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Concessionary bus travel extension

Soon our older and disabled residents will have improved access to free off-peak local bus travel. This will impact something like eleven million people nationally.

Additional funding of £212 million will be provided, of which Castle Point attracts £209,000 for 2008/09 (£214,000 for 2009/10 and £219,000 for 2010/11).

Castle Point Labour Party believes this provides a double bonus. Older citizens and the disabled will be enabled to travel more freely, and this will encourage some out of their cars, somewhat lessening the pressures on the already crowded roads locally.

Julian Ware-Lane, Parliamentary Candidate believes that many in Castle Point will take advantage of this: "My experience tells me this is popular locally. Some would have been put off by cost of travelling beyond the borders of Castle Point – this will no longer be a barrier."

Up till now the concessionary fares only applied within each local authority area. With the ability to traverse such boundaries from April onwards this will open up a world of opportunity.

Councillor Brian Wilson said that he had heard rumblings about cost. "The generous Government allocation, together with the refusal to set this year the 5% increase which they are proposing for next year (the year of the County Elections) leaves the Council with no excuses. Their penny-pinching attitude will not wash – let's give our disabled and older citizens the freedom to travel."

This much-vaunted initiative will be a wonderful boost to some of the most vulnerable members of society, and a tremendous boon for the inclusion agenda.

Petition handed to Councillor Brian Wilson

Last summer Julian Ware-Lane and Joe Cooke visited Tarpots Recreation Ground to see the poor state of the kiddies' play area. Readers may recall that the Council removed most of the equipment with no plan to replace it for several years. What was left behind was a crater-strewn and ugly area.

Local residents were appalled, as was the Labour Parliamentary Candidate. A petition was drawn up and in excess of 420 signatures were collected.

This has now been handed to Councillor Brian Wilson who will present it to the Chief Executive.

Brian said "when I heard about this I was shocked to see the short-sightedness of the ruling administration. Of course we want our younger members of society to have decent facilities".

Julian added "there has been a shocking lack of joined-up thinking here".

"Hopefully there will be a re-think and the sought-after return of decent equipment will materialise".

Joe Cooke has served St. George’s ward as a Labour Councillor for a total of eleven years since arriving in 1970. He knows the views of local residents well and is aiming to again contest the ward in which this recreation ground resides, after losing his seat in 2003. "I have spoken with quite a few people about this and all resent the thoughtlessness of the council's actions. This petition, a significant snapshot of local opinion, should remind those elected that they cannot ride roughshod over the views of those who put them there. St. George’s is a large ward with few facilities and deserves fairer consideration".

Labour wants the facilities reinstated, with a long-tern maintenance plan in place. Labour also wants a decent supply of bins in the park, with a regular rota for their emptying.

Knightswick Centre toilets

Public toilets can be an indicator of the qualities of a community, and clean and well kept facilities send the message that "this community cares". Where once public toilets were a source of civic pride, nowadays they are often run-down and unwelcoming.

A good example of this is those at the Knightswick Centre in Canvey's town centre. Whilst normally stocked with soap and loo-paper, they are in some need of TLC and are far from first rate. Some of the flushers take considerable effort to use, there is much graffiti, lighting is poor, and the décor is best described as 'tired'.

One can only guess at what visitors and locals must think of them.

To heap further misery on the public, these toilets are often not open (sometimes shutting as early as 3pm).

Canvey, a community of 40,000 bladders, is not well-served by public conveniences. Large areas of the island are quite some way from a toilet, and being 'caught short' could present real problems.

A community that hopes to attract visitors and wishes to serve its residents should consider looking after its conveniences. I would hope that the Council would make efforts to give these toilets a facelift, promise that toilets will not be sold off, and aspire to an expansion programme so that there are enough toilets to serve community and visitors alike.