A LEADING Thurrock councillor has expressed his anger at the circumstances surrounding the fire at a tyre premises in Little Thurrock. YT spoke to councillor Rob Gledhill about the story of when he first became concerned regarding the premises, the warnings he gave and the lessons learned for the future.
A BELHUS councillor at the centre of a police probe over circulating an e-mail which contained "racist propaganda" has now been suspended by the Labour Party. A spokesperson for the Labour Party said: "We can confirm that Thurrock councillor Sue Gray has been suspended. "There will be a formal investigation into the circumstances."
Around £2 million is to be spent on a new dedicated early years and foundation stage block at Stifford Primary in Parker Road, Grays. The development also includes three new classrooms to bring the school up to the required amount of teaching room for its published numbers and provide an enclosed courtyard as safe, outside learning space for Year 1 children.
YourThurrock spoke to council leader John Kent about how he is responding to the avalanche of criticisms. In this interview, council leader John Kent does not pull any punches. He has a meeting with the chief exec of Morrisons this week and has told YT that he may take "Pretty dramatic steps to ensuring that council tenants get the repair service that they deserve".
THE BOYS had them dancing in the aisles and waving their hands in the air as they produced a storming set at the Orsett Hall on Friday night. The set went through all the hits from the early years of "Relight my Fire" and 'Back for Good" to The Circus and all the hits.
However, it hadn't escaped our notice that among the invoices Thurrock Council published on their website site is one for Pragmatic Change Solutions Ltd. The companies sole director is infact the Interim Director of Change at Thurrock Council, Richard Waterhouse. From April to December, payments totalling just under £145k have been made to PCS Ltd. Come March 31st, the total runs just shy of £200,000.
Local authorities have always published lists of top earners in their annual accounts, but the government wants more detail made public. The list of 19 includes the Chief Executive, directors and heads of service, giving their name, job title, service area and - in all but one case - the salary within a £5,000 range.
The successful bid has illustrated to many that reports of the death of the print newspapers are still somewhat premature. Reportedly, over 200 local papers have gone to the wall in the last three years but what this may illustrate is that it is the business model that needs to be reformed more than anything else. Many across the UK will hail the fact that an independent newsgroup, established less than ten years ago by local boy Andy Diggory has beaten off one of the multi-nationals and may inspire others to do the same.
WHILST all the sunday nationals have revealed that Grays Athletic boss Julian Dicks appears to be closing in on a return to West Ham as part of the club's coaching staff. YourThurrock can also reveal that fellow ex-Hammer and assistant manager Kenny Brown is also in the frame. But Grays Athletic bosses are keen to stress that they have a Plan A, B and C for all eventualities.
February’s Open Forum Meeting was well-attended: the focus for the meeting was Road Safety and PC John Harman of the Motorcycle Unit told us about a new initiative where members of his unit were allocated stretches of road to monitor, using the principles of enforcement, education and engineering to address any traffic problems. PC Mark Adderley covers the A128, from Orsett Cock to Ongar and will attend our next open meeting on May 12th at 6.30pm
Once again Thurrock where caught with a quick goal after a restart, within three minutes of the second half Farnborough extended their lead. The goal came from a free kick wide on the right close to the by line. The ball went deep to the far post where James Smith was unmarked and he headed in from close range.
It was good to see Courts back to doing what they do best. This week has seen the best audiences for years and every audience member went home happy. They will have attracted a whole new audience to the Thameside and the trick now is to deliver again. Perhaps the darker, cleverer plays should be left to others and let Courts concentrate on what they do best. They tackle” A Farndale Avenue” farce next and on tonight’s performance this should also be a cracker. A great night out well done to all concerned.
