Epping Forest district council set its budget last night (meeting papers available here). When I last wrote about the budget I said I hoped there would be an opportunity to reduce the planned council tax increase below the 1.5 per cent rise discussed at the cabinet sub-committee meeting.

Thanks to a bit of work by council officers, which was shared with all groups, we were able to confirm that a council freeze this year would not put the council’s medium term financial strategy or its financial stability at risk. After a close look at the latest figures – especially by Ongar councillor Derek Jacobs and me – the Liberal Democrats were able to put forward a budget amendment incorporating a council tax freeze: i.e. a district council tax rise of 0%.

There is often an assumption in local government that council tax should always increase, but the Lib Dem group felt strongly that Epping Forest residents deserved a break from relentless council tax rises. Yesterday’s inflation figures highlighted how much household budgets are under pressure at the moment because of VAT and fuel increases. Thanks to the millions of pounds that the council has stashed away in its reserves, we were able to propose the freeze without cutting into services

Unfortunately the Conservatives (and the other groups) were determined to stick to their council tax increase so our council tax freeze was voted down. It may be some consolation to residents that the 1.5 increase agreed is still less than the 2.5 per cent increase proposed at the start of the budget process.

The district council’s annual budget-setting process is nearly complete. I will be at meetings to discuss the budget papers tonight and on Thursday before the full council meets to debate and agree the final version on Tuesday 16 February.

Two years ago Liberal Democrat councillors unsuccessfully argued for a lower council tax rise than the Conservatives set. We would have argued for a freeze in the council tax last year if it hadn’t been for uncertainty about the money the council lost by investing in an Icelandic owned back (the final figure turned out to be £700,000).

This year the budget has been prepared on the assumption of a 2.5% increase in council tax, but I was pleased to see that tonight’s papers also show the implications of a smaller 1.5% increase. They demonstrate that a lower council tax rise is possible without putting the council’s medium term financial strategy at risk – exactly as the Lib Dems have argued previously. I hope the Conservatives on the committee tonight choose the lower increase, and I think they should look to go lower if possible given the financial pressure that many residents are under.

Read the rest of this entry.

The timetable for the Epping Parking Review has slipped again. I now understand that the Traffic Regulation Orders (official notices from the county council advertising the formal proposals) will probably be published in early February. As Janet and I reported in the most recent Epping Focus leaflet, the main way residents will know about this is from notices attached to lamposts.

Residents will be able to inspect the full proposals by looking at Essex County Council’s website or at Epping Library.

The links on the left of this page give outline details of what we expect to happen.

Eagle eyed pedestrians using Cottis Lane will have spotted a small notice outside Club 195. It advertises the fact that the club is applying for a new licence and that ‘Interested Parties’ can comment on the application by writing to the district council. (Click on the photo to read the full text.)

The district council revoked Club 195’s licence in October because of concerns about crime and disorder. The closure seems to have led to a reduction in late night noise, litter and disorder in the middle of Epping and has been generally welcomed by most (but not all) residents I have spoken to.

The new application is for:

the provision of regulated entertainment and late night refreshment at the premises on Monday to Saturday from 8 am until 2 am and an additional one hour on notable days.

I assume ‘notable days’ to mean special occasions such as New Years Eve. The previous licence allowed the club to open seven days a week from 11 am until 4 am. The main differences are therefore:

Read the rest of this entry.

I was able to make time on Friday afternoon to go for a good tramp around Epping and Coopersale’s frozen streets (and to drop off a final few Focus leaflets).

The effects of the snow are showing up in the form of at least one broken street sign and rapidly deteriorating road surfaces (it would have helped if those particular potholes had been repaired when they first appeared many weeks ago), which I have now reported.

I also did a circuit around Swaines Green and then later walked across the fields along the Essex Way to Coopersale. Wrapped up warmly and with the sun out it was a great feeling – which I appreciate is absolutely no consolation to anyone unable to venture out and therefore shivering at home.

The most impressive snowman I found lurked in Brickfield Road, complete with clementine nose and eyes of coal. More worrying were the two doors elsewhere that I knocked on to tell the inhabitants they had left their keys in their outside locks. Perhaps they had been rushing inside to get out of the cold.

Thankfully, despite predictions, there has been very little snowfall over Friday and Saturday, so the busy roads have been clear of snow. It’s a different story on the side streets.

Recycling and waste collection

The slight change in weather meant the refuse and recycling crews were able to make some collections on Friday but there are still roads that the 20 tonne trucks can’t safely manouvre down and some big piles of sacks awaiting collection as a result. Here’s hoping any snow we get today (Sunday) won’t settle.

The district council’s advice remains to put your rubbish out as normal and it will be collected eventually. Snow update information from the district council is here and should be updated on Monday.

Gritting

It isn’t clear yet whether the county council will be able to do a full gritting run before the start of the new working week. Updates should appear on the county council’s website here.

A quick pointer to the district council’s snow update page, which is now being updated pretty regularly.

Waste and recycling collections

The bad news is that waste and recycling collections were suspended completely today because of accidents. (I dread to think how long it will now take to get back to normal. There are roads in Buckhurst Hill that haven’t received a wheelie bin collection since early December.)

Pavements

However as a result our pavements are finally receiving some attention as waste collection staff have been made available to grit shopping centres and car parks. There’s been no specific mention of pavements leading to transport hubs or pavements near schools so I’ve followed this up.

Gritting

At a Local Highways Panel meeting six weeks ago Essex County Council told us that it had record quantities of salt in store for this winter - far more than it actually expected to use. I was therefore concerned to learn that it is already cutting back on its gritting programme for the reasons set out here. That link also gives details of the roads that will still be treated.

In Epping the only road included is the High Road. This is really bad news for heavily used roads which are usually gritted like Lindsey Street, Station Road and Bower Hill, which could be treacherous by morning. The county council expects to be able to return to its usual gritting programme on Sunday evening.

Finally

The local media is covering the snow episode (I don’t think we can yet call it a crisis) assiduously. BBC Essex’s essential information page contains some useful links and should be authoritative about school closures. Plenty of news also at Everything Epping Forest and the Epping Forest Guardian.

Now the Christmas break is over the district council is much better at posting information on its website. The latest update is here and explains:

Residents are requested to place all waste at the normal collection point…

For as long as access is difficult and until the weather improves we will use all available resources to collect as much waste as we can. Once the weather improves and normal operations commence we will prioritise collections and collect from those properties that have been waiting the longest for a collection.

So put your rubbish out as usual but don’t assume it will be collected on the day you expect.

Epping Forest District Council yesterday published this apology for delays to the waste collection service as a result of bad weather.

“The Council is very sorry for the difficulties which have arisen during the period 22 December 2009 through Christmas and the New Year period.”

Because of the combined effect of the revised Christmas collection calendar and the bad weather some people will go a month between recycling collections – which will not surprise anyone who has walked around local streets and seen the sacks piled high.

At Monday evening’s Cabinet meeting we were told that the other collections (food waste and residual waste) should now be more or less up to date. Unfortunately it looks likely that today’s snowfall could well cause further problems.

Of course the council’s priority at the moment must be to keep the refuse collection service running and collect as much of the missed rubbish as possible. Once this has happened we have been promised that a review will take place and any necessary lessons will be learnt.

Questions to answer include:

• What contingency plans existed?
• What is the division of responsibility between Epping Forest district council and its contractors, SITA?
• Was it possible to bring in any additional resources (equipment and/or people) especially when existing equipment failed?
• Why wasn’t it possible to provide up to date information on the website or telephone enquiry line between Christmas and the New Year?

No doubt there are plenty of others so feel free to suggest them to me. I’ve asked council officers to put this issue on the agenda of the next Scrutiny Committee so that councillors can take up residents’ concerns and contribute to the review.

I’ve created a new page dedicated to the Epping Parking Review. Essex County Council is due to publish its proposals for new parking restrictions in January. At the moment the page contains information about last summer’s consultation exercise. I will update the page with news of the county council’s response in due course.

At this time of year the rubbish collection dates shift around a bit to take account of the Bank Holidays. The revised collection dates are (normal collection date –> revised collection date):

•  Friday 25 December –> Tuesday 29 December

• Monday 28 December –> Wednesday 30 December
• Tuesday 29 December –> Thursday 31 December
• Wednesday 30 December –> SATURDAY 2 January
• Thursday 31 December –> Monday 4 January
• Friday 1 January –> Tuesday 5 January

• Monday 4 January –> Wednesday 6 January
• Tuesday 5 January –> Thursday 7 January
• Wednesday 6 January –> Friday 8 January
• Thursday 7 January –> SATURDAY 9 January
• Friday 8 January –> Monday 11 January

• Monday 11 January –> Tuesday 12 January
• Tuesday 12 January –> Wednesday 13 January
• Wednesday 13 January –> Thursday 14 January
• Thursday 14 January –> Friday 15 January
• Friday 15 January –> SATURDAY 16 January

Back to normal on Monday 18 January.

Christmas trees can be left out for collection alongside the food and garden waste bin. (Cut it in half if it is more than three feet tall.)

There are usually also special arrangements after Christmas which permit the collection of side waste (i.e. rubbish left beside the wheelie bin). This allows for the volume of refuse generated by seasonal present-giving and consumption. No doubt the district council will publish details soon.

I enjoyed an unexpected night in last night because of the cancellation of the  district council’s Cabinet meeting. The decision to abandon the meeting waas understandable given the state of Epping High Street at 5 pm and congestion on the local roads. I hope no-one turned up to watch the meeting from  the public gallery and was disappointed that there was nothing to see. (The advantage of watching the meeting via webcast on the computer is there is no need to venture out in the cold!)

However the postponement means some important decisions have not been made, including some relating to the Gypsy and Traveller Development Plan Document, the council’s key objectives for 2010/11, and the potential move of some council services from the Langston Road Depot in Debden to Oakwood Hill. So I am pleased the cabinet will reconvene on 4 January to work its way through the 180-page agenda.

I was particularly pleased to see that the agenda included a recommendation to provide temporary cover for the council’s Town Centre Officer [PDF report here] post. This is a direct result of a motion put forward by the Liberal Democrat Group and proposed by my colleague Cllr Peter Spencer at November’s council meeting. I’m pleased to say the motion was supported by all parties. Our Town Centre Partnerships do their best to support traders and local businesses in the face of some tough economic conditions and they deserve the council’s support.

At the moment it looks as if tonight’s full council meeting will go ahead. The Gypsy and Traveller item will not be discussed (because the Cabinet needs to agree its recommendations first), but the Liberal Democrats have a motion on the agenda calling for action to respond to the poor Audit Commision report [PDF] published earlier in the month (which I referred to in passing here).

I woke this morning to the news that Essex County Council has, for the second year running, been rated as delivering some of the worst children’s services in England. Nine councils are rated as poor, including Essex [PDF report here] and the London Borough of Haringey, which faced massive criticism because of the way it handled the awful Baby P case.

It seems extraordinary that the Conservative councillors who run Essex County Council allowed children’s services to deteriorate so much, especially given the number of high profile child abuse cases that have featured in the national news in recent years. Effective work to protect children is difficult, expensive and unglamorous. Nevertheless it is one of the most important functions that the county council is responsible for.

Read the rest of this entry.

The district council yesterday published advice about yet another cold calling scam.

A fire and security company, claiming to be linked to Crime Stoppers and The Home Office, has been cold calling people - usually elderly residents. They offer a free alarm fitting service and once they have done this try to tie the client into a contract often leading to them parting with thousands of pounds.

Consumer Direct and Essex Police have some good advice about dealing with cold callers here and here.

At the recent Safer Communities Conference I spoke to a representative from Essex County Fire and Rescue Service (or the Fire Brigade as most people still think of it). The service is heavily promoting the use of smoke alarms and in some circumstances will carry out free fire safety checks and even install a smoke alarm. Call 0845 601 2495 for details.

Epping Forest Safer Communities Partnership (which brings together the district council, police, fire service and other public services which deal with crime) can also offer advice to people thinking of installing an alarm system. Contact them by email at safercommunities@eppingforestdc.gov.uk or on 01992 564608. They will put you in touch with reputable local security companies.

The district council’s Licensing sub-Committee will discuss Club 195 at its meeting tomorrow (starting at 10am). You can read the agenda (including all the representations which people have been willing to make public) on the district council website here. Be warned - some of the files are very large!

It looks likely that the actual discussion will take place in private.

UPDATE: According to the local paper the sub-Committee revoked the club’s licence. See here for the story, which includes a short explanation from the sub-committee chairman. It was evidently a marathon meeting. I believe the club has the right to appeal to a magistrates’ court but this is something I need to check.

Last Thursday’s district council by-election was a boost for the local Liberal Democrats. Gavin Chambers ran the Conservatives much closer than anyone expected and was just 43 votes from victory. The result was:

• Conservative 453 (52%, -31%)
• LD (Gavin Chambers) 411 (48%,+31%)

Majority 42. Turnout 17.2%.

The Conservative vote at the last set of district elections in May 2008 was 1262 so this is a big loss of support for them, even taking into account the lower turnout. One factor seems to be have been local frustration at the decision of the Conservatives on the district council to block talks about introducing a Freedom Pass style scheme in Epping Forest. At the moment older people in London can travel free on the tube but not those on the other side if the border in Epping Forest, despite the fact we all share the same tube network.

I’ve spoken to a member of the Licensing Committee who has told me that after a very long meeting and hearing evidence from both sides the committee today upheld the original decision to suspend Club 195’s licence. So the club will remain closed at least until a full hearing later this month.

As I mentioned below, local residents are entitled to submit their views to the committee but should do so by 13 October (next Tuesday).

Janet Whitehouse and I have been contacted by residents concerned about anti-social behaviour and violence outside Club 195 in Cottis Lane, Epping, especially following the shocking incident on Saturday 26 September which has been extensively covered by the local press.

Last Wednesday the district council responded to a request from the police and temporarily suspended the licence of Club 195. This temporary suspension was due to be reviewed yesterday (Monday 5 October) but the hearing has been postponed until Wednesday. This is not a full review but will simply decide whether the temporary suspension should continue pending a full hearing. The agenda can be accessed here.

The full hearing is expected to take place during the week beginning 26 October, and councillors on the Licensing Committee will consider representations from Club 195, from the police and other relevant organisations.  Local residents can also submit comments if they respond before Tuesday 13 October.

The law is quite strict about the issues that the Licensing Committee can take into account. These are:

(i) The prevention of crime and disorder
(ii) Public safety
(iii) The prevention of public nuisance
(iv) The protection of children from harm

so it is best to concentrate on these issues if you submit a representation. Recent experience suggests to me that points (i), (ii) and (iii) ae all very relevant. Submissions should be sent to: Mrs Kim Tuckey, Licensing Section, Epping Forest DC, Civic Offices, Epping, CM16 4BZ or licensing@eppingforestdc.gov.uk. Please also send me a copy at jon@jonwhitehouse.org.uk.

You can obtain a full copy of the council’s licensing policy from here [PDF].

The incident outside Club 195 was shocking, and there have been far too many problems late at night in that area. According to the police Club 195 has been directly associated with at least forty seven incidents over the last twelve months including six incidents of Grievous Bodily Harm, ten incidents of Actual Bodily Harm, seven other disturbances, seven thefts and six common assaults.

This is not what we expect in Epping (or should tolerate anywhere else either). I believe these problems can be dealt with if the council and police take the right action

I have a map at home which shows almost every field around Epping, North Weald and Theydon Bois highlighted with green shading. These are all places where developers have expressed an interest in building large housing developments - but they can’t because the land is in the Green Belt. As long as the land stays in the Green Belt the council won’t grant planning permission unless there are very exceptional circumstances.

This hasn’t stopped some companies - including in Epping Forest - trying to sell small plots of land in the Green Belt as an “investment opportunity”. They imply that planning permission for new houses will be granted and the land will increase massively in value. (If this is the case why doesn’t the company hold on to the land and profit from the supposed increase in value itself?)

The council issued a news release yesterday with information about one of these “landbankers” which has been advertising plots of land for sale on land at Blunts Farm in Theydon Bois. Sadly this is yet another potential headache for the local residents who have already put up with all sorts of problems and issues relating to the Blunts Farm site.

The council points out that:

The land is entirely within the Green Belt, and therefore the normal restrictions on development apply. The areas of land are isolated from the existing built area of Theydon Bois, and the services it provides. No means of access has been shown to the parcels of land. The land has been submitted to the District Council under the “Call for Sites” exercise, but this does not mean that there is any certainty that this land will be allocated for development purposes. The allocation of 3,500 new homes claimed by the vendors refers to the requirement in the East of England Plan for the whole District over the period 2001 to 2021

As I walk or drive around Epping I regularly report broken or poorly maintained street signs to the district council and I am pleased to say that in most cases council staff respond fairly promptly. Sometimes they have even spotted the damage and ordered a replacement before the problem has been reported.

I was pleased to learn that signs in Springfield and Centre Avenue in Epping are to be replaced this week as both have been steadily deteriorating. The nameplate in Springfield is literally on its last leg, as one of the supporting metal posts has disappeared or been taken.

The design of the street signs used by the council has changed over the years. Personally I think the current design, with the black edging and wooden posts (see Tidy’s Lane example below), is more attractive than those used in the past. I hope the council sticks with it.

Yesterday was the deadline for responding to the Secretary of State’s Proposed Changes to the draft policy on Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation in the East of England [PDF]. This is almost the final stage of a very lengthy process which will determine how many pitches Epping Forest district is expected to provide. It is an issue which Janet Whitehouse and I and other Liberal Democrat councillors have been thinking about very carefully.

The submission which I put in as Leader of the Liberal Democrat group on Epping Forest District Council described the Secretary of State’s decision to reduce the pitch requirement for Epping Forest from 49 to 34 pitches as a welcome improvement compared with the original proposed policy. It shows some recognition of the particular local circumstances in Epping Forest.

However I argued that it does not fully take into account the difficulty of delivering a large number of gypsy and traveller sites in Epping Forest.

Unlike some other districts Epping Forest has a very low amount of what is described as “unconstrained land”. In other words much of the land in the district is environmentally sensitive (e.g. Epping Forest and parts of the Lee Valley Regional Park or Green Belt or both). It also remains the case that the number of additional pitches sought as a proportion of total new dwellings is disproportionately high when compared to other districts in the region.

The Thornwood Action Group has carried out excellent research and analysis which I relied on heavily when putting in my response. Like other local residents’ action groups, I think the evidence justifies a further reduction down to 19 or fewer sites.  I’ve not yet been shown a copy of the official Epping Forest District Council submission, but this will also seek a reduction.

Although the Secretary of State will decide how many pitches are required locally, it is up to the district council to decide where  the pitches should be located, hence the controversial consultation which ended in February. We are now waiting for an analysis of the consultation responses and technical and sustainability reports on the proposed sites.

There weren’t many council meetings last week but the regular planning sub-committee took place on Wednesday . The most high profile agenda item [PDF] was about Caffè Nero  in Epping High Street: the latest installment of a long saga which dates back to July 2006.

The coffee shop has been trading in defiance of planning law for the last few years but, judging from the emails and comments I have received, it has built up a loyal group of customers in that time. Councillors were asked whether Caffè Nero’s owners should have the opportunity to submit a new planning application which could take account of changed circumstances since the original planning application was submitted in 2006.

I argued that councillors should have the chance to consider a planning application and I’m pleased that other members thought the same. Caffè Nero now has just under four weeks to submit a planning application which councillors will consider in public at a future planning committee meeting.

The government’s swine flu leaflet (download PDF here) dropped through my letter box this week, hot on the heels of news of the first (and I sincerely hope only) local case of swine flu.

I was surprised at how long the advice leaflet was. Sadly the very basic design means it isn’t a particularly user-friendly read. Given the importance of the information that the leaflet is meant to convey and the time and attention that goes into marketing and communications these days I expected something more arresting than slabs of text and some boxes.

This must be a consequence of the need to get it designed and distributed in double-quick time: printing 25 million leaflets is not something that can be done overnight and perhaps didn’t leave time for much creative input (other than the deeply unattractive image on the front page).

There is a comprehensive list of sources of advice on the Epping Forest District Council website here with links to everyone from our local NHS Primary Care Trust to the World Health Organisation. So far swine flu has not proved as devastating as was first feared but we are told it may yet spread much further. I am glad that the government and local emergency planning teams have prepared for far worse to happen - but I hope they never need to put their plans fully into practice.

I’m glad to see that after some grim predictions about the likelihood of recovering the £2½ million that Epping Forest District Council invested with the Icelandic-owned Heritable Bank, things now look slightly more positive. The council’s Director of Financial Services gave us an update on the situation at last night’s Cabinet meeting. He now expects that 70-80 per cent of the money will be returned. The FT takes a similar view.

Of course this will still mean a loss of up to £750,000, which is a very substantial amount and would go a long way towards funding some of the capital projects the council is involved in.

Unfortunately that isn’t all local taxpayers will lose. I asked whether the council would get back the interest due on its investment. The answer revealed that the council will only recover interest from the period between when it was invested until the date the bank went into administration in October. We’ll lose all the interest that would have been received from then until whenever  the money is finally returned. I can’t remember at what rate the money was invested, but any percentage of £2½ million is a substantial sum.

This picture was taken in March 2007 – and the railings in Epping High Street were well overdue for repair then! Since then I’ve often contacted the county council about their failure to repair or replace them. At different times the reasons for delay have included the need to place a special order, the difficulty of sourcing matching stock, the need to obtain funding from Chelmsford (where the county council is based) and staff shortages.

So I was pleased today to receive an email confirming that repair works are due to start in two week’s time.  I won’t quite believe it until I see workers are on site (delays caused by more snow anyone?) but let’s hope by the end of the month residents no longer have to put up with the red plastic ‘temporary’ barriers spoiling what is mostly a very attractive street.

Unsurprisingly, the recent poor weather has hit local refuse collections. (After all almost every other service seems to have been affected.) One of the more unexpected consequences of the freezing temperatures has apparently been that blue boxes containing glass recycling have frozen to the pavement.

The clear sack collections should have gone back to normal today (Thursday) but the green waste collection service has been suspended until Monday 16 February. I suppose there can’t be much gardening going on at the moment anyway.

The council has issued the following revised timetable for wheelie bin collections:

• The Monday 2 February collection is rescheduled to Friday 6 February 2009
• The Tuesday 3 February collection is rescheduled to Saturday 7 February 2009
• The Wednesday 4 February collection is rescheduled to Monday 9 February 2009
• The Thursday 5 February collection is rescheduled to Tuesday 10 February 2009
• The Friday 6 February collection is rescheduled to Wednesday 11 February 2009

Unless things change again when the snow predicted for Friday arrives.

The district council has been casting about for ways of generating cash. As a result it has submitted a planning application (to itself!) requesting permission to erect advertising hoardings at 15 locations on roundabouts across the district.

I will be interested to see how this is received. When the same idea was put forward several years ago it was withdrawn quite swiftly because various people were unhappy at the prospect of advertising and further ‘clutter’ in Epping Forest.This has not deterred the Conservatives from including the Wake Arms and Robin Hood roundabouts in the current application, as well as other roundabouts in less sensitive locations. As far as I can see from the information on the district council website, the City of London (which is responsible for Epping Forest) hasn’t been asked for its views.

The council hopes to erect up to three hoardings per roundabout (5 feet by about 2½ feet) mounted on poles. You can find out more using the council’s new online planning service: the application number is EPF/1814/2008.

Epping Forest’s Liberal Democrat councillors met this morning to discuss the agenda for the council meeting on Tuesday week and other forthcoming issues. As various members reported back on the work they were doing and the issues they were pursuing I was struck by how much work goes on behind the scenes that must be totally invisible to most residents.

Sometimes this is because the work concerns individuals and it isn’t appropriate to make the details public. Sometimes it is long term work that may or may not come to fruition. At other times it is simply too obscure or complex to be of wide interest. But often we simply don’t think to tell people, although we try to make sure the most important bits of news are covered by our Focus newsletters and at www.eflibdems.org.uk. Part of the reason for starting this mini-blog is to try and report back more frequently about the things which I and my Lib Dem colleagues are doing.

This afternoon Janet Whitehouse and I knocked on doors in Epping and Coopersale to thank people for supporting us in the elections in May and discuss local issues. A few people were surprised to find us on their doorsteps outside of election time but we think it is important to keep in touch all year round. As usual we both picked up several issues we need to pursue, including some speeding traffic issues to raise with Essex County Council. As a bonus four people volunteered to help deliver our Focus newsletters.

If you can help deliver Focus in your road (ideally every two to three months) please drop me a line at jon.whitehouse@eflibdems.org.uk.