“Report at the Councillors Forum; November 18th
The Councillors reported on many items about Westborough Ward and Southend as a whole.
It has been reported by the local paper that there is anti-social behaviour regarding drug dealing in roads to the East of the ward. Residents from the Avenues identified have commented to Councillors that this is exaggerated, however Residents reported there are hot spots across the Ward and these will be raised with the Police at the next Neighbourhood meeting on 6 December 2011.
Funding has been made available for new Dog waste bins. Residents were asked for suggested sites. They were Fairmead Avenue/Westborough Road; Fairfax Drive/St Georges Park Ave.; London Road close to Westcliff Library; Westborough Road/Glenwood Avenue. These will be suggested to the Council.
The Priory Works site. 22 Houses are proposed for the old Priory Works site, Fairfax Dive / Springfield Drive. Whilst new family homes are welcomed, residents were concerned about the Car Parking issue, if only space per house was allocated. Also the matter of pressure on local utilities was noted.
Westcliff Police Station, which is owned by the Borough Council, the future for this building is that it may be sold for development. Hopefully affordable housing will be the result.
The Council Budget for 2012/3 was discussed. It is at an early stage and all Councillors were invited in initial discussions about the expected £12 million reduction in the Budget for next year. The final decision on where the reductions will be made will be decided the Tory administration.
The local Conservation Working Party is under threat by the Tories, who want to place its work under the planning committee (Development & Control). Cllr Collins stated that opposition Councillors would object to this threat to local Conservation.
Car parking on the grass verges in Fairmead. Cllr Collins reported that the Council has agreed to erect the wooden posts in the verges to stop this illegal parking. The Hospital parking scheme was strongly criticed by residents. There is stress caused by the scheme on Westborough streets, which is unwelcomed.
Residents reported about concerns about large lorries using Westbourne Grove and in particular on Monday of the previous week, when a seven axle lorry became stuck in the Road.
Reports of vagrancy around the back of Westcliff Free Church were discussed. The police have been actively moving on Vagrants from the centre of Southend, so Residents were asked to look out for a spread of this issue into Westborough as a result.
Westcliff Library, the recent court cases in London that overturned Local Authorities decisions for Library closures were noted by the Residents.
Fairfax Drive issues mentioned, Pavement being obstructed by Shop Keepers, Bus Stops being obstructed by Parked Cars (a resident suggested that Bus Shelters are erected to combat this) and poor quality Shop conversions into flats.
The meeting was told about Fix My Street, which was raised by a resident.
It was noted by Residents that Street Cleaners were sweeping roads one day before the weekly waste collection, instead of being one day after. Cllr Collins promised to take this point up with the Council.
The local Resident Association was raised by residents. The Councillors confirmed that an active Resident Association is vital, as the Localism bill would give more powers to such Community Groups. Whilst the Councillors have no control over such groups, they would actively support and give advice to any Community group established in Westborough Ward.
Southend issues discussed;
Tesco development will be back in front of Planning for former B&Q site; Traffic access is the main issue;
The Fairhaven’s plans have been submitted and will be discussed by the Planning Committee in mid December.
Sainsbury’s plans for 272 properties, Superstore and Petrol station are being refined;
The pilot register scheme for Landlords in the certain selected central town areas;
Residents expressed their views on these matters and the Councillors present noted these comments.
It is planned to charge £10 for new Blue Badges from 1 January 2012 by the Council, as a new nationwide system is introduced.
Cllr Collins informed the Forum that he is particularly interested in the Council’s performance in collecting Penalty Charge notices, as £630,000 was unpaid at the end of the financial year and there is a substantial debt building up over the previous years. He will continue look into this matter and report back at the next Forum.
The date of the next Councillors Forum is not decided, the most likely date would be the third Friday in February, 2012.”
