06/11 Seven new parish plans funded in Essex

Seven new parish plans funded in Essex

Rural communities across Essex have received grants to help create
parish plans thanks to Defra funding.

In 2005-06 Defra made £1 million available nationally for parish plans,
a tool which can help local voices be heard by decision makers and give
local communities more control over their own affairs. Now seven new
parish plans have been funded in Essex.

Parish plans involve a whole village in identifying their priorities
and setting out an action plan to tackle them. This process has already
led to direct action by rural residents in Essex that has improved the
way their local area and services are managed.

Parish plans are tangible evidence of local priorities for local
planners, service providers, grant-giving organisations, and local
authorities.

A parish plan is not just a wish list: it sets out specific action
points, and identifies who is responsible for acting on them. Although a
plan can take a year or even two to complete, and needs a dedicated,
committed team of volunteers in a parish plan steering group, planners
agree that this is time well spent.

The potential benefits can include:
* highway safety improvements;
* village hall refurbishment;
* planning permission and grants for health facilities;
* installation of IT facilities; and
* grants for sheltered housing to enable the elderly to remain in their
village.

These plans can generate new community spirit, with everybody pulling
together as volunteers, all trying to create a better life for local
people. Unexpected local talents are discovered and parish councils can be
revitalised.

In 2006-07 support for rural communities continues to be available
through Defra's new Rural Social and Community programme, which supports a
range of activities including parish planning.

Decisions on activities are made by those best placed to decide: local
people. Each Rural Community Council played a key role in defining the
Rural Social and Community programme in their local area, and can be
contacted for information about funding for parish plans.

30/08 Braintree school burglary picture appeal

Braintree school burglary picture appeal




Police want to question the man pictured here about a walk-in burglary at Notley High School, Braintree, which resulted in laptop computers worth £4,400 being stolen.

The burglary occurred on the afternoon of Tuesday, June 20, when a man talked his way onto the premises, saying he was one of a team of builders working at the school.

The man in the picture was captured on the school’s CCTV system as he walked along a corridor. He is middle-aged, slim, with fair hair which is thinning.

Police are keen to hear from anyone who can identify him. They are asked to contact Braintree Police Station on 01376 551312, quoting CCTV reference 61. The investigating officer is PC Yari Forster.

August 29, 2006

If you have any information regarding this appeal there are three possible ways in which you can make contact:

Telephone Central Division HQ on 01376 551312


Visit Central Division HQ at the following address:
Braintree
Blyths Meadow
Braintree
CM7 3DJ


Telephone Crimstoppers on 0800 555 111

30/08 Targeting the dealers can help the addicts

Targeting the dealers can help the addicts
By Kim Perks


The streets of Essex have hopefully been made safer following a series of dawn raids in Harlow, Hertfordshire and east London which has led to a number of arrests and the seizure of large quantities of drugs and money.

In one of the force’s biggest operations in recent years, over 200 officers from Essex Police executed over 20 search warrants at addresses earlier this morning.

Operation Salcombe was the culmination of months of intelligence-gathering by officers on individuals thought to be involved in the supply of heroin and crack cocaine in Harlow.

With already 20 people arrested and more expected to fill police station cells across the county in the next few hours, officers hope the operation will crush the level of crack cocaine and heroin available on the streets, making Harlow an even safer place to live.

DI Simon Parkes hopes this morning’s arrest sends a chilling message to those drug dealers in Essex.

“Today’s operation will hopefully stifle the amount of drugs coming into Harlow town,” said DI Parkes. “We want to send a message of warning to criminals and a message of reassurance to local residents that we will not tolerate drugs. We will use whatever we can to keep Harlow drug-free.”

Specialist search teams, using sniffer dogs, are now scouring the homes and premises that were subjected to the raids in a bid to recover any evidence.

DI Parkes added: “Crack cocaine and heroin are highly addictive. They bring misery to the families of those who use them and many are caught in the spiral of substance misuse and crime. These arrests provide an ideal opportunity for those using drugs to break out of their spiral.”

Anyone who has information on possible drug-dealing should contact officers at Harlow Police Station on 01279 641212 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.