Long time readers on the Rayleigh public toilet saga will know that I’m no superfan of the decisions made around the new toilets for the town centre. I’ve baulked at the cost of the Rochford District Councils £365,000 toilet project along with many residents and the cost shifting to Rayleigh Town Council. The new toilets for Crown Hill are of a modular nature and have been constructed offsite. Here’s an […]

I’m not one to shy away from the media, particularly if I think it’s in the public interest to ‘get the story out’ but some Cllr’s would be best to check themselves and know their own limits. Today’s disaster by the Conservatives is a prime example of not knowing your own limits. Let loose on the radio for all to hear is not a good look! Hop over to our […]

Suddenly, all the Conservative candidates have found a voice! They’ve all created social media accounts and will promise the earth (a bit like Labour and their free bus passes for under 25’s). Suddenly they want to become ‘engaged’ with residents. Once the 3rd May has passed I expect them to go back into hibernation until this time next year for the next elections. Me, I’ll just keep plodding away with […]

I’ve recently been out campaigning visiting residents around the Sweyne Park and Grange Ward and I’ve had several complaints about the condition of our footpaths and kerbs. Today was a stark reminder that these problems extend much wider than just my ward, whilst walking through the High St I witnessed an elderly gentleman taking a photo of a raised paving slab. As the responsibility for footpaths & kerbs is with […]

It’s not often I write about UKIP, but it’s worth mentioning that our RDC Councillors have left UKIP to form a new party ‘Friends of Rochford’. They have decided that they want to focus on local issues and for them, this is the way forward without national politics hanging over their heads. Here’s a piece that was written about the move from a recent edition of the Rayleigh Times.

No, not literally, but ‘plugged in’ to opportunities for funding from central government. It’s all very well us bleating on (and being told) about air pollution and our environment if we are not going to take steps to try and reduce the amount of pollution that we create. One of the main cause of air pollution in our district is cause through vehicle movements. Having looked into this before I […]

I’ve read today that one of the Lodge Ward candidates for the local elections here in the Rochford District is Richard Lambourne. He stood in 2016 and narrowly missed out winning a seat, this time around I hope he’s more successful. He standing as a Independent for Rochford District Residents. Richard has spent a lot of time campaigning on the public toilets, Frances Cottee Lodge and the processes that the […]

NHS services are being ‘reshaped’ by Mid Essex STP and they’ve been running a public consultation on the plans. In a nutshell, they want to do away with the more general model of hospital and create specialist centres. One aspect of this would mean transporting seriously ill patients between hospitals. Questions have repeatedly been asked of the STP on how exactly this would be achieved and resourced, but we are […]

Today I write out of sheer frustration on the situation with our potholes on our Counties roads. There doesn’t seem like one short journey you can make on our roads when it is sheer ‘pot luck’ if you don’t inadvertently hit a pothole in the road. I know, as I’ve just been presented with a bill from the garage for nearly £200 due to part of the suspension on our […]

A common complaint by many residents is the lack of parking in the Tesco’s Express on London Road. You will notice that in the last week or so, work has finally begun on extending the Tesco’s car park to increase the number of spaces. Plans for this extension have been around for some time (over 2 years) and I have been constantly chasing the various authorities on progress.The redesign of […]

We often hear the argument that more housing is needed to meet the demands of residents and in particular their children. So while you contemplate the ‘affordability’ of housing in our district here are some interesting facts that you are faced with when trying to get onto the property ladder in the Rochford District. Average house prices are above the national average at £306,852 The rising cost of homes in […]

It’s really no joke, yes it’s true I’ve been trying to get an appointment at Audley Mills in Rayleigh for the last 2 weeks. It’s not a life-threatening condition (or at least I hope not) but I need a face to face appointment. Being greeted by a ‘we can not connect your call’ at 8 o’clock in the morning isn’t exactly the way I like to start my day. So today […]

I was rather bemused to read this ‘tweet’ sent out by RDC #rochfordbusiness it’s question time on #cybercrime Cllr Terry Cutmore starts the discussion with question about mobile phone security pic.twitter.com/Bgxq8pUSAO — Rochford DC (@RochfordDC) January 24, 2018 Back in June 2017, I sent an email to the Managing Director, Shaun Scrutton, with my concern that some members were still operating iPad 4’s which were shortly to become ‘end of […]

I’ve been out today delivering leaflets in the Sweyne Park & Grange Ward informing residents about the New Local Plan and the possible scale of development. If you’ve read our leaflet, I hope you’ve found it to be informative. There is ‘a lot ‘ of information in the issues and options document. So if there is anything you would like to ask me, please post in the comments and I’ll […]

I’m pleased to announce that the next litter pick will take place at 11am on 4th March in Sweyne Park. After the success of the last one, we will be back to tackle more of the littering that has occurred in this open space. Everyone is welcome and we’ll be there come rain or shine!  

I just happened to stumble across the “National Census of Local Authority Councillors 2013” today and what I found made for very interesting reading. 67% of Councillors are male Councillors have an average age of 60.2 with Councillors aged over 70 increasing Just 19.2% of Councillors are in full-time employment 96% are of white ethnic origin How can this be truly representative of our community and why don’t more residents come […]

94 Days 19 Hours 06 Minutes 22 Seconds The past two years for me has been a whirlwind of activity. A steep learning curve and a lot of work. I’ve attended countless meetings, spoken to many residents, campaigned on local issues and kept a close eye on those ‘secret’ decisions being made by the Conservatives behind closed doors. It’s hasn’t been an easy ride for us Lib Dems, particularly with the […]

I spend a lot of time trying to keep my residents informed of local issues that may affect them. To do this I rely on a small number of volunteers who give me an hour or two of their time every so often. From folding leaflets, writing addresses and delivering door to door, all these jobs take up time. Are you able to help me? I need more volunteers in […]

When I was in school punishment was litter duty. Well today, I’ve been out with other Lib Dem Councillors and volunteers to do a ‘litter pick’ in Sweyne Park. Despite the elements, we had a small number of volunteers turn up and between us, we manage to collect over 20 bags of rubbish – not bad for a couple of hours work! It was somewhat satisfying to see the difference […]

Good news for local residents, finally after nearly a year, Essex County Council have cleared the ditch that runs along London Road (A1245). Lib Dem Cllr Chris Stanley had spoken to engineers about the problem with overgrown vegetation in the ditch and the flood issues that could be associated with it, last year. Now with the ditch cleared, hopefully the ditch will flow better reducing the flood risk. Another success […]