CAST and socialist minds

Utopia cafe hosts socialist minds

At my first CAST meeting in something like two years on Tuesday night. Eight of us there (four men, four women). Cast And Sanctuary Seekers Together meet at Trinity Church at the top of Argyll Road, Westrcliff-on-Sea; this is in Milton ward.

An office move, fundraising, and asylum support were amongst the items discussed.

Last night I popped into listen to Helen McDonald address Socialist Minds. She gave an excellent talk about gender inequality in the workplace. Something like 25 souls gathered to hear her wise words.

A community is more than just a collection of customers - save Leigh post office

https://www.facebook.com/saveleighpo

I think Post Offices are important. I think this for a number of reasons.

The most obvious is the services they provide. Whilst some of what they offer is available elsewhere, the local post office is still the go-to place for so many things.

The post office is trusted in ways that make them the envy of many businesses. You can trust your local post office.

Service is a word that comes to mind when I think of post offices. An unhurried and genuine service, so often absent in other places.

Whilst mergers may make business sense, depriving a community of its post office diminishes that community, much like closing a library, or public convenience. A community is more than just a collection of customers.

Please like the SAVE Leigh-on-Sea Post Office Facebook page.

Education not segregation

Essex Fire Authority

The Essex Fire Authority has 25 Members:

Essex County Council – Conservative - 12, Labour - 2, Liberal Democrat - 2, UKIP - 2, Green - 1, Non-aligned - 1.

Southend Borough Council - Conservative – 1, Labour – 1, Independent - 1.

Thurrock Borough Council – Conservative – 1; Labour - 1.

TOTAL:

Conservative:	14
Labour:	4
Liberal Democrat:	2
UKIP:	2
Green:	1
Non-aligned:	1
Independent	1
	25

MEMBERSHIP

Essex County Council

Cllr B Aspinell (Lib Dem)	Cllr M Hoy (Green)
Cllr A Bayley (UKIP)	Cllr N Hume (Con)
Cllr D Blackwell (Non-Aligned)	Cllr J Huntman (UKIP)
Cllr J Chandler (Con	Cllr J Knapman (Con)
Cllr M Danvers (Lab)	Cllr M McEwen (Con)
Cllr A Erskine (Con)	Cllr V Metcalfe (Con)
Cllr C Guglielmi (Con)	Cllr A Naylor (Con)
Cllr A M Hedley (Con)	Cllr C Seagers (Con)
Cllr I Henderson (Lab)	Cllr A Turrell (Lib Dem)
Cllr P Honeywood (Con)	Cllr A Wood (Con)

Southend-on-Sea Borough Council                  Thurrock Council

Cllr A E Holland (Con)	Cllr C Kent (Lab)
Cllr J Ware-Lane (Lab)	Cllr A Watkins (Con)
Cllr R Woodley (Independent)

CHAIRMAN

Cllr A M Hedley

VICE-CHAIRMAN

Cllr A E Holland

GROUP SPOKESPERSONS

LABOUR GROUP SPOKESPERSON                                          Cllr C Kent

LIBERAL DEMOCRAT GROUP SPOKESPERSON                      Cllr B Aspinell

UKIP GROUP SPOKESPERSON                                               Cllr A Bayley

ADDITIONAL FUNCTIONS – LEAD MEMBERS/MEMBER CHAMPIONS

The Authority appoints Lead Members (Member Champions), who lead on subject specific areas on behalf of the Authority and these are reviewed on an annual basis at its Annual General Meeting, Lead Members/Member Champions include:

Safer Communities and Youth                                         Cllr J Chandler

Equal Opportunities                                                        Cllr C Kent

Health and Safety                                                          Cllr J Ware-Lane

Risk Management                                                          Cllr A Holland

IT and Data Management                                               Cllr A Wood

On-call Firefighter                                                          Cllr C Guglielmi

Environmental                                                               Cllr M McEwen

Control                                                                          Cllr Hedley

Employee Engagement                                                  Cllr A Naylor

KONP public meeting 21st February, O'Neill's Southend-on-Sea

Southend Pier

The current Conservative-UKIP coalition that runs Southend-on-Sea is promising large sums of money, in their budget proposals, for the pier.

I think that the pier is an important part of Southend-on-Sea and in many ways defines an image of the town. It should be preserved, nay enhanced, and money to be spent on it is welcomed by me.

There have been numerous false starts as regards to repairing and enhancing the world's longest pier. It is a somewhat sorry tale in reality. An iconic structure that has not been prioritised in all the years that I can remember.

I can vividly recall the 1976 pier fire and the damage it wrought. The pier head still awaits a return to former glories. It is clear that much time and money has been wasted over the decades, and so I hope that this time it will be money well spent.

Of course, in straightened financial times there is going to be a tug-of-war between competing priorities. Should we, for instance, be spending money on the pier when the social care budget is being squeezed? It is a tough call. However, I think that not only is this icon deserving in its own right, it is a magnet - this money should be an investment that is repaid in visitor numbers to the structure, and the town that houses it. Money into the local economy is important to all of us.

Whilst welcoming money for the pier I will also be resisting cuts that I think will diminish the services that the council provide. Whilst not blind to the realities of the continuing austerity agenda of the Government, and that savings are having to be made, I do not believe that money spent in one place necessarily means money withdrawn from other places. This is not about robbing Peter to pay Paul.

There is a real threat to all that the Council provides, and difficult choices will have to be made. I query the £580,00 being spent to celebrate 125 years of being a borough, an extravagance that should be ditched.