It’s now time for me to sit back and watch to see how our new councillor for Sweyne Park & Grange performs over the next 4 years. Watch this space for more information as the new municipal year begins…..    

Yesterdays election saw me lose my seat on the district council for Sweyne Park & Grange. A disappointing result for me, after 2 years of a ‘full on’ approach to my role and a huge amount of passion and dedication to the role. However, this is politics and National issues can have an effect on local elections, maybe I am just a ‘victim’ of Brexit? Who knows what happened? There […]

You might remember my post sometime ago about the ‘load of old bollards‘ outside Tesco’s Express on the London Road. Well after 2 years of ‘chasing’ this issue down the car park has been redesigned, the pavement reinstated and a few bollards replaced. However they seem to have forgotten a few! So I’ve been in touch with the District Council about these works and have now received an email from […]

…and a little more action! The fencing at the entrance to Sweyne Park has been in a state of disrepair for sometime. We’ve finally managed to get the District Council to get this replaced and the contractors have been busy today installing new fencing. Hopefully that should help kerb some of the anti social behaviour of the bridleway. “A little more bite and a little less bark” is what the […]

Last night I attended the Annual Town Meeting that Rayleigh Town Council holds…..annually, surprisingly. It’d probably be more aptly named as an awards evening. However, it was good to see local people recognised for their hard work and efforts in our town. I was actually really surprised at some of the winners! Did you know that there is a ‘shower’ type device used by the police to wash victims of […]

It’s that time of year again, when you will see the mowers out cutting the grass verges. This service was taken back ‘in house’ by RDC last year following the setting up of the Green Gateway Trading Company and should give the Council and ultimately residents a better service. I’ve had several complaints from residents already that the recent grass cutting isn’t up to much this year though with the […]

In case you missed it…. there is a new notice board opposite the Grange shops which Rayleigh Town Council will post important and community information notices in. I proposed this as I felt that residents (especially those who are less computer literate) should have easy access to important information that is going on in the community. I also proposed that Rayleigh Town Council’s website was made mobile friendly and this […]

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 […]