Dear Member,

Next Meeting - Wednesday 5th March 2008

Annual General Meeting
The meeting will follow the usual agenda for the AGM, i.e. President's, Chairman's and Treasurer's reports, election of Chairman and officers, etc.

This will be followed by ….

Alastair Welch
The Managing Director of London-Southend Airport
will give a talk on the future plans for the airport and their impact on the local community

~ refreshment break ~

The meeting will be held at Highlands Methodist Church Hall (Olive Avenue entrance) and will start at 7:30 p.m.

Members are encouraged to bring along a guest

December Open Meeting
Dick Davies from BBC Essex gave an amusing and informative talk on life at our local radio station. His anecdotes and stories entertained those present and contributed to the festive spirit of the occasion. Special thanks to Sharon and Les for providing the mince pies!

Planning
Your Committee was absolutely delighted with the result of Appeal into the scheme proposed for the Bell Hotel site. The rejection of this inappropriate and potentially damaging scheme by the Planning Inspector will no doubt also have been well received by most residents in Leigh. The decision vindicates the lead taken by WLRA in insisting that the Appeal was conducted at a public inquiry which enabled residents and local representatives to voice their objections.
The Association has also been successful in its opposition to new flat developments at Highlands Court (London Road) and at Johnsons' car showrooms (opp. West Leigh Schools) both of which were rejected by Southend Council. We have also lodged objections to the latest plans for the St Clement's Hall site and once again to the loss of public open space for an extended sitting-out area at Osborne's café in the Old Town; decisions on these applications have still to be made.

London Road Improvement Scheme
Don't hold your breath but Southend Council may, just may, be getting round to doing something about our bit of the London Road. WLRA raised the issue of the continuing saga about Phase 3 of the London Road Improvement Scheme at the annual Business and Ratepayers Consultative Forum (6th Feb). Councillor Nigel Holdcroft assured us that funding for the work has been agreed in the 2008/09 budget and that the work itself will be completed in 2009. So we can again look forward to safer crossings, high-tech bus display boards, smart new paving, improved traffic flow at key junctions and the many other benefits that this long-awaited scheme will provide. Look out for the arrival of the diggers!

Grass verges (again)
A second issue raised by WLRA at the Consultative Forum was the old, old problem of cars digging up our grass verges and damaging our pavements. We asked Southend Council what they were going to do about it and were told that this is a project for 2008/09 and they were planning to bring in more enforcement and provide more staff to deal with it. If anyone has been down Barnard Road and Bailey Road recently, they will have seen the damage that is so easily caused to verges by off-road parking; and this is happening all over our neighbourhood. We were told that when this selfish behaviour is seen, details of registration number, location, date and time should be reported to Southend Council's Highways Department (tel: 215000).

Leigh Crime Prevention Panel
At the last meeting of the Panel (21st Jan), the Police said that reported crime in our area in 2007 was down 27% on the previous year; damage to cars and graffiti topped the list of offences. Residents with expensive cars were asked to be more careful where they leave their keys as there have been cases of house break-ins for the sole purpose of getting hold of the car keys to then steal the car. At this time of year the Police also warn residents to be particularly aware that thefts from garden sheds (equipment and bicycles) become more common.

Annual Subs
Will members please note that subscriptions for 2008 are now due. Membership remains unchanged at £2 each or £3 per household. For those who have still to pay, please bring along your cash to the AGM.

The Association Chairman
Eddie has let it be known that he will not be seeking re-election this year. This is a great loss to the Association as he has done such sterling work on behalf of us all (including even non-members) over the last seven years.
To enable the important work of WLRA to continue, the Association needs more members and particularly more members prepared to serve on the Committee or help out in other ways. We will clearly need a new chairman and members are urged to put their names forward.

I look forward to seeing you at the AGM on March 5th.

Eddie Cornish, Chairman.