News in Thurrock

RESIDENTS in East Tilbury village have asked Thurrock council to step up its monitoring and enforcement of safety measures because of their concerns over safety when accessing or leaving the village by foot and road.

The problem, they say, is mud and debris from lorries going to and from Walsh's East Tilbury landfill site which is not being prevented in the first instance and not cleaned up in the second.

A BUILDER is seeking a huge reduction in the amount he has to pay the local community after creating a new development of 18 homes - saying the sums worked out by Thurrock Council's consultants were wrong!

Tom Ingleton bought the site in East Tilbury from the applicants who were originally granted permission but now building has been completed, he is arguing he is being asked to pay a larger sum of section 106 money than the site merits.

RESIDENTS will get the chance this week to find out more about plans for a large solar energy farm proposed for the green belt close to Fobbing Marshes in the east of the borough.

Enso Energy, through its subsidiary company Rayleigh Green Limited, is proposing to develop a solar panel farm and battery storage facility which would generate up to 49.9MW for distribution to the national grid. This is equivalent to the annual electrical needs of approximately 17,079 family homes across Thurrock.

AN appeal has gone out across Thurrock, with particular urgency to people in Tilbury as a search is mounted for a dog that was stolen and then dumped.

Ajax was taken on Friday (19 February) from the garden of his home on Grange Road, Grays.

POLICE have revealed why the Essex and Herts air ambulance was called into action with a dramatic landing and take-off from the IKEA car park in West Thurrock yesterday.,

A statement from the Essex force says: "We were called shortly after 1.30pm on Saturday, 21 February with reports of a single vehicle collision involving an electric scooter.

AN appeal had gone out for borough residents to help bring a smile to the faces of disadvantaged children this Easter.

Thurrock Foodbank is asking if residents could donate an Easter egg or even arrange an egg collection among family, friends and colleagues.

TO add to congestion already caused by the closure of the A13 between the Manorway at Stanford-le-Hope and the Orsett Cock junction, an incident this morning is causing further delays on the westbound carriageway on the approach to the Manorway.

The incident, which was attended by police happened about a mile past the Five Bells junction and traffic backed up.

IT'S a case of sofa not so good in Tilbury this morning (Sunday, 21 February) as the work of overnight fly-tippers was revealed.

A sofa was dumped on an open space in Fielding Avenue while another turned up on Church Road, together with another pile of junk.

GRAYS Riverside ward councillor Martin Kerin says he is is backing Grays Athletic Football Club as they prepare to present their case for a new home in Ship Lane.

Speaking ahead of Thursday's meeting of Thurrock Council's planning committee when details of the proposal for the development of Thurrock FC's former ground at Ship Lane, Aveley, will be heard, he said: "After a decade of homelessness, this plan will provide a secure base for Grays Athletic Football Club and give the club a ground to finally call its own. It will bring Ship Lane back to life as permanent community football asset, and provide increased sporting opportunities for local people through a Community Use Agreement.

THURROCK residents are being asked to mark the passing of a much-loved borough woman who died after contracting Covid-19 by donating to a fund to support the intensive care unit staff at Basildon and Thurrock Hospital.

Wendy Morton from Chadwell St Mary was just 57 when she passed away at the hospital recently, despite the best efforts of staff.