THE chair of a community forum has spoken of her disappointment and latent anger that the company which has blighted the local community as it built a controversial new distribution centre has now ignored it again when making donations to good causes in what appears to be an attempt to recoup lost goodwill.

And she has called on the company behind the development - and a charity that picked out the good causes - to explain their thinking.

The building of the new distribution centre to be operated by Ocado Retail and built by property investment and development company Sergo in Aveley has been an irritant to the local community for the past year.

The development was opposed by local residents but when it got planning permission, some were consoled by what appears to te stringent planning conditions during the build.

However, many of the conditions were blatantly and repeatedly ignored - and the lack of enforcement by Thurrock Council further angered residents.

And the final straw of local angst came last week when Sego announced it was making donations to local charities, but ignored those in Aveley and failed to speak to the local community forum.

Chair of Aveley and Kenningtons Community Forum, Teresa Webster, has now written to Segro (and the Essex Community Foundation which appears to have guided Segro as to its choice of charities) expressing residents' annoyance.

She said: "As chair of the Aveley and Kenningtons Community Forum which resides in the ward the Segro Purfleet Road distribution centre has been built, I find myself perplexed as to why no funding was allocated to the direct area affected, i.e. local area to where this site exists.

"Residents in this area have been blighted by the operations and breaches of planning by the construction company and it is felt the funding allocated to three charities outside the local area without any thought considered to this ward, another slap in the face of the residents here by Segro.

"This does not help towards building a positive relationship between Segro's new tenant Ocado and the local community.

"Would you be kind enough to advise if any research was considered in this ward with regards to allocation of funds, taking into consideration the issues experienced by Residents as a result of the Segro Distribution site whilst being built and why no allocation of funds were considered in this ward.

"I appreciate this may sound direct but our Forum is based in the Aveley and Uplands Ward, represents the best interests of the residents in this ward yet was not approached with regards to any views relating to deserving causes in this local area."