Last nights Full District Council meeting was a long time coming for most of us opposition members. With 20 items on the agenda we were sure to be in for a long evening.
With apologies for absences from the Tory side of the chamber, this was going to get interesting! The Tory majority now is very marginal and they are particularly vulnerable to attack from the opposition. – that is of course if the ‘rainbow’ of the opposition is perfectly formed!
Well on this occasion, the ‘rainbow’ was perfectly formed and the Tories faced a night of misery in chamber. With most of their motions voted against by the opposition they were left frustrated.
Most of the ‘good stuff’ was in exempt (top secret) and this fact was kicked around the chamber for some time during the evening, as we tried to get them to remove the items from exempt so we could actually talk about it in public – Unfortunately we didn’t get to that point.
However, suffice to say by the end of the evening (11.30pm) we had found our pot of gold and walked away, our residents that much richer 🙂
In great fanfare this Councillor was elected in 2013, claiming a victory over the Tories and becoming one of the first UKIP County Councillors in the country. The question is, how many residents actually know who it is that’s supposed to be representing them and have they been effective for Rayleigh South. Flooding, Congestion, Part Night Street lighting, chaos at recycling centre in Castle Road with homeowners being turned away due to having the ‘wrong vehicle’ – it’s time for you to decide.
If you want to know who it was that elected click here
If you cherish your vehicle or wallet, you might be interested in when Essex County Council is preparing to resurface our local roads. Looking at this map which is available on the Essex County Council website it doesn’t appear as though Rayleigh is in for much funding for new road surfaces from ECC.
It’s come at a good time that they’ve released this interactive map, with the Essex County Council elections on May 4th, Â it does beg the question if our current incumbents that are supposed to represent Rayleigh have been making enough noise at County Hall on residents behalf. The condition of our local roads have only gone one way, and that’s down. The number of pot holes and poor surfacing I have noticed has become ever increasing. Rayleigh is a market town and I’m really starting to think that we would be better off travelling on horse and cart over these dirt tracks they like to call roads!
Recently I’ve heard stories of residents claims being rejected by Essex County Council for damage to their vehicle due to the poor road surfaces we all suffer.
Our Highways are a priority for our Essex County Council candidates, Chris Black and Chris Stanley to make sure that we get fair and real representation for Rayleigh.
The time is upon us when we try to replace the current incumbent Essex County Councillors that supposedly represent Rayleigh. I say 'supposedly' as I honestly can say I don't know if Rayleigh has been at the forefront of any of ECC decision making for a long time.
We have suffered 'odd' decisions on new development, pot holed marred highways, overcrowded schools, congestion, ever increasing air pollution from vehicles - the list simply goes on!
I for one am hoping for a representatives for Rayleigh that proactively put our area first and demand that we are fairly treated at County Hall.
For this task we have two very capable Lib Dem candidates and I hope that you support their campaigns.
Here's a bit more about one of the candidates - Cllr Chris Stanley​
Sometime ago I wrote about Sanctuary Housing and there slow response to dealing with tenants complaints/requests. Well, last week I have finally heard back from Emma Keegan, MD of Sanctuary Housing, that finally after a painful 6 months, Sanctuary Housing have completed the work they promised a resident.
I’m not so sure what the hold up was but I’m pleased that the resident has finally got a result.
A final word from the tenant….
Lets hope with your interest, they actually do something about how things have been allowed to get although I doubt it very much.!
It seems the tenant has lost all faith in Sanctuary, but I will continue to work on behalf of residents to make sure Sanctuary provide the service to ALL their tenants and hold them to account should they fail to deliver. Speaking with other Councillors, it would seem that we are not the only ones to be shining a spotlight on Sanctuary Housing.
Watch this space!
