Delight that hall's future has been secured

I am delighted that the future of St Christopher’s Hall in Dobbs Weir has been secured after several years ofnegotiation.

Roydon Parish Council has agreed to purchase the hall from St Peter’s (Roydon) Parochial Church Council and hold it for use by the local community.

The Dobbs Weir Residents Association, the hall’s current sitting tenant, has spent a considerable amount of time on the issue and is delighted that a resolution has now been reached.

I appreciate that these have been difficult negotiations.

In October 2010 I asked questions of the Church Commissioner in the House of Commons and subsequently secured Tony Baldry’s assistance as a mediator between the two parties in April 2011.

St Christopher’s Hall is a fantastic community asset and I am so pleased that the residents of Dobbs Weir and Roydon Parish Council have come together to safeguard its future.

Where's the Police?

I left Roydon Parish Council meeting this evening feeling somewhat angry. It wasn't because of anything the Councillors had done. In fact they all care deeply about Roydon Village. I was angry because I heard that the picturesque Roydon Playing Fields had been vandalised yet again. The latest act was the destruction of new rubbish bins, which cost £100 each. Despite, regular updates to the Police by local Councillors, and good knowledge of which teenagers are responsible, nothing is done. Roydon has no Community Support Officer at present and one well-meaning and hard working beat officer who covers a number of villages and is seriously overstretched.

What amazes me about the lack of Police action, is that about 18 months ago, the Essex Chief Constable came to a Parish Council meeting, accompanied by a host of local senior Police Officers. The Officers present pledged to introduce new style neighbourhood policing, with police on the beat. They said that Roydon would be well looked after by beat Policemen and Community Support Officers. As one Councillor remarked, since that meeting, the situation has got even worse, and there are less police in Roydon than ever before. I intend to write to the New Acting Chief Constable of Essex about the Playing Field problem, once I have amassed evidence from fellow Parish Councillors.

I know that most individual Police Officers are incredibly hard working and committed. Many do a wonderful job. But there is need to assuage sceptical Roydon residents that promises made, are more than hot air. There could be no better way than to demonstrate their commitment to Roydon, by dealing with these yobs once and for all and stop them from wrecking a beautiful part of the village.

Rob Halfon ~ Working hard for Harlow, Hastingwood, Nazeing, Roydon & Sheering.

Welcome to my Blog

Hello everyone, welcome to my blog!

Well despite the snow, its been a busy week, although I did stay at home on Monday. When I woke up, I thought I was in Narnia and my girlfriend Vanda, (who has never seen snow before, as she is from Brazil), was quick to make a big fat snowman outside our house.

Nevertheless, being at home had its advantages. I caught up on my emails at last.
I got a remarkable one from a lady in Harlow who has started a web company called Scents-Ability which sells all sorts of scented goodies. This lady is all the more remarkable because she has suffered some illnesses, yet is determined to be a success. I know she will be.

Tomorrow night, I have been invited to open the White Horse Pub in Old Harlow ,which should be fun. It is a lovely Pub and I am sure it will be a great success. Afterwards, I have to rush off to a Roydon Parish Council. Villagers are quite worried about Government plans to build hundreds of thousands of houses over the Essex countryside and also determined to resist Government plans for extra gypsy sites.

On Friday, I am looking forward to visiting Rotary Watches. This Swiss watch company is over a 100 years old and is still run by the same Dreyfuss family that started it all those years ago. Amazingly, the company has a big factory in Essex, in Westcliff on Sea. I love watches and clocks, so it will be fascinating to see.

Finally, in this cold but beautiful snow, although many of us have fun, we should remember the homeless who have it harder than ever this time of year. I pay tribute to Patsy Dye of the Harlow Streets to Homes Centre who organised a night shelter recently. I am proud to be patron of this amazing charity.

Until next time.






Rob Halfon ~ Working hard for Harlow, Hastingwood, Nazeing, Roydon & Sheering.