Gypsy and Traveller sites: government consultation

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.

Liberal Democrat district councillor Janet Whitehouse with proposed Gypsy site at Woodside, Thornwood in the background

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.

Swine flu in Epping Forest

Catch It Bin It Kill It poster

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).

Swine flu advice number 0800 1 513 513

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.

Happy anniversary

Over the weekend St John’s Church in Epping celebrated the 100th anniversary of the construction of its tower, which is still Epping’s most important landmark: visible from the M25 and for miles around. I thoroughly enjoyed the celebratory concert, featuring the Epping Church Choirs Association, St John’s Church Choir and other musicians on Friday evening.

We are fortunate that those who commissioned the church and its tower were far-sighted enough to appoint an architect as good as G F Bodley, who is considered to have made a major contribution to church architecture.

The church is now raising funds to build a new extension, at the west end of the church where St John’s House is now. (Apparently this was going to be the original location of the tower until someone pointed out that the clock would be more visible if it could be seen from the High Steet.)

I don’t think anyone will miss St John’s House when it is pulled down – it is an undistinguished building – but whatever takes its place will have to be a very special design if it is to complement the existing church and serve the congregation and community as well as Bodley’s design has done for the past 100 years. From what I hear the architect is a big admirer of Bodley and up for the challenge.

Allnutts Post Office: re-opening campaign succeeds!

If some of the worst news this week was contained in Alastair Darling’s statement of doom, the best news for me was the news that Allnutts Post Office is to re-open. On Tuesday my fellow Liberal Democrat councillor Janet Whitehouse rang to tell me that she had just come out of a meeting with Shanhaz Javid from Allnutts Stores and the county council. At the end of the meeting a contract had been signed to re-open the post office in about 20 weeks time!

Cllr Janet Whitehouse, Shanhaz Javid and local residents show off the petition signatures calling for the re-opening of Allnutts Post Office

It was a tremendous blow for local people when the post office shut in February 2008 as part of the Labour government’s Post Office closure plan. Hopes were raised when Essex County Council announced, in a blaze of publicity, plans to re-open some of the offices. My fellow ward councillor Janet Whitehouse received positive indications from county council officers. But so far only three post offices in Essex have actually started serving customers again. So when county council officials visited Allnutts Stores in February this year to say that the post office would remain shut it was disappointing, but not an enormous surprise .

Thankfully neither Shanhaz, who provides such an excellent service to her customers, nor Janet gave up. Janet pressed the county council for a meeting. She and Shanhaz travelled to County Hall in Chelmsford to put their case. The county council thought again and agreed to continue discussions. Local people expressed their support for the re-opening and described the problems they had experienced without a local post office. More meetings were held. The county council required Shanhaz to make changes such as a new shop front and changes to the internal layout of the store. At last, thanks to Shanhaz, Janet and the county council all working together, a deal was done and a contract signed.

As Janet said in a letter to local residents who supported her petition:

I am delighted that by working together we have achieved this fantastic outcome. It is now up to all of us to support Shanhaz and Allnutts Stores and to use the Post Office regularly when it re-opens in Autumn.

In Remembrance

Members of 42 Commando and the Royal British Legion at Epping War Memorial

I was one of many people who attended the rededication of Epping War Memorial and Civic Service on Sunday afternoon. The service at the War Memorial was as moving as it is each Remembrance Sunday, especially when the traffic stops and members of the congregation stands in silence with their thoughts until the Last Post sounds.

The event was made particularly meaningful by the presence of the family of Georgie Sparks, who died fighting with the Royal Marines in Afghanistan, and some of his fellow marines from 42 Commando who have only just returned from Afghanistan.

Snow hits rubbish and recycling collections

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.