THE LOCAL elections may be seven weeks away but the battle lines may well already be drawn.
Many elections have ended up being defined by a number of small but significant issues.
Many now speculate that the difference between an overall Conservative majority or an overall Labour majority in the council chamber may hinge on issues such as Grays Beach Park.
Labour have seized on the controversial plans by the Conservative group to put the park in private hands.
Yesterday, up to a hundred Labour activists including Baroness Smith and MP for East Ham Stephen Timms were out on the streets of Ockendon and Belhus drumming up support for local candidates.
As activists came back for their lunch break at the Ockendon Village Hall, it was clear, according to Labour, that there was one issue above all others that had voters incensed.
YT spoke to deputy leader, Val Morris-Cook and portfolio holder for leisure services cllr Lynn Worrall and asked them for their stance on the issue.
Do these Councillors know what they support, I see Labour ranting on about issues around the beach when the real main issue to me would have been the adult education center. Cllr Worrall speak as if she knew nothing of these cuts is she for real it all links in to her portfolio to be axed!
As for Cllr Pride of Thurrock I would have liked the idea to have been that Thurrock will stay to weekly bin collections not just change the mind at last minute.com! Val Morris-Cook is this something to do with winning votes or losing them?.
Why has the cllr’s not listened to the budget lets talk get rid of all these over paid managers and leave the key members of staff in there jobs! Cut allowances cut portfolio holders and get rid of all these interims you have had nearly a year in control after taking over from the disaster of the conservatives and your budget will affect those who are your key voters the elderly and the disabled. putting up charges for this and that isn’t the answer John Kent and his team have no Idea. get some Independent view on this!
I wished the the people who post on here would check their facts first. susan51 just to let you know that the Adult Education Centre as nothing to do with Cllr Woralls portfolio, Diane Hale as the responsibility for education.
As for the bin collections it was not a last minute u-turn to win votes. The Labour cabinet were working right up to last minute with council officers to try and find the money to retain the collections. It was only worked out at the last and therefore could not have been announced sooner.
I do agree with susan51 that the closure of Adult Education Services in Thurrock is a major issue to a lot of people but so is the privatisation of Grays Beach, the Thameside Theatre Complex and the council run village halls.
If anything was a last minute attempt to win votes it was the preformance from Gary Hauge when presenting the amendments to Labours budget. These amendments were passed without consultation or question to any of the staff they will effect.
I just hope the residents of Thurrock remember what they have lost all for the sake of a little under £3 a year cut in their council tax?
“Never let the facts get in the way of a good news story”
My understanding is that the Adult Community College isn’t closing down. Rather, it is being moved to be housed in the currently vastly under-utilised “temporary” learning campus building opposite the Civic Offices. If the learning campus proper is ever built (probably not within my lifetime) the service will transfer to the main building.
Where were these labour activists? I live in Belhus and not one of these so called activist came my way or anywhere near where I live. I think its all a ploy to try and gets votes for the upcoming election in May. what a desperate bunch they are to try and fool the residents that they care. Not one of them voted to have Basildon Hospital scrutinised regarding patient care.
Red Rebel.
What I said is a fact I know it has nothing to do with the cabinet portfolio holder of Lynn Worrall. If you read what I said about the main issue for me being the closure of the center not the Library, community forums, Leisure centers etc
The bins was a last minute U-Turn and get the facts straight it was announced as so in a change to the budget!
Are you the cabinet member Red Rebel ? You are speaking as if you are you don’t no what your cabinet are doing to thurrock and if you had cllrs that bothered to turn up to meetings then you might pass things through you are only there with the switching team of BNP & TCC and now UKIP! not a real party that was elected!
Glynbo- I understand that Cllr hague is talking about relocating the center to the building that lost its funding from the LSC from (labour) but its a matter of building housing with no services thats the point I would make and what about the children etc are they going to go there no!
Normad- they didn’t come to you because the lorry park! lol typical of this administration
Seven weeks to go until the local elections, that means each party will be jumping on whichever band waggon they can and will be out in force for photo opportunities, shame they don’t do this much work during the rest of their term in office.
A change is definately needed within TBC however both Labour and Tory councillors can no longer be trusted with the areas best interests; who else is out there that could take up the mantle??
I believe that Party Politics has no place in local affairs. Running a council should be about running it for its people without having to follow dictats from one or other of the main political Parties. If everybody voted for their local independent then the stranglehold of ‘Old’ politics would be broken and Thurrock would be some way toward being run by the people and for the people.
Susan 59. i am sure that every labour councillor sitting in the council chamber will agree with you that the closing of adult education is a major loss for all the communities in Thurrock and i am sure that they will be doing all they can to stop this happening. Because cllr worrall didnt mention it would not mean she didnt think it was important, she was simply talking about some of the service losses she faces in her own portfolio as well as answering the question on Grays beach. Just listening to her you can see she is still fuming mad about what went on two weeks ago in the chamber. If you go back to that council meeting every labour councillor voted AGAINST the TORY CUTS and every tory voted FOR THE CUTS, the cuts included the Adult Education.
Glynbo: It s not just a case of moving all the classes into the new build in Grays and it will all be hunky dorey. Adult Community College is more than jsut class rooms there are countless other activites that run from this centre and all of these will be homeless and face closure. A full consultation should have been done before it got to this and that should have included staff and people that use the centre on a daily basis, you cant do what Hague has said in his interview put it up for closure and then consult on how to do it.
Nomad: i am sure that the Labour party will be in your street soon and come knocking on your door. Lets get the record straight on Basildon hospital. the healt overview and scrutiny chair agreed a visit to Basildon hospital following the CQC report. this visit would let councilors see for themselves the level of patient care- talk to the patients and staff . The scrutiny panel chose the wards to visit and were in no way hindered where they visited. There was to be 3 councillors from Labour and 3 councillors from the Conservatives. Attending the visit was 1 councilor from the Conservatives, Amanda Arnold and Wendy Herd failed to attend – all 3 Labour councillors were in attendance. I have no axe to grind with you but people need to know the facts.
Gray 64: dont be fooled into thinking voting independents would change the local politics. we have 2 East Tilbury independents sitting in the chamber in grays. look at their voting records they are “tories in disguise”. Ask to see the results for the last 2 years and see how they cast their votes. a vote for either of these at the elections is a vote for the Thurrock Conservatives.
It’s all a bit sad isn’t it. If Labour were able to have their way there would be no ‘cuts’, every service would still be offered and the council tax wouldn’t go up a single penny! No? Such is life in Labour la la land. Are they cuts or are they savings? Does the council have less money to spend this year? Does it have more? Does it have less? Will you get a sensible answer from anybody with a Labour leaning? Of course not. It’s the usual old Tory bad Labour good BS. As I have said elsewhere, you can’t call it a cut if the money doesn’t exist in the first place. If the budget won’t stretch to cover all the services previously offered then you have to adjust accordingly. It’s simple really. You can argue all day long about the rights and wrongs of where and how the adjustments are made but you can’t argue the need to make those adjustments. All the rest it just politics and politics of the red and blue kind is a waste of everybody’s time.
Sting, so because they disagreed with your point of view and voted against Labour they are Tories in disguise? Your attitude is exactly why people like me are anti politicians. You always fail to see that there is an alternative to your point of view, an alternative which some others might find preferable to yours. Labour good Tory bad politics is pathetically childish and petulant. Oh, and by the way, that applies equally to Tory Good Labour bad.
Its all very confusing listening to councillors, and this only causes apathy during voting time. I suppose we should be grateful that we have a vote, so use it or keep quiet!
grays 64. I said look at their voting record for the last 2 years not 1 meeting. Every time they prop up the tory vote. Get a copy of the votes from the council its all there in black and white.
Sting, you know what, I just don’t care! It’s all politics, and politics of the kind you clearly like is divisive and pointless.
Just to clarify things for susan51 i am neither a portfolio holder, cabinet member or even a lowly back bencher.
I am with Sting on this one,Tory/Labour it makes not a jot of difference who is in power,one thing you can be sure of is that the wishes of the electorate will be ignored to the letter.
We have a Tory defecting to Labour,no by- election,we have a Tory defecting to “concerned Conservatives”,no by- election,then the same councillor defects to UKIP,we have a Conservative win in the local elections then we have because of defections a Labour adminisrtation if it wasn’t so serious it would be laughable,you couldn’t make it up.For me it should not be about party politics but doing the best for the electorate,for me an independant would always be my choice.
I have always maintained you are are given a vote and should use it,if u don’t vote don’t moan,however following all the petty squables name calling defections etc etc for the first time I will not be voting at the next local elections,for me it will be a complete waste of time,let them carry on with their school playground antics and petty posturing,I am looking forward to that knock on the door asking for my vote I will make them aware exactly what I think of the political class in Thurrock.
On my last post I should of course stated I agreed with gray64.An old moment i’m afraid.