My ongoing campaign for a Weight Restriction Order to be introduced on Ongar High Street continues. Good progress was being made with Essex County Council’s Cabinet Member for Highways, Cllr Lee Scott, who has now moved to be Cabinet Member for Planning A Growing Economy. This means I’ll be making sure his successor in the Highways role, Cllr Tom Cunningham comes to visit Ongar this month to see the problems caused by huge lorries squeezing through the pinch point on the High Street, and encourage him to take the final steps to ensure a WRO is put in place.
I’ll also be bringing the concerns of parents and children at Stapleford Abbotts Primary School about parking and the speed of traffic outside the school at dropping off and picking up time to Cllr Cunningham’s attention. I know our local councillor and businessman, Jaymey McIvor has some ideas on how to tackle the problem so I will be working closely with him to make representations to the Council.
I’m also in the process of arranging a meeting with local residents and the Environment Agency about the ongoing problems with a strong smell coming from the Biogen composting site near Ashlyns Farm on the outskirts of North Weald. I have been sent some extremely useful data from a resident who has been compiling a list of dates over the last three years when the smell has been particularly bad, which has enabled me to present a very strong case to the Environment Agency for more to be done to tackle the problem.
