Cllr Barry Aspinell - Pilgrims Hatch Update

Now to Pilgrims Hatch .......

Action was taken by Cllr David Kendall and myself over a possible traveller incursion into a local field. Whilst the status of the field and the works carried out on it is still being reviewed by our planners and legal team at the Council, a physical barrier appeared overnight, preventing any caravans from accessing the site. This happened in the same week that Pilgrims Hatch Councillor, Vicky Davies, reported an activity being carried out in another field in Kelvedon Hatch where travellers, it later transpired, had bought some land and were busily converting it for their purposes by cutting down dozens of trees, some of which had Tree Preservation Orders placed on them. After reporting her concerns to me, I spoke with the Chief Executive and the Leader of the Council and several actions occurred from those conversations. One, a physical barrier was placed to prevent access to the site. Two, Essex County Council were informed that a public by-way was being used as an access point and necessary prevention was put in place to eliminate this, and, three, an Injunction was taken out over the weekend with the High Court to make access on to the affected property illegal, with an Article 4 placed on the land preventing it from being split up into separate parcels for individual dwellings. Local residents and the Parish Council of Kelvedon Hatch, along with neighbouring Tipps Cross and Doddinghurst were extremely pleased with this outcome.

Car Wash at the Brentwood Centre - Myself, and my Pilgrims Hatch colleagues, Cllrs. Vicky Davies and David Kendall were contacted by many outraged residents following the re-opening of the car wash based at the Brentwood Centre. With the Centre closed due to the Covid-19 situation, there were no toilet facilities available for staff, or customers of the car wash and it transpired that people wishing to go to the loo were doing so in the surrounding bushes and hedgerows. Cllr. Davies had contacted myself, along with the Leader of the Council, requesting that we impress upon Council officers that this was not an acceptable state of affairs, and that if suitable arrangements were not put in place, they should be closed down. After further pressure from your Lib Dem councillors, we were pleased to learn that the car wash facility had subsequently arranged for a temporary portaloo to be put in place.