A good night at Harlow Council

I was pleased to attend the annual meeting of Harlow Council this evening. The meeting had two purposes: to give out awards to citizens who have done so much for the town, and to elect the new Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Council. I was able to hear outgoing Chairman Cllr. Tony Hall, give his report, before handing the Chair over to Cllr. Edna Stevens. Tony's speech was excellent, but struck a sombre note at one point, when he rightly criticised Labour and Liberal Councillors for not treating the Chair with the dignity the post deserves. Throughout Tony's Chairmanship, many of these Councillors have refused to stand, to greet the Chairman, and behaved somewhat petulantly. To Edna Steven's great credit, in her speech, she admonished those Councillors and implied that she would not tolerate such behaviour in her year as Chairman.

Although Edna is a solid Labour stalwart, I am glad she is Chairman. I have no doubt that she will put the dignity of the office, before party politics. As Vice-Chairman, she did a grand job and her relations with Tony Hall were most warm - as witnessed by her tribute to him - during her remarks to the assembled Councillors. Although the Conservatives are in majority, and could have quite easily chosen a Conservative Chairman for a second year, Leader, Cllr. Andrew Johnson, and his colleagues decided to put the importance of the Office - before party advantage. I hope that Labour will recognise this and behave with more decency in the months ahead in the Council Chamber.

I was also pleased that our own Councillor Sue Livings was elected as Vice Chairman. Sue is a larger than life character and not only is a walking encyclopedia of Old Harlow, but knows everything there is to know about arts and music. Her partner John Steer, is a similar culture vulture, and like me, loves watches! Sue will be an excellent Vice-Chairman and I look forward to her year in office.

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

A world-beater in the Pinnacles

I visited one of Harlow's best kept secrets today, with Councillor Tony Hall. Was it a bird, a plane? Well in some ways yes. It was Smith's CNC Precision Engineers Business in the Pinnacles, a company which supplies aircraft components to the aircraft industry, wind turbine machinery and mining technology. What makes Smith's, all the more remarkable, is not that it is a family run firm (which it is), or even that the vast majority, (including management), of employees come from Harlow, but, it is one of only a few companies in the world, that provides such materials and has such expertise.

I went on a tour of the huge factory, with John Tennison. John is an extraordinary man. Harlow, born and bred, he started off as an apprentice to Smith's, exactly thirty years ago and is now Managing Director of the Firm. When I noticed that the office side of the business looked 'economical', John rightly replied: "We only spend money on things that make money". The Company offers a number of apprenticeships and has good links with Harlow College.

Walking round the factory, was an experience in itself. Huge machines, steel and aluminium everywhere. Trained engineers calibrating and preparing high quality machine parts. Smith's makes these parts for top of the range companies such as Rolls Royce.

I often visit impressive businesses in Harlow, but Smith's is in a league of its own. Its a mixture of aspiration, innovation, scientific achievement and good old fashioned hard work. It shouldn't be a secret much longer.

One sad note to the visit came when John told me that there had been a number of break-ins from allegedly, the nearby-travelling community, who had stole thousands of pounds worth of valuable metal. Despite the police having steaked out the factory, and apprehending the villains, they were eventually let off, before reaching prosecution, as it was thought that they would have got off any way. John is determined not to let these petty law breakers steal hundreds of thousands of pound of metal and has put into place some serious measures to try and stop the thefts happening again. Its a shame he can't rely on the legal system, which too often gives law-breakers an easy ride over those trying to make an honest living.

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