94 houses go ahead in Newport after planning appeal lost – and another 150 proposed, so reply to consultation while you can

We and the Newport Parish Council are disappointed to have lost the recent appeal against the refusal of 94 houses on land between London Rd and the Primary School in …read more →

Risky Business, Bins, & More Representation – Newport Ward update from Neil Hargreaves

Report from Newport Ward District Councillors Neil Hargreaves. Commercial Investment Currently UDC is well funded because it receives the New Homes Bonus (NHB) of £8,000 per house completed in the …read more →

Refusal of school transport by Essex – call for evidence by the Department for Education

The Department for Education (DfE) are continuing to investigate Essex County Council’s school transport policy following a referral by R4U. The policy is to refuse free school transport unless going …read more →

Low level crime ‘won’t be dealt with’ says Essex police…

Concerning increasing concerns about crime, here is a selection of this weeks papers, Walden Local, SW Reporter and Dunmow Broadcast. Previous week it was the sell off of the Stansted …read more →

More changes to school bus schedules announced by ECC

Following problems since alterations at the beginning of term, there are changes to school bus schedule starting Monday 17th October. The issues with the grossly overloaded 322 Old Harlow to …read more →

Transport Update 25/9/16: ECC’s refusal to provide some students transport in breach of Statutory Duty under DfE Guidance

It seems that Essex County Council’s refusal to provide some students transport to secondary schools is a breach of their statutory duty: The Department for Education statutory school transport guidance …read more →

Utter failure by Essex County Council on secondary school places & school transport

ECC are completely ignoring catchment areas Essex County Council used to provide free school transport for students going to their catchment school (in education speak, for those in the ‘priority …read more →

Cllr Ray Gooding reports that Essex has 280,000 blocked road drains whilst flood phone lines go unanswered

  Conservative prospective ECC candidate John Moran was recently writing in praise of the Conservative controlled Essex County Council saying their services are ‘superior’. The UDC Scrutiny Committee however take …read more →

Departures, retirements & a ‘Special Purpose Vehicle’ -Ward report from Cllrs Hargreaves & Parry

Following the departures from the council of the Chief Executive, and the Head of Planning last month, there was a further announcement at the full Council meeting on 18th May …read more →

Newport Bridge Strike Success!

Newport railway bridge is struck about three times a year and near misses, which cause very similar disruption and damage, as the big trucks can’t reverse out, are happening about …read more →