Essex County Council is offering local residents who wish to improve their computer skills an opportunity to take a class at Epping Library on Thursday 23 February 2012, from 2pm to 4pm.
Essex Police’s West Essex Division Commander, Chief Superintendent Simon Williams, is due to attend Epping Forest District Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting on Tuesday 6th September at 7.30pm. The meeting will take place in the Council Chamber at the Civic Offices, High Street, Epping.
be giving a presentation to councillors about reforms to the police service in Essex. I would therefore encourage residents to become involved. If anyone has any queries on the future of operational policing in Essex, I would suggest they contact their local ward Councillor so that questions can be put to Superintendent Williams on their behalf. Should there be insufficient time to address all issues during the meeting, Councillors can follow up any outstanding queries at a later stage. I hope as many residents as possible will either attend or watch this meeting so that they are aware of what to expect from the police in the future during a time of having to find savings in the police service."
The Leader of Essex County Council, Cllr. Peter Martin, has reminded me today of the ‘Visit Essex’ website, which is a fantastic resource for visitors and those wishing to explore our county more thoroughly. The UK’s latest tourism figures show a 5% increase in visits to UK attractions so I hope this website continues to sell ‘Essex’ and the many things we have to offer here. Cllr. Martin explained: “Our tourism team works hard to keep this up to date with all sorts of things to do in Essex to make the most of the remaining summertime…if we get any more sunshine!”
Following a recent meeting of the Epping Forest Highways Panel on 22nd June, Essex County Council’s Highways Department are continuing to pursue opportunities for delivery under the ‘Highways Rangers’ service. As part of this project, Epping Town Council (alongside other Council’s in the district) have been requested to identify suitable works which may be carried out to improve areas which the highways department are directly responsible. The issued raised by all of the local councils will be prioritised and a draft works programme will be created. Of course, not every suggestion will be carried out in this round of work, but you have to be in it to win it as they say!
On 13th May 2010, the Epping Forest Guardian published an article stating that Essex County Council had postponed building the new St. John’s School “indefinitely”, which is absolute nonsense.
uncertainty about public spending cuts, the County are not yet willing to commit their capital to large-scale projects until they know how much money they will have to serve the people of Essex in the year ahead. A entirely sensible stance in my opinion. This is simply a funding issue - Essex County Council are still completely committed to building a new secondary school in Epping and their officers, contractors and projects managers will continue to work closely with the school to ensure that as soon as the time in financially viable, the project kicks-off.
new school premises, and so additional funding source(s) will need to be identified before the project moves forward. The construction costs have not risen above initial estimates. We will continue to work with the governing body to move this project forward.”
Epping Forest District Council and Essex County Council have submitted a request to the Olympic Delivery Authority to have the Olympic Torch travel through the district on its way to the London 2010 Olympic Stadium in Stratford.
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:
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.
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).
If you are a community or voluntary group operating in Epping, you can now apply for funding for capital community projects such as works to village halls, skate parks, play areas or, public open spaces, etc. The CIF (Community Initatives Fund) for Highways is also open to applications and you can apply for projects such as zebra crossings, roundabouts, crossing points, village gateways or, new stretches of pavement.
It is with great pleasure I can confirm that after a long campaign, Allnuts Post Office in Allnuts Road, Epping, will reopen its doors to local residents on Monday 23rd November with a brand-new look after 18 months of being closed. The store was one of six branches in Epping Forest to be closed down following nationwide cutbacks.
people want, and provide it!''
Many of the emails and letters I receive from Epping residents relate to what we refer to as ‘highways issues’. These range from potholes, to street lights, to kerb drops, to blocked drains to bus shelters, to footpaths, to road markings and signs right the way through to overgrown hedges.
Parents or carers of children born between 1st September 2005 and 31st August 2006 must apply for reception places in primary schools by 30th November 2009.
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.
Around 120 young people are to be offered new apprenticeships, as part of an initiative being launched by Essex County Council.
eeds. The Essex Apprentice Project will de-risk companies by employing and paying the full costs for apprentices as they undertake a one year Level II apprenticeship in engineering. Apprentices will spend at least 12 weeks in the workplace, and will be rotated around local business clusters to provide the necessary breadth of vocational experience. For more information about the scheme, please click here or contact Glynis Argue at Essex County Council on 01245 438850.
Essex County Council has just released their new travel information guide - ‘Bus and Train Maps for Essex: Summer 2009’.
As residents will know, a review of parking took place in Epping during 2007, from which various new parking regulations were implemented, especially in the roads around Epping Underground Station, which were suffering from commuter parking. 
I have received a large number of communications from local residents this week regarding the amount of cars which speed carelessly, especially during rush-hour, down Station Road to Epping Station or through the Road into Bower Hill. This is an issue which Epping Town Council has drawn to the attention of Essex County Council’s Highways Department previously. The Council stated that it did not believe that the vehicle activated speed signs have reduced speeding in Bower or indeed in Ivy Chimneys Road.
I just wanted to take this opportunity to remind everyone that there are two elections taking place today: European Parliamentary elections (list of candidates can be found here) to elect your MEPs for the Eastern Region and Essex County Council elections to elect your new Councillor for Epping and Theydon Bois.
