Forest Row Centre is well on its way

I had a site meeting today at the new Forest Row Centre in Lodge Lane, Collier Row, the building work is progressing at a very steady pace and it will not be long before the work is complete.

You can see from the two photos taken above, the progress being made. The first photo was taken about one month ago, the second was taken today. The picture is of the main sports hall.

I went through some of the minor issues on site with the builders, such as the colours to be painted on the walls in different rooms, going through some details in the reception area and generally looking over the progress of the work.

I also met last week with the Forest Row committee and Council officers to go through some of the finer details surrounding the lease negotiations. As a trustee of the Forest Row Centre, which as now been officially recognised as a charity it is great to finally see something nearing completion that you started over five years ago.

Bedfords Park awarded Green Flag

Bedfords Park in Broxhill Road, Havering-atte-Bower has been awarded the coveted Green Flag status – the first in the borough, along with Upminster Park. Bedfords is also home to Essex Wildlife Trust, with the visitors centre entering its fifth year in the park, bringing in visitors far and wide. The park occupies some 210 acres

Green Heritage Site accreditation – now in its fifth year - is sponsored by English Heritage to promote best practice in the understanding, care, upkeep and promotion of parks and green spaces in England that are of heritage interest. The Green Flag Award is the national standard for parks and green spaces.

Havering Council has made submissions over the last three years, but this is the first time an application has been successful. A great deal of work had gone into the bid and a lot of that work was supported by the "Friends of Bedfords Park" group, a group of volunteers that give up their own time to improve the environment of the park.

Bedfords Park was enclosed in the 15th century by Sir Thomas Cooke, one-time Lord Mayor of London, and remained in his family for almost 200 years. It was acquired in 1771 by John Heaton who built a the manor house of Bedfords on the crest of the hill which was enlarged in the 19th century and extensive gardens laid out around it, much of which still remain such as the monkey puzzle trees, cedars of Lebanon and rhododendrons.

Car Parking Petition reaches almost 20,000

Last week, Havering Council held its full Council meeting and this gave the Residents Association across the Borough to hand in our car park petition to the Mayor.

Graham Price and myself were present and i handed in the Collier Row part of the petition with over 2000 signatures, 2236 to be exact and this figure still goes up each week.

The new measures propose parking charges in ALL council car parks 7 days a week, charging disabled drivers for parking, additional waiting restrictions in residential areas and disc parking largely replaced by 'Pay & Display'.

Residents’ Associations across the borough launched petitions opposing the proposals. A grand total of 16,285 registered their disapproval of the proposed charges with Upminster (4,715), Cranham (2,803), Collier Row (2,236), Hornchurch (2,997), Elm park (2,629) Cherry Tree (344) and the internet petition (561) making up the total.

Although to date, the Conservative Administration running the Town Hall have refused to budge on this issue, we are still hopeful that they will take notice, almost 20,000 have objected to date on this terrible new policy.

It will affect our smaller shopping centres and drive people away to bigger shops such as Tesco at Gallows Corner and Lakside. I accept that the charge at the moment is only small, 20p, but how long before this becomes 50p and then a £1 and then £2, we will wait and see.

Planning Permission for more Flats

At last weeks Planning meeting in the Town Hall, permission was granted for the conversion of 92 The Drive, in Collier Row to be turned into five flats, this was despite opposition from Cllr Mann and local residents.

Although the Residents Association members voted against the application, it was supported by the Tory Councillors, who once again rail roaded more flats into Collier Row against the wishes of the local residents.

Maybe as none of the Tory Councillors are Local to Collier Row they do not care about what we think.

MORE TO FOLLOW LATER

Forest Lodge finally Demolished

The last remaining building of the old Forest lodge School building was demolished this week to make way for the new £2 million Community & Activity Centre in Lodge Lane. The building had been used by the Forest Lodge Activity Centre (F.L.A.C) for the last 15 plus years and found itself in the middle of the new car park.

As a former pupil of the old school, on one hand it was a sad day to see the last remains of the school disappear, however i am looking forward to seeing the new building open to the community, which will be a wonderful resource for both young and old.

The new centre is well under way, with the roof now on and all of the services inside, such as heating, electrics, plumbing etc now being installed, hopefully the centre will be ready by the end of the summer.

I have been very proud to have been involved with this building project from the begining, i have meet with Council Officers and representatives of FLAC for the last five years tha i have been your Councillor in "Havering Park" ward and i am looking forward to the grand opening later in the year.

Summer Newsletter now being deliverd

Our latest newsletter is currently being delivered to almost 11,000 homes, shops and business premises across Havering Park & Mawneys Wards in North Romford. It is filled with dozens of stories about things going on in Collier Row and Havering-atte-Bower and an update on what your local representatives have been doing.

Our newsletter has now grown in size, with so much to write about in Collier Row and a waiting list for advertisers, we have added an extra 4 pages to its size taking our booklet up to a 16 page bumper issue. The newsletter will stay at the new 16 page size for the rest of the year.

Dont be fooled by big full colour glossy leaflets from other parties trying to re-invent themselves as local Conservatives. Dont forget this is the party that says its Councillors are local, however one of them lives in Cranham and not one lives in a ward that they represent.

On a recent leaflet, they even tried to fool the good residents of Mawneys ward by suggesting that one of their Councillors lived in the ward by using the address of a local person on their leaflet. If they are proud to represent you, then they should say they live in Gidea Park, Hornchurch and Cranham, thats what you call Local i suppose !!!

If you would like to read the newsletter on line, then please CLICK HERE, or on the picture of the front cover, above.

A Royal Village through the Centuries

Havering Council's latest Heritage walk will take place on Saturday, the 14th July 2007 around Havering-atte-Bower (Havering Village). Havering-atte-Bower has a long and very rich history and it was once the home to a royal palace.

The palace had a continuous use as a royal residence from the 12th century to the time of Charles I. There are also many other interesting things to see and stories to hear about the Village.

Local historian Brian Evans will again be leading this walk, which starts at 10.00am on the Village Green and will finish at the Royal Oak Public House at approx 12.30.

Havering-atte-Bower is a wonderful place, often forgotten by people, that it belongs to my ward "Havering Park", two, it is part of Romford and three, that it is still in the London Borough of Havering, something the Mayor of London often forgets.

Collier Row CCTV Consultation

As you will know, following a successful campaign by your Residents Association, the Council have finally brought forward plans for CCTV in Collier Row, something only the Residents Association campaigned for during the last local elections.

In order to get the system right and cameras in the correct locations, council staff are now undertaking a CCTV Consultation day on Thursday 5th July at Collier Row Library between 10am and 4pm. For people who are unable to attend, questionnaires will be available at Collier Row Library. If you can not get along to the Library, just drop me a line and i will be able to post or e-mail you a copy of the questioner.

The purpose of this questionnaire is to establish the areas within Collier Row town centre that are of greatest concern to local businesses and residents.

In a statement, Council officers said;

All responses to this questionnaire will be given careful consideration alongside other available crime and disorder information. All efforts will be made to meet the needs of the community, however it may not be possible to meet all expectations as the funding available is limited.

Please note the installation of CCTV cameras is a complex and lengthy process. We will, however, be working to keep the disruption to the town centre to a minimum.

Smoke Free Havering

By the time you are reading this, the nationwide smoking ban in public places will have just started. On the 1st July, new regulations banning smoking in every workplace and public place will start and it will have huge implications for everyone, not just non smokers.

The key points are:

From 1 July 2007 it will be against the law to smoke in virtually all enclosed and substantially enclosed public places and workplaces.

Public transport and work vehicles used by more than one person will also need to be smokefree.

No-smoking signs will have to be displayed in all smokefree premises and vehicles.

Staff smoking rooms and indoor smoking areas will no longer be allowed, so anyone who wants to smoke will have to go outside.

Managers of smokefree premises and vehicles will have legal responsibilities to prevent people from smoking.

If you are uncertain where you can or can't smoke, just look for the no-smoking signs or ask someone in charge.

If you don't comply with the new smokefree law, you will be committing a criminal offence and local Councils across the Country will have enforcement officers issuing fixed penalty notices if you commit an offence.

For more on the new regulations, the campaign and full information see the official government site: http://www.smokefreeengland.co.uk/