Kesgrave.
• Allow members of the public to drop in to deal with their concerns or issues.
  

  We employ four Estate Operatives who:

• Provide caretaking services for our Millennium Jubilee Hall (MJH).
• Support community events in setting up, running and clearing away.
• Litter pick to help keep the community as litter free as possible.
• Daily checks of play areas and locking of Council facilities-gates, recreational areas etc.
• Carry out urgent requests for damaged or dangerous items, cutting back foliage, removing graffiti, sweeping paths, etc.
  

  We provide a number of community facilities across Kesgrave:

• We manage and maintain the Lawn Cemetery.
• We own 95 streetlights, predominately in Western Kesgrave.
• We own and maintain many benches, seats, litter and fido bins.
• We own and maintain four noticeboards around the Town to advertise the work of Council and its meetings and allow community organisations to publicise their events/facilities.
  

  We own and manage our own hall (MJH) for community use:

• Over 30 hirers and 100s of users every week.
• Covering fitness, sport, dancing, social enterprises, Guides, Youth Club, private parties and theatrical groups.
  

  We rent the Millennium Sports Ground (MSG) – used for:

• Park Run – over 300 runners weekly and a Junior Parkrun.
• Youth Football – four teams play regularly during the season.
• Open area for residents to use.
  

  We own and manage a number of public open spaces and play equipment:

• Oak Meadow and play equipment.
• Cedarwood Green Walk and Multi Use Games Area (MUGA)
• Legion Green and beacon.
  

  We make significant financial contributions to support a number of community services:

• Library – providing extra opening hours.
• Youth Club (4YP) for our young people.
• A monthly ‘farmers-like’ Market.
• Small grants are provided to numerous local groups and charities that serve Kesgrave residents.
  

  We run many important annual community events that attract significant numbers:

• Fun Day.
• Firework Night.
• Christmas weekend, Tree Lights ‘Switch On’ and Ice Skating.
• Senior Citizen Outing.
• Annual Town Meeting – an opportunity for residents to meet their Councillors, receive reports provided by organisations within Kesgrave and to put their questions to Council.
  

  We work with many organisations in Kesgrave to improve our community:

• Local schools.
• Scouts, Royal British Legion and local churches.
• Kesgrave War Memorial Community Centre (KWMCC)
  

  We work with many other agencies and stakeholders to help resolve issues and improve our Town:

• Suffolk County Council (SCC) – roads, pavements, potholes, signs, hedges and Public Open Spaces (POS).
• East Suffolk Council (ESC) – bins, POS maintenance, community events and services.
• Police – speeding, parking, antisocial behaviour, graffiti etc.
  

  We provide regular communications to our residents through:

• Our own dedicated website.
• Facebook social media feeds.
• Monthly articles in the local InTouch magazine.
• Our notice boards.
  

  We have invested in IT and technology to support the office staff, Councillors and residents:

• We have our own van and equipment to undertake a wide range of maintenance tasks – strimmer’s, hedge trimmers, mower etc.
• Our IT infrastructure, based around Microsoft Office, supports secure, seamless sharing of files between the office, Councillors and Estate Operatives that makes day-to-day operations as simple and efficient as possible.
• We have integrated, synced, support and emergency phones that allow the easy sharing of information (images and documents), rotas and MJH bookings so that everyone knows what is going on and what needs doing on a minute-by-minute basis.
• We can support remote working and public conference call meetings.
• We have an integrated financial control system that supports budget builds and provides detailed, accurate financial information to the Council.
• We have invested in making payments to and from the Council cheque/cash free through the adoption of bank transfers wherever possible.
• We can take contactless card payments to make it easier for people to pay us.
  

  We have developed a number of strategies for Kesgrave:

• Neighbourhood Plan – sits alongside the District Local Plan to define how Kesgrave will develop from a planning perspective.
• Business Plan – to define the overall strategic direction of the Council.We provide all of this and more with a staff of only 8 part time employees. It cost each household £63.07 this financial year (21/22) (band D). Judge for yourself if this is value for money.

COUNCIL MEETINGS

Council and its various Committees and Sub-Committees meet regularly to consider business throughout the year. Most meetings are open to the public who are very welcome to attend. To find out more about our meetings, to see agendas or to view minutes.
Link to – Meeting and Event Calendar
Link to – Minutes of meetings

TOWN COUNCIL CHAIRMAN

The Chairman of the Town Council is elected annually. The Chairman is available to attend and officially “open” many community events on behalf of local organisations.

COUNCILLORS

Kesgrave Town Council consists of sixteen members who represent two different wards. (Kesgrave East has 8 seats and Kesgrave West has 8 seats). All Members elected or co-opted to serve on the Council are obliged to follow the local Code of Conduct and the rules, regulations and procedures as set out by the Town Council and by central Government.
Link to – Councillors

COUNCIL STAFF

The Town Council employs a small, part-time, team of staff to support its activities. Find out more about the Town Clerk/Team and any upcoming vacancies.
Link to – Town Council Office

COUNCIL DOCUMENTS

Kesgrave Town Council is committed to the principles of openness and transparency. Wherever possible, it aims to ensure that residents are able to access information about the work of the Council, its systems and procedures. The Town Council regularly (and at least annually), reviews its policies and procedures, the majority of which are publicly available to view.
Link to – Policies