Welcome to Cllr James Newport's Blog

There is a long running question over what exactly is happening with Sweyne Park play area. It seems to spend more time closed or partially closed than it does open. Residents have taken to social media in the past to ask what it going on and even when they have contacted the council directly, it appears they never get the answer. Parks are undoubtedly an important facility for [...]

Unfortunately I've recently had to visit hospitals in Essex and Kent for various reasons. Whilst travelling to local hospitals might be feasible by public transport, travelling to Kent by public transport isn't the easiest, so inevitably we've traveled by car. Hit by expensive car parking charges, sometimes I wish we were more like Wales (except from the rain) - free prescripti [...]

Running a business is no mean feat, whether that's a one man band or an international company - I've had experience of them all! I'm actively involved in the day to day running of several SME's and the time and energy commitment it HUGE! I've been passionate about our High St's for as long as I can remember. As far back as I can remember, I've been involved in business. Wh [...]

It's fair to say the IT systems at RDC during my tenure as a District Councillor, were at best flaky and at worst a disaster. So much so that the Council used it as an excuse to 'rerun' a development committee meeting and some members even set up a task group to try and find out what the hell was going on. With a massive overspend on the IT budget, some £600k+ you would hope t [...]

Chances are if you like to shop in Rayleigh or dine al fresco then you're sure to have been 'touched' by Rayleigh's unseen killer. Rayleigh's killer has been active for more than 6 years with the Tory administration failing to act to bring this 'killer' into check for  more than 6 years.Our town's 'killer' spares no one and it's estimated has claimed between in excess of 2 [...]

On Tuesday night I attended RDC Review Committee. One of the items (which I will post more on shortly), involved Sanctuary. Emma Keegan, MD came under fire from Tory Cllr Shaw for it's poor performance for maintenance of its property portfolio. Silently, I could not avoid agreeing with Cllr Shaw about Sanctuary's lack of responsiveness. Yes I too have had to make multiple attem [...]

Sometimes it's good to visit a 'site' before you discuss it at a council meeting. So today I wondered along to John Fisher Playground, otherwise known as the Grange playground, to see what sort of state it was in. Sometimes you get that kind of heart sinking moments and this was one of them. Whilst most of the play equipment remained intact, it really is showing it's age and [...]

There is a long running question over what exactly is happening with Sweyne Park play area. It seems to spend more time closed or partially closed than it does open. Residents have taken to social media in the past to ask what it going on and even when they have contacted the council directly, it appears they never get the answer. Parks are undoubtedly an important facility for [...]