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| Southend
Council's new Gambling Policy |
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Just as
with alcohol so too now with gambling, the issuing of gambling
licenses and permits passes from the courts to Southend Council
on 31st January 2007.
WLRA was not invited to participate in the consultation
on this policy.
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Bus
stops in Hadleigh Road
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At our recent
Open Meeting, members raised concerns about the dangers and
traffic problems resulting from the lack of road markings for
the bus stops in Hadleigh Road. Councillor Holdcroft said he
would look into the matter and as a result there are now bright
new road markings which should discourage cars from parking
in front of the bus stops. |
Southend
Council's Seafront Survey
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Southend
Council's Economic & Environmental Scrutiny Committee
is currently looking into how the Council could "enhance
the family friendly seafront area and attract more visitors".
Residents associations are being asked for their views on
10 issues which "can possibly be achieved in the
shorter term". The issues are:
- Artists
gallery
- Develop
events which bring cohesion between seafront and town
centre ("pied piper effect")
- Develop
estuary water based special events (Southend regatta)
- fun
pool (in addition to town's existing offer)
- ice
rink
- musical
presentation
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- Temporary
& Seasonal closure of southern side of the golden
mile carriageway to widen footpath - other side would
be 2 way traffic - on Sundays between 11am and 4pm
- 'walking
card/reward card' scheme
- web
cam
- winter
antique market
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Those
coloured red are the issues to which the Association assigned
priority. Additionally we thought the restoration of the bandstand
should be included under "musical presentations".
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| St
Clement's Hall Re-development Scheme |
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Along
with local residents, Leigh Town Council and community groups,
WLRA deplored the loss to Leigh of its community hall. Whilst
welcoming the inclusion of a replacement "community facility"
in the re-development of the site, the Association is strongly
opposed to the current scheme for a 10-storey block of flats.
The reasons for objection can be seen in our letter (link
below). In line with the recommendation from the planning
officers, Southend's Planning Committee rejected the application
at its meeting on 13th December 2006. The reasons for rejection
were those given by the officers (link below).
Needless to say, should the developers submit an appeal, WLRA
will continue to oppose this particular scheme and will pass
on our objections to the planning inspector.
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Southend
planning committee meeting on Wednesday 7th March
The
Bell Hotel scheme: refused.
This proposal was recommended for approval by Southend's planning
officers and the Borough Architect thought that "the form
of the buildings and the overall morphology are contextually
appropriate". However, the only Councillor to speak in
its favour was Leigh's very own Councillor Crystall. The other
Leigh Councillors, especially West Leigh's John Lamb and Gwen
Horrigan, spoke strongly against the scheme and a clear majority
of the Committee supported their view. Mr Crystall is quoted
as saying "I know I am going against the views of my residents
...." - he should remember that he is on the Council to
represent the local people.
151 Vardon Drive: refused.
The application was to convert a modest bungalow into a large
house.
19 Canvey Road: refused.
The plan is for a large extension to a building in the Chapmanslord
Conservation Area.
Moon Corner restaurant: refused.
This proposal was also recommended for approval by Southend's
planning officer. The plan is for a futuristic restaurant (102
seats) on the small piece of open ground at the corner of Broadway
and Leigh Road. The proposed structure was deemed "a modern
train crash" by Leigh Council or as the Southend's Borough
Architect called it "a brave attempt at creating a strong
deconstructivist piece of architecture". However he did
add "the dynamics of the architecture should be greatly
simplified whilst not losing the ethic of creating a unique
and interesting building". |
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Planning
Appeal held on the 33 Hadleigh Rd scheme
The government's Planning Inspector has recently conducted
the appeal into Southend Council's refusal to let a developer
build the usual type of modern, unsympathetic blocks of luxury
flats on the former St George's school site in the Leigh Conservation
Area.Unfortunately the existing building has been left to
deteriorate over recent years and may now be beyond saving.
We wait to hear the outcome from the Inspector.
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| How
long does it take for Southend Council to reply to a letter? |
Answer:
77 days! |
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We wrote
to the Head of Planning and Transportation in the Department
of Enterprise, Tourism and the Environment on 14th December
2006 (see Dangers
on our Footpaths) and finally
received a reply on 2nd March 2007.
Whilst this Department is very keen to steamroller through
disastrous planning applications, they can't find the time
to respond to the legitimate concerns of residents.
According to the recent assessment by the Audit Commission,
the council is "improving adequately"(sic); let's
hope they can improve their communication with the local taxpayers.
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AGM
~ March 7th
What
a good turnout! The meeting room was full. The Committee were
re-elected and Les Sawyer was also appointed as Vice-Chairman.
There are still two unfilled posts on the Committee - any
volunteers?
Eddie
Cornish summarised the worked done by the Association
over the last year (see Newsletters).
PC Paul Tucker, our local Neighbourhood Specialist
Officer introduced himself to members and was invited to speak
at our June meeting.
Councillor Nigel Holdcroft, Southend Councillor for
West Leigh and Deputy Leader of the Council, gave a
very bullish and informative talk, provided welcomed responses
to concerns raised by members and outlined some of the key
future plans of the Council including.......
- The
re-development of Southend High Street area to provide
more "local style" shopping outlets just
off the main thoroughfare
- The
METAL group is looking to provide cultural facilites
in Chalkwell Hall in Chalkwell Park.
- The
Council is hoping to bring in a policy to protect
bungalows from developers.
- The
Council is pushing to get changes to the law so that
they can start giving fixed penalty notices to drivers
who park on grass verges and pavements.
- The
Councillors are pushing Highways to get something
done urgently about potholes in our roads.
- The
Council is encouraging C2C to provide more flexible
shuttle services between Laindon and Southend to reduce
traffic flows.
- The
Council is bringing pressure to bear on central government
to release funds to enable the work on our phase of
the London Road improvements to be carried out.
- New
directors and heads of service will provide leadership
in the drive for a Better Southend.
-
and more
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Toilets
for sale
The long-disused toilets at the junction of London Road and
Eastwood Road are soon to be auctioned off by Southend Council.
Will they become another trendy wine-bar or kebab house or will
they just be demolished and replaced by a block of very narrow
but very high flats? Only time will tell. |
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Inspiring
or What?
The ratepayers (or "clients" as we are now
called) of Southend will be pleased to hear that Southend
Council has set up yet another programme for staff improvement.
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Following
on from Southend Tools Up, we now have Inspiring.
This programme aims at improving the "culture" within
the council, "establishing aspirations" and "engending
an ownership ". Over 180 officers attended Inspiring
workshops last year. The themes of the programme are "One
Council", "Our people" and "Working with
the Community" which are rather reminiscent of slogans
from the 1930's. The cost to the ratepayers: £90,000 in
2006, £130,000 in 2007 and probably yet more in 2008.
For full details, see the recent cabinet report below.
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Belfairs
High School's £25m rebuild
As a lead
school in the Building Schools for the Future project,
Belfairs High School will be completely rebuilt by 2010. Although
the current buildings are less than 50 years old, they are considered
unergonomic and inappropriate for the 21st century. The pupils
are also taking part in the requirements study currently being
undertaken by Cocentra, the LEA's team of consultants. |
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Be
careful where you drive at Leigh station! |
Yet more
CCTV surveillance cameras are being installed in the area,
this time in front of Leigh train station. The police want
to ensure that motorists who ignore the no-entry signs for
the bus-bays will be given three penalty points and a £60
fine. It is thought that dropping off passengers at unused
bus-bays qualifies as dangerous driving. The re-introduction
of an effective, integrated commuter bus service would reduce
the number of cars which now have to ferry passengers to and
from the station. The layout also needs to be re-designed
to protect commuters hurrying to catch their trains.
ps
There are up to 4.2 million CCTV cameras in Britain - about
one for every 14 people.
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