Council and democracy

Agenda item

Announcements on behalf of the Mayor or the Leader of the Council

Minutes:

The Mayor presented a plaque to Olivia Busby the young lady who Thurrock Sports Council and Recreation Charity had sponsored and who had become the European Champion and had achieved two world records in the USA for power lifting.

 

Councillor Redsell, as a member of the Sports Council, extended her congratulations on the achievements made by Olivia Busby.

 

The Leader of the Council, Councillor Gledhill, updated Members on Policing and announced that seven more officers dedicated to policing town centres in Thurrock had started this week and would provide a visibly increased Police presence in Grays, South Ockendon and Stanford-le-Hope and work would continue with communities to tackle issues such as anti-social behaviour and crime against local businesses. Councillor Gledhill stated he would make enquiries to look at how Police presence could be increased into Tilbury. That the Council had committed to spending £1 million over the next three years to tackle anti-social behaviour and serious violence across the whole of the borough and was due to meet with the Local Chief Inspector to discuss how this would progress.

 

The Leader stated that three more members of the C17 gang had now been made the subject of a strict injunction with another jailed for breaching it. With more gang members being made subject of the order which had already been very effective in tackling those who committed crimes, including selling drugs, committing violent assaults and preying on young and vulnerable people.

 

The Leader reminded Members that the Police could only work with the intelligence supplied by residents and encouraged all to report any crime by either contacting 999 in an emergency or 101 for non-urgent incidents. Residents can also call Crimestoppers anonymously with information being passed onto the Police.

 

The Leader stated that a public consultation was now underway about proposals to formally rename Purfleet as Purfleet-on-Thames. The consultation will run until Sunday 13 October and would offer everyone an opportunity to give their views about the proposed name change.

 

The Leader congratulated the Trading Standards Team who had won the Product Safety Hero Award at the recent Chartered Trading Standards Institute Hero Awards. The Leader stated that Thurrock was a gateway to the world and the team had done an incredible job keeping millions of people safe from the risks posed by dangerous goods and worked tirelessly to identify dangerous, consumer products and confiscate such items before they made their way into the hands of unsuspecting shoppers.

 

The Leader provided a Clean It, Cut It, Fill It update and stated that since April 2019:

 

           792 potholes had been filled on the borough’s road with 100% repaired within agreed time frames.

           730 tonnes of waste collected by our street cleaning team.

           548 fly-tips cleared.

           1,398 fixed penalty notices had been issued for offences such as littering and dropping cigarette butts.

           49 people prosecuted for not paying fixed penalty notices.

           More than 99% of household waste bins had been collected on the correct day.

           Eight Traveller encampments had been moved on from public land in the borough

           91 £400 fixed penalties issued for fly-tipping