Bower Park Exam Results Success

As a school Governor at Bower Park for over 5 years now, i am truly pleased that the pupils have managed to help the school increase its exam pass rate for the third year running, the same amount of time that Head Teacher Mary Morrison has been at the school.

I was in school as pupils came in to get their results and it was a very emotional time, for both teacher, pupils and me i have to say, watching a 16 year old open the envelope and get the results they were hoping for was just pure magic.

Our top pupil was Tom Clark, who gained four A* grade GCSE's, which I and every member of staff at the school were overjoyed with, it is as credit to Tom and all of the other pupils that gained such good marks.

Bower Park had some amazing results, which i will headline below.

Details will follow later

£2.5million Council Tax Uncollected

Figures compiled by the GMB, a public services union, reveal that £147 million of council tax went uncollected in councils across London in 2006/07.

In respect of Havering council, the amount uncollected in 2006/07 amounted to £2,569,000, a £624,000 reduction against the figure outstanding for 2005/06.

However, the overall accumulated council tax debt for Havering at the end of 2006/07 amounts to £11,526,000, an increase of £321,000 on the 2005/06 figure.

The Council tax collection rate for Havering in 2006/07 was 97.6 per cent (97.5 per cent in 2005/06), this compares with table toppers Richmond Upon Thames at 98.5 per cent and bottom of the table Hackney with 90.5 per cent.

The calculation of the Council tax allows for a 1.5 per cent non-collection rate.

Despite this amount of money outstanding, it has not stopped the Tory Controlled Council spending over £400k on a new car park for the Town Hall, increase in Cabinet Members allowances, Mayors Allowance (suggested in the local press for an increase to their clothing allowance). All of this and almost £11 million outstanding in debt owed to the Council.

The Travellers have moved off Bedfords Park

It would seem that the Summer holidays are over for the Travellers that invaded Bedfords Park in the heart of "Havering Park Ward" just over 10 days ago, they ignored the Section 77 notice served on them to leave by 12 noon last Wednesday, unfortunately, they ignored this and Havering Council were preparing to go back to Court to get a summons to remove them legally.

Cllr Mann was in the park this afternoon as they started to leave and was able to see some of the damage and rubbish that was left behind. It is to early to see exactly how much damage has been done, however, it does not seem as bad as it could be, but then I did not go round the whole park to see what had been thrown in all of the bushes in the surrounding area.

Now that they have gone, we can start to ask some questions on how they got in, were the gates locked in the park and was enough done to remove the Travellers as soon as possible. The issue of park gates not being locked is something the Residents Association has raised in the past and we will continue to push for our parks to be kept locked and secure at night.

Squirels Heath By-Election

Following the death of Conservative Councillor, Eddy Cahill, a by-election will be held this Thursday (the 24th) in Squirrels Heath Ward in Romford.


The Residents Association candidate is Denis Stevens, a long standing R.A campaigner, who stood in Pettits ward in 2006 and polled 1379, the fifth highest vote in that ward. Denis also helped out in Collier Row with our No Car Park charges campaign.



To read the election address of Denis and the Residents Association here.

Discount on Home Insulation

Residents in Havering can get a £100 Council Tax rebate by insulating their home. Havering Council has launched an initiative offering Havering householders the opportunity of a £100 rebate on their council tax if they install energy efficiency measures.

Thanks to a partnership with British Gas, householders that install cavity wall or loft insulation can claim the £100 rebate and reduce their annual energy bills by up to £220 a year, which is equivalent to a 40% saving on the average annual gas bill.

Furthermore the Council has negotiated substantial subsidies with British Gas for the cost of the loft or cavity wall insulation. For example the average cost of cavity wall insulation for a three bedroom semi-detached house would be £430 but if it is installed by British Gas through this subsidised scheme it would cost £250 plus your council tax will be credited with £100.

You don't have to be a British Gas customer to benefit from this scheme which runs until 31st December 2007. The full £100 rebate is open to the first 500 installations.

To arrange for a free no obligation survey residents should ring British Gas on 0845 971 7731 and quote HAVE.

Update on the Travellers

I was interviewed by Havering's Time F.M radio yesterday about the latest situation in the park concerning the Travellers who have invaded Bedfords.

I have also this week, spoken with the Executive Director for Public Realm concerning the situation and received an update from her on what her staff have been doing to resolve the situation. The Travellers have been given notice to leave by today (Wednesday), however if they do not leave, the Council will need to go to Court to get a warrant for their removal.

The trouble with Travellers is they are often protected by law, not helped by this Governments Human Rights Act im afraid, as the Council have to do all the running for them to be removed. It seems wrong that the Council as land owners do not have the power to say "Excuse me Travellers, off you go, get off our land and dont come back"

Its to Early to say how they got in and were able to set up camp so easily, both myself and the whole Residents Association Group in the Town Hall have highlighted the lack of park gates not being locked and we will be looking closely again at this park to see what happened.

I will wait with baited breath to see that the Gypsies (or Travellers) are moved on today and will update the site with any new developments.

Travellers Invade Bedfords Park

Residents Association Councillor for Havering Park Ward, Andrew Mann has hit out at Travellers who have invaded Bedfords Park in Broxhill Road, Havering-atte-Bower turning it into no go zone area for locals and left it looking like a scrap yard.

Cllr Mann said “I have been inundated by residents complaining about the situation in the Park, I came home from a week’s family holiday on Friday and moved straight away to get Council Officers to deal with this terrible situation”

It’s the first time in many years that Travellers have invaded the Park; previously they almost destroyed Havering Country Park back in the late 90’s, they were there for week and the local Councillors took weeks to resolve the situation. It’s the destruction that they leave behind which is normally worse than them actually being there.

Cllr Mann said “In a week when we should be celebrating Bedfords Park being awarded a “Green Flag” (see story below) by the Government for being an example of one of the best parks in the Country, we wake up to this nightmare on our doorstep”

“I am also disappointed that my Tory colleagues, rather than addressing the issues to hand, use it to produce a leaflet blaming the whole situation on everyone apart from themselves, but it is the Tories who in fact actually run the Council, or had they forgotten that, it is after all a Conservative controlled Council”

It is suggested in their leaflet that I failed to act when asked by residents, but that is a lie, as I have said, I arrived home from holiday on Friday and moved straight away to deal with the situation, I have written to the Executive Director of Public Realm at Havering Council (the person responsible in the Town Hall) to use all of the resources that her department has to deal with this problem and to call on the assistance of the Police and legal department to do so.

Bedfords Park has been neglected by the two local Conservative Councillors since the local elections in 2006. The park has only moved forward with the hard work of the “Friends Group” and the Parks department and Essex Wildlife Trust.

To back up this claim, I would ask you to write to Cllr Binion and ask her how many times she has attended a meeting of the “Essex Wildlife Trust – Bedfords Park Management Committee”, which is the committee that I sat on for almost four years, but the Tories voted me off using the majority in the Town Hall. In the first 12 months, she failed to attend one single meeting !

1000 Scouts descend on Bedfords Park

Havering Park Ward Councillor, Andrew Mann (Residents Association) was on hand at Bedfords Park last week as almost 1000 scouts from around the world visited as part of the World Jamboree being held at Hylands Park, Chelmsford to carry out environmental community work.

Cllr Mann, who is also a Scout Leader with over 15 years service said "It was fantastic as a local Councillor and a Scout Leader to be invited up to Bedford Park to see the work being carried out by hundreds of young people from around the world"

"As someone that was lucky enough to take part in a World Jamboree myself (in Sydney, Australia, 20 years ago this Christmas) I can understand the energy and commitment these young people have for cleaning up the old walled garden in Bedfords Park, they have done a fantastic job and deserve all the credit, along with Lois Amos and the Friends of the park group and Essex Wildlife Centre for all their work"

Worked carried out by the young people included clearing old scrub and overgrown bushes and trees, clearing the tons of rubbish that had been dumped over the years and recovering any useful bits of old green house and equipment that could be used in the park again.

Approx 150 Scouts from all round the world (the day I was in the park, they were from USA, Italy, Croatia, Brazil, France, Scotland, and many more I did not get to talk to) have been visiting each day and have been working in clearing the old walled garden in the park, doing environmental clean up work and nature walks with Essex Wildlife.

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/

Two Tier Parking Penalties

Motorists are being reminded that the country's first city-wide two tier parking penalties scheme based on the seriousness of the contravention committed will be introduced in London from 1 July.

The scheme will mean drivers parking at bus stops, on pedestrian crossings, or in the safety zones outside schools will receive a higher penalty than those overstaying at a parking meter.

A £120 penalty will be applied to serious contraventions in central London, while lesser contraventions will attract a penalty of £80. In outer London the penalty will be £100 and £60. All penalties will be reduced by 50 per cent if paid within 14 days.

This new system will mean that motorists committing some parking contraventions will receive a £20 lower penalty then they currently do.

The introduction of the scheme follows an extensive consultation with the public, motoring organisations and other interested parties carried out last year by London Councils and Transport for London (TfL).

More than 80 per cent of those who responded to the consultation said that acts of illegal parking causing the most disruption, frustration and danger to other road users should be penalised more heavily than others.

Motorists wrongly using bus lanes or committing moving traffic contraventions - including entering a box junction when their exits are blocked and going through a no entry sign - will receive a £120 penalty from 1 July.

Lorry company operators and drivers breaking the London Lorry Control Scheme will also receive £550 and £120 penalties respectively from 1 July.

Friends of Havering Park Meeting

This Thursday (the 21st June) a meeting is being held by the "Friends of Havering Country Park" at the North Romford Community Centre, in Clockhouse Lane, Collier Row at 7.30 pm. If you are interested in what goes on in the park and would like to have a say about its future, then you should turn up.

The meeting has been put together by the Havering Park Safer Neighbourhood Team, under Sgt Andy Barnes and his team of Officers. The aim of a friends group is to bring together like mined residents to support the work in the park and to raise money from external sources, something the Council can not do, unless it is supported by local residents.

It is not run by or organised by Councillors, Friends Groups can only attract outside money if is run by local residents, however any residents that joins the group will have the full support of the Collier Row & Mawneys Residents Association and our Ward Co-ordinators in making it a success.

I hope to see you at the meeting.

Planet Havering - The show goes on

Despite the rain threatening to wash out the whole day, I made it to Planet Havering yesterday, numbers seemed lower than in previous year, which im sure was down to the rain, however that did not stop the show from going on !

I managed to do a whistle stop tour of the show with my eldest daughter in an hour and a half; we visited all of the marquees and managed to pick up a few goodies to take home, such as pens and pencils and the odd ruler.

The show is a great way of promoting and educating people in recycling and showing the benefits of environmental improvements that we can make to our homes and lives, with some simple changes in our life styles.

A lot of work goes into putting the show together, the staff that organise Planet Havering do a fantastic job, with not a lot of resource. However, I do think that the show suffered in a little way by lack of support from the Administration, it was very late in the day that they agreed to fund the short fall after a major environmental backer pulled out.

The Residents Association made a budget allocation to expand this show from this year, however the Tories voted down our budget, so there was no extra money. We do hope though that they take note from one, our budget and secondly this web site (as I know the Tories read it, how else would they know what goes on in Collier Row) and actually put the proper resource behind the show next year.