Brentwood's Conservative Borough councillors recently voted for Brentwood to become a member of the Association of South Essex Local Authorities (ASLEA) Joint Committee. ASLEA consists of seven Councils, Basildon, Brentwood, Castle Point, Rochford, Southend on Sea, Thurrock and Essex County Council. The decision was made during a heated debate at Brentwood's Ordinary Council meeting on (28/7) when Lib Dem councillors raised a number of key issues and highlighted the Tories failure to consult with Brentwood residents on such an important decision

Britain must lead the way by acting now to protect our natural environment, clean up our air and cut our carbon emissions.

We really can't wait for the Govt to get their act together. We need a national climate action plan NOW - to complement the work we are already doing in places like Chelmsford. (See the Chelmsford City Council Climate Action Plan.)

Chelmsford City Council has planted 30,000 trees across the district over the last two years, as part of the Lib Dem pledge to deliver a greener Chelmsford.

The Council is also investing in its parks and green spaces

Memorial garden for Hanbury family re-opens in Chelmsford's Hylands Park.

A memorial garden has been restored in Chelmsford's Hylands Park giving residents of all ages a place for quiet reflection. The reinstated garden was originally created by the Hanbury family, the last private owners of the estate. The City Council worked with the Friends of Hylands House to restore the Hanbury Memorial Garden, and also refurbished the One World Garden in Hylands Park.

A plan has been announced that will deliver additional units of genuinely-affordable homes in Chelmsford, by the Lib Dem-led City Council. A draft Housing Strategy is now out for consultation, as part of the Liberal Democrat ambition to deliver a fairer Chelmsford.

The draft Housing Strategy 2021-2026 seeks to address the gaps, where the "Chelmsford Local Plan 2020-2036" will not deliver enough, genuinely-affordable homes, to address the housing crisis in Chelmsford. This Housing Strategy is about what the City Council will deliver working with partners. In particular,

Councillors to discuss anti-poverty plan for Southend

An anti-poverty plan is set to be developed with key stakeholders with Councillors discussing a report about food justice and tackling poverty at Southend-on-Sea Borough Cabinet next week.

The proposed plan is one of several recommendations made in the report about tackling poverty in Southend and the rising number of people relying on additional services as the Borough recovers from Covid.

The number of people relying on food banks in the UK increased by 33% in 2020/21 according to the Trussell Trust and in Southend, a financial wellbeing survey put out by the benefits and commissioning team in early 2020, found over 50% of the 270 respondents said they struggled to provide food, clothing and basic essentials for their families.

The report outlines the work which has been started by Southend-on-Sea Borough Council to tackle some of the issues relating to poverty, such as there was a motion for a Food Justice Champion and plans to maximise the impact of food initiatives via the Food Alliance, to help supply and demand for services.

There has also been the introduction of 'Call Before You Serve' to help landlords and to help tenants avoid homelessness, and selective Licencing for landlords will help improve housing conditions in four of the Borough's wards.

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A call for real action in Essex (especially in schools) to combat violence against women and girls has been rejected. Essex Lib Dems tabled a motion at the County Council meeting on 13 July. The Conservatives pushed through an amendment that patted themselves on the back for (limited) actions to date, added vague generalities and removed all the action points that would affect education.

Southend's Parliamentary constituencies are set to change, and this is going to have a big impact across the Borough and our communities.

The Boundary Commission for England (BCE) is redrawing the map of Parliamentary constituencies in England and has decided that West Leigh and Eastwood Park should no longer belong in Southend West. Instead, they propose that West Leigh is represented by the MP for the Castle Point constituency (which already covers Canvey Island, nearly all of Benfleet plus Hadleigh) and Eastwood Park become part of the Rochford & Southend East constituency.

Conservative MPs - including Children's Minister and Chelmsford MP Vicky Ford - have broken their 2019 manifesto pledge by voting to cut overseas aid from 0.7% to 0.5% of national income. Former Conservative Prime Minister John Major criticised the decision, saying, "The Government has blatantly broken its word, and should be ashamed of its decision."