News | Thurrock Council

Council fly-tipping campaign steps up a notch

6 August 2019

Thurrock Council is ramping up its zero tolerance stance to fly-tipping by tackling notorious hotspots in the borough.
More than 500 fly-tips have already been cleared in Thurrock since the start of April, with the council issuing 39 fixed penalty notices during the same period.

Victory for Little Thurrock residents as housing appeal rejected

5 August 2019

An appeal against Thurrock Council's decision to refuse plans for 4 new homes on a well-used sports pitch and children's play area has been thrown out.
Outline planning permission for the houses to be built on land in Gunning Road, Grays, was refused by the council's planning committee in November.
The site is well used by residents as a recreational open space and the committee decided the loss of the open space was unacceptable.
An appeal was lodged by the applicant, Gunning Road Thurrock Ltd, to the Planning Inspectorate and has now been refused.

Council leader hits out at ‘fake news’ about plans for Aveley

2 August 2019

Thurrock Council Leader, Cllr Rob Gledhill has rubbished a letter in the local media that said there are plans to build new homes on a popular local park and a school playing field in Aveley.
A letter, which appeared in a local paper, said that Thurrock Council had "sanctioned" deals to sell off part of Usk Road Park and Kenningtons School playing field, both in Aveley, despite there being no truth to these claims whatsoever.

Case for unauthorised encampment injunction taken to the High Court

2 August 2019

Thurrock Council has taken its application for an injunction preventing unauthorised encampments to the High Court.
The appearance on Wednesday, 31 July is the first stage in the process of obtaining an injunction to prevent unauthorised encampments on both public and areas of private land in the borough.
The hearing allows the commencement of service of the papers on 107 named defendants, and each of the sites which are to be protected against unauthorised encampments.

Minister decision paves the way for modern local healthcare facilities

1 August 2019

Thurrock Council has welcomed a ruling from a government Health Independent Reconfiguration Panel that supports plans to replace Orsett Hospital with 4 modern community health facilities.
Secretary of State for Health, Matt Hancock, has written to the council to say that, on the advice of the panel, he has rejected objections to the scheme to close Orsett Hospital and provide the services it offers at 4 new integrated medical centres in Thurrock.

Police successes in Chafford Hundred

31 July 2019

Thurrock Council Leader, Cllr Rob Gledhill, has welcomed news that Essex Police have launched an operation targeting crime and anti-social behaviour in the Chafford Hundred area.
In just the first 3 weeks of the operation, which was launched on 8 July 2019, officers have arrested 2 people for carrying knives, a further 4 for drug dealing with further arrests having been made for drug possession and driving while disqualified. Officers have also seized 2 vehicles from drivers who did not have insurance.

Primary Schools awarded for serving healthy school meals

31 July 2019

Primary Schools across Thurrock have been recognised for providing healthy food options for students at a special award ceremony.
Chefs and cooks from across thirty primary schools were commended at the ceremony for delivering nutritious school meals as part of the TuckIN scheme.
The scheme, which launched in May 2018, is a county-wide initiative that invites organisations to pledge to:

Town Centre Police - three arrested already

31 July 2019

Thurrock Council has welcomed news that the borough's newest police officers have already made 3 arrests in just their first week of working locally.
The 7 officers started their new roles in the borough last Monday, 22 July, and since then they have arrested and charged 2 men on suspicion of drink-driving, and another man with theft, after responding to reports of a shoplifting while they were on patrol.

Clamp down on nuisance off-road motorbikes and quadbikes

31 July 2019

Tough action has been taken against more than 150 people as part of a clampdown on anti-social and dangerous off-road motorbike and quadbike riding in Thurrock.
Essex Police first launched Operation Caesar last year with the support of funding from Thurrock Council to help tackle anti-social in the borough.
Since the end of November last year, the crackdown has resulted in nine arrests, 46 people being reported for careless driving, 31 people being dealt with for having no insurance and a further 27 for driving without a licence.

108 lorry drivers fined as council crackdown continues

30 July 2019

A total of 108 lorry drivers have already been fined this year for parking inconsiderately at the roadside in Aveley.
Since the start of January 2019, Thurrock Council has discovered 108 heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) parked in Sandy Lane, which is frequently used by drivers as a rest area in contravention with parking restrictions.
Fixed penalty notices have been issued to all 108 drivers as the council continues to clamp down on the issue across Thurrock, with 3,739 fines issued to HGV drivers in total in the borough between October 2018 and the end of June 2019.