BRENTWOOD TORIES FAIL TO CONSULT ON CLOSER LINKS WITH BASILDON, THURROCK & CO

Brentwood's Conservative Borough councillors recently voted for Brentwood to become a member of the Association of South Essex Local Authorities (ASLEA) Joint Committee. ASLEA consists of seven Councils, Basildon, Brentwood, Castle Point, Rochford, Southend on Sea, Thurrock and Essex County Council. The decision was made during a heated debate at Brentwood's Ordinary Council meeting on (28/7) when Lib Dem councillors raised a number of key issues and highlighted the Tories failure to consult with Brentwood residents on such an important decision

Brentwood's Liberal Democrat councillors voted against the move for Brentwood to be a part of the Joint Committee for the following reasons:

• - Geographically we believe Brentwood has very little in common with the other members of ASLEA.
• - In ASLEA's "Growth and Recovery" prospectus outlined at the meeting virtually all the investment is for other areas.
• - The Conservatives failure to outline the specific benefits to Brentwood residents.
• - Everyone knows that public transport links North to South in Essex are very poor and ASLEA has no specific plans in the pipeline to address this serious problem.
• - We have major concerns about how Brentwood young people are supposed to get to the new Technical University by public transport.
• - We have major concerns about how Brentwood residents seeking new job opportunities are supposed to get to Thames Freeport by public transport.
• - The report talks about the need for 96,000 new homes across South Essex in just under twenty years but the reality is we have opposition from ASLEA authorities like Thurrock and Basildon Councils when it comes to Brentwood's plans for Dunton Garden village.
• - The Tories have failed to consult with Brentwood residents on such an important issue.