West Thurrock and South Stifford

People's Community Forum

Minutes of the Meeting held on

Thursday 6th September, 2012

At St. Clements Church Hall, West Thurrock.

Present: Roger Passfield Chairman

Helen Ormond Secretary

Gareth Davies Committee Member

Kay Ravenhill " "

Cllr Andy Smith Thurrock Council

Guest speakers from Thurrock Library Service

Rosalyn Jones

Carmel Littleton

Janet Clark

Guest speaker from Thurrock Highways Department

Les Burns

PCSO Essex Police

Residents of West Thurrock and South Stifford

Meeting commenced at 7.35pm.

1 Welcome

The chairman, Roger Passfield welcomed all present to the meeting.

2 Apologies

Mary Timlin, Jim Retter, Linda Retter, Oliver Gerrish, Victoria Holloway, PC Thompson, Nathan Drover, Andy Millard.

3 Agree minutes of last meeting

The minutes were agreed and signed by the Chairman

4. Matters Arising

There were no matters arising.

5. Declarations of interest

None.

6. Guest Speakers – Thurrock Library Service

The Chairman introduced members of the Thurrock Library Service, Rosalyn Jones, Carmel Littleton and Janet Clark.

Rosalyn informed members that local residents are being asked for their input for improving the library service in future. She added that there were no library closures planned in 2013, but ways of reducing costs whilst maintaining the service need to be put in place. Reduced opening hours in some areas is one way this might be achieved.

Plans have been agreed to pilot a community hub in Belhus from 2013. This will be extended to other parts of the borough at a later date. It will be centred at the library but will be multi-purpose. This will be a consumer driven development and aims to serve people from babies to senior citizens. Services would include housing, information for residents as well as the library service. Residents would be regularly updated through the forums.

The Chairman thanked the speakers on behalf of the forum.

7. Guest Speaker – Les Burns, Chief Highways Officer, Thurrock

Residents voiced several concerns about the state of the roads in the area and Mr Burns answered what he could and assured the forum that he would investigate others and report back to the forum via the Chair. The major concerns were:

London Road – new traffic signals at Devonshire Road and weight restriction to be removed. There are plans to improve the area up to Askew Farm Road.

London Road / Motherwell Way – there were several complaints about the new road layout and concerns were expressed that a serious accident could occur as signage was inadequate.

The Chase – there is to be a light controlled crossing here. No progress had been made with the mini roundabout by The Chase and Mill Lane.

Other concerns included:

Hazardous pavements along by the Fox and Goose site and towards Stonehouse Lane

Overgrowth and overhanging trees and shrubs are causing problems along the pavements.

The general condition of the roads needs attention. There are several potholes in the roads and problems with drainage gave rise to localised flooding during extremely heavy rainfall. Grass is growing in some gulley pots

It was felt that problems with lorries parking were not being addressed. Parsonage Road estate is particularly affected. Mr Burns will look into this and report back via the Chair.

The council are working with the Police to resolve the problem of boy racers in the area but the solution is gradual.

There are no drop kerbs in Motherwell Way.

Cyclists continue to use pavements.

Bus stop in Motherwell Way is not in a suitable location for most people in West Thurrock. It was suggested that it be re-sited in London Road, near to original location.

The Chair thanked Mr Burns for attending the meeting.

8 .PCSOs

The PCSOs reported that it wasn’t possible to police the dispersal order for the boy racers due to lack of funds and manpower.

9. NAPs

Issues raised for NAPs were:

· the legality of wheel clampers at Chafford 100 station. Intimidating behaviour towards the public is a problem. Several complaints of illegal clamping have been reported to the police. This may be a problem for the council to resolve.

· There is a problem with drug selling and use in the West Thurrock Park. Residents say that police response is slow when incidents are reported.

Ray suggested that Cllr Smith take this problem to the council.

Other issues included littering in the area and the replacement of a broken lamp post.

The PCSOs will take the following issues forward and report back at the next forum meeting:

· Boy racers

· Drugs in West Thurrock Park

· Car vandalism

Ray thanked the PCSOs on behalf of the forum for the work they do in the ward.

10. Funding requests.

There were no funding requests.

11. Community First Panel

The Panel has been set up jointly with Purfleet to cover the whole ward of West Thurrock and South Stifford. Gareth Davies and Kay Ravenhill are the representatives on the panel for this half of the ward and will ensure that there is an even spread of money across the area it serves. Community groups are invited to approach the Panel for any funding requirements for consideration. There is approximately £5500 available. The minimum amount that can be requested is £250 and the maximum is £2500.

Bar n’ bus have put in a request for funding.

The Chair thanked Gareth on behalf of the forum.

12. Guest speakers for the next meeting.

It was suggested to invite the surgery manager from the St Clements’ Health Centre.

13. AOB

None

Date of next meeting: 1.11.12. at 7.30pm at St Clements’ Church Hall.

The meeting closed at 9.15pm.

Minutes signed as a true record of the meeting. Chair.