Political Viewpoint

Leigh On Sea News: Political Viewpoint: by Coun Peter Wexham. Leigh Ward Councillor and Environmentalist.

SOUTHEND Tories have got themselves into a mess now they have taken over control of the Council along with some independents. They had all the facts and figures for the budget and the costs of any new cleansing contract, but ignored everything.

In their Election leaflets, they promised that the collection of our waste would be the same as it is now, but as soon as the took over, they accepted they now have to do the same with this contract with the increased costs, just as the previous administration told them.

They said they would boost the street lights up to full volume at night, whereas the rest of Essex they are switched off entirely after midnight. Now there is no budget to sort out any lights that go out, or lampposts that get damaged.

They`ve stopped the parking charge for people coming into the City to go to the pubs, clubs and attractions on the seafront and are now looking to charge Leigh residents and visitors to Leigh, to park in the roads.

There is a massive budget deficit in the costs of Social Services. The last four Prime ministers have promised to solve this and failed to do so, whilst cutting back on the money that Councils receive.

At the same time there are more elderly that need assistance or to go into a nursing home and at the same time there are more children in need of care than ever before, Which has been adding to the overspend.

The local Tories have been so toxic at the Council that record numbers of staff are applying for redundancies, whilst many social workers are bought in from agencies, they cost a lot more than permanent staff being employed, but very few people want to come and work in our City Council, as the word has got around that this City should be avoided for skilled staff looking for work.

When the local Tories were in opposition at Southend they obstructed everything they could and said it was their job to oppose everything, now they are running the Council they keep saying everyone should work together for the City, they just say anything that suits their purpose.

We are told the pier may close because it makes a loss. Millions of pounds have had to be spent on maintenance of the concrete structure at the far end of the pier, to keep it going as after nearly 100 years the concrete had started to crumble. Specialist work has had to take place to preserve the structure. If maintenance is not carried out things deteriorate very quickly, but this big contract is for a number of years to come, but general maintenance has to be on going.

Perhaps If Southend Council had let Philip Miller`s Stockvale Company take over the pier years ago, it would have been a major attraction, up and running many years ago as a thriving business now. Instead, we are still where we started with “lets close the pier.”

I despair at some of the things Southend council does and does not do a lot of the time.

There is no vision, only what can we cut out of the budget year on year. Since I was elected in 1991 there has only been one year where budgets were not cut and that was under the Lib-Dems with Labour.

The Environment issues are on the back burner, including climate change, unless it saves money.

Ten years ago West Shoebury was the danger spot for being flooded from a North Sea surge, which causes the hight of the tide to rise up between 2 and 6 feet higher than predicted, as well as overtopping, this is when wave hight on a high tide can wash over the sea defences.

That got cancelled and has not been mentioned since. Then the Council gave planning permission to build on the flood plain, which is where the water would go if floods occur.

These Houses are going to be raised up on a platform of clay and soil, which maybe alright for these houses, but it reduces the size of the flood plain, so the water will just flood even higher in old Shoeburyness, where the land is at a low level if floods occur.

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