Following several accidents and injuries involving members of the refuse collection teams, all waste and recycling collections have been suspended throughout the district. The collection crews are facing severe difficulties in providing the service due to the very dangerous conditions which exist on many of the district’s roads and pavements. During the suspension of normal operations the Council have diverted resources to the gritting of town centres and secondary shopping areas.
They will continue to monitor the situation carefully and recommence waste and refuse collections as soon as it is safe to do so. Prioritised collections will take place so that those properties that have been waiting the longest for a 
collection are dealt with first.
Councillor Mary Sartin, Environment Portfolio Holder said: “I would like to express my thanks and concern for the waste collection crews. They have done everything possible to keep collections going but conditions have become too dangerous. Refuse and recycling collections will recommence as soon as it is safe. In the meantime I would like to thank residents for their continuing patience and support.”
The Leader of Epping Forest District Council, Cllr. Mrs. Di Collins released a public statement today saying: “Severe weather puts a great deal of extra strain on local services but it is in these situations that we find the best examples of community spirit. If you know someone who may be vulnerable why not give them a ring or a knock on the front door just to make sure they are all right. If travellingm Have plenty of warm clothing and an emergency supply of food and drink in your car. Make sure you are not short on fuel and put a spade in the boot. Make sure your mobile phone is charged and has enough credit. Keep a careful eye on weather reports and travel news before deciding to travel. Tuning into your local radio station can be the best source of news.”
I’ve had a number of emails and calls from residents recently regarding how Essex County Council’s Highways and Transportation department are helping to keep Epping moving during the heavy snow we have seen in the past few weeks. Many residents have asked which roads actually get gritted or salted as part of the Council’s precautionary measures (i.e. when frost, ice or snow are forecast) and the answer is:
* Motorways.
* “A”, “B” and “C” roads, main roads linking estates etc.
* Direct access routes to hospitals, fire and ambulance stations.
* Public service bus routes carrying a total of four or more public service buses per day, at least 5 days a week. 
* Sites of four or more recorded accident (Personal injury accidents) within a 3 year period where frost/ice on the carriageway surface was a contributory factor.
* Rural routes, i.e. the main access road, leading to the main settlement, of parishes of 50 Households or more.
* Epping Forest District Council are also provided with a supply of salt grit to cover town centres.
In Epping, the following roads are also covered: Lindsey Street, High Street, High Road, Palmers Hill etc, The Plain, Coopersale Common, Stonards Hill, Coopersale Street, Stewards Green Road, Station Road, Centre Drive, Bower Hill, Bridge Hill, Brook Road, Ivy Chimneys Road, Theydon Road, Bury Lane, Tower Road, Lower Swaines, Coronation Hill and Shaftsbury Road.
The following roads are classed as “secondary roads” that we salt post snow/ice when resources permit and when the main salted roads are clear: Kendall Avenue, Ravensmere, Hemnall Street (both sections), Bakers Lane running into Ingles Mead, Nicholl Road running into Amesbury Road, Lincolns Fields, Rayfield, Severns Field (cul-de-sac), Beaconfield Road, Beaconfield Avenue.
A number of residents have also raised concern about the recent state of Crows Road, given the fact it is a very well used road to access St. John’s School and has a steep incline, so I have today had this road added to the secondary roads list.
Epping Town Council has also purchased a number of salt bins which are scattered across the town. These are to be used by residents who believe the road outside of their home is dangerous. They can be found at: Theydon Grove (opposite number 3), in Beaconsfield Road (opposite number 24), in Parklands (opposite 48), in I
ngles Mead (at the junction with Rayfield), in Stewards Green Road (opposite the Merry Fiddlers Pub) and in St. John’s Road (inside Epping Primary School’s gates).
For more information about County Highways and travel information, please click here. Otherwise you can follow the latest announcements on Twitter here.
Epping Forest District Council have announced today that they are suspending their standard rules on refuse collection to help ease the backlog of waste created over the Christmas period, which was impacted badly by the recent weather conditions.
The statement issued says: “The Council has suspended its normal rules on the putting out of side waste and will take away all waste put out for collection until the backlog has been cleared. Residents are reminded that dry recycling (including glass) can be put out in any container (except a black plastic sack) and the crews will collect it. Christmas trees will also be collected as part of the food and garden service, provided that they are not taller than, or have been cut down into pieces of, not more than four feet (1.2 metres). Residents are requested to continue to separate their recycling as this is particularly important at this time of year due to the volumes of glass, plastic and paper packaging in the waste stream.”
Today, I received a message from the family of the late Royal Marine Georgie Sparks, which informed me of a proposed protest march organised by an extremist Islamic al-Muhajiroun movement in the small market town of Wooton Bassett.
Anjem Choudary of Islam4UK has sparked dismay with plans for 500 of its members to parade with empty coffins symbolising Muslim victims through the town, which has become famous for honouring service personnel killed in the conflict, as they land at RAF Lyneham.
I wrote to Cllr. Chris Wannell, the Mayor of Wooton Bassett, last year to express the thanks of the people of Epping for the truly astonishing way their community had stood together and committed to showing each and every one of our war dead absolute respect 
when their bodies returned home.
Today, I have found myself writing to the Prime Minister and Home Secretary to express my concerns at the proposed march in this small town, as I believe it to be complete inappropriate and very disrespectful both to the community of Wooton Bassett and also to friends and families of the hundreds of brave soldiers who have travelled through the town.
Islam4UK claim to simply be making a political stand against the war, which, as a wholehearted believer in democracy, I can accept. However, this group, like all others, should make their representations known to those who made the decision to take our country to war and who are the only people who can end it, which is our Members of Parliament. Westminster is designed to accommodate protest marches of this kind. Bombarding Wooton Bassett in this way is, quite frankly, shameful and inappropriate.
This protest march will require the approval of the Home Secretary to take place, so please join me in sharing your concerns by emailing the Home Secretary here johnsona@parliament.uk or by writing to Rt. Hon. Alan Johnson MP, Home Secretary, 2 Marsham Street, London, SW1P 4DF. Alternatively your can email the Prime Minister here BrownG@parliament.uk or write to him at 10 Downing Street, London, SW1A 2AA.
Epping Forest District Council’s photographer has managed to capture some beautiful pictures from across the district in the sever winter weather we have been subject to in the past few weeks, which you can view here.
A long-serving Metropolitan Police Officer from North Weald has been made a MBE for his work setting up a boxing club for inner city youths.
PC Gerry Willmott, of School Green Lane, was awarded the accolade in the Queen's New Year's Honours list after receiving widespread praise after launching a boxing club for young people in the London Borough of Haringey in 1999, as a way of keeping young people out of trouble by teaching them the discipline of the sport.
Gerry explained: "Ten years ago we just needed something to get the kids off the streets. We wanted to do something different from football and basketball and I have a background of boxing, even after joining the police force in 1975." Speaking about his MBE, 
he said: "When I found out I was completely surprised, I never expected to ever receive anything like this."
Gerry is a very old family-friend and I couldn’t think of a more fitting person to receive an award of this kind. Before moving to North Weald, he lived in Chapel Road in Epping for many years and served as a police officer in Waltham Abbey. He’s a man who gives so much of his time to benefit others and is the sort of person we all aspire to be. Well done Gerry!!
The Leader of Epping Forest District Council will appeal directly to the Government for the removal of the Direction requiring the Council to consult upon and develop a separate Gypsy and Traveller Development Plan Document. The letter to Right Honourable John Healey MP, Minister for Housing and Planning within the Department of Communities and Local Government was recommended at the Cabinet meeting on 4 January to Full Council on 19 January for final approval.
upposed to streamline processes and reduce costs. The Direction seems to have created the opposite effect. Councillors complimented the local community for the amount of work that had gone into the responses to the consultation and stressed that this evidence base was a key input to further work on the DPD.
Traveller issues into the Core Strategy as part of the Local Development Framework. The LDF replaces the Local Plan as the ‘blue-print’ for policies against which future planning applications are judged. Completion of the LDF is considered vital by the Council as it prepares with Harlow and East Herts District Councils to implement the recommendations of the East of England Plan. The Council will continue the preparation of the Gypsy and Traveller Development Plan Document pending the Minister’s response.
