I have been heartened by the ongoing support and sympathy from the people of Ongar to the family of 11 year old George Dennis who was killed in a road accident at the Four Wantz roundabout at the end of the school summer term. Fundraising events for the family have been organised and the community has come together to support all those who are grieving George as a son, brother, friend, football player and pupil.
I have campaigned for better road safety in Ongar for years and I have been in touch with George’s family to offer my condolences. I am now working with the family to call on Essex County Council to replace or amend the existing zebra crossing at the Four Wantz roundabout with push button pedestrian traffic lights or another controlled crossing system to make this crossing safer. If you want to add your support, you can find the petition here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/FG85NBH
I also want to thank Ongar’s on-call firefighters who have been part of Essex County Fire and Rescue Service’s responses to multiple major incidents and wildfires across the summer. Weeks of dry weather created tinderbox situations in fields, woodland and open spaces, but in the last few weeks fire crews across Essex have also had to deal with the fire and explosion at Highlands Farm in Rettendon, an incident on a ship in Tilbury and ongoing fires at Middlewick Ranges in Colchester, as well as lending support to Suffolk fire crews tackling fires at Dunwich Heath.
If you know anyone locally who works in the emergency services, this has been a busy and difficult summer. Please thank our fire crews, police officers and ambulance crew members when you come across them. They are all working incredibly hard to keep us safe and protected.
