Purfleet-on-Thames Community Forum Virtual Meeting Newsletter, 28th July 2020

Welcome to

Virtual Meeting Newsletter

28th July 2020

Linking Community Council Developer Local Business

Code of Conduct •

All persons shall be open and honest in their dealings and show respect for others

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All speakers will address themselves through the Chair

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Only one person shall speak at a time

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All speakers shall be polite and not raise their voices

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All speakers shall respect all others in attendance and shall not use offensive language

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The Forum observes equal opportunities and respects diversity of all community members. Discriminatory language will not be acceptable or tolerated so please do not air personal views that are likely to offend

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All speakers will keep to the subject under discussion

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Each person may speak only once on an issue until every other person has had the opportunity to speak thereby accounting for all opinions

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All persons shall abide by the decisions taken at meetings

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If any person does not abide by the Code of Conduct a warning will be given. Should they break the Code of Conduct again they will be asked to leave

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In the event of there being a conflict of interest (or potential conflict of interest) this must be disclosed to the meeting and if necessary, the person who has disclosed the conflict, (or potential conflict), whether financial or non-financial, shall absent themselves from the meeting whilst the subject is under discussion.

Political references shall be avoided

Whose who for this meeting JR TB NB TS AG MD: QA:

John Rowles, chair Trevor Batchelor, vice chair PC Neil Brand, Essex Police PC Tom Strong, Essex Police Andrew Gouldstone, senior site manager RSPB Rev. Matt Drummond, vicar at St Stephen’s Cllr. Qaisar Abbas

Front cover: The first Ensignbus with Purfleet-on-Thames on the name plate & Mick Botton

Agenda

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Changing With The Times

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Welcome

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What's Going On Around Us

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General Updates

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Matters Arising and AOB

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Next Meeting

Changing With The Times TB: It seems the current crisis is constantly altering the way we do things and changes can happen overnight. Take Spain; one minute we are free to go there and return, now we find if we do we have to self isolate for fourteen days when we get home We are changing too. We have tried to keep the format of our newsletters the same way that we run our meetings. This is getting more difficult so that is why we have changed the Agenda

Agenda (old) Welcome, still the same Apologies, as our meetings are currently virtual there is no need for

apologies

Minutes from previous meeting, our wonderful secretary is taking a well earned break as the newsletter temporarily takes the place of our minutes. To see past newsletters and minutes copy and paste link below https://purfleet-on-thames.org/meetings-minutes/

Speaker’s, with a lot less going on, speakers are a bit thin on the ground.

They are more difficult to get hold of and many work from home. Hanging on the phone or waiting for emails responses is very time consuming, for the time being we are replacing with What's Going On Around Us

General Updates, stay the same Matters Arising and AOB, if any stays the same Next Meeting , this stays.

Take it away John

Welcome JR: Hello to you all who ever you are. Thanks Trev for your run down of changes etc.

When we that is Trev and me started to chat about this month's meeting /news letter I thought well this is going to b a short one, just shows how wrong you can be.

When you think back over the last 2 months we have been busy, the hard bit is remembering what we have been up to.

When you read about the funding (further on) and I mention the funding we managed to get from the lottery 25 year fund, I can assure you that was the easy bit. The meeting I had with council officials to try and get permission to do the project is the hard bit.

But for now I will say no more accept to say if you do read our news letter will you please let us know what you think, love or hate please just tell us or we will never know if we are doing it right.

TB: For the first time ever John has run out of words, to fill the space a photo of HMS Illustrious sailing past in 2015

What’s Going On Around Us What’s Going

On Around Us

TB: This is a new section. Just thought it might be useful to let you know about some of the gossip, news, developments, or stories that are happening or planned to happen around us. It is not comprehensive just a few bits, mainly taken from news articles, a lucky dip that you might or might not know. If you have something to add for a future meeting let us know.

London Wholesale Meat, fish & Veg Markets to Move Plans are a foot for the Billingsgate, New Spitalfields and Smithfield markets to move from their separate sites in London to one big 42 acre site on the former Barking Reach Power Station at Dagenham Dock. Plans have been submitted, if approved it means we could have easy access to fresh fish, meat, fruit and veg, on our doorstep by 2025. (That’s more veg Zyle) Littlebrook Power Station Site Update You might have watched the tower tumbling last year at Littlebrook Power Station. If not you can see it here https://purfleet-on-thames.org/old-film-footage/ The site was recently granted planning permission for a 4 storey, 2.3M sq. ft. warehouse, it will be used by Amazon and will be their biggest warehouse in Europe. The location next to the QE2 Bridge is very worrying. Can we expect years of non stop traffic blocking up the bridge and roadways or is it just to service Kent? It must have received approval from Highways England River Bus There has been a lot of press recently regarding river boats linking London with various destinations east. I saw last week that Thames Clippers are extending the river bus to Barking Riverside, which opens in 2021. The London Resort (see next page) has already had a trialled the service and in last weeks Southend Echo talk of Southend’s regeneration included plans for a riverboat service linking Southend, Tilbury & London. Thurrock’s Cabinet member for Regeneration has shown his enthusiasm for a river bus stopping at Grays and Tilbury. PCRL have been in talks about it coming here. As a place now linked with the river it is time for a river ferry to return here, we first had a ferry linking with London for over two hundred from 1577.

What’s Going On Around Us The London Resort Plans have been prepared and are due to be submitted by the end of the year for a mega theme park on the Swanscombe Peninsular, Kent which is directly opposite Grays. A 465 hectares or 1150 acres entertainment resort with themed rides, attractions across two theme parks, entertainment, eSports, a Water Park, conference venues, hotels, retail and dining, will all be brought together across one landscaped setting to create one of the largest, immersive experience centres in the world . Potentially lots of jobs a short distance away. The name is confusing unless by the time it is built in 2024 Essex & Kent are absorbed in to London. For info go to: https://londonresort.info/ There are a number of consultation webinar’s between 1st August and 5th September, have a look see what’s happening.

To register for updates: https://londonresort.info/ register

General Updates It’s Official Purfleet is now Purfleet-on-Thames TB: It was at our January 2018 meeting and AGM that our forum voted overwhelmingly to change the name Purfleet to Purfleet-on-Thames. We ran a petition, the council ran a consultation and I made a presentation to a full council meeting in January last year to change the name. Along the way there has been a lot of head scratching, passing the buck in Council chambers resulting in delays taking this forward. To be fare the Council have not had to deal with a request to change a place name in their history. Over the past two years John and I regularly turned up at Council, Cabinet and planning meetings to get our faces known and to keep the name change on the agenda.. It paid off in January this year when the Council voted unanimously in favour of the name change.

Going back to the early days of our forum it was Allison Campbell who suggested the name change. She was very active in those days and did a lot for Purfleet, as it was. She was responsible for getting the Spider Field play area and Woodlands pre school built, now the Butterfly Rooms as well as many other projects for the area. When you look back there are a number of people who have done their bit for Purfleet. Over one hundred years ago Joe Watson, the proprietor at The Royal Hotel used the name Purfleet-on-Thames to promote the hotel and area and had postcards printed. We used one on our petition leaflet that bears his name.

On 4th July we had a small ceremony at midday, the official date and time of the name change. A new sign in a new location at the north end of New Tank Hill Road near A1306 was unveiled. This should have been an event for everybody. Government guidelines meant we could only have a maximum of thirty people socially distanced on a small bit of ground, next to a busy junction with lots of traffic.

Thanks go to the police and particularly PC7 Neil Brand for overseeing our safety. Some of the photos show how difficult it is to keep a distance.

It was very satisfying to have an Ensignbus present with the new name on the destination plate. What was better still was to see later that day the familiar blue and white buses

General Updates in service with the new name, thank you Mick Botton, thank you Ensignbus.

At midday people gathered, our Mayor Terry Piccolo led proceedings and a few brief speeches followed.

Mayor Terry Piccolo “The involvement of the local Forum in bringing this name change forward must be commended. With the commitment of the local residents I am sure Purfleet-on-Thames has an exciting future”.

MP Jackie-Doyle Price “The location is fantastic, next to our capital city, on the river. What better location can there be” Cllr: Victoria Holloway “This name change signifies the importance of this place and where it sits on the river and in Thurrock”.

Cllr. Qaisar Abbas “The old, new name will raise the areas profile” Cllr. Mark Coxshall “Next year we have to make sure we have some Councillors for Purfleet-on-Thames instead of West Thurrock & South Stifford sitting in the Council chambers” Ken Dytor head of PCRL “We are going to be backing the community to the hilt, opening up of the river is going to be really important. This is a real opportunity for us to show the World what Purfleet-on-Thames means, it means a community working together in harmony to get results”

General Updates John said “This just shows that by being involved, you can make changes happen” Summing up I said “I am delighted to see the name change come to fruition after over 100 years of Purfleet persistence. The new name is like an old friend returning for good this time. A ray of hope for our future with a nod to the past. Allison Campbell MBE suggested the name change nearly 20 years ago; I am proud to have given the final push to make the name change happen”

The flag covering the sign is the forum flag designed using the forum logo and was made by Kinetika. It will be used at T100 calling, their event to celebrate Purfleet-on-Thames on 27th September.

Terry, John and I unveiled the flag, watched by a limited gathering as Purfleet became Purfleet-on-Thames.

General Updates There were smiling faces everywhere

General Updates

After the unveiling everyone was invited to the green by the river for a glass of bubbly to toast the new name and see the new sign on the beacon.. Ensign took those who wanted a lift, others walked or hopped into their cars. History was made

General Updates Kinetika T100 Calling / Making our Forum flag TB: Following on from our March meeting with Ali many groups, organisations and companies have supplied ideas and designs for the 25 Purfleet-on-Thames

flags that will be made and used on the final day of T100 Calling. Our forums flag was the first of the 25 to be made and was used at the name change sign unveiling on 4th July.

General Updates This will be the sixth T100 festival. It will start at Shoeburyness on 12th September and finish at the High House Production Park following a parade through Purfleet-on-Thames on Sunday 27th September.

Along the route there will be a number of stop off’s at various locations, where Mandala’s (Mandalas in Hinduism and Buddhism are artworks of various designs symbolizing the universe.) will be created. For details go to: http://thurrock100.com/t100-calling-save-the-date/

These flags (all 25) will all be on display together for the finale of T100 Calling at the High House Production Park. This follows a parade through Purfleet-on-Thames, stopping of at the beacon on Sunday 27th September.

Our Kinetikar-ised forum flag

General Updates Broadband JR: Do I get a word now?, thank you This is about the B/B project that was looked at late 2018 when our speaker for Novembers meeting was Murry James from Thurrock Council.

Murry outlined a project where the community could apply for funding to have fibre broad band fitted to areas that suffered from slow connections.

A new member stated that Watts Wood Park, the last new development to be built in Purfleet had very poor internet and offered to take forward getting broadband for that area.

The process of going forward with this project was not straight forward and involved lots of mail between us and Open Reach and we finally received a cost for fibre to be fitted to the green box that supplies both Watts Wood park and part of the Uplands Estate early June 2019. The total funding for this project was ÂŁ4,684 of which 50% was paid up front, it was now up to Open Reach to move the project along. We heard not a word until early in July this year when we were notified by Alex, from Watts Wood Park that the job was complete and that folk could now upgrade to fibre B/B. I must say that the communication from Open Reach has been very poor but at least the project is complete. Purfleet-on-Thames Community Forum, who managed the funding have not been formally advised yet. I just hope that those who benefited from this project are happy.

On Saturday Trev and I met our local councillor Qaisar on the green to discuss broadband for the whole of our area. There appears to be a big pot of money, ÂŁ4.6 million for Essex from the Government to expand fast broadband for all. Qaisar is setting up a meet with our the councils IT bod to see if we can take this further, see Councillor Comments https://purfleet-on-thames.org/ broadband-2/

General Updates Highways JR: As you all know that over the years we have built up a good relationship with one of Thurrock Councils highways engineer's. As lockdown restrictions were being lifted I received a simple question from highways, what do you think about the idea of closing the level crossing to all traffic accept for buses and emergency vehicles. The question came from a government directive to make area's more pedestrian and cyclist friendly and to promote healthier life style.

Back to the question, it was suggested closing the road to cars, m/cycles vans and trucks would make this area much safer, encourage more people to walk to the station rather than just jumping in their car. The idea didn't sit well with me or members of the committee for all sorts of reasons which had nothing to do with safety. The crossing is a barrier between East and west on the only Rd through Purfleet-on-Thames, that we as a community group have been trying to overcome for many years and this would effectively cut Purfleet in half. How would this closure be managed? Just think of a 40ft artic truck; if it missed the signs for no through Rd, disaster comes to mind no way across and no way back, I can see it now. It should be noted at this point that any restrictions would be temporary.

After giving this problem some considerable thought the following is what we came up with and has been put to the council for their consideration. Firstly cut back all vegetation that encroaches onto or over the highway and public foot ways, it also includes grass and plants growing in or over the road in the area up to and on the opposite side of the road to Botany Terrace.

Move the bus stop from opposite the General store about 100 mts East where the pavement is considerably wider than it is by the bus turn round. This would make the whole stretch of road much safer for pedestrians and cyclists.

Our final suggestion is to make the stretch of road between the small roundabout at Church Rd along to Linnet Way a mandatory 20 mph enforced by speed camera's.

The final point brings me onto the sad event from June 2018 where a young cyclist was knocked from his pedal cycle by a speeding m/cycle and fatally injured. We know that speeding is a issue so if you do happen to have a lead right boot please take it off and wear a trainer. If the motor cyclist had been doing 30 mph instead of the speed he was doing then the lad may still be alive. cant say how the motor cyclist is because it wasn't mentioned in the article

General Updates Essex Police JR: All change here, we had an email from Neil NB: Hi John / Trevor, Just wanted to let you know I am no longer your ward officer, as I have been successful in applying for the new role of Community Safety & Engagement Officer for the Thurrock district starting today (8/6). I would like to thank the residents and the forum for all their support and help in the past and wish you all the best going forward. I leave you in the capable hands of PC 77738 Thomas Strong (ward officer for both West Thurrock & South Stifford and Aveley & Uplands) and PC 77994 Bran Butcher & PC 78568 Nicole Plom (Town centre team officers for Aveley high street and Purfleet).

JR: Thanks Neil and I am sure everyone here, or out there wish you well, stay in touch.

Trev has been in touch with Tom Strong TS: Afternoon Trevor, Thought I would touch base with yourself as I have been one of the ward officers since March 2019. I think Neil’s explained to yourself that we had a nice little system running whereby Neil would do the majority of the community work, and I organised what we called “enforcement” policing, all the warrants, and proactive operations etc. Unfortunately in the meantime, I've got to try and balance both of these.

I couldn’t attend the signing as we have been bumped up onto later shifts due to the pubs opening and therefore are all partaking in operation Talla. So you may see some of us around Purfleet. (TB: -on-Thames, tut, tut) TS: I look forward to meeting you in the near future once all of the COVID stuff has calmed down. Any issues please feel free to contact me.

Policing Updates 1. Coronavirus (COVID-19) – Essex Police is very much part of the community and we are all in this together. Thank you for helping us to help keep everyone safe in these challenging times. Please can everyone be encouraged to stick to the guidelines released by the government and follow the new rules around wearing face masks in supermarkets and shops.

2. Operation Caesar continues to run across Thurrock, targeting hotspot areas across the district. Operation Caesar has however now reduced to weekend operations only. This has come down to budget restrictions. Please do continue to report nuisance bike activity to Essex Police on 101, 999 if threat to life exists, and we will respond when available. The Thurrock district has been incredibly busy over the last month, especially with the easing of lockdown restrictions, which can lead to delayed responses, and we massively appreciate residents understanding and compassion with this matter. The operation has continued to

General Updates see vehicles/bikes engaging in such activity seized and others issued with section 59 warnings.

3. As you are probably all aware, pubs across the country re-opened from the 4th July. An increased police presence was organised for this event, and it was great to see that very few incidents occurred and were reported to Essex Police. Thank you to community members and residents who behaved responsibly on this day.

4. Across the Aveley, South Stifford, West Thurrock and Purfleet wards, 11 crimes were reported over the last month per 1000 residents. The highest crime reported was harassment. Please continue to report crimes when they have occurred.

5. Over the last month, the town centre officers for Purfleet and Aveley, PC’s Plom and Butcher have been conducting proactive patrol within their respective areas. This has seen numerous stop searches being completed, 2 stolen vehicles recovered, 2 E-scooters seized, a fly tipping incident dealt with in Purfleet and one drug driver arrested who was also found in possession of a Class B substance.

6. Over the last month, PC’s Strong and Stocker continue to run operation Lucifa and operation Lemon together. These operations specifically target drug related activity including dealing, and drug driving, and theft of motor vehicles. Over the last month, the operations combined have seen 3 stolen vehicles recovered, with 5 suspects who have all been processed through custody. One drink driver and two drug drivers, one in possession of class A substances with the intention of supplying these substances. Numerous stop searches, numerous vehicles with no insurance seized, and numerous vehicles in West Thurrock issued with Section 59 warnings for driving in an antisocial manner, some of these drivers were reported and prosecuted for road traffic offences including excess speed, and careless driving. The operations have also seen two recent pursuits, with both drivers being caught and arrested and have faced sentencing at court for offences including failing to stop for police, assaulting an emergency services working, driving without insurance, and possession of a controlled substance. The operations have also led to the identifications of suspects as part of an organised crime group whom are involved in theft of motor vehicles across the district, intelligence and work continues to be done on this.

7. Please continue to report suspicious activity and intelligence to us via crime stoppers, which keeps you anonymous. This intelligence goes a long way with our planning for operations, and can help us target hot spot areas and problems. If it isn’t reported to us, it basically did NOT happen, we cannot act on what we don’t know. A key example of this is as follows, a vehicle was seen hanging around a private car park in Purfleet with no valid reason for being there. On another occasion, the vehicle was seen returning, hanging around for 5 minutes and driving off.

8. Please follow our Facebook page where you can see regular updates on operations and work our officers conduct. Follow CPT: WWW.facebook.com/EPThurrock

JR: Well that was a good update, next an update from Andrew at the RSPB

General Updates RSPB, Rainham Marshes

AG: Please find below our latest update about what’s happening on the RSPB Rainham Marshes reserve.

Looking after the reserve during lockdown.

At the outset of lockdown, back in late March, RSPB closed all our reserves, volunteers were sadly asked to not come in, staff worked from home where possible, and then were furloughed. As site manager, in common with other RSPB reserves, I was the remaining member of staff not furloughed.

The list of tasks that RSPB felt met the essential criteria at the time, was limited. It included anything to do with livestock (supporting the national effort around food and farming), and also site security. As we began to also consider conservation management, a limited number of other priority tasks began to be undertaken, dependant on the nature of each of our sites. So at Rainham Marshes, we have managed to continue to deliver the following priority areas of work..

•Maintaining site security during lockdown – whilst we have had some instances of trespass, and some damage, it has not been excessive. The police have been kept informed.

•Cattle turn out – this took place on the 20th - 22nd April, on both Aveley and Wennington Marshes.

•Maintaining our electric livestock and predator fences – both the fence on Aveley and Wennington have been maintained, repaired where necessary, and vegetation has been cut back to ensure they remain effective. This has ensured cattle stay where they are meant to be, and foxes have been kept off areas with important populations of ground nesting birds like lapwing and redshank.

•Managing water levels – given the hot April and May, water levels held up well on most areas of the marshes. By mid-May however, it began to be necessary to start and pump water, using both diesel and solar pumps. This has been very effective at keeping key areas wet.

•Monitoring – a basic level of monitoring has been undertaken, of key species such as lapwing and redshank, and also one or two other species.

General Updates •Planning and undertaking other work, such as managing areas of goat’s rue.

Since lockdown has started to ease, we have been preparing for a measured and gradual reopening of the reserve. We have also welcomed back one member of staff and some volunteers to assist with specific tasks.

Wildlife.

Breeding lapwing and redshank – on a par with recent years, at c80 pairs of each.

Avocet – 6 pairs fledged 6 young, compared to 2019 when we had our first two nesting attempts, which fledged 2 young.

Oystercatcher nested for the first time in 2020.

Marsh harrier – an increase, with four pairs fledging at least 12 young.

Wildfowl – looks to have been a good year for breeding tufted duck, shoveler, pochard etc, plus mute swan and great-crested grebe.

Lots of cuckoo activity on the marshes this year, plus hobby and bearded tit.

Reserve re-opens On Thursday 16th July, we re-opened the reserve car park and trails. We are now open 9.30am-5pm, from Thursday through to Sunday each week. We will be closed Mon, Tues, Weds.

The toilets in the visitor centre are open, as are some of the hides. We are operating a one way system, clockwise, around our visitor trail.

The rest of the visitor centre, café, shop and playgrounds the time being.

To help manage this phased reopening, two more members of staff have returned, part time, from furlough leave. rspb.org.uk/rainham

JR: Cheers Andy, glad you are open again. Now it is over Matt, the vicar of St Stephen’s

remain closed for

General Updates MD: It was a great joy earlier this month to attend the unveiling of the new Welcome to Purfleet-on-Thames. The addition of ‘on-Thames’ to our community’s name reminds us of our long connection to our neighbour the river Thames, but also of who see ourselves as being as we move into the future. Furthermore it’s a reminder of the importance of names; our names aren’t just a means of identifying ourselves in a crowd, they also contain within them the story of our identity, of who we are, and who we see ourselves as being.

In terms of history many churches are dedicated to saints important to that community, or for other historical reasons, for instance some churches which are located close to streams or rivers are dedicated to St John the Baptist, who baptised Jesus at the river Jordan. Southwark Cathedral in London is dedicated to St Mary Overie, which indicates her place in relationship to the City, she is the Church of St Mary’s Over-the-river (which has been shortened over time to Overie). As for our own dedication to St Stephen, I’m unsure as to why our Church received that name. However, the life of St Stephen was one of service, particularly to those in need (see Acts 6.1-6), and this is something we try to emulate as a Church community, and in our own lives.

The life of worship and prayer at St Stephen’s continues, and with the relaxing of some of the lockdown restrictions we are now open for private prayer on alternate Tuesdays. Mass is also being said in two of our Team churches (St Michael’s Aveley, and St Nicholas’s South Ockendon), and details of these services, and our opening times for private prayer can be found on our Facebook page @StStephensPurfleet, and any updates, along with livestreamed services, will be posted there. St Stephen’s continues to support the life our community in other ways, in particular through the hosting of the Foodbank on Friday mornings, and Zyle’s fruit and vegetable stall ‘Heavenly Greens’.

Finally, as we move into the holiday season, my prayer is that you may each have the opportunity to take a break, whether for a staycation or to travel further afield. Following a stressful few months, I feel we all need a good break of some form, and my prayer is that you may each find time and space to have a refreshing one - Fr Matt Drummond, Vicar, St Stephen’s Church

General Updates Funding JR: We have done quite well with applying for funding in the last year or so.

The new CEDF grant is open for applications so if anyone has any ideas as to what we could do then please let me know. Last years CEDF project is to finish with some additional outside lighting for St. Stephen’s Trust and a new PA for us We managed to win a small grant from the Lottery 25 years fund, this was for getting external power on the green for future events. this has turned out easier said than done as the land belongs to the council, I will say no more.

TB: I will. The green is our main community green, if we could get power to the beacon we could use it for events where a flame lit beacon is not suitable. To have lighting on it would add to our Christmas lights, how good would it be to have the beacon lit up at this festive time. Christmas light switch on at the beacon.

JR: We have also managed to secure a funding to cover a years rental of a storage facility for our equipment etc., up until recently this was free.

Crumbs this is like a stuck record, we have a small grant for what should have been VE day celebrations. Due to the lock down this couldn't happen, the council have agreed that this fund can be rolled over to next year when it is hoped that restrictions will be lifted and we can have a belated celebration.

Finally, Our volunteer coordinators contract at Purfleet Hub was coming to an end. So to keep this position going until next year we have managed to secure funding to cover their salary.

Please feel free to come up with ideas that may need funding. And together we can help make Purfleet-on-Thames the place we would all like it to be.

TB: It has been agreed and might have been mentioned before that we will get two benches on the green, so we can watch the world go by. And now a few word from our globe trotting councillor, Qaisar

General Updates Councillor Comments QA: “Good evening everyone. I hope you all are well and safe.

-> General Update:- Various residents/businesses reported individual issues (abandoned vehicles, flooding, blocked sewage holes, discretionary business grants, business opening day concerns, housing repairs etc) and almost all were responded or resolved. Any outstanding query will be directly responded to those individuals/businesses.

->Stonehouse Lane reconstruction work:- The reconstruction of the carriageway together with associated kerbing and drainage repairs have been completed before due date.

-> Caspian Way Party (27th June):- I reported the unauthorised gathering/ party to the local police team and Council. Police attended and music was turned off. The local Police team assured me that they regularly patrol the area in plain clothes and plain vehicles, so even though residents may not recognise them or see them, they are commonly there. ASB officer has spoken to some residents in the area and has had a dialogue with another Council who have housing in the area. This was also discussed at multi agency meeting on ASB so concerns are routinely shared. The police and council officers are requesting the residents to report any such future events, suspicious activities or crimes to the Police www.essex.police.uk/do-it-online/report-a-crime or submit related videos/pictures/information anonymously through Crimestoppers https://crimestoppers-uk.org/give-information/forms/give-information-anonymously -> Gas Mains Replacement - London Road, South Stifford:- The gas work is still underway and restrictions are in place. The second phase of the works are on track to be completed by 28 August 2020.

-> Broadband Issue - Purfleet-on-Thames & West Thurrock:- I met forum.

General Updates Chair and Vice Chair while maintaining social distancing and we discussed low broadband speed in certain areas. I have now requested a joint meeting with Mr Brace, ASELA LFFN Programme Manager & Council ICT officer, to discuss this further.

-> Refurbishment of River and Marine Court:- These works are due to commence from September 2020. The works will include: replacement roofs to the blocks and rainwater goods, all property windows upgraded with new double glazed PVC-U windows, replacement of all timber street and rear doors to UPVC, Brickwork repair, replacement and pointing, replacement of vertically hung tiles to exterior of blocks, external lighting repair and renewal, installation of passive ventilation louvre to communal staircase areas, full cleanse of canopy Perspex coverings, external redecoration of the render and metalwork, replacement of the existing front and rear entrance security doors with new steel powder coated units, replacement of the existing failing door entry systems with a new digital linked system which will include new handsets to each individual property and Installation of a new cloud based fob system. There are also plans to refurbish full communal areas inside and outside (*informatory letters will be sent to residents in near future).

-> Missed Bins:- I reported my/residents’ concerns about regular missed bins in our ward and I was told by the officers that due to covid-19, this is an on going issue. The service is affected due to restricted number of crews and vehicles. For bin collection days, please see https://www.thurrock.gov.uk/household-waste-and-recycling Good wishes TB: Brown bins should be collected the same day as your other bins but only once a fortnight, see next page

General Updates Purfleet Heritage & Military Centre TB: The centre has re-opened with one-way aisles, hand cleaning gel is in place. Social distancing and mask wearing is requested. Like most places that have been forced to close it has hit the finances, so you support will be appreciated.

Like the forum the centre was awarded money from the council towards VE Day 75th anniversary celebrations. These have been deferred to 2021.

The centre obtained funding for sign writing of the Purfleet-on-Thames name plate that hangs under the shield on the beacon which was obtained through a small council community development fund.

For further information contact Alan at argos44@icloud.com or me vicechair@purfleetcf.org.uk

Matters Arising & AOB TB: There is a big pile of rubbish on the river near the QE2 bridge where CRO Ports are located. It is a pocket of rubbish that featured in a news article in the Mail-online in 2019, it did not put us in a good light. I checked it out a couple of years ago and some of the rubbish is decades old. It seems the tide comes in, goes out and rubbish collects at this point. I consider it would not be safe for us to carry out a litter pick unaided. In addition the volume is huge.

On the land side of the river wall is an occasionally used footpath. It is not local rubbish it is other peoples rubbish washed down river from London but we are stuck with it. I contacted the Port of London Authority about this, thinking they are responsible for rivers up to the high tide level and clearing it would be down to them. Straight away they pointed us to Thames21, saying it is volunteers who clear the river. I mentioned the danger in clearing this pile and asked if they had a boat that could help. It seems not. On the PLA website are links to Cleaner Thames but this is just a series of leaflets telling people what not to do. I have contacted Thames21 and await an answer.

The PLA are good at telling people what not to throw in the river but not a lot of use in helping clean it.

Next Virtual Meeting Next Meeting Our next Virtual Meeting will be 29th September. It doesn’t look like there will be any change to this.. Keep an eye on our website and check your emails.

You have either read or skipped through our newsletter, hope you enjoyed it.

Most important keep your distance and keep safe, see you next time. John

Aerial photos by Suliman

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