Cold calling warning

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.

Allnutts Post Office re-opens at last!

This morning I attended the long-awaited re-opening of Allnutts Post Office in Epping. Even before the ribbon was cut, the first customers had arrived with Christmas cards to send abroad and parcels to post. Local residents no longer need to to trek up the steep hill and will also benefit from the excellent service provided by Shanhaz Javid and her team.

Post Office opening hours are Monday to Saturday from 9am until 1pm.

(Of course the rest of the store will continue to be open in the afternoons as well.)

Shanhaz Javid, Janet Whitehouse and Jon Whitehouse celebrate the re-opening of Allnutts Post Office
The store has been completely overhauled with a new shop-front and layout. It is a convenient stop-off for all sorts of provisions as well as for around 170 Post Office products and services. (Allnutts will provide almost all the services apart from car tax renewal. You can even order next-day delivery of foreign currency.

The re-opening is a result of much campaigning by residents and councillors, followed by meetings at the county council attended by Shanhaz and Janet Whitehouse, followed by more meetings and liaison between county council officers and Post Office managers, followed by much hard work to get ready for the opening. The official opening was performed by Colchester County Councillor Kevin Bentley (Deputy to the Leader of the County Council) with Epping and Theydon Bois county councillor Janet Whitehouse and was well attended by county councillors from Loughton, Chigwell, and North Weald as well as MP Eleanor Laing.

It was a big mistake of the Post Office to close Allnutts Post Office in the first place. The branch has been really missed since February 2008. I am sure it will now go from strength to strength.

Remembrance 2009

Wreath laying ceremony at Epping War MemorialThe wreath laying ceremony at Epping War Memorial and the Service of Remembrance at St John’s Church on Sunday were moving and sombre. Several people have said they throught that more people attended than normal. I am not good at judging crowd numbers but was impressed that not only the elderly and usual supects turned out. Every age-group was represented.

As the crowd stood still in the low sun during the two-minute silence – and because even the traffic along Epping High Street was stationary – we heard the low drone of an aircraft pass overhead. It brought to mind the aeroplanes which flew from North Weald during the Second World War and also those which flew across the North Sea to attack the airfeld and other targets in Essex and North London.

One of these planes missed its target and dropped its bombs on Spriggs Oak in Epping: just yards from where we stood on Sunday. Eight expectant mothers died as a result (their story is told here). The local civilian dead are commemorated by the laying of wreaths in the Garden of Remembrance at St John’s Church, immediately after the Service of Remembrance.

Eleanor Laing survives: what does this tell us about the local Conservatives?

So, Eleanor Laing survived her meeting with Epping Forest Conservative activists last night. And, to be fair, she won a thumping victory over the local Tory malcontents.

Laing Billboard

It suggests to me that many Conservatives still haven’t grasped the scale of the expenses scandal or the desire that many local residents have for a fresh start.

I can’t help wondering if the outcome would have been different if, instead of a closed meeting with the party faithful, Mrs Laing had organised an open public meeting for all her constituents, like those that attended by some of her colleagues.

Club 195 Licence review – agenda published

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.

Eleanor Laing: in trouble again?

I see Eleanor Laing’s expenses problems have hit the headlines again. Our Conservative MP came under fire earlier this year when the Daily Telegraph highlighted the £180,000 capital gains tax bill she managed to avoid by telling Parliament that her second home was in London and the tax authorities that her second home was in Theydon Bois.

ConservativeHome on Eleanor Laing deselction attemptI knew there was unhappiness among some local Conservative members and councillors but had not realised until today’s reports that Mrs Laing faces an organised attempt to deselect her. Conservative website ConservativeHome suggests that the Leader of the District Council, Di Collins, is behind the plot. If so, it will not be the first time she has tried to get rid of someone. Cllr Collins has form in this area. She fell out with Eleanor Laing’s predecessor, Steven Norris, to such an extent that along with colleagues she tried to deselect him as Epping Forest’s MP. They followed this up by trying to sabotage Mr Norris’s attempt to stand as the Conservative candidate to be Mayor of London with this letter to the Conservative Party Chairman.

One of the worst aspects of the affair is that the decision about Mrs Laing’s future rests not with her 75,000 constituents, but with a few hundred members of the Epping Forest Conservative Association (or the even smaller number who actually turn up to the deselection meeting). It’s another good reason to support Nick Clegg’s Take Back Power campaign, which would give voters the right to recall MPs who had lost the trust of their constituents. Sign up here and read more here.

Grange Hill by-election boost for Lib Dems

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.

Club 195 Update

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).

Club 195 Licence Review – how residents can have their say

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

(Not) Building on the Green Belt

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