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Showing posts from October, 2020

Update on our reported issues: Raymond Close pot-hole to be repaired this week, Street-weeds to be cleared and Event-day Parking restrictions possible

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Please join our rapidly growing community facebook page  (click here) We were asked to seek hedge-trimming along bridle-walk by car park of Woodland Trust. On 20th October 2020 the Woodland Trust said: Thank you for your email regarding Hainault Forest.   I have spoken with the Site Manager who has said the hedges are due their annual cut back at the end of this month/beginning of November. He is also due to visit the area soon so will inspect the area.   Thank you for bringing this to our attention. During our street inspections we noticed an increase in street and road weeds and asked for them to be removed.  A representative from Essex Council met with Chairman Wilson Chowdhry at his home on 28th October (while collecting community litter-picking equipment) and has advised that an inspection has taken place and works have begun. Residents of Daylop Drive and Woolhampton Way already have noticed  that weeding has taken place.  Earlier on 21st October 2020, an officer from Essex Groun

Thames Water continue repairs on Lambourne Road and Manor Road opposite Grange Hill Station

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  Water leak repairs continue on Lambourne Road (image taken 26.10.20) Please join our rapidly growing community facebook page  (click here) Despite assertions from Thames Water that there are no major water system issues in Chigwell, local residents have had to deal with two sets of delays on the same thoroughfare for over 5 days.  During a conversation today Wilson Chowdhry had with Thames Water (ref:1019090896), he has been advised that the Lambourne Road works should be completed by 28th October, whereas the Manor Road (Grange Hill Station) works have a completion date for 4th November.     `      Complaints raised with Thames Water are often brushed of as inconsequential but the traffic delays and regular water interruptions are taking their toll on local morale. Moreover, they pose a health and safety threat to local residents - exacerbated by the current COVID-19 pandemic. Image of work opposite Grange Hill Sation 26.10.20 One local residents has even terminated his payments to

Romford Road hedge-trim completed creating pleasant walk

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  Please join our rapidly growing community facebook page  (click here) Today (25th October) five volunteers completed the cutting back of hedges along Romford Road.  despite a dreary morning in which rainfall was pretty constant.  Fortunately, for participants, the weather remained warm and sunny from the start of the community-cut-back at 11.30, until 3pm when the work was completed. Essex County Council have been extremely helpful this time, providing us with litter-pickers and gloves and agreeing to collect our green waste from Daylop Drive on Monday. This is the last hedge-trimming exercise we will be doing till the new year - sometime in April.  For now, we hope the trim creates a safer and more pleasant walk for users. Wherever we have cut, attempts have been made to reach upwards to above 7ft, thus ensuring people with umbrellas can use the road safely without damaging them.   Pavement has now been reclaimed, meaning that mothers with pushchairs, couples and joggers are able to

Our final 2020 litter-pick and hedge trimming over public footway takes place tomorrow. Will you join us?

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As we enter the colder months CRRA has decided to make tomorrow's (Sunday 25th October) the last of this years litter-pick and hedge-trimming community action programmes. Mainly because of the colder temperature we are experiencing and the due to the heightened risk of COVID-19. We have been provided with a vast array of gloves and other litter-picking equipment via Essex Council, who have also agreed to clear away the litter a few days after our event and the green waste, which significantly reduces our labour for the day.  Please remember to bring masks and gardening equipment that you feel might help, such as loppers. hedge-trimmers, shovels, black bags and pruners.   You must all come wearing masks and follow all our health and safety instructions. We hope to resume a similar programme sometime in April. Event: Community Litter-pick and hedge-trim Location: Romford Road (nr All Saints) Date: 25th October 2020 Time: 11.30am Roads for litter-picking will be assigned on the day de

Loss of green space for the purposes of makeshift homes for the homeless simply makes no sense?

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Please join our rapidly growing community facebook page  (click here) An eyesore of a development has ruined the aesthetics and salubrity of  residents in Hainault and will, no doubt, have long term impacts on our community. The development was approved despite being out-of-synch with other local design. Residents of Manford way and Brockett Way held several protests and campaigns attempting to thwart the development of Homeless units in Brocket Way Park and neighbouring Woodman Road. Despite a petition with over 1500 the plans went ahead on Woodman though the original design of 90 homes was reduced to 60. The prefabricated temporary housing units are now near completion and a site is still being located for the other 30 homes.   Wilson Chowdhry, Chairman of the Chigwell Row Residents Association, said: "The buildings only have a 10-year shelf-life - what happens to these prefabricated temporary homes after this? Locals claim Redbridge Council only alerted 20 households about the

Essex police humanely-dispatched vehicle-hit deer on Chigwell Lane

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                                  We reported on a deer rescue undertaken by Essex Police on  Chigwell Lane on 19th October 2019 and some of the group have asked for an update.  The original article can be read (here) . We asked Essex Police for a response and they have shared some very sad news, a spokesperson, wrote:  "The deer had been involved in a collision with a motor vehicle and as a result it unfortunately received injuries that meant it was unable to stand.  "As a result the animal had to be humanely dispatched by firearms officers." We are grateful for the attempts to rescue the deer by our local police.  We warn drivers on roads around the forest regions in our area to drive with caution for their own safety and that of local wildlife.

Yet another water leak and it took Thames Water 5 hours to get to the incident site

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  Please join our rapidly growing community facebook page  (click here) Sign our petition today  (click here) Water gushed onto Lambourne Road, Chigwell damaging the underlying layers of the road surface after yet another Thames water leak, which was first reported at 8am yesterday (22nd Otober).   Despite the loss of a steady and heavy stream of water it took Thames Water over 5 hours to arrive with a van.  It then took a further 30-40 minutes  for repairmen to start working, after a further two vehicles arrived. Even worse, the repairmen decided not place cones and barriers in the road to make safe their work, opting to simply park where they wanted causing their usual traffic congestion. A total of three residents have confirmed via the local community whatsapp group, that they had reported the incident to Thames Water.  Two of these have shared address details with CRRA who have begun to compile a list of homes reporting each incident, to refute future denials from Thames Water. Re

More flytip on Pudding Lane

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Two bed bases and a mattress dumped along Pudding Lane Please join our rapidly growing community facebook page  (click here) CRRA have today reported the bed bases and mattresses that have been dumped along Pudding Lane ref:   FS-Case-263763757.   We will again raise a question for Chigwell Parish Council and Epping Forest DC to consider installing Streetligting on Pudding Lane and Millers Lane, in order that CCTV Cameras can be installed to curb this seemingly growing social malaise. Leaving things the way they are allows perpetrators to get away with a serious environmental crime, which we believe Cameras and adequate lighting could deter.  Saving our local authorities thousands of pounds in the long run, while also preserving the aesthetics and salubrity of the area.   Offenders can be prosecuted under our local bye-laws by up to £50,000 and could also be prosecuted under the control of Pests Act.  Yet very rarely to they get caught.  More has to be done to keep Chigwell Row green a

Further Crime updates from around our neck of the woods.

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  Please join our rapidly growing community facebook page  (click here) A family from Buckhurst Hill have warned on the Nextdoor app, that a number of expensive  tools were stolen out of a parked van yesterday by 2 men in a light blue car, around 11.15 in the morning. The stolen tools included: 1. Festool, plunge saw 2. Makitia, 18 v combo drill 3. Fein, multi-tool The total loss from the theft amounts to over £1000. During the CRRA public Zoom meeting, a Chigwell Row resident from Orchard Way has described how she has had a Catalytic convertor stolen on 12th October 2020 in the early hours of the morning (3am). We have provided her with the advice from police regarding installation of an exhaust clamp/lock. The victim has informed us that the vehicle involved in the theft was exactly the same one as is shown in the image of this post, which is of a similar theft on Millers Lane on 7th October. Read more about the Millers Road theft and watch video (here)

Parish Councillor resigns! If we want a proper election 10 local Chigwell Village residents must write in to Epping Returning Officer

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  Please join our rapidly growing community facebook page  (click here) A notice has been registered on the Chigwell Parish Council website which highlights the resignation of Cllr Darsham Sunger and calls for at least 10 letters from the local community should residents seek an election for a new councillor.  If 10 letters are not received then a candidate will simply be chosen by the majority party, which locally is the Conservatives.  Several of our members have asked us to post this story, to ensure that a democratic process is followed with regards to the filling of this vacancy. The notice reads as follows: NOTICE OF VACANCY Chigwell Parish Council Chigwell Village Ward Notice is hereby given that a vacancy has occurred in the office of the Parish Councillor due to the resignation of Cllr Darshan Sunger. An election to fill the vacancy will be held if notice in writing of a request for such an election is made by ten Local Government electors from the Chigwell Village Ward of Chi

Chigwell Teenager wins Redbridge Young Citizen of the Year Award

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  Hannah Chowdhry with her Young Citizen Award trophy and certificate Please join our rapidly growing community facebook page  (click here) Due to COVID-19 Hannah was not invited to the usual Redbridge Town Hall Award ceremony and instead had her prize posted to her this week.  Today (20th October) Hannah administered and minuted the Chigwell Row Residents Association public meeting. Hannah is one of the Editors for the CRRA newsletter and helps write many of our blog posts.  Below is the press release produced by Redbridge Rotary: 16-year-old Hannah Chowdhry cares passionately about making a difference to her community. During the coronavirus pandemic, she is on the frontline helping at a daily project to feed the homeless and vulnerable in Ilford, East London as the youngest volunteer for the British Asian Christian Association. Hannah started volunteering at the association’s food bank and Meals for the Homeless project in January 2020, which included cooking meals for the rough s

Prolific burglar who operated in Chigwell jailed for 9 years

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  ​ Please join our rapidly growing community facebook page  (click here) A prolific burglar who targeted homes across Essex before stealing cars and then using the owners’ bank cards at takeaways and petrol stations has been jailed for nine years. James Hearne, 29, of no fixed address, appeared by video link at Chelmsford Crown Court on Thursday 16 July. He received eight years for six counts of burglary and six months for two counts of theft. He received concurrent sentences for a further three counts of theft and for four counts of fraud. We linked Hearn to burglaries  in Brentwood, Harlow, Chigwell, Woodford Green, Wickford and Witham between 25 November 2019 and 18 March 2020. The first incident was reported in Brentwood where several watches were stolen. Hearne went on to burgle a house in Harlow overnight on 17 January while the occupant was away before stealing a vehicle and using her bank card to order food. On 3 March, Hearne burgled properties in Chigwell and Woodford Green,

Police enact deer rescue mission on Chigwell Lane (A1168)/ Traffic on Willingale Road delayed due to one-way traffic lights for amenities groundworks

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Please join our rapidly growing community facebook page  (click here) A deer that had strayed onto Chigwell Lane near the M11 junction is being protected by local police, who have set up their vehicles as a barricade to prevent the deer being hurt. It was not clear whether the deer had been hit at first glance but it seems that help and assistance is being sought from the RSPCA or other animal support. Initially traffic flow was allowed to continue down both sides of the busy dual carriageway, but by 8.40 am traffic flowing towards Loughton Town Centre was restricted. Please avoid the road if you are in a journey which requires speed. Parents who send children to schools in such as; St John Fisher Primary School, Davenant High School and Debden Park School should be aware that there is a temporary traffic-light on Willingale Road. The lights are limiting cars to one way traffic while groundworks associated to local amenities upgrading takes place. This is causing some traffic delay whi

Crimes from a wider area that may affect us, taken from Nextdoor App reports - Please read attached PFCC warning about catalytic converter crime.

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Please join our rapidly growing community facebook page  (click here) We have listed some of the crimes recently reported in the Nextdoor app and any crimes listed in comments below these stories: A blue, Deep Impact, Ford Galaxy, reg: YE16HYA was stolen from a driveway in Barrington Road, Loughton on 16th October, sometime between 18:30 and 22:00. The owners still have both coded keys. On 15th October a man was filmed stealing a newly purchased heater from the porch area of a home. The equipment was clearly in a new box when the thief took it and placed it on his van. The homeowner was waiting for her husband to come home to take the box into their home. On Friday 16th October at 12pm, 2 Eastern European men walked down the drive of a home in Chigwell and stole 3 fire extinguishers.  They placed them on a  silver Mercedes sprinter van reg number KR20 VXT.  The owner of the property has shared some images: Two white men aged about 35, one with black beard, black water proof clothi

Essex moves to heightened Coronavirus alert level as infection rates rise further

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This warning is emblazoned on the first page of the Essex County Council Website. Please join our rapidly growing community facebook page  (click here) On Saturday Essex County Council will raise it's threat level from medium to high alert! We share details of the guidelines for both our current medium and tomorrow's high alert: Local COVID alert level: medium This is for areas where national restrictions continue to be in place. This means: you must not socialise in groups larger than 6, indoors or outdoors (other than where a legal exemption applies) businesses and venues can continue to operate, in a COVID-secure manner, other than those that remain closed in law certain businesses are required to ensure customers only consume food and drink while seated, and must close between 10pm and 5am businesses and venues selling food for consumption off the premises can continue to do so after 10pm as long as this is through delivery service, click-and-collect or drive-through school