Purfleet-on-Thames Community Forum Virtual Meeting Newsletter, 29th September 2020 by Tredoubat

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Virtual Meeting Newsletter Community Council Developer Local Business

29th September 2020

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 SL LB SA TS MD: QA: ZM

John Rowles, Chair Trevor Batchelor, Vice Chair Steve Lines , Thurrock Council Highways Louise Banks, Thurrock Clinical Commissioning Group Sarah Allcock, St. Stephen’s Community Trust PC Tom Strong, Essex Police Rev. Matt Drummond, Vicar at St Stephen’s Cllr. Qaisar Abbas Zyle Mills, Heavenly Greens

Front cover: The newly repainted forum boat on Stonehouse Roundabout.

Agenda

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Welcome

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Speaker - Steve Lines, Highways

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Speaker - Louise Banks, Thurrock Clinical Commissioning Group

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General Updates

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Matters Arising and AOB

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What's Going On Around Us

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Next Meeting

Welcome JR: Good evening all and thank for joining us for our fourth meeting /newsletter for September 29th, 2020. Rules etc are the same.

Well what have we been up to over the last couple of months. After a lot of phone calls, we have managed to get a couple of sockets put on the outside wall of the children’ centre which will be great when we can finally do something that end of town. I am still working on getting power on the Beacon easier said than done.

The plan to repaint the boat on Stonehouse roundabout finally happened but I will let Trevor tell you all about it as he was the driving force behind it. The project to get Fibre Broad band available for Watts Wood Park and the Uplands is now fully completed so we have been looking at who hasn’t got fibre and who isn’t likely to get it in the foreseeable future.

Trev has sorted a map and most of P-o-T either have access or will have in the next year or so. As far as we can tell there are 3 or 4 area’s left out. These are Beacon Hill, River View Flats, Southland Terrace and a bit of the lakes Est opp Esso. So, if you live in one of these area’s and you are fed up with slow B/B just watch out for future news. The same goes for anyone not living in one of

Welcome the area’s mentioned and knows something we don’t then please get in touch. TB. You can check to see if you can get fibre broadband below, if yes you will have to pay to upgrade if you are on a basic package https://www.openreach.com/fibre-broadband

JR. The pedestrian lights by the school are now in operation and appear to be working well. We are now waiting to here if the 20mph speed limit will be put in place along with moving the bus stop from opp the general store nearly opposite the hairdressers.

If you are wondering about the Xmas lights I am working on it. We have a new double noticeboard by the bus turn around that has been provided by Swan Housing, who are part of PCRL. It is for the community to use. So if you have anything community related that you would like posted contact me at chair@purfleetcf.org.uk . It wont be for voting posters or anything that goes against the sprit of our forum. We might trial for sale or free stuff notices, to help others, job adverts if space allows. Not thought it through so give me your thoughts. The new community noticeboard

We welcome the new hoardings you may have seen in London Road opposite the station Our first speaker tonight is somebody you know, Steve Lines from Highways. What he is talking about is a result of discussions with me and the committee that were had a while ago about closing or limiting vehicle traffic through the level crossing. I think this proposal is a good alternative and hope you all support it. Steve….

Guest Speaker Steve Lines Thurrock Highways Highways Good evening Chair, Committee, Councillors, Ladies and Gentlemen Over recent weeks as you may have expected, life has not been 100% normal in the Transport Development team. We have still continued to work hard through the lockdown and after, but much of our teams time (and mine personally in particular) has been diverted from our pre prepared programme in order to make the footways and cycleways safe for people to be able to restart their lives in a safe and social distance way. With our usual imaginative flare this has been called “Restart Works”. Thurrock was awarded money from Central Government that has funded all the works we have done so far – you may have seen signs and markings around the boroughs main pedestrian routes and around schools reminding everyone to keep their Social Distance. More recently we reached what we have called Sieve 3 of this project and have been working on the transport hubs in the borough to provide a little more help than just signing and lining. Within this stage we have developed schemes for four areas in Thurrock, of which London Road Purfleet is one. Plans of the proposals are on the next two pages. As you can hopefully can see, the speed limit on London Road between Church Hollow and Linnet Way will be reduced from 30 mph down to 20 mph. The light blue line indicates this length on the drawings. The primary reason is to slow the traffic, to make it safe for pedestrians to use the narrow footways – With this in mind, in particular to encourage residents of Botany Terrace and Riverview Flats to park their cars fully on the road and not on the footway, thereby opening up the footway to allow pedestrians to pass each other without coming so close. The slower traffic speed will allow them to park with greater confidence of not being damaged by passing vehicles. The second reason for the reduced limit is to encourage on road cycling through the area. The Scheme will be put in place under an 18 month Experimental Order. This means that the scheme can be introduced without delay and that the 18 month experimental order acts as the consultation period which gives people time to understand whether they think the scheme is actually a long term good

Guest Speaker Steve Lines Thurrock Highways

Restart Works - Sieve 3 - London Road Purfleet - West of level Crossing idea or not. I must stress that our reason for using this type of order is purely to get the scheme in quickly. We could also have done it under a Temporary Traffic Order. However, we are aware that there have been complaints for a long time from residents of vehicles driving too fast through this area. Our surveys have established that there is not a speeding issue in relation to the 30mph limit â&#x20AC;&#x201C; BUT we also recognise that 30 mph is not necessarily appropriate in all areas. On that basis, if the scheme is well supported during the experimental stage then it will be easy to make it a permanent order at the end of that time meaning it could be retained on a permanent basis. If it is not well received it will be removed when the order expires.

Guest Speaker Steve Lines Thurrock Highways

Restart Works - Sieve 3 - London Road Purfleet - East of level Crossing but if after it has been in a few months you find you do have strong feelings for or against, please let us know so we take the correct action.

Now, what use is a 20 limit unless there is something to enforce it I hear you ask. I appreciate that detail is small on A3 or A4 plans that you might have in front of you, but as we are not working in the Civic Offices at the moment I do not have access to the big printer to send full sized plans to John. You might be able to see that we are backing the 20 limit with speed cushions, spaced at approximately every 65m through the area. These too will be taken out or stay, depending on the 20 mph limit. I know people criticise cushions and would prefer full width humps to slow

Guest Speaker Steve Lines Thurrock Highways traffic â&#x20AC;&#x201C; but it must be considered that: 1) 2) 3) 4)

This is a bus route and it is not comfortable for passengers to go over Humps. Empty buses make a lot of noise going over humps HGVs going over humps cause a lot of vibration This is an emergency route and a sick person in an ambulance going over humps is not going to enjoy the ride

I also know that the call will be for speed cameras to back up the limit â&#x20AC;&#x201C; but at risk of starting a debate

a) b) c) d)

cameras are not appropriate for 20 limits cameras for this stretch of road would cost as much as the funding we were awarded to cover the entire borough cameras do not fall under the remit of the funding for the walking and cycling restart works London Road would not meet the criteria for cameras

The final thing that is being done is the relocation of the bus stop on the Grays bound side near the station, the stop by the old bus turnaround. Because passengers waiting at this stop block the footway and do not allow safe distancing for pedestrians to pass, we are looking to move this about 50m east to where the fence sets back a bit. This will allow passengers to stand back out of the path of pedestrians passing through. This move will also have several on street advantages too. It will remove the issue of having the obstruction to traffic flow created by having 2 bus stops directly opposite each other. When 2 buses stop the road is fully obstructed. In the new location, the road is wider so that even with a bus in place the traffic should still be able to get through. This moves the stop further from the crossing, this means less chance of a vehicle stopping on the railway line when caught behind a stationary bus. This is subject to final agreement by the Passenger Transport Unit and the Bus Company. Thank you for your time

JR. Thanks Steve for a great presentation, best one yet. And now our 2nd Speaker Louise with a brief outline of the planned medical centre, still just a vision in the making. Over to youâ&#x20AC;Ś.

Guest Speaker Louise Banks Thurrock Clinical Commissioning Group Integrated Medical Centres – Transforming Your Care in Purfleet LB. It seems like a long time ago when we began the journey to transform health and care services in Thurrock. We knew that what was offered for residents in terms of health care wasn’t enough and not meeting the needs of people. More people were going to A&E and hospital than should have been. They could have been better supported to prevent ill health and managed in their own community, with better access to GP facilities. That was back in 2014! How things have moved on since then… Thurrock Clinical Commissioning Group worked with Healthwatch Thurrock and Thurrock Council to gauge people’s opinion and asked what they wanted from a 21st Century Health and Care offer and overall, most people wanted better access to GPs and primary care services and care closer to home. They also wanted to only tell their story once and to have health and care more joined up. For the last four years we have been working with Purfleet Centre Regeneration team. Purfleet Centre Regeneration Limited (PCRL), is a joint venture between Urban Catalyst and Swan Housing Association, delivering the £1bn regeneration of Purfleet-on-Thames. We’ve been working with Thurrock Council, PCRL, health providers, Purfleet Care Centre, community service providers and the voluntary sector to design a 21st Century integrated medical centre that offers a one stop shop for health, care, mental health and more. By joining up we hope to offer you the ideals you said you wanted and to provide access to solutions that keep you living well and staying well. This joint way of working became branded as Better Care Together Thurrock in 2018. The Purfleet IMC is bound up in the delivery of the new Purfleet on Thames town and regeneration of the area. We now hope that we will see the IMC built and ready to open at the end of 2023 (only three years away).

Guest Speaker Louise Banks Thurrock Clinical Commissioning Group Talking to you Over the last few years, PCRL have been involving local residents in the design of the new town and engagement with the local community and stakeholders has been at heart of the approach, focussing too on the Purfleet-on-Thames Community Forum and feeding back to the Purfleet IMC project group. Thurrock Council and PCRL won a national award for their community engagement with Purfleet residents a couple of years ago! What will you get from the Integrated Medical Centres? You will get a number of services, some of which you may already receive locally, including: Blood tests GP practice with extended staff including paramedic practitioners, social prescribers, clinical pharmacists and more – you can read more about these roles here: https://www.thurrockccg.nhs.uk/your-health/primary-care/ services-available-from-gp-surgery

Outpatient clinics – to be confirmed but could be based on three speciality services Mental Health support – services like IAPT for people with long term conditions and other community psychiatric support.

Pharmacy Community space for local groups Possible opportunity for treatments and minor operations We are still working through the health and care offer and with providers to determine the exact services you will see, but rest assured we’ll keep you updated when we know more and hopefully we will be able to share plans. We will also be looking to have online meetings, where we can present some of our thinking on what your medical centre will offer. We’ll keep your forum updated with details about this and other engagement opportunities. For more information visit: www.bettercaretogetherthurrock.org JR. Thanks Louise at least this gives us an idea. I will now pass you over to Trevor who will bring you up to date with what he has been up to. Over to you

General Updates TB. Like most people I have been adapting to the changes from Covid. This has been with us for six months and looks like we will still be living an altered lifestyle for the next six, so getting used to doing things differently.. Storage John and I joined in on a number of online video meetings, which seems the new way forward and one of the things John forgot to mention is the forum now rents a garage to store forum stuff - silhouettes, lights, paint etc. We have limited storage space in a container at St Stephenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s which is shared but now we are able to develop and work on projects knowing we have storage for materials. Yes it does cost but we get the garage at a reduced price and John applied for a small funding grant to cover the first year, which we now have. Royal Opera House Thurrock Community Chorus

Word reached us from a member that funding for the chorus had been cut off without warning. The ROH, who are drastically short of funds cut there support, Thurrock Council followed. Councillors stopped a plan by their CEO to appoint an assistant director to run High House Production Park. It all seems a bit uncertain there so watch this space. Silhouettes Some of you might be aware that the silhouettes outsides the Heritage Centre that represent the 26 soldiers who lived in Purfleet and gave their lives during WWI were vandalised earlier in the year. Lisa, one of our committee spotted this and started a campaign to raise funding for replacing them. Things have moved on. With the help of our local Councillor Qaisar I was put in touch with a company in Leeds who offered to make replacements. To cut a long story short they going to make FOC 26 bespoke silhouettes about 1150mm high (as was) out of 8mm stainless steel. This is a wonderful gesture. Talks today mean production is imminent.

General Updates Regeneration

TB. At last we have something tangible to see that shows the regeneration is about to start. Hoardings have gone up and are proof that sometimes PCRL listen to what we say. Original colours were to have been pink and purple urgh! These are bright and happy colours. In reality a lot has been going on behind the scenes but is good to see after all the years of waiting we have lift off. The Design Panel met virtually with PCRL in May and September with a workshop planned for October. Some people will be more interested than others about the changes that are going to happen. If you are one of those people and you would like to add your two pennies worth to the pot of idea to be talked about contact John chair@purfleetcf.org.uk and ask to join the Design Panel. You do not have to be an architect, designer, planner just have an interest in your surroundings to add your comments. Clearing work and ground remodelling between Caspian Way and Hollow Cottages through to Cornwall House car park should start during any time from October to Spring. Building is planned to start after with completion by latter part of 2022. Hopefully this is so; in January we were told completion was 2020/21. To be fair we have Covid which threw a spanner in the works but this time there does seem to be positive movement.

General Updates Kinetika T100 Calling / A Celebration of Purfleet-on-Thames TB: On Sunday John, Ding from PCRL and I took part in T100 Calling organised by Ali Pretty from Kinetika. This was the finale of a 9 day event. A total of 30 people took part in our walk. Originally planned for July, it was moved to September because of the virus. Plans as to how the festival would happen constantly changed as guidelines changed. There was a last minute shuffle of plans resulting in 5 walking tours starting at the Beacon, going to the RSPB past the Heritage Centre and Hub, then meandering up to High House. Activities there were limited to a tour of Kinetikaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s studios, a tour of the barns, culminating in the building of a Mandala made from fruit and vegetables surrounded by the 24 flags that were made at the studios to depict Purfleeton Thames. Without a doubt the best flag is our forum flag.