I have a letter in the Brentwood Gazette today, here it is:

Dear Editor

Such a very one-sided view of the Conservatives’ refusal of planning permission for a Multi Use Games Area at Sawyers Hall College appeared in the Gazette (5th November) that the balance has to be sensibly redressed.Opposition councillors were particularly surprised to see this rejected as it was fully supported by the Conservative Mayor of

Brentwood, Cllr Dudley Payne, who sent a statement, read out in support of the application.Liberal Democrats have a strong record of standing up for the Green Belt, but a facility which would encourage young people to participate in sport is certainly not harmful to the green belt and, in our view, would be welcomed by the many residents who tell us there is nothing for their children to do. The application complied with all the relevant policies and was, therefore, recommended for approval.

Specifically, it was considered that the proposed development of a sports pitch would not have an unacceptable detrimental impact on enjoyment of the countryside, would not have resulted in the permanent loss of the best or most versatile agricultural land, would not have an unacceptable detrimental impact on a SSSI, a County Wildlife Site or an area of special landscape and would not have required unacceptably prominent ancillary facilities.Yes, it is appreciated that fencing and floodlighting would be required but not to an unacceptable level. The site benefits from existing tree screening and the fence constituted netting, not a palisade fence.

It’s a shame that the Conservatives did not apply the same attitude to the retrospective application for two classrooms on the Green Belt (recommended for refusal and approved by them) when we were considering an application for Woodlands School.

Cllr Karen Chilvers

Liberal Democrat Councillor, Brentwood West

Power to the people!

I’m delighted to report that the Conservatives have had to do a fairly big about-turn and give up on their preference to go to a Cabinet System for Brentwood Council.  This would have seen a small clique of councillors making the decisions.

The Lib Dem team may have highlighted the issue: we ran petitions, we spoke about it in the press via press notices and lettrs, we spoke to you on the door and made the case for keeping the status quo on our websites…but it was you, the residents, who sent, in support of our preferred option 3, the following to the council:

• 468 consultation papers by post
• 104 responses on-line via the Council website
• 21 responses on www.brentwood-ongarlibdems.org.uk
• 32 responses from a door-to-door petition
• 93 responses from a postal petition

A total of 718 responses in favour of Option 3 with only 281 in favour of the Leader and Cabinet System (Option 1).  In addition, it’s still worth watching the recent Citizens’ Panel where 99% of the attendees wanted Option 3!

Well done to everyone who got involved!  The committee system stays and we can continue to speak up for you and put your points across in the chamber and live on the internet!

Many residents responded to my call for a “Friends of Country Parks” group.  I had suggested that this was a non-political and non-partisan group of park users.

Surprise, surprise.  This will contain three tory councillors, one labour councillor and me.  Ten residents will take the remainder of the 15 places.

Another political highjack.  Sorry.  I tried.

I thoroughly enjoyed watching this meeting on Thursday.  Councillors were asked not to attend so that residents could actually have their say without any Tory highjacking!  I was fully in support of this so watched at home.  What an event!

99 per cent of the residents there were totally against the move to go to a cabinet system in Brentwood - a show of hands at the end was 100% against with the one person in favour abstaining from the vote totally!

It’s worth watching: http://www.brentwood.ukcouncil.net/site/

Yesterday, my letter regarding the practical implications of the cabinet system was published in the Brentwood Gazette.  In case you missed it:

Beware snake in the grass with Brentwood council cabinet plan

You should now have received the Conservative proposal to move to a cabinet system with a leader and executive. If you don’t think that a change to the cabinet proposal will affect you, then read on to appreciate what it would mean in everyday terms.

Supposing that someone wants to draw double yellow lines all over your road and you don’t want them, for good solid reasons. Today, you have the opportunity to contact me and I can refer this to committee for debate. I can speak up on your behalf, put your case forward, speak to your neighbours and work with you to find a solution to present at the committee. Hopefully, as ward councillor, other members, from all sides of the political spectrum, will respect the knowledge I have about my ward and I may try to convince them to go with an alternative route. This decision will be made in a public chamber, available to view on the internet.

Under the cabinet system, this won’t happen. The decision will be made by one person, who could reside anywhere in the borough. From my point of view, elected as representative for Brentwood West, how well will they know the people who live there and their everyday issues? Every ward is different, and every ward has its own needs, this is the strength in a committee/panel system …we all get heard.

The Conservative administration will tell you that there will be an opportunity for scrutiny with members able to call items into a scrutiny panel. Well, that’s where we find the ’snake in the grass’… they haven’t put this out for public consultation because they tell us they haven’t decided on it yet. Surely this is a crucial part of the process. So, if you vote for their option one, you haven’t even been told the detail of what you’re voting for.

Remember also, there are only nine opposition members in total. We could have a situation where 10 members have to call an item in to the scrutiny panel – which Tory member would be brave enough to back us up in that situation?

They will also tell you that this will enable “quick” decisions. Can you honestly say that the quickest decisions you make are always the right ones?

If you want to stop this, you must let us know. With 28 Conservatives and nine opposition members the people of Brentwood must rise up and tell us their views! Sign our petition on www.brentwood-ongar libdems.org.uk or fill in the consultation document and choose OPTION THREE to retain the committee and panel structure.

Cllr Karen Chilvers

Lib Dem councillor Brentwood West Ward

You can also vote in our on-line petition:

http://www.brentwood-ongarlibdems.org.uk/petitions/6.html

We’ve set up an on-line discussion forum, on a trial basis, let us know your views on this or any other topic by registering at www.brentwood-ongarlibdems.org.uk.

To go to the discussions, click here: http://www.brentwood-ongarlibdems.org.uk/externals/PhpBb2/

I’ve just been to look at the virtually completed works at the play area and, I must say, I think it looks extremely good and will certainly be hard to climb into!  Hopefully, this will put an end to the anti-social behaviour neighbours have been encountering and the area can be used by the little ones for fun, just as it should be!

More trees and shrubs will be planted when appropriate to finally complete this worthwhile project.

This evening I was pleased to have the opportunity to tour the new hospital in Crescent Drive, Lib Dem Deputy Leader Cllr Barry Aspinell also joined in the tour.

It is an extremely impressive health facility with everything looking clean, modern and bright.  It’s clear that the team have worked very hard to make the hospital work and key areas I was impressed with include:

• Patient rooms, which have a maximum of four beds and are single-sex wards, with wonderful views
• A comprehensive physiotherapy department with state-of-the-art equipment.
• A roomy audiology facility
• A good number of waiting areas, moving patients through the hospital process
• A meeting room facility for local healthcare groups and charities.

It’s a place where you wouldn’t mind being looked after and I hope that it lives up to all our expectations!

The staff certainly seem enthusiastic on getting going!

Well done to all involved.

Next year, we’ll be electing four county councillors and, I’m pleased to say, Cllr David Kendall (a familiar face to hundreds of Brentwood West residents, pictured on the far right with Nigel and me) is our county council candidate for the Brentwood South division (includes West, Warley and Brentwood South ward).

David was councillor for Brentwood West from 1991 until 2006 and is now representing Pilgrims Hatch as well as being group leader, having been returned to the council in a by-election in March 2007.  David was re-elected in May this year with a majority of almost 400.

The graph on the right shows that, at the last elections in 2005, David was only 570 votes (8%) behind the Conservative.  With the Conservatives having a stranglehold on every level of local government, isn’t it time to have an alternative voice at county council?  We fight for you at the borough level - we can fight for you at county level!

We can do this with your help! If you would like to help us, follow this link: http://www.brentwood-ongarlibdems.org.uk/surveys/5/

Read more about David’s bid and all the county council candidates here: http://www.essex09.mycouncillor.org.uk/

Cllr Kendall and I visited the Brentwood Centre today and met with the management team. Thanks to Roger Davinson and his staff for their kind hospitality!

It’s certainly looking good - the gym looks as shiny and well equipped as many of the big name fitness centres and membership is extremely reasonable, starting at £30pcm.

Take a look at what’s on offer here: http://www.brentwood-centre.co.uk

A consultation has begun about your use of the parks in the Warley area.  If you use any of these parks, please have your say.

King George’s Park consultation: http://citizen.brentwood.gov.uk/teleforms/kinggeorgesconsultation/index.htm

Hartswood and Little Warley Common: http://citizen.brentwood.gov.uk/teleforms/littlewarleyconsultation/index.htm

Another night out last night!  This time in connection with my day job!

I went to a Marketing Society lecture on Not for Profit marketing, which was excellent.

We were treated to the story of the “Give a Few Bob” campaign, the film that was made starring Bob Monkhouse, after his death in 2003.  Incredibly, the entire staff of the Prostate Cancer Research Foundation consists of three people and they created this wonderful campaign which has raised a huge amount for prostate cancer research, a disease that kills a man an hour in the UK.

If you want to see the film, click here: www.giveafewbob.org and if you want to give a few bob, I’m sure the charity will be over the moon!

I see in the Brentwood Gazette today that the final few residents have moved out of Winifred Dell House in Warley. 

I fought and voted against this re-development because I did not see that there was a care plan in place for the residents.  We have seen conflicting messages from the company running the home and the staff about how the residents were dealt with.  We now know that the residents have been placed as far away as Canvey Island and Cambridge - breaking up the community that was so important to many of the elderly residents, some of whom had dementia.

The need to refurbish this home was in no doubt, but I object to elderly residents being moved around like commodities.

Read more here: http://www.thisistotalessex.co.uk/brentwood/residents-Warley-care-home-shuts-doors/article-201582-detail/article.html