Political Viewpoint by Coun Peter Wexham, Leigh Ward
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WITH this virus rampaging around the world, everything is up in the air and it is hard for anyone to plan ahead as individuals, business or the council.
It is hard to get a lot of things done as a many council staff are helping the voluntary sector to get help and supplies to residents that have been sick or sheltering.
That does not mean nothing is happening, behind the smokescreen of the Virus the Government are changing the planning rules and Southend has to build thousands more homes on top of what they had already been allocated to provide. What effect this will have on Leigh and the town I am not sure.
In the 1960s tower blocks were being build across the town, but these turned out not to be what people aspired to, which was a home and garden.
That stopped across the Country, but now it is starting to look like a second wave of homes in the sky is likely to come our way.
The Government is also reorganising local Government with the prospects of expanding into a larger Unitary Authority, as the Southend Borough does not have the size of population the Government wants.
Other ideas being put around include joining up with all the local authorities from here to Thurrock, with talk of an elected Mayor. This basically would join us up to greater London, as Thurrock are already working with Redbridge. This is what happened with Romford, Ilford and Loughton and Dagenham, which used to be part of the County of Essex. The other Idea being considered is that everything should come under the control of Essex County Council.
To me, this would put all the infrastructure developments in London’s favour, leaving Southend at the end of the queue when it comes to improvements.
The Local Airport. The local Conservatives are saying that they have reduced the number of night flights each month down from 900 to 120. What they are not saying is that the Airport was not achieving 900 flights a month at all. The fact is, it was the Airport who originally put the 900 flights figure forward when the Tory Council owned and ran the airport. When the Tories privatised the Airport and drew up the new lease, for the new airport company, they could have put in any number they liked, but refused to do so.
Some good news for Leigh and the Town’s environment is that the Council, that I and my lib-Dem colleagues are part of, is implementing the Climate Change Policy. All public buildings and properties will be energy efficient and where possible, Solar Power will be part of this, supplying energy and reducing bills.
The Fishing grant money, the FLAG grant, has now finished. However, the infrastructure improvements, set up through the grant in the old Town, are still going on. We have now got the energy company that supplies electricity to the Town, to improve the power supply, to stop all the power going off and work on the joints in the cables is still going on. They are also looking at what more needs to be done. It has been a problem for all the residents and businesses in the Old Town, particularly for the businesses with large freezers that hold the Cockles and fish for all the year round supplies.
It has been a hard year for all the businesses in Leigh and the surrounding areas. It is likely that of more Covid-19 restrictions will be coming in. Many in the population have been worrying about becoming ill with the virus and it does not help, when groups of people just ignore what they are supposed to do to protect those who are vulnerable.
We are pressing on with monitoring the air quality locally and tree planting this winter. One thing that we can all do, is to plant a tree in our garden. We can try to support nature and not just keep on taking trees out. Where a tree has to be removed, we can plant a small tree to take its place.
To all the local residents of Leigh and the local area, Stay safe and take care for all our sakes.
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