About Kesgrave Town Council

Councillors

Kesgrave Town Council consists of fourteen members (all volunteers) who represent two different wards (Kesgrave East has seven seats and Kesgrave West has seven 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.

View Councillors and Council Personnel

Councillors provide guidance, direction, and governance of the Council and its office/employees. They 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. They 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.

Town Council Chair

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

Meet the Chair of Kesgrave Town Council

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:

View Meeting Calendar, Agendas, and Minutes

Council Documents

Kesgrave Town Council is committed to the principles of openness and transparency. Wherever possible, it aims to ensure that residents can access information about the work of the Council, its systems, and procedures. The Town Council regularly reviews its policies and procedures, the majority of which are publicly available to view.

View Council Policies and Procedures

What we do

We own the office from which we:

• Deal with issues from Kesgrave residents and liaise with other authorities as needed.
• Provide useful information 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 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.
• Carry out daily checks of play areas and lock 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 several community facilities across Kesgrave:

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

We own and manage the Millennium Jubilee Hall for community use:

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

We own and manage the Millennium Sports Ground — used for:

• Family Fun Day.
• parkrun and Junior parkrun.
• Youth football — 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 provided to numerous local groups and charities that serve Kesgrave residents.

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

• Family Fun Day.
• Firework Night.
• Christmas weekend, tree lights “switch-on”, and ice skating.
• Senior Citizen Outing.
• Tea Parties.
• Annual Town Meeting — an opportunity for residents to meet their Councillors, receive reports provided by organisations within Kesgrave, and to put their questions to the Council.

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

• SPARK (second stop shop).
• 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 magazines.
• Our noticeboards.

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 — strimmers, hedge trimmers, mower, etc.
• Our IT infrastructure, based around Microsoft Office, supports secure, seamless sharing of files between the office, Councillors, and Estate Operatives, making 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.
• Action Plan - translates the priorities of the Business Plan into specific actions, projects, and targets for the financial year, with assigned responsibility and timescales.