News | Thurrock Council

Grangewaters re-opens

15 July 2020

Grangewaters Outdoor Education Centre is re-opening to residents and visitors from Monday 20 July.
The activities available for people to book on to will include kayaking, stand-up paddleboarding, mountain biking, archery and high ropes. Activities will be available from Monday to Saturday for as little as £9 per person, per session.

Libraries reopened in Corringham and Grays

15 July 2020

Thurrock Council has reopened Corringham Library and Grays Library today (Wednesday 15 July). As with last week's reopening of Belhus Library, the council will continue to follow government guidelines on social distancing to keep residents and staff safe.
Both libraries will initially operate under temporary opening hours of 10am to 4pm Monday to Friday and 10am to 1pm on Saturday. Entry to Grays Library will be via Cromwell Road, not the main entrance of the Thameside Complex.

Make your voice heard on the Lower Thames Crossing

14 July 2020

Thurrock Council is urging residents to make sure they take part in Highways England’s latest public consultation on their Lower Thames Crossing proposals.
Running from 14 July until 12 August 2020, this is the third round of consultation on plans to build a major highway through Thurrock as part of a proposed new Thames river crossing.
The consultation follows design refinements made as a result of previous consultation feedback and ongoing scheme development work, which takes technical constraints into account. The proposed changes include:

Thurrock streets are cleaner than ever

10 July 2020

A recent inspection by Keep Britain Tidy has found that all areas of the borough, including parks, town centres and streets are cleaner and clearer than ever with inspectors finding only 3.67% of sites they visited in the borough had litter on them, meaning over 96% did not.
On top of this they found:

The future shape of local government – statement

10 July 2020

In response to the recent speech by Simon Clarke MP, Minister for Local Government, on the future shape of local government Cllr Rob Gledhill, Chair of ASELA and Leader of Thurrock Council, said: "ASELA – the Association of South Essex Local Authorities – welcomes the news as set out by Simon Clarke MP in relation to changing the way powers can be better devolved to councils. As Leaders across the south Essex region, we have spent 3 years looking at how working together across existing local government boundaries will help us deliver improved infrastructure and economic growth.

Social care report highlights strengths during ongoing pandemic

9 July 2020

A report presented at a meeting of Full Council yesterday evening (Wednesday 8 July) has highlighted a number of strengths across Thurrock Council's children's and adults social care services, whilst recognising the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Thurrock Council well-prepared for future financial uncertainty

9 July 2020

Cllr Shane Hebb announced yesterday (Wednesday 8 July) at a Full Council meeting that financial resilience reserves have increased from £8m in 2016, to £18.5m in 2020, and that the focus now must be on everyone working together to deliver the best possible solution for Thurrock post-COVID-19.
Deputy Council Leader and Cabinet member for Finance, Cllr Hebb said: "We have always said that we needed to fix the roof while the sun is shining, this is exactly what we have done and it has allowed us to put Thurrock into a strong financial position before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Waste crews working hard in tough circumstances

8 July 2020

As more people understandably work from home, Thurrock is experiencing the nation-wide trend of increasing waste tonnage, which has impacted household waste collections in the borough.
Cllr Aaron Watkins, Cabinet member for environment, said: "Extra pressures created by coronavirus mean that our waste collections are not operating as they normally would. With residents working from home, or furloughed, we are seeing a significant rise in the amount of waste households are producing.

Thurrock observes Srebrenica Memorial Week

8 July 2020

Srebrenica Memorial Week sees communities across the UK commemorate the 25th anniversary of the genocide where over 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were murdered, simply because of their faith, on 11 July 1995.
Cllr Deb Huelin, Cabinet member for communities, said: "I would like to ask residents to reflect on the genocide and how their actions can have an impact on our communities. The theme for this year is every action matters and seeks to show how the action of one individual does matter, however small it may initially appear.

29 new council homes for Thurrock residents

8 July 2020

Thurrock Council has handed over the keys to 29 much-needed high-quality council homes for Thurrock residents.
Alma Court is an award winning development that has transformed the former Tops Club site in Grays, providing high quality social housing that is sustainable and fitted-out to a top specification, with generous space standards for residents to enjoy.