News in Thurrock

THE lead councillor with responsibility for housing in Thurrock has issued an upbeat message to residents about the authority's efforts to create new homes and its performance in managing repairs.

The ruling Conservative administration has come under a lot of criticism for not building new homes.

THE shortage of social housing in Thurrock has been highlighted and compared to the amount of money the borough council has received in Section 106 payments over the last five years.

A freedom of information request has revealed that on 1 July there are 7,155 families and single people on the council's waiting list, though the council adds that it does not know how many people in the borough are also homeless.

THE state of rural roads in the borough and a lack of action by Thurrock Council to repair potholes and subsidence has been highlighted by a local resident who has condemned the authority for its attitude to the problem and the way it deals with complaints.

Dr Gurdev Saini lives in Horndon on the Hill and is a regular user of Blackbush Lane which links homes in the village to Orsett Road.

POLICE have concluded here were no suspicious circumstances following the death of an as yet unnamed man in a Corringham car park last week.

Following the discovery of the body at the scene on the junction of Lampits Hill and Giffords Cross Road, emergency services were alerted and a significant police forensic operation was launched, which included sealing off the car park for several hours and also a neighbouring petrol service station.

A BUNGALOW in a borough village is to be demolished and replaced by a new four bedroom home.

Thurrock Council planning officers have given the green light to the application to demolish and build on the site on the High Road, Fobbing.

A bid for a new home in the garden adjacent to a Tilbury property has been rejected by Thurrock Council planning officers has been rejected for a second time. .

CONTRACTORS who wish to build a controversial development in Grays are asking Thurrock Council for final approval to begin work.

The development for the creation of a terrace of three dwellings with private gardens on land off Prospect Place won approval, despite significant local opposition, in November 2019.

AFTER months of closure and considerable disappointment and frustrtaion among the local community, Stanford-le-Hope's library is finally to reopen - though it will initially only be for one day a week.

Starting on Wednesday (4 August) the library, which houses more than 8,000 books and is a portal to other local services, will be open for six hours a day.

A RECENTLY-elected councillor could find himself involved in hot water with Thurrock Council's standards team after becoming embroiled in an online exchange of views that saw him issue foul-mouthed abuse.

Conservative Adam Carter was a surprise winner of the Labour stronghold of Chadwell St Mary ward in May's elections and he has been keen to raise and maintain his local profile through social media.

OUTLINE plans for Thurrock's new Freeport have now been submitted to the government – and they could be rubber-stamped by the end of this year.

The Thames Freeport, which will bring DP World's London Gateway port, the Port of Tilbury, the planned Thames Enterprise Park and the Ford car company together as the lynchpin organisations behind the plan to create a local area where trade can flourish as normal tax and customs rules do not apply.