HNECA Blog

The Environment Agency help an open day on Saturday 17th September, and quite a number of Wivenhoe and Sailing Club folk were taking advantage of the chance to see the control room and to question the staff who operate the barrier.

It was built at a cost of £18m and opened in 1993. It can defend Colchester against a “5 metre event”, which we expect only once every 1,000 years – and could be modified to defend against even worse if sea level rise continues. On this basis, Wivenhoe is defended against a 1953-type flood, when most of Essex’s flood walls would be overwhelmed. Given the economic and housing development that has flourished on land that was previously exposed, the cost-benefit of the Colne Barrier is off the scale!

September 2011
Bernard Jenkin writes: With the soon-to-be-passed Localism Bill we will see a major shake-up of planning processes in Local Government.  These changes are part of a series of broader reforms to drive sustainable development, to promote local economic growth and protect the environment. Local firms and local communities are hindered by a planning system that can be slow, costly and gives them no certainty.

But it must be considered that Colchester is the most developed Borough of the past 20 years.  Wivenhoe has grown rapidly and many of us have strong opinions on the rate with which housing has been built in recent years.

The Government has assured the public that developments will not be allowed if it they are clearly in conflict with the environmental and other safeguards in the National Planning Policy Framework.  Ultimately, local communities should be able to influence local planning policy. I am all for increasing the involvement of local residents in shaping their own local areas. However, these changes will inevitably make it easier for planning consent to be obtained. Concerns have been expressed that this will open the door for further over-development.

I welcome your views on these changes and will raise your concerns with ministers.

September 2011
Bernard Jenkin writes: The debt crisis in the Eurozone now threatens to spark a second worldwide financial crisis. It is now clear that the Euro has been a disaster.  Yet EU leaders seem to believe that the answer to this crisis is yet more integration, with a ‘fiscal union’ for the Eurozone. Such a move would require yet another change to the EU treaties, something which the Chancellor thinks will happen within the next two years.

If there is to be another treaty change, then we in the UK must insist on a renegotiation of our membership of the EU. The EU is holding back the UK’s economic recovery with excessive regulation and damaging policies. Here in Essex, we know only too well the disastrous results of the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy.  We are also paying too much, with our net contribution is rising from some £3.5 billion in 2008-9 to £12 billion in 2014-15.

We must now demand a different form of membership of the EU. Broadly, we want trade and friendly cooperation with our neighbours, but not single European government. Even outside the Euro, we are subject to far too much EU control.  We want back control over our borders, control over our laws, control over our fishing and agriculture, and to pay less accordingly. The British people should have the right to make our own laws. We need a new settlement with the EU, which should be put to the British people in a referendum.

We need to seize this chance to get a better deal for the UK and to give the British people a say. Otherwise, we risk suffering the fallout of the Eurozone crisis while getting nothing in return.

September 2011

The Inland Revenue is to hand Colchester Council a tax rebate totalling £672,000. The welcome announcement comes after accountants, hired by the former Conservative Administration at the Town Hall, discovered the Local Authority had wrongly been paying VAT to the Government on entry tickets to Colchester Castle Museum from as far back as the 1970s.

September 2011
Local Conservatives have put forward proposals to safeguard the long-term future of Leisure World – whilst saving £millions of taxpayers’ money.

Leisure World currently makes an average loss of £1.2million every year and Colchester is one of the last Councils in Essex to still directly manage their own leisure facilities. With losses of this magnitude, it is not surprising that other Councils have brought in sport and recreation specialists to do the job!

To try to stem the losses, the Lib Dem / Labour Administration which currently runs the Council, have ill-advisedly closed the Leisure World crèche and started to lease its car-parking space to non-leisure users.

This is just tinkering around the edges. Conservatives believe that the Council should retain the assets, but transfer the operation of Leisure World to the private sector, which successfully runs most of the leisure facilities across the county.

Lib Dem led Administration told cost of “negligent” investment
September 2011
Nearly £1million Colchester taxpayer’s money has been confirmed lost following a “negligent” investment by the Borough’s Lib Dem led Council.

Nearly 3 years ago, £4 million was deposited in Icelandic bank, Landsbanki, by the Lib Dem and Labour Councillors running Colchester Council. Disgracefully, the “investment” was made in September 2008, 6 months after financial analysts labelled the bank as “unsafe”. One month later, the bank collapsed.

At a recent meeting, members of the Borough Accounts & Regulatory Committee were told that the preferential creditors, including Councils, would only receive back a maximum of 94.85p in the £ from any investment in the collapsed Icelandic Banks. This, together with the lost interest at commercial rates, leaves a loss from the investment totalling a minimum of £872,000. Repayments are due to start being made in December 2011, and will follow annually until December 2018 – a full decade after the initial investment!

A Conservative spokesman said, “I do not understand why the Lib Dem leadership of the Council ignored the clear warnings and made this investment in Landsbanki. Alarmingly, the Lib Dem Cabinet Member responsible for the Landsbanki investment is still in charge of the Council’s finances!”

February 2011
Beacon Hill in Harwich could be re-opened to the public if Conservative proposals to bid for EU funding prove successful.

Currently, ownership of the former War Department land is split between Tendring District Council and a private individual. Unfortunately, much of the site has been fenced-off after the World War Two gun emplacements were vandalised and became unsafe.

Cllr. Ricky Callender said, “It is a tragedy that an important historical site like Beacon Hill is largely closed to the public and left to rot. A successful bid for EU funds could allow the area to be opened to the public and, hopefully, allow a military museum or exhibition centre to be established”.

February 2011
Dovercourt’s “pop-up shop”, Chameleon, is due to welcome its fourth rent-free tenant during February. The town centre shop was opened six months ago by Conservative run Tendring Council, as part of a larger regeneration plan for Dovercourt, and gives new retailers the opportunity to trade for eight weeks whilst only paying a small contribution towards the utility bills. Since its launch, purveyors of fishing supplies and baby clothes, amongst others, have all successfully taken over the store.

Cllr. Ricky Callender said, “The pop-up shop shows the Conservative’s commitment to supporting local business and regenerating Harwich and Dovercourt”.

Anyone interested in a future tenancy should contact Tendring Council’s town centre co-ordinator, on 01255 686149 or email rfryer@tendringdc.gov.uk for an application form.

February 2011
Conservative-led Tendring Council has submitted a bid to the Regional Growth Fund, for £5m towards the creation of a wind farm skills and business centre in Harwich.

Cllr. Neil Stock, Leader of TDC, said, “We have pledged to work very closely with all our partners to achieve our ultimate goal of making Harwich a centre for the wind farm industry”.

February 2011
Bernard Jenkin MP writes: The Fryatt Hospital is an emotive topic in Harwich, and rightly so. I have lost count of the number of times residents have told me of the trips they are made to take to   Colchester and Clacton hospitals for routine procedures. Why can’t the new, expensive hospital in Harwich treat them?

The Fryatt Hospital has the potential to provide local residents with a high standard of service. On a tour of the hospital recently, I saw what the locals in Harwich are being denied. There are plenty of NHS professionals who want to make use of the hospital, and the real question is: Why are they being obstructed? The North East Essex Primary Care Trust seems to be the problem, and appears not interested in a solution. The NHS reforms should be seen as an opportunity for Harwich, because the PCT will be abolished.  I will be   meeting the Chief executive of the Primary Care Trust in February to find out how to release the hospital’s full potential.

No reason for hospital to close

I was very surprised to see reports in the local press recently that the hospital may close amid confusion over sources of funding when the   Primary Care Trust is abolished. The money is there. There is no reason why the hospital should close. I will fight every step of the way if this was even considered. I have taken this up with the relevant minister at the Department of Health. The hospital is one of my top priorities and it will remain so until you get the service you are entitled to.