Copy of a letter to the Romford Recorder

To the Editor

With reference to the letter from the current Cabinet Member for StreetCare and Parking, Cllr Barry Tebbutt (letters 19th Oct 2007) I can confirm that he is incorrect in his assumption that the story printed by the Recorder concerning the estimated £1.7 million income is wrong and was based on figures for all tickets issued, not just the car.

I will repeat the figures here for his benefit; on the latest figures given by himself, the Council have issued an average of 2,500 tickets a month using the CCTV car, which gives an estimate of 30,000 tickets a year. At a cost of £100 at the full price and £50 at the discount rate, according to the councils own figures half are paid at discount and half at the full price, with a total of 90% of all tickets issued being paid, the other 10% would be for bad debtors or no vehicle keeper details or untraceable.

So that means an estimate for a full 12 months would be 13,500 tickets paid at £100 (which makes £1,350.000) and 13,500 tickets paid at £50 (which makes £675,000). That makes a total of some £2 million pounds. I accept that this is only an estimate based on current figures; however, the cars have issued three times the amount of tickets they thought it would issue in a whole year, in just three months.

The comments about “Tax on Parking” are ones expressed to me on an almost weekly basis from shopkeepers and residents who feel they are being targeted and issued tickets without any due care to common sense or within the law. Tickets have been issued for parking on the pavement, where the white lines have all been scrubbed away, but it is still legal to park there. More money needs to be spent on re-painting the white lines.

I have been inundated with letters, phone calls and e-mails about people’s experiences with the car; I have seen photos of a car stopped in the road, door open and someone’s leg half out of the door, the fact that they had a blue badge in the front window seems hear nor there to the operator. Many of our elderly and most vulnerable residents are blue badge holders and they are getting ticket after ticket as the car is not looking in the front window to see if it has a blue badge.

I have meet with three different shop keepers in Collier Row in the last week alone, who have expressed deep concern about the parking issues and have seen a loss in custom due to the CCTV car issuing tickets. With car parking fees to be introduced into our car parks in the New Year, those that drive a car in this borough have been well and truly done !

For the record, I have to say that nobody is suggesting that it is acceptable to park illegally, people that park on zig zags outside schools, on zebra crossings or obstructing pavements will always get a ticket as this sort of parking is quite obviously illegal.

The issue that residents have is the draconian manner in which this latest policy from the Conservative Administration running Havering Council is having on their lives and that in many peoples opinion, are starting to suck the blood from our smaller town Centres, the Town that I represent, Collier Row, being a prime example.

Cllr Andrew Mann
Residents Association
Town Hall

Essential A12 Eastern Avenue resurfacing works

Transport for London (TfL), which is responsible for the A12 carriageway, has informed Havering Council that it will be carrying out essential resurfacing works between Rise Park Boulevard and Masefield Crescent.

Improvements will take place from 15 November with work anticipated to be complete on 17 December (weather permitting). The majority of the works will be undertaken during the daytime and will result in single lane closures.

Resurfacing is programmed for five to six nights in mid December and will be undertaken during the night time. These works follow on from the recent essential drainage and carriageway works on Eastern Avenue (Eastbound) in September.

TfL has informed the Council that it hopes to keep the disruption to a minimum. TfL did apologise for any inconvenience to drivers and those on the diversionary route, who are likely to experience additional traffic.

National Consumer Week

Collier Row residents are being offered tips on how to best deal with the likes of cold callers and postal scams. The purpose of National Consumer Week (12-16 November) is to raise awareness and develop understanding of trading standards related issues.

A series of informative events will take place at Havering libraries throughout the week, however, Havering Council's Trading Standards Service will be on hand to answers questions and provide key information to residents. Advice and guidance session for Collier Row are as follows:

10.00am-12.30pm 1.30pm-4.00pm

Tuesday 13th November

at Collier Row Library

A Council Spokesman said "National Consumer Week provides a major platform to promote the protection of consumer interests in the borough. Havering Council places great importance on the interests of consumers in the borough and is proud of its involvement with such an informative and important event".

For more information on National Consumer Week in Havering, contact Michelle Hammond on 01708 434356 or visit http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/.

Residents Drop In Surgery

Our latest Residents Drop in Surgery, held this Saturday was another success, with residents from both Mawneys and Havering Park ward turning up at the new Forest Row Centre in Lodge Lane to discuss issues of local concern.

The next Drop in Surgery will be held on the second Saturday of December, the 8th, again at the Forest Row Centre in Lodge Lane. However, do not worry if you cannot make it on that day, as we will come and see you at a time more convenient to you, just drop us a line at haveringpark@hotmail.co.uk or phone Romford 768 008.

Havering Council will hold Remembrance Day Services throughout the borough on Sunday 11 November to honour those that lost their lives during two World Wars and in the conflicts since.

The borough's official Service of Remembrance will be held at the War Memorial in Coronation Gardens, Main Road, Romford. The Service starts at 10.55am and will be conducted by Reverend Stephen Waine, Vicar of St Edward's Church with musical accompaniment provided by the Romford Salvation Army Band.

The Service will be attended by The Mayor of Havering, Councillor Georgina Galpin; The Deputy Lieutenant of Havering, Air Commodore Brian Batt; Havering Police Borough Commander and representatives of local uniformed and civilian organisations. Cllr Andrew Mann and Graham Price will also be at the Service.

After the Service there will be a parade and march-past by veterans and uniformed organisations with music from the Royal British Legion Band and the Romford Drum and Trumpet Corps. The salute will be taken by The Mayor and the Deputy Lieutenant.

The Mayor, Councillor Georgina Galpin said: "Remembrance Day is a special time of the year when we pay tribute to those that fought against adversity so that we can live in freedom today.

Havering residents always respect Remembrance Day and also lend their generous support to the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal. “As time passes, it becomes more important that we do not forget the sacrifice that all veterans made during the conflicts of the twentieth Century. The Services also provide us with an opportunity to commend our servicemen and women that are carrying out their duty today all over the world.”

All residents are more than welcome to attend the service, all you need to do is turn up at approx 10.45 a.m, ready for the service to begin at 10.55 a.m.

Community Payback Scheme Pays Dividends

Low level offenders have carried out unpaid clean up work in Collier Row as part of the borough's ongoing 'Community Payback' scheme. Working under supervision of the London Probation Service and Havering Police, the clean up team arrived at Orchard Avenue to remove litter, rubbish and graffiti, to the approving glances of local passer-bys.

The Havering Community Safety Partnership-funded scheme has been operating for over three years and enlists only low level offenders who have received court sentences of anywhere between 40 and 300 hours community service.

Requests from residents are forwarded to the Havering Community Safety Partnership by park grounds maintenance staff and Safer Neighbourhood teams, who then prioritise and allocate the work to the clean up team.

Mawneys Action Team Member, Graham Price said "It is good news that the local community are benefiting from these ‘clean ups’ and it is good news that offenders have to do the work, it may give them the chance to reflect on their crimes on the local community".

Residents Drop In Surgery

Do you need any help or advice about a local issue, do you live in either Mawneys or Havering Park ward in North Romford ? If so, you can pop in any time between 10.30 and 12.00 this Saturday at the Forest Row Centre in Lodge Lane Collier Row to see one of our action team members along with Cllr Mann.

A map of the location is below, if you are using SAT Nav, the postcode address is RM5 2LD, the centre is located two thirds of the way along Lodge Lane and is on the old Forest Lodge school site.

This is our first surgery being held in the newly opened centre, our surgeries will be held monthly on a Saturday, the next surgery will be in December, on Saturday the 8th, no need to make an appointment, just turn up.

Havering Council, Havering Police and the London Fire Brigade have launched a crackdown to prevent the sale of fireworks to under-18s. They will be making visits to remind retailers that it's illegal to sell fireworks without the necessary licence from Trading Standards.

Havering Trading Standards takes a zero-tolerance approach to any breach of the stringent conditions governing the storage and sale of fireworks, which will result in legal proceedings and the confiscation of such products.

Though current legislation allows some businesses with special authorisation to sell fireworks all year round, most fireworks can only be sold between October 15 and November 9. It is illegal to set off fireworks between 11pm and 7am, though on special occasions like Bonfire Night they may be set off up until midnight, unless special permission for them to continue until 1am has been granted.

It is also an offence for anyone under 18 to possess fireworks in a public place. Using fireworks in an anti-social way is irresponsible, dangerous and unacceptable, so Havering Police Safer Neighbourhood Teams will be operating additional patrols throughout the borough at this time.

Remember; fireworks are mini-explosives dressed up in colourful packaging – they are NOT toys. Most injuries caused by fireworks happen to children under 16, with many of them ending up with burn scars for life.

So please take care this bonfire night. Go to http://www.london-fire.gov.uk/az/bonfires_fireworks.asp for helpful safety advice from the London Fire Brigade.

If you wish to report illegal sales of fireworks, you can call a special hotline 01708 433428 in confidence.

New Park for Collier Row

Residents of Collier Row will be celebrating shortly as a new children’s play site will open as part of the new Forest Row Centre in Lodge Lane on the site of the old Forest Lodge School.

Ward Councillor, Andrew Mann, who is a trustee of the new charity that’s runs the Forest Row Centre was on hand recently as the finishing touches were being made and commented on the new park.

He said “This play site has been five years in the making and I am pleased to have paid a part in providing this new park to an area of Collier Row that is lacking in provision for young people and im sure it will go a long way to giving local residents some quality amenity facilities”.

Although the park is on the site of the Forest Row Centre, it was paid for out of the agreement when the builders were appointed to build the centre. The park will be run by the Councils Parks Department and will open to the public shortly once all of the work is complete and safety checks have been made.

Cllr Mann went on “It is great that something good can come out of building on this site, with a new community centre on its way, local residents will have some first class facilities on their door step”.

The Centre is on the site of the Former Forest Lodge School, which Cllr Mann attended as a pupil from 1982 to 1987. 29 housed have also been allowed to be built on the site, which funded the building works for the new centre. The houses are still being built.

Halloween -- Trick or Trick Night !!!!!!

Well its the 31st October today, which means its Halloween. I have to admit that i do not intend to dress up in a cape or as a ghost and go scarring the kids of North Romford, but i thought i might offer a work of advice to those at home and who do not wish to have kids pestering them.

Most of the children that do trick or treat are well behaved and out with the parents or an older brother or sister at a safe distance, often the children have taken the time to make there own costumes for the nights fun.

What is not fun, is a small minority of children that feel it is funny to throw eggs and flour or other object at people houses, in particular the elderly or frail within our community, if you know someone who may be at home on there own tonight, give them a call and make sure they are o.k, or even invite them round to your own house.

If you have any serious concerns about anti social behaviour tonight, then phone the Police, either the SNT in Mawneys ward, on 0208 721 2586 or the Havering Park team on 0208 721 2510. If the matter is serious, then always dial 999.

Happy Halloween.

Park sell off at King George's Playing Fields

In 2006 the former childrens play site situated in King George’s Playing Field was relocated to a new position near to the café at the front end of the park. Since then we have been concerned as to what would happen to the area of the former play site. We had raised questions about this, even before adverse comments were made by a former resident in the local press during the summer. We were pleased to receive reassurance, that Havering Council’s vehicle depot was not going to be relocated there from its current location in Purfleet.

We have delivered over 100 flyers to local residents to inform them that Havering Council is now proposing to sell off the open area of land behind numbers 59-99 Linley Crescent and a report detailing the proposals went before the Cabinet at the Town Hall on Wednesday, the 24th October. The report states that “the area is considered potentially suitable for disposal as a development site”.

We, as The Collier Row and Mawneys Residents Association, would be interested to know the feelings of our fellow local residents in response to the above proposal. To date we have been inundated by residents who so far have all objected to the plans.

If you feel the same, please drop us a line at mawneys@hotmail.co.uk or to Graham Price, 12 Silver Way, Collier Row, Romford, Essex, RM7 8EX.

New Road for Elmer & Wellingtonia Avenue's

Following a meeting Cllr Mann set up with residents some 6 months ago to discuss the problems of a badly neglected road, work started this week in Wellingtonia and Elmer Avenues in Havering-Atte-Bower on replacing the old road surface, over the years it has become badly neglected and was in need of major works to level the road and to remove all of the holes.

The problem with the road has been the reluctance of Havering Council to acknowledge that it has to deal with the road, although it is a private road and not an adopted highway (like almost all of the roads in the Borough) the owners of the said private road, or actually Havering Council.

As land owners, the Council owns many roads in the Borough and in particular all of the approach roads to Havering Country Park, including Wellingtonia Avenue, Elmer Avenue, Pinewood Road, Kilnwood Lane and Clockhouse Lane (by the Pinewoods Pub).

They where all compulsory purchased by the former Greater London Council in 1982 when the Country Park was formed; the idea was to protect the park from the ingress of new buildings and as the Park is land-locked, would safe guard any unauthorised development on and around its entrance.

The work is set to take another week and involves over 200mm of old road being dug out and then replaced with a type 1 hoggin that will be levelled and rolled in place, the surface should then be good for many years.

Cllr Mann said, "I have been involved with the residents in trying to get the Council to take its responsibilities seriously and to resurface the roads around the Country park for almost 4 years, after hitting my head on a brick wall for a lot of that time, I finally enlisted the help of the former Chief Executive of Havering (Stephen Evans, now retired) to push this along, to his credit he did start getting officers to deal with this situation before he retired.

However, it took the threat of Court Action under the Highways Act 1980 to get it going, I am just glad at long last the residents have got some justice for their campaign, all that leaves now is for the Council to start working out how it will deal with the other roads in Havering Park Ward that are privately owned by the Council and need repairing".

Autumn Newsletter is being Delivered

The latest issue of the Collier Row & Mawneys Residents Association newsletter is currently being delivered to over 11,000 homes and shops across North Romford, which includes both havering park and Mawneys Wards.

You can read all about what we have been up to in the Community, updates on such issues as Car Parking fees for Collier Row, latest news on Bedfords Park, following its green flag award and also the latest on the Forest Row Centre, recently opened in Lodge Lane.

If you have not received a copy, please drop us a line, either by phone, e-mail or pen and paper, contact details at top of the page.

If you want to read the newsletter on-line, click here, or on the picture above.

WARNING - Phone Number Scam

This is an old scam that seems to go around every few months and never seems to go away completely.

A card is posted through your door from a company called PDS (Parcel Delivery Service) suggesting they were unable to deliver a parcel and that you need to contact them on 0906 6611911(a premium rate number).

DO NOT call this number, as this is a mail scam originating from Belize. If you call the number and you start to hear a recorded message you will already have been billed £15 for the phone call.

If you do receive a card with these details, then please contact Royal Mail Fraud on 0207 239 6655 or ICSTIS (the premium rate service regulator) at www.icstis.org.uk

If you receive a card from a company that you do not know, or you are not expecting a delivery, take some care before phoning, you can contact ICSTIS to see if the number is a premium rate, or contact your phone operator, such as B.T or Virgin Media to ask what rate you will be charged.

Secondary School Admission Deadline is Friday

This Friday, the 19th October 2007 is the closing date for Secondary School Admission applications for children starting in September 2008.

Parents must get their applications in to the London Borough of Havering by 19th October 2007 or risk their child not being enrolled at any secondary school for next year.

Due to recent industrial action from Royal Mail we suggest parents use Havering's simple online admissions facility at www.havering.gov.uk/eadmissions. The online service will be available until midnight 19 October 2007, or hand deliver to the Education Department (address should be on your letter).

The online application process was introduced in Havering and the other London boroughs last year and has since undergone significant improvement to make the application process easier and simpler to use.

Parents can still apply by completing the paper forms and submitting them to the child's primary school who will then send them on to the council by internal courier service. However, it is advised that if parents wish to do this, they check with the school as the last day for submission to the school will probably be before the closure date of 19th October.

FREE ELECTRIC BLANKET SAFETY CHECKS

With winter fast approaching, Havering Council’s Trading Standards team have organised a free, electric blanket safety check for the borough’s residents.

Taking place on Tuesday November 6 at Langtons (Hornchurch), residents will be welcome to bring their electric blankets for a safety inspection by a specially-appointed fully qualified electrical consultant. A one-year certificate of inspection will be issued after each check. Unsafe products will receive a certificate detailing the reasons for the inspection failure.

This will be the third year that the scheme has been offered, and it has proved extremely popular particularly with mothers of young children and older people. However the Council will offer a product collection, inspection and return service for those genuinely unable to attend in person.

The free inspection will be offered on a first come first served basis between 10am and 3pm on November 6. For further details and information, please contact phone 01708 433430.

Council bans Councillor's Rememberance posters.

This is a copy of a letter published in this weeks Romford Recorder, following Residents Association Councillor, Len Long being banned from photo copying posters and letters to publicise the Remembrance Day service in Rainham by the Conservative run Havering Council.

I was interested to read your article, "Len's anger at council red tape" in connection with Cllr Len Long not being allowed to use Town Hall facilities to photocopy notices to publicise "the Remembrance Day service in Rainham".

This seems to me to be an excessively heavy-handed approach with regard to an event which is for the community at large, and is demonstrably non-political. The Job Descriptions for Councillors call for Members of The Council "to provide a link between the authority to the community..." and demands "Community Leadership skills".

By taking a leading role to promote a Remembrance Day service, Cllr Long is fulfilling those requirements, as one would expect from a former Mayor and Freeman of The Borough, and he deserves better consideration.

Graham Price

Mawneys Ward

The story made National coverage, click here to read the stories.

CCTV car is set to make £1.7 Million in 12 months

Residents Association spokesman for StreetCare and Parking, Cllr Andrew Mann has hit out over the amount of income the Councils new CCTV Smart Cars are making from issuing parking tickets by stealth across the Borough.

This Follows Havering’s parking Manager supplying Cllr Mann with the breakdown of the amount of tickets issued since the car was introduced.

Cllr Mann said “The truth is finally out, the figures say it all, in the original report concerning the car, it was assumed they would only issue 2200 tickets a year, at an income of £80k. However, this is not the case, as they have been issuing that amount each month, with a much larger payment rate due to the photo evidence and are on target to issue over 26,000 tickets”

If the same payment rates are kept up, the income could be well in excess of £1.7 million in a full year. The original report also suggested that the car would only be used around protecting school children at schools and on yellow zig zags and crossings.

Cllr Mann met with shop owners and business people in Collier Row after they spoke out earlier this month about the targeting of their shops, one of those was B & D Tyres in Collier Row who have been trading for over 35 years. Dave Fuller from B & D said at the time “This is just daylight robbery, we get this CCTV car here at least 2 or 3 times a day hitting on customers and delivery vehicles and its just not on” Now, due to the continued use of this car, one of his major suppliers “Motex” of Romford is refusing to make deliveries due to the amount of tickets his delivery vans have been issued with.

Over 12 months ago, Cllr Mann warned about the possible future use of the covert cars and felt at the time they were introduced, caution should be taken and also warned that they should not be used as an income generator for the Council.

In a Town Hall press release dated 20/03/07, Conservative Cabinet Member Cllr Barry Tebbutt said “I have no problem with this car being used to target indiscriminate parking around schools and pedestrian crossings which poses a real danger to our children”. However, it would seem that this is not the case as there is no school or crossing near to these shops.

Cllr Mann said “It has now become quite clear that this car was only introduced to make money, it is just a cash cow, sucking the life out of our Town Centres, coupled with the new charges being introduced for smaller shopping centres such as Collier Row, Hornchurch, Upminster, Cranham, Elm Park and Rainham this Conservative Administration are going to kill of the smaller towns in Havering in favour of Romford Town Centre”

He continues, “Whilst I chaired the Collier Row Regeneration Committee, we spent a lot of time and money in trying to improve the shopping experience in our Town Centre, the provision of parking restrictions is always going to be difficult, but it appears that this particular parade of shops is being picked on”, he went on "Along with car park charges in our town centres, this is yet more proof this Administration has no sympathy for small businesses”. "While they are wasting time targeting this parade, other parts of the Borough - particularly outside schools - are being neglected"

Forest Row Centre opens its Doors

Cllr Mann was on hand today as the official handing over of the Forest Row Centre took place; the building has been completed in just under 12 months and is almost fully operational.

The former Forest Lodge School in Lodge Lane has come a long way over the last 10 years, writes former pupil and now local Ward Councillor, Andrew Mann.

“Since I was first elected in 2002, I have been involved with the plans to redevelop the former school, meeting with the user groups almost monthly, discussing the plans and proposals with Council Officers and being involved with discussions as the project moved through the planning, design and build stage and even watching the last part being demolished”.

As one of three trustees of the “Forest Row Centre” who recently signed the 25 year lease for the Forest Row organisation to use the new building and centre, Cllr Mann said “It has been an honour and privilege to be asked to be one of the trustees of the new centre, to walk round the finished building and the site with its football pitches is just fantastic”

Another organisation celebrating, is the Collier Row Football club, who have been playing at the former school for over 10 years, they now have a new home fit for the future and a wonderful asset for the young people to use.

The Law for selling Tobacco has changed

From the 1st October 2007 it will be against the law to sell tobacco products to anyone under the age of 18 in England and Wales. The change will include cigarettes, cigars, tobacco for roll-your-own and pipes as well as rolling papers sold both over the counter and through vending machines.

Trading Standards Officers will continue to enforce the law relating to the sale of tobacco products to under-age consumers. The penalty for selling tobacco products to someone under the age of 18 from 1st October 2007 is a fine of up to £2,500.

However, what has not been made clear in this change of law, that to be honest hardly anyone knows about, is can you still smoke if you are under 18. Well nobody is clear on that issue.

This week, Cllr Mann has spoken to both Trading Standards and the Police in Havering and they are both not sure, they both say quite rightly that shops can not sell any smoking products, but did not know the exact answer in can a 16 or 17 year old smoke, as long as they do not buy them.

If this is the case, then it make s a mockery of the whole change in law, as you will just get the big brother or mum and dad issue where they will buy cigarettes for them !

Perhaps next time Government bring in a change of law, it can be done in a more open and transparent manner and people can be consulted properly, that way you will not get the issue we have now where it is illegal to buy something, but not to use it.

For more information on the changes go to www.tobaccoagechange.co.uk