Welcome to Brentwood Liberal Democrats
Brentwood Liberal Democrats wish to applaud footballer Marcus Rashford for his campaign to provide free school meal vouchers during school holidays until next Easter as families in poverty struggle to cope during the Coronavirus pandemic.
We also praise those local businesses that, despite suffering through lockdown, have offered free meals to those in need during half term.
Cllr David Kendall shares his experience of the pandemic...
During the height of the Covid-19 pandemic I found demand for my carpet cleaning business was very quiet, so I applied for a job with the NHS and for three months I worked in a Nursing Home in Chelmsford as a Cleaning Supervisor.
The job gave me a good understanding of how a nursing home operates and gave me the opportunity to see first-hand the dedication and commitment shown by the care workers to the elderly residents in their care. It was a pleasure to be part of such a great team of people all focused on nursing people back to health, including some recovering from Covid-19. My admiration and respect for all those working in the NHS and the care sector has grown even stronger and I will certainly use my new found knowledge and experience to give them as much support as I can through my role as a county and borough councillor.
While the NHS job certainly kept me busy, I'm pleased to have also kept up to date with all my casework across the Brentwood South Division and Pilgrims Hatch ward.
To beat the Conservatives across Essex in May 2021, we need to be active and fighting for our communities. We have brilliant Lib Dem Councillors who are doing just that, some brilliant examples from this week include:
Brentwood Council will, thanks to Lib Dem councillor Karen Chilvers, be writing to Brentwood & Ongar MP. Alex Burghart, to ask him to engage with the RSPCA in their campaign to move to silent fireworks.
Karen said:
"Many RSPCA supporters wrote to their councillors last year asking the council to take action to stop the unreasonable noise made by fireworks. Unfortunately, council powers are limited so I sought out the best solution which is to ask for our MP to take action on behalf of all animal lovers in parliament.
Councillors Sarah Cloke and Dominic Naylor joined the Brentwood Borough Council 'Race for Life' team today.
The team statement said:
"Cancer is happening right now, which is why staff at Brentwood Borough Council will be taking part in a Race for Life to raise money and save lives.
"1 in 2 people will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime. Every single pound you donate makes a difference to Cancer Research UK's groundbreaking work."
Essex Liberal Democrat candidate for Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Callum Robertson set out his plan for an Essex-wide listening tour where he will be talking to local charities on the frontline of delivering criminal justice services ahead of setting out his manifesto for the May elections.
Robertson, who has worked with domestic violence victims both at the Ministry of Justice and a leading children's charity, has a track record helping victims seek legal recourse.
Casework was put on hold by Brentwood Council during the pandemic, but that did not stop councillors Karen Chilvers, Sarah Cloke, David Kendall & Dominic Naylor from working to keep their residents safe.
Over the spring and summer months, a footbridge that leads over the A12 from Spital Lane, a dangerous footpath in Honeypot Lane and the speed table in Crescent Road (at its junction with Junction Road & Milton Road) have all been made safe thanks to their actions.
In an effort to encourage social distancing, kick start the local economy and try and make a more pleasant shopping experience, Essex County Council and B
rentwood Borough Council temporarily closed the High Street to all vehicles except buses and delivery vehicles. However, in the light of strong representations made by many businesses and residents against the closure, this decision has been reversed and the High Street reopened. Many businesses felt the closure was adversely affecting their trade, particularly drop offs and pick ups. Many residents had concerns about the buses still using the High Street and no access for disabled parking (see Cllr Karen Chilvers article here). Residents were also concerned about the significant increase in the volume of traffic and vehicle emissions in affected town centre roads together with concerns about large lorries using weight limited diversion routes.
Sir Ed Davey MP is the new leader of the Liberal Democrats.
Read more here.