Extra funds for climate action in Essex, pavements, mental health + young people were proposed today by Essex Liberal Democrats. The proposals were tabled at the Essex County Council budget meeting on 23 February.

The Lib Dem proposals:-

Climate Change action

• Promote a sustainable approach to growth, development and a low carbon future.
• Implement measures to improve the green infrastructure of Essex and increase biodiversity.
• Improve the environmental quality, attractiveness and recreational potential of public spaces in ECC ownership.
• Implement measures to reduce waste, lower energy consumption and improve air quality in identified hot spots and introduce Clean Air Zones.

During a visit to "The Elms" development at the Mountnessing roundabout prior to the start of the covid pandemic, Darryl Sankeyand the Lib Dem team had discussions with many local residents about the serious environmental issues facing the local community and the excessive fees charged by the appointed management companies. We also spoke about the lack of support residents have had from Brentwood Borough Council and Weston Homes
who built the development.

Dedicated and experienced councillor Karen Chilvers is to stand in her beloved Brentwood West ward on 6 May 2021, having first won it in 2007. Karen has worked tirelessley with residents since then and has a strong record of action and achievement.

Karen, 49, a marketing manager turned children's author, said

Halcyon Place is the new name for the road off London Road, Brentwood, that formerly contained Brentwood Police Station.

Cllr Karen Chilvers came up with the name when on holiday with her dog on a farm in the Essex countryside. She explains:

"So many road names have links to the military or people long forgotten in the midsts of time. Perhaps I felt partiularly relaxed the day officers asked ward councillors to approve a road name but I decided to resist some spurious suggestions that had been made about medievel custom and look forwards to, hopefully, a better future.

Essex Conservatives have dropped 'sound finance' from their 2021/22 budget* and kicked the financial can down the road, according to the Liberal Democrats.

Essex County Council is proposing a budget that depends on £46 million of un-named cuts that even their own finance officer says have a "risk of not being delivered". Essex CC has also delayed a 3.5% rise in Council Tax to next year (2% general fund and 1.5% social care).

When Local Authorities are looking around for spending cuts library services are normally somewhere close to the front of the queue. This is wrong and short sighted.

I have seen recently the tremendous work done by the community working together to save Shenfield library. It does appear that this facility has been given a lifeline with a properly planned and resourced library service included in the redesign for the site. Promises have been made and we know that the local community will hold local politicians to account over those promises. But it should never have come to this position whereby the community were forced to come together and fight to retain a statutory service.

Roads in Ingatestone, Fryerning and Mountnessing are frequently abused by speeding traffic which is not acceptable.

There have been serious accidents in Ingatestone High Street and elsewhere and the introduction of a 20 mph speed limit in High Street is welcomed but has not had the desired affect - if anything speeding has increased.

The sudden closure of the Brentwood Centre in October left Councillors and residents shocked that the management company ,Brentwood Leisure Trust (BLT), had become insolvent owing in excess of a million pounds and with unpaid wages despite years of financial support from Brentwood Borough council (BBC).

Brentwood's Lib Dems have expressed alarm at a sudden change in the Council's position on Brentwood Town Centre car parking, which took place during the Inspectors' Hearings for the Brentwood Local Plan on Thursday February the 4^th.

The council was being questioned by the Inspectors and others in relation to town centre car park sites. There are multiple examples of these, including Brentwood Station Car Park (R10 in the Plan), Westbury Road Car Park (R11), Chatham Way Car Park (R13) and William Hunter Way Car Park (R14). Nonetheless the questions became so unanswerable, from the Council's point of view, that all examination of this aspect of Local Plan Matter 7c was halted, with the only site specifically touched on having been the Station Car Park. A decision was then made to defer all further discussion until the Council had hurriedly worked up a new document explaining its position, with the coverage of these sites postponed until 2pm on Thursday February 25^th.