BLOODY BRAWL IN EPPING HIGH STREET

I am deeply concerned having received so many telephone calls and messages from local residents about a brawl which took place during the early hours of Saturday 26th September in Cottis Lane, just off of Epping High Street.

There are a huge amount of information circulating on this issue, most of which is rumour; certainly no one has been killed, but several people have been seriously injured and two men in their early and mid twenties from the East London area remain in hospital receiving treatment for their injuries.

Essex Police Officers remain at the scene of the altercation, outside of Club One9Five and The Edge where forensic evidence gathering continues. Forensic work has also taken place at the Elite Cab office. Police have confirmed that a 46-year-old man from Harlow has been arrested on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm, but their investigation is still on-going. Six other men who received injuries have now been released from hospital.

Clearly, this is an outrageous situation to find ourselves in and I shall be working very closely with Essex Police on this week to establish precisely what happened and to ensure incidents of this kind never happen in our town again.

TEMPORARY ROAD CLOSURE - Hemnall Street

Essex County Council have issued a Public Notice outlining a temporary road closure of Hemnall Street on Wednesday 9th September 2009 for the purpose of repair works on a water supply pipe by Veolia Waters Three Valleys.

PLANNING APPLICATIONS FOR CONSIDERATION

The following planning applications will be considered by Epping Town Council's Planning and General Purposes Committee on Tuesday 8th September 2009. If you wish to express your view to the committee on any of the application below, you can either email info@eppingtowncouncil.gov.uk or attend the meeting in person at Epping Hall, St. John's Road, Epping, CM16 5JU.

LB/EPF/1487/09 (Revised Application) - Mr. R. Balasuriya, The Old Rectory, Coopersale Common, Coopersale - Extension to existing rear conservatory.
LB/EPF/1488/09 (Revised Application) - Mr. R. Balasuriya, The Old Rectory, Coopersale Common, Coopersale - Grade II listed building application for an extension to existing rear conservatory.
EPF/1495/09 - Mr. M. Green, The Diary, Houblons Hill, Coopersale - Detached oak-framed garage/workshop/storage building.
EPF/1505/09 - Mr. & Mrs. Martin, 22 Lynceley Grange, Epping - Single storey rear extension.
EPF/1521/09 - Mr. D. Smith, 9 Woodberry Down, Epping - Ground floor extension, garden room and detached garage.
EPF/1409/09 - Mrs. W. Elmes, 88 High Street, Epping - Variation of condition 3 on EPF/1806 to allow preparation of restricted range of hot food in this A3 café.

FREE ROLLER SKATING AVAILABLE FOR GIRLS

Epping Forest District Council and the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation are offering girls the chance to go roller skating. Girls aged 12 and over are welcome along to sessions at St John’s School in Epping.

Starting on Thursday 24th September 2009, the roller skating sessions take place once a week until 3 December from 6pm till 7pm. Sessions are completely free and there is no need to book. Roller skates will be provided but you are welcome to bring your own.

St John’s School is located at Tower Road, Epping, CM16 5EN. For further information, please contact Fabrizio Luca Ferrari by telephone on 01992 564220.

THINK TWICE BEFORE TEXTING WHILE DRIVING

Given the recent increase in Road Traffic Accidents in and around the Epping area, I wanted to use this advert as a sobering reminder of what could happen if you take your eyes off of the road for just a second.

LOCAL BUS INFORMATION - Service Changes

Services 7/7A/7B: Harlow - Epping - Chelmsford
These services, run by Regal Busways, will have a revised timetable with effect from 14th September 2009, with an additional journey from Epping at 14.15, Monday to Friday

Service NWH: Epping - North Weald - Harlow
This service, run by TWH Bus and Coach Services, will be withdrawn with effect from 6th September 2009.

For more information on public transport link in Epping, please click here and click on 'Public Transport Information'.

COUNCIL REQUESTS REVIEW OF ELECTIONS

Epping Town Council have requested that Epping Forest District Council conduct a community governance review to alter the existing electoral arrangements for Epping Town Council to a system where 6 Council members in each of Epping’s 2 wards are elected every 4 years, as it is at present, but with elections in each ward separated by an interval of 2 years.

The current arrangements require all 12 Councillors to vacate their seats every 4 years, which means it is possible that 12 totally inexperienced Councillors could be elected and required to run a relatively large town council in key positions, such as Mayor, Deputy Mayor, Chairman of planning and general purposes and the Key Member for Finance.

For a full list of current Town Councillors & their responsibilities, please click here.