News in Thurrock

SOUTH Essex College is holding a virtual open event for its brand new Centre for Digital Technologies in Basildon town centre.

The event will take place on Tuesday, 9 February from 5 to 8pm. It will include live talks from course leaders and a virtual tour of the building, giving attendees the first look of the high tech campus.

CONSTRUCTION work has started on a £34 million scheme that is set to safeguard thousands of homes and businesses by improving Tilbury's flood defences with the installation of new dual function flood lock gates at the town's port.

The existing port lock gates, first put in place in 1928, will be replaced with pioneering dual function lock gates and the Environment Agency's tidal barrier, currently in place at the port after being completed in 1981 will be removed.

POLICE have confirmed the death of a man after an operation involving all of the emergency services by the Thames at Grays yesterday (Tuesday, 2 February).

The incident was centred on Bexhill Drive where police, firefighters, the ambulance service, representatives of Essex Air Ambulance and the RNLI were involved after a man was reported in the water.

THURROCK Nub News is about to launch an additional service to keep you informed about what's going on in the borough.

Starting next Friday, 12 February on Fridays we will be bringing hyperlocal news straight to your e-mail inbox. That way you won't miss out on any of the top local news stories that touch your life.

THE declaration of Essex as being subject to a 'major incident' caused by Coviod-19 has been revoked.

The Essex Resilience Forum, a group that comprises the NHS, police, fire and ambulance services and local authorities including Thurrock Council had declared the county was in crisis on 29 December.

The council's planning, transport, regeneration overview and scrutiny committee will meet next Tuesday (9 February) to get an update on progress.

AFTER the announcement yesterday of a £250,000 project to introduce traffic calming and cycling paths on Branksome Avenue in Stanford-le-Hope, the other projects that will be funded by the government's £690,000 offered the second tranche of the national Active Travel fund have been revealed.

They will include two new shared pedestrian and cycle paths being created in Stanford-le-Hope and a similar joint use path in Purfleet. There will also be changes to traffic priorities in Orsett.

IMPLEMENTATION of all the actions points demanded by a serious case review into the death of a Thurrock child may not be completed for another year.

That was reported by Thurrock Council's local safeguarding children partnership business manager Priscilla Bruce-Annan who was quizzed at tonight's meeting of the council's children's services overview and scrutiny committee.

A LEADING Thurrock councillor is championing children's mental health, saying that under the current lockdown and Covid-19 pandemic it's more important than ever to think about the significance of wellbeing and how the children can be supported.

Cabinet Member for Children's Social Care Cllr James Halden, said: "Right now taking care of children's mental health has never been more relevant. The extra stress children are experiencing during the COVID-19 pandemic and the periods of remote learning which have been necessary can have a real impact on their mental well-being.

A COUNCILLOR has called for clemency for the victim of a Thurrock Council enforcement officer who issued a £150 penalty fine to a pensioner for dropping a cigarette butt in Aveley – while the council has dropped its enforcement action against a multi-million pound company whose environmental transgressions blighted the lives of residents in the community.

In a comment piece on Thurrock Nub News' Facebook page yesterday (Wednesday, 20 January) editor Neil Speight highlighted the differing attitude of the council to enforcement after spotting enforcement officers dishing out the fine to Raimund Voronovic.