The New Face of Harlow

I've written before about amazing new buildings like the Leisure Zone and Newhall development. Well, on Friday, I visited the new Passmores School Building (at the former Brays Grove School Site).  It really is quite incredible.  Although not quite finished (the school should be ready for the September Academic year), it really is state of the art. Two huge floors, a bridge within the school, everything designed for the advancement of pupil attainment. Walking round, it reminded me of the Star Trek Enterprise, it is so futuristic. This school - when completed - represents part of the transformation of Harlow. It also epitomises everything our Town stands for: aspiration, inspiration, achievement and excellence.  Passmores is already a strong school. I am sure Governors will be besieged by parents - not just from Harlow, but around the country.

At a time of cuts - and the difficult economic situation, it is worth paying tribute to Conservative Essex Council, that has put £22 million plus towards the new school.  Councillor Stephen Castle, who was responsible for this, deserves enormous credit.

P.S. It was great to meet a young Passmores student doing work experience - responsible for electricals at the site.

by Robert Halfon - www.roberthalfon.blogspot.com

Back to the Future

I went back to the Exhibition about the new development that will transform the Town Centre, mainly to gauge views of local residents and shop keepers. There seems to be a strong groundswell of support from everybody for the proposals - and no wonder, as I have written previously in my blog - they are exciting and visionary. It was good to see so many people at the exhibition. One elderly couple said to me the plans were 'ten years too late'. When I asked why, they said they might not be around to enjoy them. When I said to them that the main parts of the development would be completed by 2013, they seemed much relieved!

Understandably the shops around Adams House, are a little concerned as to how they will be relocated. They are also worried about the new rental costs and I have promised to find out from Stocklands (the developers), how this will be resolved. I regularly get my hair cut at the barber just by Adam's House, and the sandwich shop is one of my favourite haunts for really good coffee and sandwiches. I and many other customers, would be keen for these shops to have a proper home, when the new development is finally completed.

I did have a brief discussion with a Stocklands representative about the issue, and I have to say I am thus far impressed that they seem to be making great efforts to engage with the community. I understand from John Curry of the Harlow Civic Society, that they are having meetings with Stocklands as well, which is good news as it is vital that the plans reflect Harlow's rich history and heritage.

After the exhibition, Vanda and I went to watch a little of the Music Festival and have coffee and a burger (mine was without bread as I am keeping to my diet). The bands were excellent and I congratulate Richard, the Town Centre Development Manager from Harlow Council, for all the excellent work he does to make these sort of events possible.

I have put some more photos up of the proposed plans, in case you haven't seen them yet. If you have time, it is well worth a visit. I think that the last day of the exhibition is tomorrow.

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.......