The cliff gardens
The seafront
The town centre
The airport
Transport
Parking
We want to hear your views about any local issues, so please send us your comments. We will get back to you as quickly as possible.
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The cliff gardens
The seafront
The town centre
The airport
Transport
Parking
We want to hear your views about any local issues, so please send us your comments. We will get back to you as quickly as possible.
March 10, 2009 at 12:19 pm |
Welcome to the blog
November 24, 2009 at 7:53 pm |
Dear all,
Councillor DR. Jason Luty who represents Eastwood Park Ward was seen last friday demonstrating with two others with large placards outside the Spiritualist Church Hall, Hildaville Drive/Westborough Road, in Westborough Ward. He has been banned from meetings of RAW (Resident’s Association of Westborough), and believes he is a victim of harassment. He believes he has been victimized for political reasons, and he claims that he wished to attend the meeting. The Members discovered that the locks of the church and hall had been super-glued, and the police were unable to gain access.
I wonder who might have carried out this act of criminal damage?
February 4, 2010 at 2:58 pm |
Thank you Ted, for all you are doing for St. Laurence
May 23, 2010 at 7:49 pm |
Thank you for the Welcome. Where are all the bloggers?
There is no public toilet in Westborough Ward, as far as I know. I’ve seen Prittlewell Brook being used, on the boundary. Could this be looked at?
Thank you,
Bob Howes
November 20, 2010 at 11:29 am |
May I urge our Councillors to protect the Westcliff Library in particular from any cuts? The 3rd. most densely populated Ward in the UK needs this facility big-time as we have many ethnic minorities living here and the most school-aged children in the town. Also many unemployed people need the library as they seek work. Also, it has the busiest suite of library computers in the town.
Any cuts at all will be fiercely resisted by the residents.
January 14, 2011 at 10:38 am |
COALITION?
Not in Southend
Ted Lewin
Lib Dem councillor St Laurence Ward
Right from the start I would like to make it clear that despite the national coalition between the Lib Dem and Conservative parties, there is no such agreement here in Southend..
How could there be?
I look back a few years to the time that the Lib Dem Party were in control in Southend council. Their entire focus was on making Southend a town where residents were consulted and took part in the decisions that would affect them.
They always focussed on the people of Southend and making Southend a happy town for both visitors and residents alike. That’s why I’m proud to be a Liberal Democrat.
In the local council currently the Lib Dems are the main opposition party with twelve councillors. The Conservative party have a very small majority and are only able to retain control by controlling the way their councillors vote on key issues.
The Lib Dems discuss and reach agreement on important issues and vote accordingly, always for the best interests of residents. If a councillor does not agree there is no question of threats. That councillor must vote according to his conscience.
Currently the town is controlled by a cabinet of just 9 Conservatives.
What is the result?
Many seafront toilets have been closed causing visitors to pollute beaches.
Undoubtedly many families will not return to Southend if they are forced to walk miles just to visit a toilet.
Our seafront and main roads into the town are in a state of chaos. The idea of blocking all east west roads simultaneously for such a long period shows a huge lack of respect for the people of the town especially local businesses. Yes in the end there may well be benefits to the town but in the short term the loss of business has been a disaster in a time of huge economic stress.
The latest suggestion from the Tory think tank is to revert to the 60s idea of building tower blocks to create extra housing. Those of us who are old enough will surely shudder at the very thought of such backward thinking.
Whilst all these decisions are being agreed by the cabinet, the other 42 members are there purely to provide scrutiny to cabinet decisions but in reality are unlikely to achieve any significant changes in policy.
The upside of this is that unlike the cabinet they have time to listen and talk to their residents. One cabinet member actually said I haven’t got time to deal with residents problems I’m too busy with important council business.
Really?
Weren’t we elected principally to represent the residents and their problems?
The Lib Dems believe that leaving the decision making to the whims of a mere handful of Conservatives is wrong and would like to see a return to the system where all 51 councillors come to sensible decisions.
I try hard not to get involved in national politics; my focus is on Southend and Southend people. However I cannot ignore the national coalition.
In nine months the Lib Dems have shown that they can take on the challenge of making difficult and sometimes unpopular decision in a time when the coalition has been left with possibly the most challenging financial crisis we have ever had to face.
They have met that challenge head on.
I know that many people will feel strongly about University tuition fees.
I do not believe that Nick Clegg has broken his election pledge.
If you look closely at the agreement you can see that many students will pay less for tuition fees and all repayments are based on the outcomes and benefits that a University education eventually brings to the student.
Surely that’s fair. In effect university graduates are just repaying the tax payers for the education that has helped them to achieve a good salary.
Locally as well as nationally we are facing a tough short term future.
There are difficult decisions to be made.
I strongly hope that the Lib Dem party gain control at the May elections and return to a system where the council listen to the people they represent,
January 14, 2011 at 7:02 pm |
This looks like a good site! I wish to suggest that we should look at improving the environment for local buses. Apparently, the Tory Administration is not having any direct meetings with the local bus operators. Clearly more bus lanes would help, and less road works. Then we might get some modern buses. The current fleet are mainly at the end of their lives, and are sent here to die. They are therefor dirty buses which pollute the air we have to breath.
Bob Howes.
March 6, 2011 at 3:15 pm |
Sad to see the Coalition Government is still not listening. They propose to make all packaging for cigarettes the same, apart from the brand name. FOREST have been warning for ages that this will simply make it much easier for the smugglers of illegal tobacco to produce pirate packaging. We will have more dangerous products, more cheaply produced, flooding into the country! More difficult for our specialist teams at Revenue and Customs to detect which products are genuine.
They must learn to listen!!