Catching Up : Construction, Housing and Regeneration

I am a bit behind with my blog-posting, so I thought I would let you know what occurred last Friday. It was quite a hectic day, starting off with a visit to the Construction Training Partnership in Burnt Mill. As you know, this is a great organisation that I have visited on a number of occasions. CTP does a huge amount to provide youngsters with vocational training - and a chance to join the ladder of opportunity, instead of sinking into despair at the lack of job opportunities available. I was there as a Conservative Party official, wanted to see CTP at first hand. This followed earlier visits from Lord Hanningfield (Leader of Essex County Council) and the BBC, to see what by any standards is a real success.

After, I had two important meetings - with Places for People and Harlow Renaissance. Places for People are the organisation that has taken over control for the controversial Harlow North development - part of the Gordon Brown's East of England Plan - which has seemingly become set in stone.

Whilst my reservations about the Government's bulldozing of the countryside are well known - the way in which it has been undemocratically decided, the lack of support for financial infrastructure and the failure to use brown field land more carefully, I am at least comforted by the fact that Places for People is a 'not for dividend' organisation. The company is also making efforts to involve people locally in consultation and seems - at first appearances - to be socially responsible. If Harlow North is to be built - and the plans are irreversible - it is vital that the developers concerned have a vision that is in keeping with the surroundings and in harmony with local people.

Meeting with Harlow Renaissance was also incredibly useful. I have regular briefings with this ever important body and it is good to discuss the all important plans for regeneration of Harlow Town Centre, which if implemented will make a huge difference to our town.

In the afternoon, it was casework. I try and visit Constituents who contact me with their problems. It is much easier to understand the difficulties people face if I have seen it first hand.

By Rob Halfon ~ Working hard for Harlow, Hastingwood, Nazeing, Roydon & Sheering. http//roberthalfon.blogspot.com

One of the largest developments in England.....

.......is about to occur in Harlow, if everything goes as planned. This is what I heard tonight, when I attended the visionary and imaginative exhibition that set out proposals to regenerate Harlow's Town Centre. It is envisaged - through a strong partnership with Harlow Council, Harlow Renaissance and Stockland Development - that by 2013, the town centre will be rebuilt, transformed and will be unrecognisable from its current state. The aim, according to the tri-partite partnership is to:

"reintegrate Harlow Town Centre North with the rest of the town centre and include proposals for new shops, businesses and homes alongside transformed public spaces, a new bus interchange and new leisure facilities".

I am very excited about these plans. Not only will the Town Centre become a hub of cafes, major retail department stores, a new hotel and possibly a new theatre, but the image of Harlow will be enhanced. No longer will snobs and people who should know better, have any simplistic or ignorant excuse to criticise the Town, in the way they do at present. Harlow will be an even better and bigger place to come to, shop, and enjoy local facilities.

I was struck tonight, not just with the unity of all the major political parties, but also with the passionate and heartfelt speeches made by the representatives of the partners involved. Council Leader, Cllr. Andrew Johnson and senior Liberal, Cllr. Linda Pailing in particular set out what the regeneration would do for Harlow, and what it meant for them and the constituents they represented. For Labour, Cllr. Mark Wilkinson, read out a statement of support from the Labour MP, Bill Rammell, who was unable to attend. Stockland and Harlow Renaissance told the assembled audience, in no uncertain terms, their determination to make this vision as a reality.

The partnership team is encouraging as many people as possible to come to the Exhibition, which is open for the next few days and is opposite McDonalds in the former Dorothy Perkins Store (next to Vodafone). It is well worth going to see. They also want as many people as possible to set out their views on their website. It is essential, that the public comment and make their views known to the developers and the partners, so that the final plans, really do reflect local aspirations and desires. I left the event feeling inspired by what I had seen and heard. Roll on 2013.

For full details of the proposals you can click on HERE. To leave feedback, go on to HERE.

By Rob Halfon ~ Working hard for Harlow, Hastingwood, Nazeing, Roydon & Sheering. http//roberthalfon.blogspot.com

Roads and Table Tennis

Yesterday was a really good day for my work in the Constituency. I first met with the David Smith , the mastermind behind The Best of Harlow website. He has set up an amazing site for businesses in Harlow, on the web. I then went to Harlow Renaissance to be briefed about the latest regeneration plans for Harlow. I think Renaissance are a tremendous organisation who have a determination to transform Harlow for the better. I also had a great meeting with Simon Price who is a technical long distance driver. Simon supports my campaign for an extra by pass on the M11 and was helping me out with some ideas. At McDonalds, we pored over maps to try and examine possible routes for the by-pass.

But the best part of my day was on Friday evening. With Cllr Muriel Jolles, I visited the Norman Booth Centre in Old Harlow. Thanks to the inspiration of Neil Brierley and others, Norman Booth has been transformed into one of the top Table Tennis Clubs in the country. It is also self financing as the Centre also has a range of other sporting activities and a great cafe and viewing area. This place should be in the top ten of one of Harlow’s proudest achievements in recent years and shows what can be done with leadership and determination. I enjoyed playing table-tennis with young Rhys Williams and got trounced of course!

Finally, for those who read my blog a few days ago, you will recall a Pigeon decided to do his business on my suit, in the Water-Gardens Car park. Well I had an email from a friend in Northern Ireland who said it is a sign of good luck! Well, he was completely right! My girlfriend who is Brazilian, got her Visa to study in the UK, so I was really happy. She will be back next week and I have to pick her up at the crack-of dawn on Thursday morning. So thank you Mr Pigeon, wherever you are.......