New Years Message from Cllr Mann

On behalf of the Collier Row & Mawneys Residents Association I would like to take this opportunity to wish all of our readers (including the Tory Councillors, who log on to find out what is going on in Collier Row) and residents in North Romford a very Happy New Year.

As I write a personal blog for our site, the last for 2007 and also the 100th of the year I wanted to briefly look back at the year 2007. It has certainly been an interesting 12 months.

We started the year with the loss of Martin and Alexandra Smith, your former Mawneys Councillors who moved to Australia to start a new business venture, running a café and restaurant for ex-pats in Melbourne, aptly named the “Britannia”. There loss was filled by Karen Price and now Joe Webster, I am pleased that we have a full team working in Mawneys Ward.


It has been a busy year for us, we started with the continued petition to Havering Council for CCTV for Collier Row and we ended the year in January with it almost up and running and in place.

I was pleased to be able to attend the opening of the Surestart Centre in Collier Row with the Mayor of Havering, Cllr Wendy Brice-Thompson. We also welcomed new residents to the area in Bushey Close in the new Gobions Estate.

I spent a day out on patrol with the Havering Park ward SNT trying to get a better understanding of how our local Police team works and seeing first hand the work that was taking place on the crackdown of illegal motor bikes in the Country Park.

Spring saw us launch our petition against Car Park charges in Collier Row, by the time the autumn had come round we had over 3500 in Collier Row and over 18,000 across the Borough, did the Conservative run Council listen, no they did not, the charges are set to arrive at a car park near you soon.

We continued our support of the “Friends of Park groups” in North Romford, we had a team at the King Georges Playing Fields Quiz Night and both myself and Graham have attending meetings or events of both King Georges Playing Fields, Lawns Park and Havering Country Park.

In June, Graham Price was awarded a Honorary alderman award in recognition of his 16 years service as a Councillor on Havering Council. I also attended the Planet Havering Show, which is always a most. The Residents Association also won the St Andrews By-Election, with Mike Winter returned to the Town Hall.

Building Work continued at a very rapid pace at the Forest Row Centre, the old sixth form block was knocked down and the work was finished by December with the hand over to the new Forest Row Centre. We also saw Bedfords park being awarded a green flag, for being an excellent park.

We saw over 1000 Scouts from around the World descend on Bedfords Park for the World Scout Jamboree, who took part in Environmental clean up work. We also saw the park over-run with travellers; they spent almost 3 weeks at the park, destroying all the good work done in making it a green flag park.

We also saw the Council CCTV car set loose on the streets of Havering, over 10,000 tickets have now been issued and we have been inundated with horror stories from residents who been caught on camera. I estimate that the car will make over £1.7 million in its first 12 months.

We continued to help residents fight un-wanted planning development around them, such as 101 Clockhouse Lane, more flats in Essex Road, 92 The Drive and 66 Clockhouse were the Conservative Councillors over-ruled local opinion to approve flat conversations.

We also saw the sell off, of our park land across the borough, in particular at King Georges Playing Fields, with no commitment to ploughing the money back into the parks, this can not be a good thing for residents.

We saw a new road being laid in the village behind the church; residents have campaigned for years to get the Council to take this matter seriously. We saw continued improvement in our exam results at Bower Park School and we also saw Frank Bruno open the new astro-turf pitch, which has to be one of my highlights of the year.

We also saw the Tory Council announce plans to cover the Borough in Billboards to try and recover the £5 million it over spent in social services, another one of there rash decisions.

We have also seen the introduction of our booklet style newsletter, which is delivered to over 11,000 houses and shops across North Romford; it went down so well, that after the first issue we were able to increase it in size from 12 pages to 16 pages. The comments we receive about the newsletter have been fantastic, we have proved that you do not need to send out a full colour glossy leaflet with nothing in it but super imposed pictures of people pretending they are working for the people of Collier Row !

Well that said, if you are still reading, may I wish you a very Happy New Year and I look forward to meeting you whilst out and about during 2008.

Best Wishes

Cllr Andrew Mann

Winter / New Year Newsletter 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 New CCTV cameras installed for Collier Row, Billboards set to be erected across the borough, Car Parking fees for Collier Row, latest news on the CCTV car, the latest on the Forest Row Centre and its official opening and much more

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, it will be available to read on line shortly, by clicking here or on the picture above.

Letter in the Romford Recorder

Below is a copy of a letter in this weeks Romford Recorder, following the recent report on Joe webster joining the Collier Row & Mawneys Residents Association.

The Editor of The Recorder,

I would just like to set the record straight, and to correct a factual error contained in the report, “De-selected Webster joins Residents’ Group- Tories rocked by another defection”, the Recorder, 14th December.

The article states that “Mr. Webster is one of a three former Tories - deselected as prospective councillors for the party in controversial circumstances in 2006, to go on and join the R.A's”. In fact, when Collier Row and Mawneys Residents Association was launched in March 2006, there were no less than five Councillors, all deselected ex-Conservatives, who formed the new Residents Association.

These were, Cllr. Andy Mann, Jean Gower, Martin Smith, Alexandra Smith, and myself. The welcome addition of Joe Webster now makes six, and a seventh is also evident in the form of Cllr. Ray Morgon, who was the first to resign from the Conservatives, in protest at our numerous de-selections, and move to The Residents Associations in Havering.

GRAHAM PRICE

Mawneys Ward Action Team

Christmas Refuse Collection Times

Refuse and recycling collection dates will change over the Christmas and New Year period. Please see below for a list of revised collection dates. Normal collections will resume on Monday 14th January 2008.

Please note that all revised collection arrangements also apply to the clinical, cardboard and trade waste services. Garden waste wheeled bin collection cease between 25th December and 4th January, normal collections resume 8th January.

Please click on the table on the left for an enlarged copy that you can print out and keep.

For opening times of Gerpins Lane Reuse and Recycling Centre, please see section below.

Christmas Eve 0730-1630
Christmas Day Closed
Boxing Day 0930-1600

New Years Eve 0730-1630
New Year Day 0930-1600

All other times 0730-1745

Merry Christmas

Turkey Tips

Cooking on Christmas Day should be fun and enjoyable, however it can often lead to serious illness with food under cooked, in particular the Christmas Turkey.

If in doubt, follow these simple instructions from havering Councils "Captain Turkey" at the Environmental Health Department, the simple leaflet explains how to defrost and cook the turkey without getting food poisoning, click on the link below to go to the site for more details.

Click HERE for more information

Letter to the recorder

Below is a copy of a letter in this weeks Romford Recorder, following the recent report on Park Land being sold off and the Editors Column last week.

Dear Editor

Your view from the editors Column published last Friday is absolutely spot on with “Parks, time to be worried”. Well at least we now know officially what the Conservative Administration in the Town Hall intend to do, with the open area of land behind Linley Crescent in King Georges Playing Fields.

After several months of rumours that they wanted to use it for the Council’s vehicle depot, it now transpires that they have identified the former children’s play area as a potential site for disposal and suitable for development as detailed in a report to Cabinet on the 24th October.

It is one of several sites identified in the same way, two of which are in Mawneys Ward, the other being the grassed play area situated between Hood Walk and Clovelly Gardens.

The Collier Row & Mawneys Residents Association have been simply inundated with comments from dozens of residents in Linley Crescent, all of which have signified to us their firm and vociferous opposition to the proposed disposal of the open area of land, we have not received even one comment in favour of the proposal, from any resident in Linley Crescent.

After the Cabinet decision was made, The Residents Group requisitioned a special meeting of the Corporate Overview & Scrutiny Committee which was held on the 12th November, a meeting which I attended in an observant capacity, together with approx 50 members of the public. After a discussion of the cabinet report and their decision lasting over an hour, the Conservative members voted by 4-2 to uphold the decision.

In your editorial published last Friday, you have directed criticism at “Council Leader Michael White & Cabinet Member Paul Rochford”. However, it is interesting to note that two of the Mawneys Councillors are heavily implicated in the proposed disposal, as Peter Gardner is also a Cabinet Member and Roby Misir actually chaired the special Requisition meeting and used his vote to uphold the decision.

Like all Conservatives, they are fond of putting out leaflets stating that they are “On Your Side”. However, the residents of Linley Crescent now know for sure that two of their Mawneys Councillors are most definitely NOT on their side !

Graham Price
Mawneys Ward

Crime Figures down in Havering

Figures released by the Metropolitan Police indicate a significant decrease in the number of offences committed in Havering for the year ending November 2007.

The total number offences for the 12 month period to November 2007 amounted to 17,640 compared with 21,137 for the same period in 2006, equating to a 20 per cent decrease in recorded offences.

Among the most significant reductions were:

131% drop in gun enabled crime (from 67 to 29)
41% drop in motor vehicle crime (from 4,095 to 2,905)
15% drop in all violence against the person (from 3,903 to 3,397)
15% drop in all burglaries (from 2,569 to 2,235)
10% drop in domestic crime (from 1,174 to 1,066)

Key activities over recent months include a specific operation targeting burglaries, which led to an increase in the number of people arrested and intelligence gathered. In addition, a week long campaign targeting road safety was launched which led to 158 fixed penalty notices being issued for offences ranging from no seat belt to jumping a red light.

To view the complete set of figures please click on the following link.

http://www.met.police.uk/crimefigures/datatable.php?borough=kd&period=yer

Picture: Havering park Ward SNT Sgt Andy Barnes and Cllr Andy Mann out on patrol earlier in the year.

Joe Webster joins the Residents Association

The Collier Row & Mawneys Residents Association has welcomed the decision of former Councillor, Joe Webster in leaving the Conservative Party and joining our Association.

Mr Webster has a huge amount of experience in helping the local community, first elected in 1998, he represented the Rise Park ward and then, following Boundary changes in 2002, he contested the newly-formed Pettits Ward, a seat he held until 2006.

Now Mr Webster intends to go back into local politics, by becoming an action team member for the Collier Row & Mawneys Residents Association, representing the Mawneys Ward in Collier Row, where he will join long-standing activists Graham & Karen Price.

Joe, who was also the Cabinet member for Education for almost three years, has a huge wealth of experience of local issues that will be a great benefit to the local community, having previously been a Councillor for 8 years. He is also a Governor at no less than three schools, Marshalls Park, Rise Park Junior and Parklands Infants.

Commenting on Joe’s decision, Chairman of the Collier Row & Mawneys Residents Association, Cllr Andrew Mann said “I believe that Joe Webster will be a brilliant asset to our team in Collier Row, he is dedicated and hard-working and just wants the best for the local community, I know he will fit in well with our team and I look forward to working with him in the run up to the next local elections in 2010”

Joe Webster said “After 25 years of working for the Conservative Party, I have found this decision very difficult. After my deselection in 2006, I waited to see how the new Council would operate. I have been very disappointed. The worst aspect is the complete absence of transparent democracy, the Overview and Scrutiny is just a joke. Any dissent within the Conservative Group is snuffed out by threats of deselection”

He went on “I have come to the conclusion that the only way to oppose this arrogant treatment of the people of Havering is to join forces with the Residents Association to elect Councillors into the Town Hall who are of independent mind and are prepared to stand by their principles”

So you think you can dance ?

Cllr Mann was lucky to be at Bower Park school yesterday to watch the "So you think you can dance", a 90 min plus show of dance and music, put on by the students to raise money for the school to purchase a portable dance mat that can be moved around the school and used in different locations.

Students from all five years were dancing, although almost predominately girls, we did have a few brave boys that put on an excellent show, although out numbered massively.

Over 70 students took part in the dance show, with some 250 turning up to watch in the audience, the hall was fall up and after the raffle, the school made good progress towards the £2000 they need to buy the dance mat.

Once again, the staff and pupils of the school put on a great show, as a Governor of Bower Park i am no longer surprised by the quality and determination of all the pupils that want to achieve, they were all a credit to the school.

Major Power Cut in Romford

Whilst working in the Town Hall this morning, I was somewhat thrown into the dark when the lights when out and the power shut down at 08.45. The result of a StreetCare operative being a little to keen to dig a hole with his kango to install a bench in Main Road, Romford.

I am informed by the Head of StreetCare at Havering Council that the young man is o.k, although taken to hospital it was only a precaution and he was quite shook up. At one stage there was three fire engines and two ambulances following somone calling in the incident as an electrical fire. The resulting power cut, knocked out the whole of the Town Hall until early afternoon and parts of Romford.

The power was also affected at Marshalls Park School and the A12, as the traffic lights lost power and turned off, however i have to say when i travelled home later that day, the lack of lights made the junction far easier to navigate and the two traffic Police on their bikes were rather redundant as they really were not needed.

The power went back on late afternoon, and the Council was back to usual, with Full Council taking place later in the evening.

Pinewood Christmas Bazaar

I had the chance to attend The Pinewood School Christmas Bazaar yesterday and it was great to see so many people supporting the school by turning out to buy Christmas gifts for family and friends and to join in some of the fun, even Santa himself was in school giving out gifts to the children.

As a former pupil and now a Governor it is always good to be back in the school, there is something about being in a primary school that is different to when I am in Bower Park as a Governor. I am however, positive it is down to the small chairs, it always makes me laugh when you have to sit down and your knees come up above your head.

That said, I did not get much of a chance to sit down, the teachers and staff do such a wonderful job at Pinewood and often the school does not get much public praise for what it does, so hopefully this little plug for the school will go some way.

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.