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Great Yeldham is a large country village in the Braintree district of north west Essex. Like many country villages Great Yeldham has seen considerable recent expansion with two thirds of those answering the village survey (2003) living in houses built since 1950. In 2005 there are 1,300 voters on the electoral role living in about 700 households. We are still big enough to support a Post Office and general store, two other grocery and general stores. There is a large primary school in the village, two hotels and one public house as well as a Village Hall and a Sports Ground. The survey showed that people appreciated having a GP surgery in the village, though the facilities are considered inadequate by the Doctors and are due to close. Most people welcome a new health centre proposed for the village though opinion is devided as to its best site. Community safety and crime is still a worry to many residents. The police are aware of this and are deploying their limited resources as best they can. The new Police Station opened in 2004 is not a village station specifically for Great Yeldham, but a headquarters for a much larger rural area. At the request of local Councillors the opening hours have been recently extended. There is the usual mix of village clubs and societies. Some of these are run by very small teams and they need more support if they are to survive. Road safety is a continuing problem mainly due to the speed of traffic in the narrow lanes without footpaths and by the village green where pedestrians cross the road in the paths of vehicles turning at the junction. Most of those in work are working full time with about half travelling more than 10 miles to work. There is some employment at the industrial estate, and further expansion there was the most popular suggestion to improve employment made in the survey. Agriculture still provides a rural backdrop for the village though the farm labour force has shrunk to a fraction of its previous level as British Agriculture, like that over much of the world, suffers from prices distorted by American farm subsidies. The good news is that in October 2005 the US proposals to trade ministers meeting in Zurich include an offer to reduce farm export subsidies by 2010, they are also offering to reduce their domestic farm subsidies by 60 percent. The village is fairly tidy, though litter builds up very quickly and needs frequent removal. Parts of the village are well decorated with garden and container planting in the summer. There are attractive displays by the White Hart and the Waggon and Horses, as well as by some private gardens and the School, and the roadside rose plantings in Poole Street always catch the eye. (Nov 2005)