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

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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 – 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 – 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 – 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 you‌.

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 Stephen’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 Kinetika’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.

General Updates Kinetika T100 Calling / A Celebration of Purfleet-on-Thames

The 24 flags to celebrate Purfleet-on-Thames follow

General Updates Kinetika T100 Calling / A Celebration of Purfleet-on-Thames

Purfleet-on-Thames Community Forum

Purfleet Centre Regeneration Ltd

The Children’s Centre

RSPB

General Updates Kinetika T100 Calling / A Celebration of Purfleet-on-Thames

Purfleet Heritage & Military Centre

St. Stephen’s Church

The Royal Hotel

The Fleet, The Whitbread connection

General Updates Kinetika T100 Calling / A Celebration of Purfleet-on-Thames

Carfax House, the Dracula link

Cobelfret

Purfleet-on-Thames Community Hub

Ensignbus

General Updates Kinetika T100 Calling / A Celebration of Purfleet-on-Thames

St. Stephen’s Community Trust

Royal Opera House

Heavenly Greens

Purfleet-on-Thames Community Hub

General Updates Kinetika T100 Calling / A Celebration of Purfleet-on-Thames

Acme-Studios

C2C

Harris Academy Riverside

Long Reach, History of Purfleet-on-Thames

General Updates Kinetika T100 Calling / A Celebration of Purfleet-on-Thames

South Essex College

A13

Thurrock Music Services

Kinetika—T100 Walking Festival

General Updates The Boat Project and a New Welcome to Purfleet-on-Thames TB. Back in 2010 our forum applied for and received planning permission to put a boat sculpture on Stonehouse Roundabout. This followed many years of discussions at forum meetings to find a way to let the outside world know that Purfleet was a growing residential area not just an area of industry. A boat was chosen to show the link between Purfleet and the Thames, funding came from S106 money. The forum commissioned Ray Massey (sadly no longer with us) of rnate Iron in Grays to make a boat loosely based on a Thames Barge.

In the years that followed nature intervened, the boat seemed to disappear and became lost. With fading paintwork the reason for the boat being on the roundabout seemed to be slipping away.

Recently you may have seen a second roundabout being built between Stonehouse and London Road. It will take traffic directly to the port.

We will be an offshoot - Welcome to CRO Ports!

To counteract this members of the committee stepped in to give the boat a makeover to reaffirm the welcome, this time with the new name.

Bright and cheery colours were chosen to give a friendly greeting.

Welcome to Purfleet-on-Thames

General Updates The Boat Project and a New Welcome to Purfleet-on-Thames

First the old paint had to go

Then sanding and cleaning

The galvanized metal was treated

Plants required thinning out

General Updates The Boat Project and a New Welcome to Purfleet-on-Thames

Lots of painting

Stone were cleaned

Dead plants were removed

Welcome refreshments were provided by Cllr. Abbas, Thanks Qaisar

General Updates The Boat Project and a New Welcome to Purfleet-on-Thames

Laurence

Hadi

Alan

General Updates The Boat Project and a New Welcome to Purfleet-on-Thames

General Updates The Boat Project and a New Welcome to Purfleet-on-Thames Thanks to Alan (Claire’s husband) for his skills with a brush, Hadi, Hilary, John & Claire for stone cleaning and other tidying up work, Laurence for his dead plant pulling prowess, Mark, his son and a friend for mast removal and replacement. I would especially like to thank Mark for dropping the mast on my head. I spent a week or so in the sun with a brush. The result looks stunning, very noticeable and a great new Welcome to Purfleet-on Thames

That filled up a few pages

General Updates

SA. Welcome back Purfleet-on-Thames residents. We are very pleased that after completing a number of essential risk assessments and staff training programmes we are ready to open our doors.

From 8th September Youth Clubs, Youth Mentoring and Coffee Mornings will be back.

New guidelines on restrictions of gatherings of more than 6 do not apply to our community activities. However to ensure the safety of everyone we are limiting numbers to max of 15 to each group, including staff members and volunteers.

More information about how we are keeping everyone safe when visiting can be found on this link. https://ststephenscommunitytrust.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/ WINWORD_200915_1841.png Groups now OPEN Youth Clubs Open Tuesdays for 13-18 years olds 5-6:30pm (max 12 – booking in advance)

Youth Clubs Open Wednesdays for 8 – 12 year olds 4:30-6pm (max 12 – booking in advance) Socially distanced Coffee Mornings Wednesdays (fortnightly) from 9th September 11 -1 pm ( max 15 booking in advance) Sports for young people and Outreach work starting September Baby & Toddler Groups in the planning stages

General Updates Booking and More Information To book Youth Clubs contact us on 07376 95 54 60 To book Coffee Mornings contact us on 07734 46 44 97

Look out for regular information and updates about these groups and other activities going on in Purfleet on our FB pages If you do get a chance to take a look at our website, we will be keeping everyone updated as much as possible.

With regards to the updated government advice as from Monday 14th September were able to continue our socially distanced coffee mornings as we are a Charitable service. The new updated guidance, lists this as one of the exceptions. However please do not hesitate to contact me should you have any further questions around this and I will try my best to help.

Many Thanks & Kind Regards

Sarah Allcock Trust Administrator

General Updates TS. Coronavirus (COVID-19) – As we are sure you are all aware, COVID-19 still remains a significant risk within our communities, it has NOT gone away. We thank the vast majority of you for sticking to guidelines, helping to protect those around you. Please note the new changes which came into effect from Thursday 24th September, if you are unaware of these, please visit the government website. The fine level for failing to comply with guidelines has increased to £200, so don’t be caught out.

Operation Caesar - continues to run across Thurrock, however due to funding, and heading into the winter months, its frequency has decreased, as have the number of incidents being reported to us. If any nuisance vehicles are causing issues in your area, then please continue to make us aware, or submit intelligence via crime stoppers, and ensure operation Caesar is mentioned in the report.

Across the Aveley, South Stifford, West Thurrock and Purfleet wards, 8 crimes were reported over the last month per 1000 residents, this is down on previous months.

PC’s Plom and Butcher are still your Town Centre officers for Purfleet and Aveley, and will continue to conduct high visibility patrols over the coming month as Essex Police heads towards one of its busiest times of the year, please say hello if you see them.

Over the last month, PC’s Strong (Oh that’s me) and Stocker continue to run operation Lucifa and operation Lemon together. These have continued to see arrests for drug related offence, and vehicle crime related offences.

Operation Irish Lions has been set up to tackle car meets, car cruising events, and car racing within the West Thurrock PSPO area. Responding to these incidents cannot always be a straight forward process, and commonly, by the time we arrive, the vehicles have left. We understand the annoyance these vehicles can cause, and a proactive and high visibility presence has seen over 30 breaches of PSPO tickets handed out, over 10 drivers reported for road traffic offences who now await court, or points and fines. This presence has drastically reduced the number of incidents being reported to us, and the operation will also run into the weekend of the 25th and 26th of September.

Please can residents continue to report any incidents of this nature to us, our officers will be in the area.

The number of intelligence reports to submitted to our team has lowered

General Updates this month, despite this, our officers still receive emails from councillors voicing concerns. This is NOT enough, if you see suspicious activity where life or property is not in danger (if it was, dial 999), then please submit crime stoppers reports to us. The intelligence when collaborated can be very useful, and helps us tackle those who cause harm, and bring crime into our communities. Examples of intelligence reports can include vehicles hanging around, with people going to, and coming from the vehicle. Include make, model, colour, index plates, and person descriptions where possible.

Please follow our Facebook page where you can see regular updates on operations and work our officers conduct.

Follow CPT: WWW.facebook.com/EPThurrock TB. Top marks to Tom. Ask him for an update and it arrives within half an hour. I then asked him specifically if he could do anything about parking issues at Purfleet Primary.

TS. I'm absolutely powerless, I can try and get over for a few days next week, but we don’t have any form of tickets for yellow line parking etc. it is all done by enforcement officers who work for Thurrock Council. I can make them aware of this issue if you like?

TB. I asked Tom if he would contact the officers and perhaps make a joint visit with them to give a high profile presence, he will do what he can.

For those not aware in November 2018 two civil enforcement officers were assaulted whilst a parking ticket was being issued outside the school. One officer was punched to the floor, the other was knocked unconscious and required stitches. This was caught on the officers webcam. The man who made the assault was arrested the next day. In August this year he was charged and jailed for 2 years and 4 months.

JR Again another brilliant report cheers Tom. Matt our local Vicar, its your turn.

General Updates MD: Autumn is a liminal season, that is a threshold season. It is a season of transition from the sunny warmth of summer, to the cold, dark, fog and damp of winter. It takes us from long balmy evenings outside, to early arriving nights, and cold and misty mornings.

If Autumn is a liminal season, then it is also a reflective one; a season for memories, as our thoughts are drawn inwards. In the Church's year as part of Autumn we celebrate the Feasts of All Souls and All Saints, moments when we remember our loved ones, and those men and women of faith whose actions and beliefs have shaped nations and peoples. Similary in early November we mark Remembrance Sunday, a moment to reflect on war and peace, and those who fought and died in the former to bring the latter to fruition. People who sought to secure a better future for all.

This year Autumn will necessarily feel different, and there will likely be more opportunities than ever before to stop and reflect as we deal with the ongoing threat of Coronavirus. But Autumn is as I said at the beginning a liminal season, it is not an end in itself, but a season of change and transformation through which we journey. And at the end of our autumnal journey is not merely the bitterness of winter frosts, but something more far more profound: Christmas. Christmas is a season of light in the darkness, and of hope found in the birth of Christ, as we remember the God, who in Jesus makes his dwelling in our midst.

Fr. Matt Drummond

Blessing the Mandala at the end of T100 Calling

JR. and now Qaisar

General Updates Councillor Comments QA: I hope you’re good.

“Good evening everyone. I hope you all are well and safe.

It was good to see and meet Trevor and some residents who were doing renovation work on Stonehouse Boat. The boat looks great now. Well done to everyone involved.

Here are some updates; 1). The broken river fence panel near Greens was repaired and replaced.

2). I organised a virtual meeting with ASELA LFFN programme manager to discuss the poor broadband service in our ward. Myself, John, Trevor, West Thurrock Forum Chair and a resident attended this meeting. Discussions are ongoing with Openreach and ASELA manager.

3). I have reported ASB, Vandalism and other related problems in Marine Court to council/local police team and awaiting responses from relevant officers.

4). Royal Opera House Thurrock Community Chorus’ funding is withdrawn. I met with members of ROHTCC who were really upset and heartbroken with this decision. I contacted Cllr A Jefferies, Portfolio holder for Education, regarding this and asked him to reinstate the funding and consult members of ROHTCC and ROH before making any further decision. Here is Cllr Jefferies’ reply “the CEO of the ROH is arranging to meet with the Choir to discuss how they might progress the choir, which I think is probably the best way forward.

The Council had a contract with the ROH to work with the Choir, this contract was not renewed after the ROH said that they would not be in a position to continue supporting the Choir. Hopefully after the meeting the Choir can see a

General Updates Councillor Comments forward and the opportunities that they have.”

5). I met with Mr Samuel, head teacher of Purfleet Primary Academy, and some parents who shared their concerns about parking issues outside the school particularly during drop/pick hours. I reported these to the council and this was council’s response, “Parking Enforcement Team have been instructed to carry out some targeted enforcement at Purfleet Primary School over the coming weeks. The team carry out school patrols on a rotational basis and now the schools have recommenced their terms we are starting to reintroduce our school patrols, whilst adhering to Government and local guidelines around social distancing.” I have again asked the relevant officers to find a permanent solution to this problem including installing CCTV and regular patrols of enforcement officers”.

6). I reported the environmental issues (air quality, dust and noise) pertaining to Beacon Hill Industrial Estate and business near Cornwell House car park (burning tyres, plastic, car seats etc). The Beacon Hill issues are being investigated by the Planning team and on remaining issues, I am still awaiting a response from relevant officers.

7). I organised a ceremony to acknowledge the 31 years services of Mr Rachhpal Singh, Priest of Grays Sikh Temple, to local Sikh community.

Due to COVID-19, our regular Councillors’ surgeries are suspended. If you wish to discuss or report any issue, please feel free to contact me via email QAbbas@ thurrock.gov.uk or by telephone 07770 381670.

General Updates Heavanly Greens—Growing with the Community ZM. St. Stephen’s Church Christmas Fayre 2019 was the first time I set up the Heavenly Greens stall. Coming from a family of food businesses I have developed an appreciation for good quality food. Through my life I have also developed a keen interest in health and wellness, but I had not worked in the food industry. In fact I was on sabbatical from a long career in IT, project management / change management and consulting in that area, when the idea came. So when I decided to take the risk and start a business, fresh food was a natural choice. Fruit and vegetable retailing was not my expertise but was a passion, and from that passion my knowledge of food had grown over the years.

The desire to share this passion with the community also influenced the structure of this venture as a family business to serve the community.

Starting at the church was quite symbolic as the church is a symbol of fellowship and faith – values that are the foundation of our family and business.

Following that first occasion, the business was formally launched in January this year.

Social entrepreneurship is our business model, although we prefer to call it “community entrepreneurship”. The combination of the desire to improve society and desire to run a business, best describes the operations and objectives of Heavenly Greens. Specifically, we aim to run a business that will also support and collaborate with other local entrepreneurs (small businesses, sole traders, farmers, artisans) cottage industries and community organisations so that everyone can benefit. In that spirit we initially had plans for Saturday at the stall to provide a meeting point for the members of the community to stop by and not only shop but share tea and conversation with each other and us. But then the pandemic took hold of the society before we could make those plans a reality.

We started our line with fruits and vegetables, but over the past few months we have expanded to include homemade cakes, free-range eggs and jams.

These partnerships arose from community relationships. So far our homemade jams and cakes and when available, the wilja potatoes are sourced locally. Soon we would like to begin supplying other preserves, honey produced locally and a wider range of locally grown produce.

Our vision is to grow the stall into a farm shop that will be as comfortable and welcoming as the neighbourhood shop. A place where neighbours can stop by not just to pick-up foodstuff but to stop and chat a while.

By Zyle Mills

General Updates Purfleet Heritage & Military Centre TB: The centre held its first event of the year Bikers Day on the 9th September. 30 bikes arrived and were spaced out to create a cosy reduced event. Last year there were over 100 bikes during the day. So a small amount of money went into the coffers. The big news is scaffolding has gone up around the centre for the roof to be repaired. Wates are the contractors who are refurbishing some of the Garrison

Estate and after they were awarded a contract to refurb the rest it seemed a fitting time to have a word about the roof. The roofing contractors JAW Roofing and Wates have agreed to fund this themselves. Great news at a time when the museum is struggling. A CEDF funding application is in to help take the centre forward and a funding application for loss of earnings has been made. If successful the centre will be on track to grow for the benefit of all.

AGM is 18th October at 11:30am for those who wish to attend.

What’s Going On Around Us What’s Going

On Around Us

TB: This will be short and sweet River Bus

We have not got it yet but there is hope for the future.

Latest news is Thames Clippers have joined forces with Uber to form Uber Boat by Thames Clippers. You will be able to book a seat by phone app…..one day.

London resort This mega theme park held a public consultation which finished on 21st September, so I guess it is watch this space.

Ocado Purfleet?

The building of the Ocado warehouse continues as many of you might have heard. They are pushing the boundaries with their working hours. With traffic lights and temporary lights delays on the A1306 are now common, so allow extra time when leaving the area going west. This is in the What’s Going on Around Us section because although called Ocado Purfleet the site is in Aveley.

Ebbsfleet Many of you may remember many moons ago before the High Speed Rail Link was built there was talk of a station here. This ended up in Ebbsfleet in Kent and a residential area was built up around it. News this week is that trains will no longer stop there until no further notice. Those who wish to travel to France and fancy a few days in quarantine will now have to go to London.

Matters Arising & AOB TB: There is an application in to turn the Proof House, currently a soft play center into a café. Seems like a good idea.

TS Cornwall

We remember on 31st August 1915 an officer and 16 cadets from TS Cornwall drowned when a Government tug hit their cutter. Cornwall was moored about 100 yards east of the Royal Hotel from 1859 till 1928. They had a brass band of about 200 boys that was formed in 1876.

The boys were a familiar sight and performed at Sports and open days in The Dipping behind Botany Terrace into Cornwall House Car Park. The Cornwall rented the ground.

The band folded in 1910.

The grave and a Thurrock Green memorial plaque are at St. Clement’s Church in West Thurrock.

Last night on BBC Essex there was an hour long celebration of Purfleet-on-Thames. Ali from Kinetika, Ken from PCRL and I were on. Not had time to listen to the rerun but if I can I will put it on Twitter and Facebook.

That’s me done, Trevor

Next Meeting Next Meeting JR. Our next Meeting will be 24th November at 7:30pm.

Thanks to everyone who sent in their updates etc.

Now this greaves me but a big thank you to Trevor who has spent a lot of time putting it all together, I hope you will read and enjoy and give us a bit of feedback good or bad.

The last meeting of the year is the last Tuesday of November and we hope that you will be able to join us via a video link, we will use either Zoom or Google Meets but we will give you all plenty of notice if you wish to join us. We will if we manage a small news letter as in minutes so that you will have a record of what happened and for those unable to attend. But in the mean time enjoy your evening and our news letter.

John

Aerial photos by Suliman

To be kept informed and updated on local news & information that we receive or if you want to know what is going on email chair@purfleetcf.org.uk put ‘Sign

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Purfleet-on-Thames.org

Take care, be safe