Frank Bruno at bower park School

Cllr Mann was on hand at Bower Park School this Friday as Boxing Legend Frank Bruno, MBE officially opened the schools £1.2 million sports hall and astro turf development.


As a Governor of the School, Cllr Mann was on hand to show Frank around the school, along with Mary Morrison, the head teacher, pupils, staff and teachers, he not only cut the ribbon to the new astro turf pitch, he spent time talking to the children and visiting some of the class rooms.


More to follow later ........

101 Clockhouse Lane Planning application

Another planning application at 101 Clockhouse Lane has been refused following objections from local residents and Cllr Mann, who "called in" the decision so that officers could not decide it using their delegated powers without referring it back to Councillors.

The full planning reason for the the proposed development reads "By reason of the proximity of the access road and the intensification of vehicular activity close to residential properties adjoining the access road, be detrimental to the residential amenity of neighbouring properties, contrary to Policy DC61 of the Core Strategy and Development Control Policies Submission Development Plan Document".

Which in no planning speak means "The reason for refusal will be based on the unacceptable impact of the development on adjoining occupiers".

Cllr Mann said "I have almost lost count of the application on this site, I think this is the fifth one now in about 4 years, the last application ended up at a public enquiry meting of the Planning Inspectorate, an independent body that regulates planning appeals. The Inspector agreed with myself and local residents that this site was not appropriate for development".

We now wait and see if yet another planning application will be made on this site.

Billboard Madness !!!!!

Residents Association Councillor, Andrew Mann (Havering Park) has slammed Havering Council over its decision to lease off parts of its open green space around the Borough. In a secret Executive Decision made last week by the Cabinet Member for Finance, Roger Ramsey he agreed to a 5 year lease with advertising company JC Decaux to erect a 96 sheet bill board at the North Street and Eastern Avenue, Romford.

However, Cllr Mann was banned from talking about it last week, as the decision was confidential, this despite the billboard being built last week and there for all to see, he risked a complaint to the Standards Board of England if he even confirmed the billboard was to do with the Council.

He said “I would never knowing release confidential information, so to be told I could not discuss this issue in public, whilst the 12ft tall by 30ft long structure was built and was there for all to see was madness, I therefore made a request to the Councils Head of Law to make the decision public, and following a Freedom of Information request, this has now been done”

However, Cllr Mann has also accused the Conservative Administration of nothing but spin, after the Council sent out a press release talking about the plans, before the Head of Law had made the report public, potentially leaving the Councils own head of Communication liable to a Standards Board complaint for breaching confidential information”

The Decision was “Called In” by the Residents Association and it is now set to go before a special Overview & Scrutiny Committee this week to discuss why the decision was made in secret and to ask about the reasons behind erecting a billboard in this location.

However, the saga continues as the advertising hoarding erected was not the one in the report, but it has (coincidentally) been erected by an unknown contractor who just took a chance and built it to see if he could get away with it, this is not the first time this has happened in the last 12 months, as signs have been erected at Como Street Car Park and the Ice Rink. So the sign is set to face the bulldozers as it is an unauthorised structure on the highway and the Council has no idea who put it there.

Cllr Mann went on “This whole situation is nothing less than a scene from a carry on film, the Administration seem to be running round like headless chickens, they call this a pilot project to see how it goes down, but they do not tell anyone, make the decision confidential and agree to a five year lease, well that’s some pilot project ! and then, a billboard is erected without planning permission by an unknown contractor, so that has to be bulldozed, and then another one in its place with planning permission can be built, you could not make it up !”

“This is another attempt by the Administration making a fast buck because it can not get its finances in order, the fact that they have overspent £5 million this year is no reason to go about covering every green space and road side green in the borough with a bill board, where will it end, Havering Village Green ? Hornchurch Stadium ? What about Bedfords Park ? This Borough is famed for its green and open space and the Tories seem heel bent on paving the lot over with flats and bill boards”

Bower Park - Children in Need

Over 600 pupils and Staff at Bower Park School took part in Children in Need day last Friday with a host of events throughout the day. Over 500 children paid £2 to come to school in no uniform, but 12 girls from Year 9 went one step further and came to school in their pyjamas.

However, they did not stop there, once dressed up in their pink P.J’s they then carried out a sponsored walk to Romford, whilst wearing their outfits. They made their way over lunch time from the School, to Central Library in Romford. They had raised £120 from sponsors; however with tin shaking on the way, they managed to gain almost another £100 from members of the public.

After an impromptu stop at Romford Fire Station, in Pettits Lane North, they managed to fill their collecting tins a bit more with the kind fire fighters donating to the cause.

Back at School the staff took on last years leaving Year 11 pupils in a Charity Football match, raising more money for Children in Need. All in all, the school raised almost £2000 throughout the day.

Head Teacher Mary Morrison said “This has been a fantastic effort by the pupils and the staff of the school to raise money for a much needed charity and I am immensely proud of them, they have made a real contribution to the community with their commitment”.

School Governor and Ward Councillor, Andrew Mann said “The pupils of Bower Park continue to surpass themselves with their efforts, in particular, the 12 girls that made the effort to organise a sponsored walk in their pyjamas and then walk into Romford deserve a special mention.

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.