Anyone who knows me will know that I’ve been fighting the closure of Keys Hall since last March and Old House for the past year.

I firmly do not believe that either of these halls are “surplus to requirements”.

In the case of Keys Hall, the council could ask that any developer come to us with a development that includes a community facility that would ensure the continuation of those groups who use it.  Recently, with the council unable to find a suitable development (great news as far as I am concerned) I have asked for them to book at least 12 months in advance, but they will only concede to extend it on a rolling 6 month basis, rather than the 3 months they have now.  I do hope that some remedial refurbishment work will take place in the interim.

With regards to Old House, we feel that there have been missed opportunities here.  The administration would not agree to our request to look at refurbishing the building and then renting out the top floors whilst keeping the ground floor for community use and this is also to close.  A sad day for those who enjoy “Learning for Pleasure” there and will be unable to make it to Merrymeade House as they do not have a car, and the bus does not reach this building.

I’m further surprised to learn that, after initially backing the campaign to Save Old House, Cllr Russell Quirk (Con) has now said, on www.thisisessex.com today:

“I too opposed the closure of Old House, until I was taken on a tour of it by our then Chief Executive, Bob McLintock. Once enlightened, I saw that most of it is completely unusable and in fact dangerous in its present state. There are holes in the roof and the staircases do not meet current fire regulations. To refurbish the building would require around £300,000 of council tax payers’ money. So before simply shouting ‘Rent the upstairs to businesses’, Cllr Chilvers and Co should acknowledge that such a scheme could not take place without significant public funds being spent to make the facility safe and habitable.”

I didn’t “shout” anything by the way!  But I did ask for this option to be investigated, with all finances presented to councillors at the next meeting.

It’s a sad day when we aren’t even given all the information we request, particularly when the agendas are only presented to us a week before the event and yet the Conservatives, with their huge majority, go ahead and vote for closing community facilities without investigating every option.  We had the same with the cricket pitch in Warley and other things besides!

Read the full article, with comments, here: http://www.thisistotalessex.co.uk/brentwood/BRENTWOOD-Campaign-save-community-halls/article-567412-detail/article.html

Well, things go awfully quiet once the council “breaks up” for Christmas!

The New Year will bring continued debate on William Hunter Way with a special Citizens Panel meeting, Planning Committee, Stakeholder meeting and another debate at Ordinary Council where a decision will finally be taken.  For those interested, the Citizens Panel is on 7th January and I will keep you updated on this one.  The other meetings are to be confirmed.

For all of you who sent Nigel, David and/or me a Christmas card, thank you!  It’s nice to have such kind wishes at this time of year and your Brentwood West team like to hear from you!

For all those who I’ve done case work for, it was a pleasure to help where I could!  For those who have a burning issue, give me a call and I will see if I can help!

Finally, I wish you all a lovely Christmas!  I’m now off to plan the cooking schedule for Christmas Day in Brentwood West with my family!

Karen

I’ve just returned from the Full Council meeting and the news is that the decision on the cinema/retail complex/multi storey car park has been delayed.

More news to follow!

For me, yes!  I like sending cards and I like receiving cards!  I like writing messages to old friends and wishing people a happy time at Christmas.  I also keep the most special ones for posterity…I’m sentimental like that.

However, I also make sure that I recycle them and I’m pleased that M&S, Tesco, TK Maxx and WHSmith will all have recycling bins for the Woodland Trust.  We have three of those stores in Brentwood so please, after Christmas, drop your cards in the box and help them plant 24,000 new trees!

Full story here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/3320097/Charity-to-turn-Christmas-cards-back-into-trees.html

Like Brentwood Theatre, our local radio station plays a very important part in Brentwood life.  Over the last couple of years, it has become a feature of Brentwood life and it is a very rare thing indeed.  It’s a very local station at the heart of the community and carries very local stories, covering local elections and news from local people and is DJ’d by local people.

The Liberal Democrats tried to get funding from the Assizes Fund last night, the same place the £80K for the theatre is coming from, but this wasn’t going to get agreed by the Conservatives.  Therefore, we supported a revised motion that we would look for CIF funding (Community Initiatives Fund) instead. 

It’s a bit of a disappointment, but we hope they will be successful.  If not, we’ll be back again.

See the full story here: http://www.brentwood-ongarlibdems.org.uk/news/000096/disappointment_for_phoenix_fm.html

Albeit briefly…Cllr David Kendall and I had a lot of fun last night!  When discussing the possibility of an £80,000 grant for Brentwood Theatre, the entire Conservative group and the Labour leader declared a prejudicial interest and had to leave the chamber!  This left just the two of us and one labour member able to vote with Cllr Ross Carter in attendance!

So, David was left to chair the meeting and, for a brief but sweet time, we were the majority group!

The good news is that we did approve the grant for the theatre and this very important feature of Brentwood is able to complete their refurbishment.  The theatre brings a lot of enjoyment to Brentwood residents and I hope to see Fantastic Mr Fox this year!

I’ve added a link to Brentwood Theatre under “Fun Things” on the left.  You can also see the full story here: http://www.brentwood-ongarlibdems.org.uk/news/000098/lib_dems_move_brentwood_theatre_grant_forward.html

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

Yesterday I attended Brentwood’s Remembrance Day service and was again moved by the whole ceremony.

It’s been really great this year to see how many young people are proudly wearing their poppy and wonderful to see hundreds of people involved in this service in the town.

On Tuesday night, the council granted a drinks licence to the Junction Cafe in Victoria Road.  The new owners had plans for this establishment which included live music and an evening bistro-style offering.

In the end, the live music licence wasn’t granted at this stage but I have high hopes for what they want to do in the evenings.  Not, as some may fear, a rowdy wine bar but the opportunity to sit down and enjoy a meal and a glass of wine.  I hope that this is a positive addition to the area, and I will be keeping a close eye in case it causes any problems, but this could be a benefit to the area.

Another month, another planning committee.  Another shoe-horned development turned down in Ingrave Road and a house extension in Hanging Hill Lane approved.

I am disappointed that the committee were not minded to approve a Multi Use Games Area in Sawyers Hall Lane at the college.  As a ward councillor, I am always being asked why there is not enough for youngsters to do in the evening but the Conservative majority turned down a solution in our town centre.

Although it is on green belt, the planning officers considered this to be an appropriate use of the area, as did I, however, most of the Conservatives didn’t agree.  This was a bit of a surprise, given that the Mayor of Brentwood, Cllr Dudley Payne, wrote a letter of support for the facility, read out at the committee, saying that this should be approved for the good of the community.

Oh well!