Council - Thursday 24 July 2025, 7:00pm - Start video at 0:17:01 - Epping Forest District Council webcasts

Council
Thursday, 24th July 2025 at 7:00pm 

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  1. Cllr Louise Mead
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  1. Gary Woodhall
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  1. Cllr Chris Whitbread
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  3. Cllr Holly Whitbread
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  6. Cllr Louise Mead
  7. Cllr Shane Yerrell
  8. Cllr Louise Mead
  9. Cllr Louise Mead
  10. Cllr Jon Whitehouse
  11. Cllr Louise Mead
  12. Cllr Chidi Nweke
  13. Cllr Louise Mead
  14. Cllr Craig McCann
  15. Cllr Louise Mead
  16. Cllr Jaymey McIvor
  17. Barbara Beardwell
  18. Cllr Jaymey McIvor
  19. Cllr Louise Mead
  20. Cllr Chris Pond
  21. Cllr Louise Mead
  22. Cllr Ken Williamson
  23. Cllr Louise Mead
  24. Cllr Sheree Rackham
  25. Cllr Louise Mead
  26. Cllr Janet Whitehouse
  27. Cllr Louise Mead
  28. Cllr Jeane Lea
  29. Cllr Louise Mead
  30. Cllr Tom Bromwich
  31. Cllr Louise Mead
  32. Cllr Martin Morris
  33. Cllr Louise Mead
  34. Cllr Jaymey McIvor
  35. Cllr Louise Mead
  36. Barbara Beardwell
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  38. Cllr Chris Whitbread
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  1. Cllr Lisa Morgan
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  3. Gary Woodhall
  4. Cllr Raymond Balcombe
  5. Cllr Louise Mead
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  9. Cllr Louise Mead
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  1. Cllr Jon Whitehouse
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  7. Cllr Jaymey McIvor
  8. Cllr Chris Whitbread
  9. Cllr Louise Mead
  10. Cllr Chris Whitbread
  11. Cllr Louise Mead
  12. Cllr Janet Whitehouse
  13. Cllr Raymond Balcombe
  14. Cllr Janet Whitehouse
  15. Cllr Raymond Balcombe
  16. Cllr Janet Whitehouse
  17. Cllr Raymond Balcombe
  18. Cllr Louise Mead
  19. Cllr Chris Pond
  20. Cllr Tim Matthews
  21. Cllr Louise Mead
  22. Cllr Stephen Murray
  23. Cllr Kaz Rizvi
  24. Cllr Louise Mead
  25. Cllr Barbara Cohen
  26. Cllr Raymond Balcombe
  27. Cllr Barbara Cohen
  28. Cllr Louise Mead
  29. Cllr Barbara Cohen
  30. Cllr Raymond Balcombe
  31. Cllr Louise Mead
  32. Cllr Sheree Rackham
  33. Cllr Ken Williamson
  34. Cllr Louise Mead
  35. Cllr Clive Amos
  36. Cllr Ken Williamson
  37. Cllr Louise Mead
  38. Cllr Tom Bromwich
  39. Cllr Raymond Balcombe
  40. Cllr Louise Mead
  41. Cllr Lisa Morgan
  42. Cllr Raymond Balcombe
  43. Cllr Lisa Morgan
  44. Cllr Louise Mead
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  1. Cllr Roger Baldwin
  2. Cllr Louise Mead
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  2. Webcast Finished

Cllr Louise Mead - 0:00:00
Ladies and gentlemen, will you please be upstanding for your Chairman of Council,
Councillor Louise Mead.
Good evening, councillors.
Please be seated.
Cllr Louise Mead - 0:00:34
I would like to warmly welcome the members of the public who have joined us today.
to observe the meeting from the public gallery this evening,
along with those watching the webcast this evening.

1 Webcasting Introduction

May I please respectfully ask that members of the public
keep noise level to a minimum.
This is to ensure the smooth running of the meeting.
May I also remind them that there will not
be an opportunity to ask questions this evening,
and that any attendees seen to be causing a disturbance will be removed
from the public gallery. Thank you. So members item one on our agenda tonight
is the webcasting introduction so please may I ask Mr. Woodall to read the web
Gary Woodhall - 0:01:54
casting announcement. Thank you the Chairman would like to remind everyone
that this meeting will be filmed live and recorded and uploaded to the Internet and
will be capable of repeated viewing. Therefore, by participating in this meeting, you are
consenting to being filmed and to the possible use of those images and sound recordings.
If any public speakers on Microsoft Teams do not wish to have their image captured,
they should ensure that their video setting throughout the meeting is turned off and set
to audio only. Members are reminded to turn on their microphones before speaking and turn them
Cllr Louise Mead - 0:02:32
off when they're finished. Thank you Chairman. Thank you. Item two on our agenda this evening

2 Apologies for Absence

is apologies for absence so do we have any apologies for absence Mr Woodall? Thank you
Gary Woodhall - 0:02:40
Chairman I've received apologies from for absence from Councillors Dadd, Hadley, Pugsley and Sharif.
Cllr Louise Mead - 0:02:51
Thank you very much. Number three on our agenda.

3 Declarations of Interest

Oh sorry Councillor Markham. Sorry apologies for lateness from Shane
Yerrell. Thank you. Thank you can we note that please. Thank you. Number three on
our agenda is declarations of interest. Do we have any members who have a
Declaration of Interest. Councillor Morris please. Thanks I've been advised
Cllr Martin Morris - 0:03:20
by the Democratic Services to declare a non -pecuniary interest in the report of
regulatory services portfolio because my road is mentioned in the report. Thank
you very much Councillor Morris. Do we have any other declarations of interest?

4 Minutes

Cllr Louise Mead - 0:03:33
Agenda item 4 is minutes from our meeting that was held on the 22nd of May
2025 which you will find attached to the agenda this evening pages 7 to 40. Members may I now sign
these minutes as a true record of the meetings. Thank you very much.
Now members it's been requested by the leader of the council, Councillor Chris Whitbread,
that he would like to present his report which is listed as item 9 earlier than as published in your
agenda. So I have agreed and now I invite the leader of council to present his

9 Reports from the Leader & Members of the Cabinet

report. Thank you. Thank you chairman and I appreciate the opportunity to speak
Cllr Chris Whitbread - 0:04:24
out of turn this evening before the motion that comes before this council.
This is certainly not the report I would like to be giving tonight and I hope to
be speaking about the positive things that are happening across our communities
like the new Epping Sports Centre and the things that really matter to our
community in moving forward. But no members, none of us would have failed to
see the events that have taken place in Epping over the last few weeks and I
wanted to take this opportunity to update you on the current situation
about the Bell Hotel to address any concerns and to rebuff the
misinformation that is circulating that is so damaging to our community and our place.
We're here to represent and support our community. It is vitally important to me that we support
our residents' right to be heard and I thank again those residents who are expressing their
concerns peacefully but I have to say violence and disorder has no place in our district
and it hurts me personally to see the behaviour of a small number of people
intent on disrupting peaceful protest fueled in part by the misinformation I
spoke about earlier. Before I go into more detail about what happened has
happened to date and the council's role in supporting our community through this
difficult time I'd like to take a few moments to show you a short video
released by the police yesterday which addresses some of the misinformation that has been distributed.
If I could ask the officers to run the video.
Hello, we've taken a look at what you're asking us on social media about how we're dealing
with the incidents in Eppin. There are a few things which I'd like to give you some more
information on and I hope this helps.
Why are you allowing the protest to take place at all?
Peaceful protest is a cornerstone of our democracy and the police have a responsibility to help protect people who want to do this
We must always avoid doing anything that would unfairly stop or limit peaceful protests
This is enshrined in the Human Rights Act, which ensures people's voices are heard
We will always do our best to facilitate peaceful protest without fear or favour. They have police decoys in the crowd encouraging violence
No, we would categorically never do that
A police van ran over a protester during the disorder.
There is a large amount of footage from Epping circulating on social media,
which I'm sure many of you will have seen.
One incident in particular shows a police van being driven by officers,
drafted in on mutual aid, clearly on blue lights,
trying to move on from an area.
We've reviewed legitimate and undoctered footage of that incident
and we're confident there are no issues.
and in fact we've had no complaints made to us regarding that incident.
My pledge to everyone is that we will continue to review all footage available to us
to ensure we are operating to our high standards.
I would just urge anyone who is near an emergency service vehicle,
which is clearly on blue lights, to please think twice about getting in front of it.
The police are not impartial.
We absolutely are impartial.
we police across Essex without fear or favour and under our ultimate aim is to
protect all members of the public and we have a duty to protect life and prevent
crime and will be proactive in our actions to achieve this. And to those who
consider themselves organisers on both sides, my plea to you is this, contact us.
We recognise the strength of feeling in the area and we want to work with you on
your plans and your aims and how that can be facilitated.
Protesters have been hurt by police officers.
I want to be as transparent as possible.
Policing these incidents in Epping has been a challenge.
We've called in help from neighbouring forces to do this.
And I'd like to take this opportunity to thank those
officers who answered that call and stood beside us
in the face of threats of violence, antagonism,
and help to restore order.
I'm confident we've policed these incidents proportionately.
and we'll continue to do that.
Where are there are plans in some quarters to try to continue with these criminal incidents
and I'd like to reassure our Epping residents we'll be out there in the community
doing everything we can to ensure your town is kept safe.
False narratives and unverified claims only serve to inflame tensions,
endanger public safety and undermine the integrity of our policing efforts.
The operational decisions being made are based on information and intelligence available
and according to the behaviour of those taking part, in order to keep the public safe.
I want to assure you that we want to see Epping remain as a peaceful place free of disorder.
But make no mistake about it, we will continue to deal robustly with people committing crime
and disorder.
And lastly, I would urge everyone to rely on official channels for updates.
Accurate reporting on social media is not just a matter of public interest, it's a matter
of public safety.
Thank you, Chairman, and thank you for listening to that video.
I think it's helpful sometimes just to calmly remind everyone of the role of the police
and what they have to do.
And I know all of us here understand the importance and the role we play representing and supporting
our community and the responsibility that comes with our elected status to promote calm
in situations like this so that we can ensure the safeguarding and preservation of our community
that is at heart a good tolerant community.
We need to challenge and call out the propagation of any and
all misinformation from all sources,
but especially when it comes from within our
elected membership.
Spreading misinformation is not good community leadership.
Whilst challenging and calling out misinformation is
challenging, analysis of the situation stoked up by social
media. These events have attracted the attention of extremist groups from both sides of the
political divide. I am concerned, as I'm sure you all are, that our residents' peaceful
protests are being infiltrated by those on the extremes of politics. And this issue is
no longer just a concern of the residents of Epping, but wider. I am worried that Epping
will become a focus and battleground for the agendas of those extremist groups and that
they will continue to stoke tensions here as part of their wider campaigns.
I don't want Epping to be at the heart of this.
The majority of Epping residents are peaceful whilst concerned, but lasting harm is being
done to our community, which will take time to heal.
And this is why I say again, it's essential for us to call for calm while we do everything
within our power to ensure our residents' voices are heard.
And that's why as a council, we are absolutely and strongly condemn what happened in Epping
High Street to a young lady.
This will be dealt with through the justice system.
But we also strongly condemn all the violence that has surrounded this in recent days.
We have no control over the use of the Bell Hotel or direct means to stop its use.
It is blocked, booked and managed on behalf of the Home Office.
Only they can stop its use.
Since it was first occupied during the pandemic, this Council has consistently maintained that the hotel is the wrong facility in the wrong location
and is not suitable for its current use.
It is occupied often by vulnerable people,
and there are not the facilities or communities
here to support them.
The Home Office has consistently ignored our views.
We are doing all we can by using all the diplomatic channels
open to us to generate support and get the government
to listen to us, and we will continue to do so.
In the meantime, we are using all communication routes to message to the community that we understand that they have been heard,
but we need to see calm to further our arguments that Home Office knows that if they close a facility in response to violent protest,
then they will see violent protests outside of all facilities and violence
will not achieve the goal of closure. Further escalation will only damage our
town and damage our community and in the end it will not achieve our joint
objective which is to close the Bell Hotel. The police are leading and
and coordinating the response.
We meet on a regular basis daily.
They have our full support and are doing a tremendous job
in upholding everyone's right to peacefully protest,
despite criticism and fake news surrounding events.
The Police Strategy Coordination Group, SCG for short,
is attended by up to 40 public sector bodies,
all totally aligned and supporting the community.
Jen Gould with Mandy Thompson and other colleagues are playing central roles as
the Epping Forest leadership team and my thanks goes out to all our officers who
have worked tirelessly over the past few weeks on our behalf as members and have
given an awful amount of support to us all. Our role is one of support but also
to coordinate and as community leaders to lead community cohesion and recovery.
We are speaking to the Home Office on a regular basis.
I have to say to you at the present time, they have not been overly cooperative.
I could use a better description but I won't do that here.
We are speaking to our MPs on a regular basis, both from Brentwood, Nongar and Epping Forest,
because this affects us all.
We are speaking to the police and crime commissioner, the local government department, the local
government association and other councils who have had similar experiences.
And we are considering further options that may be available to us to bring this situation
to a satisfactory conclusion.
Members, all of us need to be a voice of truth and call out fake news.
Don't incite trouble or spread storeys.
We all need to appeal for calm, and we need to use all the
diplomatic channels open to us.
I know members have been speaking to our MPs as well,
pushing forward that agenda to get something done about this
terrible situation that we find ourselves in.
And we will continue to do that.
And most of all, we will weather this storm,
and we will support our community through it,
and we will resolve the issues that we face presently.
Thank you.
Thank you, Councillor Whitbread.
Cllr Louise Mead - 0:16:29
Before we go into agenda item number five, motions,
I'd just like to ask Councillor Yeryl
if he has any declarations of interest,
because he arrived a bit later.
Just cheque that, please.
Yeah, I do, and I'd like to speak as well
when I'm given the opportunity.
Cllr Shane Yerrell - 0:16:45
I'm friends with the young girl's father.
Right, okay.
Cllr Louise Mead - 0:16:55
So you are able to speak on the motion, that would be okay if you want to. So five on our

5 Motions

agenda is motions. So before we we look at that, so I understand that tensions are
high and many councillors may wish to speak on the motion this evening. I would
request you maintain respectfulness and I will not tolerate any rudeness. May I
if I feel you are not doing so, I may need to interject.
May I remind you to speak as clearly as possible
and may I request that any amendments which go to a vote
are written down for clarity
and passed on to myself as the chairman.
So councillors, we have a revised motion
before us tonight, which you will find
on the council supplementary agenda two
put forward by Councillor Holly Whitbread. Are councillors content to
accept the revised motion for consideration at the meeting instead of
the original motion? Thank you. So Councillor Holly Whitbread do you have a
seconder for the motion please?
Cllr Chris Whitbread - 0:18:12
Chairman I'm happy to second and I reserve my right to speak last. Thank you
very much Councillor Whitbread. So Councillor Holly Whitbread would you like
Cllr Louise Mead - 0:18:17
Cllr Holly Whitbread - 0:18:22
to present the motion. Thank you Chairman. Tonight I present this motion to full
council calling on the government to immediately and permanently close the
Bell Hotel in Epping for the purposes of asylum processing. Enough is enough. The
government have ignored us for too long. The Bell Hotel was reopened without any
consultation, not with this council, not with our local MPs, and certainly not with the
community that we serve. It was reopened in the face of clear and consistent objections.
We warned the Home Office, we told them this location was unsuitable, we raised serious
safeguarding concerns. They ignored us. They didn't listen after a resident of the hotel
was charged with arson. They didn't listen after the alleged sexual assault of a 14 -year -old
schoolgirl in broad daylight. They didn't listen after the recent protests that have
left many local people feeling frightened and uneasy in their own home, which although
began peacefully ended violently. And they are still not listening. It is my firm belief
that the government is now treating our community with contempt.
Contempt for local democracy, contempt for public safety,
contempt for our town which deserves better than this.
As our community reaches boiling point,
the government continues to ignore our calls to close the Bell Hotel.
This is not only unacceptable, but it is deeply irresponsible.
This motion has been carefully amended with consultation of members from across this chamber.
I hope tonight we can speak as one voice, united as a council, in demanding the immediate
and permanent closure of the hotel.
This council has always opposed the use of the Bell Hotel, going back to 2020 when we
said back then it is an inappropriate location.
Back then there was a mixed use, there was women and children alongside males.
Now there is only males within the hotel.
And as a council, as I've said before, we were not consulted, we were just told.
Eppin Forest has had an unfair burden of the illegal immigration crisis.
We know also that we've got the Phoenix Hotel just a couple of miles down the road.
Within this amended motion we're asking for the managed closure of the Phoenix Hotel,
mindful of the fact that there are children and families within that hotel.
And we've listed the reasons again and again why the Bell Hotel in particular is inappropriate.
It's just a quarter of a mile from a local school and we have no transparency over who is in that hotel
and that is why we are so concerned.
and recent events have left local people feeling afraid.
Many no longer feel safe in their own community.
This is my hometown. I have lived in Epping my whole life.
Never in my worst nightmares did I think we would see the situation
that we've seen in recent days and weeks.
Riot police in Tower Road. People afraid.
Of course, we send our sympathy to the victims of the recent crimes
and to everyone affected by this fear and disruption to our community.
We would also like to thank the police for their professional response
and also how swiftly they arrested the perpetrator of the crime.
This motion also calls on central government to recognise
that their approach to illegal immigration is wrong.
And this is not party political because my government got it wrong.
the use of asylum hotels is not right.
It's not right to have asylum hotels within the heart of the community.
And it's especially not right when they do not consult us,
we have no evidence of safeguarding,
and they fail to act when something goes wrong.
Epping, unfortunately, has become the epicentre of national concern over asylum hotels.
But this is bigger than us.
and we do not want our town to become the focus of this.
And we have been left to deal with the consequences of this broken system.
So I am really pleading with the Home Office this evening,
please listen to us, do the responsible thing,
and close this hotel once and for all.
Believe me, I share residents' concerns, frustrations
about the system that we have.
So on the protests, I think it's really worth saying that everyone has a right to peacefully
protest. And as I've said at the beginning of this speech, I support the calls to close
the hotel and I always have. What people don't have the right to do is to violently protest.
And a really important component of this motion is calling on residents and councillors to
responsibly express their objections in a democratic, constructive and peaceful way.
I have spoken to so many people in FP and I've been walking up and down the high street,
talking to businesses, talking to local people and they all say the same thing to me. We
want the hotel to close, we do not want it there but we do not want violence. We are
not a violent community, we are a united community. And for people in this chamber who criticise
councillors for not going on protests. Frankly, they should hang their heads in shame. And
if you want to ask me why I didn't go on the protest, I agree with the words to close the
hotel, but I would never knowingly stand next to a neo -Nazi, which is what a member in his
chamber did on Sunday. My grandad and my grandad's generation fought in a war against these people,
And while it is right in a democracy we call out the government, we call out when things
have gone wrong, we should also call out people with views which do not represent our community.
These people do not talk for Britain, they're not British values, and quite frankly I think
anyone who stands side by side with them should hang their heads in shame.
It's disgraceful.
As councillors, it is vital that we promote calm. We should not mislead the public, incite
hate or undermine our police force who are doing the very best they can in impossible
circumstances.
To conclude, I urge members to support this motion tonight. Let us speak with one voice
and demand the immediate closure of the Bell Hotel.
Let's do so diplomatically.
Let's keep getting on at the Home Office.
Let's keep encouraging people to sign the petition.
Over 9 ,000 signatures asking for the hotel to close.
Let's put on pressure in every democratic means we possibly can.
We get your frustrations. We are residents.
We don't want the hotel there either.
But we want calm. We want respect.
Just on to the final line of this motion. We are calling for the hotel to close. Enough
is enough. The government must listen for the sake of my community, our community. It's
time for the hotel to close but let's all please reflect on our behaviour. Thank you
Chairman.
Cllr Louise Mead - 0:26:28
Councillor Chris Whitburn, would you like to speak now and reserve your right to speak
until after we've heard everyone from the chamber please?
Thank you, Chairman. Yes, if I could reserve my right. Thank you.
Cllr Chris Whitbread - 0:26:40
Cllr Louise Mead - 0:26:42
So, Members, we're now going to take a small amount of time to, if you put your hands up,
if you want to speak, so my Vice -Chairman will take your names down and we'll just wait
for him to take the names down so that we all know where we are and who wants to speak.
Councillor Yeryl, would you like to speak?
Cllr Shane Yerrell - 0:27:19
Thank you, Chairman. This is difficult so I need to take my time. I don't often speak
here because I prefer to sit back and observe. I'm honest in saying I'm not as strong as
some of the characters in here, but I speak when necessary and now there's never been
a more necessary time to speak.
I need to speak up for local parents and their children.
As a father myself, I find it really hard to accept
that a 14 year old was sexually assaulted
a few hundred metres away from a school that she attended
by somebody who had illegally came into the country
just eight days before.
Now, it wouldn't be right for me to sit here
and talk about the perpetrator tonight.
But what I would say is it's not fair for anybody to make comment
about colour, race or religion.
We're all equal and we should all be treated the same.
But it's also not fair for anyone that turns up at the protest
to be branded a racist or a Nazi.
There are many of us in this room who are parents.
think about how we'd all feel if this happened to one of our own children.
Wouldn't you protest? I attended the protest myself because I'm friends with
the father of the daughter and it was very very peaceful from our point. There was no
trouble. Obviously by the time I got home later that evening there had been
trouble but I think speaking for the local people and the majority of people
there, they're there just to peacefully protest, not kick police cars and try and
tribal in my opinion that was from people that are well outside the district.
The father of the 14 year old who was sexually assaulted is a friend of mine and I can tell you
that he's really hurting about what's happened. He feels powerless because there's nothing he can do
to change the situation but let's be honest our government could have. They have left our borders
wide open for anybody and everybody to just walk into our country. They then put them into
comfortable hotels without checking their history or backgrounds or putting any safeguarding
measures in place to prevent them from harming themselves or any members of the public.
Now I'm not for one minute saying that illegal immigrants are all criminals or they don't
deserve to be housed. I know that some of them are in very vulnerable situations and
they've escaped from harm and even worse risk of being killed. And I think that it's important
that we understand we need to help and accommodate people like that. But we also need to make
sure that there are background cheques and we have some kind of knowledge about their
history and if they're going to be a danger to the public.
On another note, I want to read a statistic which was published from HARP, which is H -A -R -P,
which is a homeless charity in Essex.
There are 3 ,898 people sleeping rough every night in England.
There are 8 ,880 people in Essex that are homeless.
Some of them fought for our country and put their life at risk in doing so.
Now as I said earlier, it's not about race, colour or religion, we're all equal.
But how are we as a country putting illegal immigrants, who we have no knowledge and no
background on, in comfortable hotels while leaving our own on the streets in the cold?
Our government and home office have let their own people down.
They've let the people of Epping down and they've let the parents of the young girl
who was sexually assaulted down.
People are protesting because they're worried.
They feel like they're not being listened to.
Even our leader of the council, Councillor Chris Whitbread, has been ignored several
times as he's raised this issue with the Home Office.
People have the right to protest as long as it's done with dignity and without violence.
There's been incidents where people have been injured and damaged police cars and even assaulted
police officers.
Councillor Liero, you have another minute because you have up to five minutes just to
let you know.
There have been incidents where people have assaulted people and attacked police cars.
This is not protesting, this is silliness. I don't agree with any of that and the message gets lost
and the focus shifts away from the victim. On that note, I'd like to read a message from the young
girl's father to show you exactly what he's like and his thoughts on the protest. Morning, Shane,
I hope you're okay. Just a quick message to say thank you for checking in on me every day
and just genuinely being there for us.
Thanks for helping to raise awareness
and for turning up to show support.
My daughter is reading the lovely messages of support on the Just Giving
and it's making her smile again.
You've known me for a long time
and you know I do not want or condone any of the violence
that has taken place at the protest.
That's not what we're about and that's not what we're trying to achieve.
It's only going to make things go the other way.
I just want the hotel to be moved not only off our streets
but away from making any other family feel how we are feeling right now.
It's not fair that the government are putting our children and grandchildren at risk, even
their own.
I didn't think my little girl's storey would be as big as it has become, but I'm loving
the support from the community and the kind messages it's helping her get through every
day.
Eventually we will get her confidence back to the point where she's able to go out without
feeling scared.
Now, we've all been elected from the people of Epping Forest and I know I feel like most
of us are on the same page, but we need to take a minute to put ourselves in the family's
position and how we'd feel and stand up for them.
If that means actually going to the Home Office ourselves or all of us writing an individual
email, then so be it.
We need to make sure that they feel like they're being listened to because right now they're
not from the Government or the Home Office.
Thank you.
Thank you, Councillor.
Cllr Louise Mead - 0:33:23
Cllr Louise Mead - 0:33:46
retaining at the moment.
Cllr Jon Whitehouse - 0:33:51
I want to start by saying something positive.
Two weeks ago I was at Copped Hall just outside Epping as part of celebrations for the 30th
anniversary of the Trust buying the house.
It's an inspiring example of what people of different ages, backgrounds and interests
can do when they work together for a common endeavour.
And in difficult times, we have reasons for hope in the countless examples in Epping and
the surrounding areas of people who work together to build and strengthen our community and
are still doing so in the face of people who come to Epping in search of conflict and division.
Epping residents, like me, have been shocked, alarmed, disturbed, frightened by recent events.
Perhaps particularly those who live on the high road and nearby, and those who have been
directly affected by the incidents that have happened.
Many people in Epping just want to be able to get on with their lives.
But as we've just heard, that's not possible for everyone.
Those who can't get on their lives easily are the victims of the incidents that we've
experienced in Epping.
And it's quite right the Council expresses its support and sympathy for those who have
been assaulted or experienced crimes.
I think sexually or racially motivated crime is particularly apparent as are attacks on
the emergency services.
I want to thank the police for the work they're doing to keep local residents safe, but I'm
appalled it's been necessary for them to arrive in Epping in such volume and such force because
of the violence and the intimidation that we've experienced here.
Facilitating passionate lawful protest is a difficult and an important task.
It's made more difficult when those with no interest in the community of Eking choose
to exploit local concerns, exploit the victims of crime and awful experiences for their own
warped ends.
If you're here to stir up violence and confrontation in the service of the walked ideology,
or maybe for some social media clicks, we don't want you and we don't need you.
The people of Epping can fight their own battles and want their Thursdays and their Sundays back.
I'm grateful the movers of the motion allowed me to add these points to the original motion.
I also want to say this.
It's not that long since councillors in this chamber were having their photos taken in support of Ukrainian refugees fleeing war and violence.
In 2021, Epping Museum had a fascinating exhibition about the Lauten boys who fled to this area from persecution in Nazi Germany.
We've local businesses run by people whose families fled from Uganda when Idi Amin was a dictator there.
Some of those in hotels like the Bell and the Phoenix will not
qualify to stay in Britain and will need to leave the country.
Others may be fleeing war and persecution,
may qualify for refugee status, and will deserve a chance to
build a new life in a new community.
For the last few weeks, Epping has been in the headlines for
all the wrong reasons.
We will support the motion tonight. The Bell and the Phoenix Hotel, indeed hotels in general, are not suitable long -term accommodation.
We need an effective and fair asylum system and the asylum backlog cleared.
We want to see the Bell back, performing its proper function, serving tourists, visitors and local businesses.
and we want Epping to be known once again for its forest, for its market and above
all its community and not for what we've seen on the streets in recent weeks.
Cllr Louise Mead - 0:38:28
Before we ask someone else to speak can I just remind members not to mention the
investigation at all and it would not be appropriate to refer to it in this
meeting. Thank you. Can I now ask Councillor Nowicki please to speak if he wishes.
Cllr Chidi Nweke - 0:38:56
Thank you chair. My heart goes out to the family and the victim of the alleged
sexual assault. I could only imagine how difficult it is for them. So, and I would like to express
my thanks to the police as well for the hard work they're doing to keep our streets safe.
It's not an easy task to create a space for peaceful protests, which I'm sure we all support.
We are a nation of fair -minded, compassionate and generous people.
I see this across in the district, wherever I go.
Referring to the words of Winston Churchill,
we make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.
I would like to add to that, we don't just make a life by what we give,
we make a legacy by what we give.
I'll be supporting this motion today,
not because I'm against asylum seekers,
but because I agree that the Bell Hotel is not suitable.
It does not provide appropriate environment
for vulnerable people,
and the situation is failing everyone.
I must emphasise that most asylum seekers
are vulnerable people who have fled from persecution and conflict. They are seeking safety and
a chance to rebuild their lives. However, I am concerned that the current situation
may be exploited by those with harmful agenda. We cannot allow legitimate concern about our
safety to be used by individuals or groups to spread fear and division.
What we need is a more effective system that, one, ensures safety cheques and risk assessments
are in place. Two, consults with local communities before placements. Three, provide proper transparent
support and supervision for asylum seekers.
Three, so four, treat everyone with dignity
while maintaining public safety.
I believe the current arrangement may fail
to meet these essential needs.
This is why I will be supporting this motion.
We can be both compassionate and responsible.
We can welcome those genuinely seeking safety while ensuring proper cheques.
We can advocate for our community's safety while also standing against divisive language and actions.
Thank you, Chair.
Cllr Louise Mead - 0:42:01
Thank you. Now, Councillor McCann, would you like to speak?
Cllr Craig McCann - 0:42:11
Thank you, Chairman. This was alluded to earlier, but I feel compelled to challenge the rhetoric
of Councillor MacIvor over the last couple of weeks. He made inflammatory comments targeting
the people in this chamber that cannot go unanswered. On Sunday, during a protest which
he led to the very doors of this council building, he gave a speech where he characterised the
people in this chamber as pigs, with our snouts in the trough driven by self -interest. This
This is a new low.
There are councillors in this chamber from across the political spectrum who have dedicated
their lives to public service, and it's a privilege for me to count myself among you.
Working in counter -terrorism for many years, I've taken on the Islamists, the far right,
and the far left.
My record, and that of a good many other councillors in this chamber, speaks for itself.
I will take no lessons from him on public service.
I was at the protest on Sunday.
I think he missed that because he made it all about him and his agenda.
I spoke to concerned residents, people who have lived in this town for decades.
It's clear that three tribes have attended these protests.
The first are local people, rightly concerned by the presence of undocumented, unvetted
illegal immigrants in our community, and now we have serious criminal offences being committed.
people who are no longer willing to pick up the pieces of our broken immigration system.
I feel the anger of our residents. As a father with young children growing up in this area, I'm angry too.
The second are well -financed and coordinated far -left agitators.
And the third are their opponents on the far right, both of whom came here spoiling for a fight
and to hijack legitimate protests by local people.
They are not welcome in our town.
Let's be clear, this is a national crisis playing out on the small stage of Epping.
So what have we done?
Conservative councillors have worked closely with other groups in this chamber.
Problem solving over placards.
Where he has talked the talk, we have walked the walk, putting in the hard yards to support
the people of Epping.
Despite the obstinance of Home Office officials, local councillors and officers have worked tirelessly over the last few weeks to resolve this crisis.
I particularly want to thank Councillor Chris Whitbread for his leadership throughout.
He has been clear in calling for the hotel to be closed. He has my support 100%.
To this end, he launched a petition calling for a debate in the House of Commons.
We have pressed the Home Office for visibility of the risk assessment and the community impact
assessment associated with the use of the hotel.
I'd like to thank MPs Neil Hudson and Alex Berghardt for their work to raise this issue
with the Home Secretary.
I thought the response that this government is committed to closing all hotels by the
end of this Parliament stands in stark contrast to the fact that the use of asylum hotels
has increased by more than 20 % since his Labour government were elected.
This government's relationship with the truth is fleeting at best.
I'd also like to thank Essex Police and all those other constabularies drafted in on mutual
aid for all they do to keep us safe and to safeguard our democratic right to protest.
I spoke to officers on Sunday and I was struck by their professionalism in the face of a
barrage of misinformation on all sides.
Being a police officer today is like being the England football team manager.
No one wants to do the job, but everyone is an expert on how it should be done.
I believe we should now give serious consideration to applying for an injunction
to prevent the use of the Bell Hotel for accommodating illegal migrants.
And I'd ask the leader, when he sums up, given the Home Office's unwillingness to engage with us,
should we now explore legal address through the courts. Thank you.
Cllr Louise Mead - 0:46:12
Cllr Jaymey McIvor - 0:46:27
Thank you Madam Chairman and may I thank you for chairing such an emotive meeting with
your usual class. I would like to thank all members for their participation. I would like
to thank Councillor McCann for raising that point. It gives me an opportunity to clarify,
which I've had a number of conversations with members about this evening, I was
referring to politicians that cancel elections and then give themselves a
pay rise within the same few months. That was what my speech was about. Very happy
to speak to any member about that and of course most have my numbers, you can
speak to me about it in person, over the phone, doesn't necessarily need to come
to this chamber because what that does is distract from the very serious nature
of this motion which is about people and their lives. It is about young girls and
women and their lives here in Epping. I do think it is a real shame that more members
from this chamber couldn't be there in person to speak to those residents as Councillor
McCann has. I must admit I didn't see him there but I'm grateful to him for being there
as I'm sure the residents were. Councillor Yerrel, similar reception and Councillor Owen
this evening, a similar reception. The people of Epping are worried. They're scared. And
what they want in that scenario is to know they're being listened to. And I have proudly
stood with the people of this community, including many people who have travelled from Ongren
to villages where I represent. I've proudly stood next to them shoulder to shoulder and
listened to them. I can't solve this problem. The truth is in this chamber none of us can.
plan. This is years and years and years of mismanagement of our country's borders,
which has resulted in the need for hotels to be used to accommodate unvetted men that
have entered the country illegally. And if the Bell Hotel closes, which I very much hope
it does, I'm afraid it will only be another community that has to pay the price. This
This is about women's safety and the people out there this evening, the people that have
been on the streets of Epping, they are local people that are worried.
Now violence against police officers is unacceptable, obviously, and it pains me that I'd even need
to say that in this chamber for clarity.
Violence against anybody is unacceptable.
Assaulting anybody is unacceptable.
Damaging public property is unacceptable.
putting local businesses at such risk that they feel the need to close because
they're worried. But misinformation can come from both sides. But one thing I
would like to point out to this chamber and I will support the motion there was
just one detail, bullet point two, I believe it was the arrest and charge of
another individual for us and I think it would be important to clarify that but
I'll wait to the end of my speech for the clarity I just wanted to
Can you just wait, Councillor McIvor?
Barbara Beardwell - 0:49:32
I think members need to be aware that there is an ongoing investigation and it would not
be appropriate to discuss the detail of that in this chamber, not least because it could
prejudice the case as it goes through the process. So I really think it is not appropriate
to refer to that.
I appreciate that. It is written in the motion and the bullet point one mentions arrest and
Cllr Jaymey McIvor - 0:49:49
charging and bullet point two just says arrest. I believe the individual was charged as well.
That was just my point.
But no detail.
Just a minor detail.
But more to the point that I wanted to conclude on, I will support this motion.
I support the closure of both these hotels, one in which falls in my county division.
I do not support the idea that all of those people, local mums, local children, local
dads, are somehow far -right thugs because they share a different political idea to others.
But I will call out the far left thuggery that was escorted to the Bell Hotel, which
caused unnecessary provocation.
I was there and the Chief Constable's Conference confirmed this.
So I will wrap up then, Madam Chairman.
I would like to thank the police officers that have travelled from across the country
to be here, particularly Staffordshire Police and Bedfordshire Police, who have excelled.
I would like to thank Essex Police for the pressures that they are under.
Madam Chairman, I will finally say this.
The people of Epping deserve strong political leadership and I urge members of this council
to speak to the people out there after this meeting.
That's your five minutes done.
Thank you.
Cllr Louise Mead - 0:51:17
Thank you Madam Chairman.
Cllr Chris Pond - 0:51:32
I intend to speak very briefly to say that we in Loughton very much regret the disturbance
to the peace of our friends and colleagues in Epping that has happened over the last
couple of weeks. We all know that the UK has had to cope with an influx of asylum seekers.
The choice of Epping as a centre for their accommodation was in my view a spectacularly
bad one. I don't particularly criticise the poor executive officer somewhere in the home
office, who I guess was told we need accommodation for 500 more
at the end of next week.
But I do criticise the political direction at the home office.
Truly, the bell is a terrible choice for this sort of thing.
It is a terrible choice because it
next to one huge secondary school and less than 100 yards away from another smaller one.
It's an awful choice. And it's on the very edge of Epping town in an historic building
and it's in the Epping Forest District with its unstable politics within living memory.
And all that's happened here has simply inflamed what we thought we had quelled years ago.
We in the RRA group I think can be proud of having supplanted the then standard bearers
of fascism 15 years ago.
It is absurd to see the Bell situation raising that sort of spectre again.
And the police being taunted while they try to keep the peace for us all on our behalf.
Like everyone else, I thank them for what they have done, both the Essex police and
supporting forces.
I think the motion may be overcomplicated and a bit verbose.
But I will of course support it to show that Epping Forest is united in saying this site
for Bell Hotel and its use is wrong, it's plain wrong.
But members, among ourselves, I don't suppose that Yvette Cooper is listening to this in
listening mode.
but really the proponents and seconders of the motion have got it exactly right
in that this facility needs prompt closure.
Cllr Louise Mead - 0:54:23
Cllr Ken Williamson - 0:54:31
Councillor Williamson. Thank you chair I didn't intend to speak this evening I
wholeheartedly support this motion but I wanted to call out Councillor McIver who
seems to sidestep what he says outside in this chamber that's not directed at this chamber.
He said on social media that unless you're sitting in hospital unable to walk, where
are you? Well I'm in the fourth week of six weeks of chemotherapy. I wasn't out there
and I didn't intend to be out there but I really do take exception to your comments.
Really do.
Thank you.
Cllr Louise Mead - 0:55:04
Councillor Rackham, please.
Cllr Sheree Rackham - 0:55:10
Good evening and thank you, Chair.
I support the motion in front of us this evening.
I'm just going to say a few words.
Firstly, I want to thank Councillor Yerrel for his very moving words earlier this evening.
Thank you, Councillor Yerrel.
When we speak about issues like immigration and asylum, we have to remember that the government
and the council can only do what the law allows.
And sometimes what people want isn't possible within the law.
This council does not have the power to stop the owners of the bell contracting with the
home office to use the accommodation for a purpose that is actually lawful under their
planning consent.
And it's worth reminding the people here and outside that the bell ceased to be used to house asylum seekers in April 2024.
And that was under the Conservative government.
It's only reopened because the Labour government has utterly failed to smash the gangs.
And there's been a huge increase in illegal channel crossings since they came to power.
I know that the leadership of the Council and our MPs have lobbied the government about this.
But it's a decision that rests with the government.
We also have to be conscious of the very strong feelings people have about these
things on both sides of the argument. We represent everybody in the wards we were
elected to serve and whilst we may take a personal view on issues like this, we
should not take sides in a matter which the council has no jurisdiction over. All
our councillors need to stand together on this issue and not accuse others of
refusing to support local residents. There is no one here that has their snouts in the
trough.
Cllr Louise Mead - 0:56:59
We have no more names of members that wish to speak.
Cllr Janet Whitehouse - 0:57:09
our Councillor Janet Whitehouse please. Thank you Chairman. I actually put my hand up at
the very beginning so obviously I got missed. I'm speaking as an Epping Councillor and as
the Mayor of Epping. It's very sad that the picture of Epping that's being seen nationally
and internationally is one of disturbance and violence. This is not the usual Epping.
Epping is an attractive market town with an interesting history and beautiful surroundings,
but the most important element of any place is its people.
The people of Epping are community -minded, compassionate and caring.
This can be seen in the number of local organisations run by volunteers, the support given to the
food bank and the kindness shown in so many ways.
Last Sunday was one of the demonstration evenings, but during the day the annual Classic Car
Show had taken place organised by Rotary in one of our main recreation grounds. That was
enjoyed by many people both from within Epping and coming from outside. Two weeks previously
we had the Epping Town Show similarly enjoyed by people from outside Epping and within.
We don't want the people who are coming from outside now who are coming just to cause disturbance.
I agree that the Bell Hotel needs to be closed, but we don't know the circumstances of the individuals who have been placed there.
Sadly, there are many places in the world where there is conflict and people have to flee.
There are also people who want to come to this country to work and their contribution is valuable.
but we do need safe and legal routes for both groups to come here.
It seems that some local people are staying away from Epping because of concerns about
their safety. That obviously is a sensible thing to do if there is going to be a demonstration.
But I would like to say to them, do come back, support the High Street shops and the market
and let's keep everyday life in Epping continuing as normal. Thank you.
Cllr Louise Mead - 0:59:12
Thank you. Councillor Lillie.
Cllr Jeane Lea - 0:59:22
Thank you, Chairman. I only want to say a couple of words. As I always understood, an
asylum seeker took refuge at the first safe place that it came to. But this doesn't seem
to be what is happening. These people are not asylum seekers. They are economic migrants
and I'm sure that the law must be able to treat them a different way.
And I fully agree with the motion that we've put forward because it is not a suitable place.
And as a mother and a grandmother, I'm quite concerned for, as I have teenage grandchildren,
that the whole country, in fact, doesn't seem to be a very safe place.
Cllr Louise Mead - 1:00:06
Cllr Tom Bromwich - 1:00:15
Councillor Bromwich. Thank you very much chair this is such an important motion
and it carries so much emotion and I fully agree with all of its parts. It's
to safeguard and protect our kids but to set an example to the rest of the
country and at the end of the day it's a motion for common sense safety. Now
standing here tonight I feel two things very clearly. First I feel very proud of
our community for standing strong through what has been a difficult and
upsetting time. I'm proud of the hundreds of mums, dads, grandparents, neighbours who
are here tonight and thank you for coming, who protested peacefully at the
Bell Hotel. You didn't come with hate, you came with concern about what
happened in our community and you came to be heard and I hope that we are
listening to you right now. And I'm proud that despite everything this council is
still meeting, we're still getting on with the job. But I also stand here with
concern and with anger because while many local people came in peace others
came to stir up trouble. People with no connexion to the area arrived to push
their own agendas. Police officers have been injured, property has been damaged,
this isn't protest, this is thuggery. I'm also disappointed, Councillor McIver, who
I'm still proud to call a friend, that you have used this serious motion for
self -promotion and photo ops to build your own personal brand,
and it is a good brand, for political purposes.
And not only that, but you go on to put words in our mouth
and accuse us of saying that all of the protesters
were far right.
What utter quirks.
Now, our words carry weight.
And yours have crossed the line, I'm afraid.
Referring to councillors as having their snouts
in the trough isn't just hollow and vacuous.
It poisons debate and deliberately seeks to divide.
And I'm sad that you've just doubled down on this claim.
British politicians have been murdered
when us versus them language has gone unchecked.
And we need to keep it at bay.
Tonight we're discussing two problems.
The first is what happened, which we have been asked to refrain from speaking about at this juncture,
and how that has taken our community near to the brink.
The second bigger problem is how this Labour government has treated Epping Forest.
They didn't consult us, they dumped people into unsuitable hotels without cheques, without support, and without a plan.
And now we're dealing with the consequences of their word of the day, contempt for us.
The Bell Hotel must close, not because we wish to tar its entire population with the brush of the offences that are alleged,
but because it houses an all -male group with no transparency about where they come from,
what their attitudes towards women and girls are, just minutes from a school.
It's indefensible and grossly irresponsible.
And we must recognise that not everyone in these hotels is a threat.
The Phoenix Hotel houses women and children, many quietly just trying to get on and rebuild their lives.
It wasn't the children starting the fires, it wasn't the widowed mothers committing the assaults,
and we need to just put that on record.
But that doesn't mean the Phoenix Hotel should stay open either.
Sitting on a notoriously fast road, it's the wrong place for vulnerable families.
And especially after the fire earlier this year, it's no longer safe.
The government needs to provide a proper plan not to leave them in a half -burnt -down hotel with no certainty.
And that's why I believe this motion strikes the right balance and puts community safety first.
Epping Forest is not this government's dumping ground.
If this government thinks we're going to stay silent while they use us as a testing ground, they're wrong.
They hold our community in contempt. They hold our concerns in contempt.
They hold this council and all of the people that we represent in contempt.
And we demand immediate action to make our district safe again for our children and for our communities.
And that is why I urge everyone to support this motion tonight. Thank you.
Cllr Louise Mead - 1:04:25
Thank you.
Can I just cheque, there's no other members that wish to speak on the motion.
Councillor Morris.
Yeah.
Can you please stand?
Cllr Martin Morris - 1:04:42
Yeah, yeah. Sorry, yeah. Thank you, Chairman.
So I just wanted to say a few words.
So, I mean, I'm probably not the world's most eloquent speaker,
and I think there are people in the Chamber who have said things
much better than me.
But I do share everybody's concern and the deep concern
that everybody's expressed today about the events
of the last few weeks.
But what I'm going to talk about really is just what I hope
rather than any more detail about what's happened.
So, I mean, I can see commonality here.
I mean, I know we've had expressions of doubt about this, but government policy is to eliminate
the use of hotels for asylum seekers.
They're not going to do it immediately, but it is their aim.
And I think this does coincide with EFDC's absolutely legitimate desire to close down
the hotels in the area, particularly considering what's happened over the past few weeks.
I'm just going to express the hope that with sufficient pressure and common ground
that discussions between EFDC and the Home Office can take place and that they can lead
to a safe, secure, lawful and speedy resolution of this issue.
Thank you.
Cllr Louise Mead - 1:06:01
Thank you, Councillor Morris.
Could you turn your microphone off?
Thank you.
So, Councillor Chris Whitbread, would you like to address the Council now?
General, point of order if I may.
Which rule is that?
A point of order.
I was earlier the league officer said I had misinformation.
Cllr Jaymey McIvor - 1:06:20
Which rule are you talking about?
The Laundromat officer may be able to clarify.
I just wanted to confirm I would never mislead the Chamber.
Could you just explain the misinformation for the benefit of members and the members
of the public?
Thank you.
Cllr Louise Mead - 1:06:32
I want you to explain what misinformation means to the public.
Are you prepared to do that?
Is that necessary?
I don't think that's necessary really.
I would thought the definition of that is quite obvious.
Barbara Beardwell - 1:06:42
It's something which isn't correct.
We don't need to. So thank you. Chris Whitborough, can you speak please?
Cllr Louise Mead - 1:06:51
Thank you, thank you Chairman.
Cllr Chris Whitbread - 1:06:54
And Chairman, there are many times I've been here in debates and you feel,
yes it's the two sides divide and you've got the debate going.
But isn't it nice that in these really difficult times for my hometown and our district
that we're able to come together with common cause and
Councillor Morris just used a word a few months ago common ground
But that's the ground where I like to live the common ground where we can work together
And we've got a big piece of work to be done there to pot our community back together again
But also to address the problems that we face
When Shane spoke earlier on during the debate,
it really got us back to what this is about and the damage
that's been done to our community and the fact that we
have to act to make sure that government does eventually,
as quickly as possible, listen to us.
And I think listening to the debate this evening,
it's reminded me that we need to redouble our efforts.
And we never give in to the government's neglect of Epping Forest.
Indeed, I would say across Essex, the government often forgets about us on a whole range of
issues.
And I've seen the best of us tonight here, from Councillor Janet Whitehouse talking about
the needs of the town and making sure that we encourage people to come here, to the passion
showed by Holly, by the passion showed by Tom, and others across the Chamber, and the
unity with Loughton that Councillor Pond showed to us,
and of course the wise words of Nui -Ki and others
as we went to Croydon and Councillor Rackham.
So that gives me real hope this evening
that together we can lobby, push, congeal,
make things happen, and do our best
to get the government to move from its current position.
The one thing I will tell you this evening
is that we will do everything from a council perspective that
is within our diplomatic and legal graphs that we can do.
I don't know this evening how far we can push this,
but we will be pushing it.
And we will do everything we can to achieve the objective of the
whole of this council, the whole of the community that I grew up
on, and we will be working tirelessly to get the government
to listen and close the bell and in the future close the Phoenix. This has to be done but
I think at the same time we have to accept there are people living in those facilities
and they are vulnerable too. Because of what's happened, because of the all four events that
have happened, we've got to bring our community back together again. If we didn't see another
protest like we had last week encouraged, poked up by people
who are on the extremes of your life.
We really now need peaceful demonstrations to help us
achieve the objective.
Violence will not help us achieve our objective.
Government will close its ears.
So together we can be stronger, and that's why I support this
motion this evening.
Cllr Louise Mead - 1:10:26
Councillor Holly Whitbread do you have anything you wish to add?
Nothing further to add thank you chairman. So councillors we will now have a vote on
the motion so we'll ask you to raise your hand to indicate your choice. So Mr.
Woodall will count the hands. So all those please in favour of the motion
please raise your hands.
Cllr Louise Mead - 1:11:07
Unanimous chairman. So that means the motion has been agreed. So to the members
As of the public who have attended the meeting this evening, I would like to thank you for
being so respectful.
It has been a pleasure to have you here.
I am going to pause the meeting for a few moments to allow you to leave the meeting
if you so wish.
You are more than welcome to stay for the remainder of the meeting.
But for security reasons, you will have to stay until the meeting has concluded if you
choose to stay at this point.
Thank you.
We will pause for a moment whilst those people want to leave leave.

5 Motions

Cllr Louise Mead - 1:11:50
Those who are not seated and standing, could you sit down please?
Thank you.
We are on to item 6 now, Chairman's Announcements.

6 Announcements

So Councillors, it's with much sadness that I must inform you that Wynn Marshall, the
Chairman of our Tenants and Leaseholders panel, passed away last week.
Wynn was a Council tenant and dedicated many years to resident involvement activities at
Epping Forest District Council.
Wynn believed that tenants and leaseholders from all parts of the district, no matter
their circumstances should have a voice to share their views on housing related matters.
Wynn was part of our tenant and leaseholder panel for at least the last 10 years, latterly
as the chair of the panel. As part of this role, he was the vice chair of the association
of retained council housing tenant group and as such represented tenants on the Arch Executive
board. His knowledge about council housing at Epping Forest District Council will be
much missed as will his passion for high quality services for local tenants and leaseholders.
He also sat as a co -opted member on the Community Scrutiny Committee where he was able to reflect
the views of tenants and leaseholders about policies and processes that were going through
our decision -making process. In his time as one of our most engaged residents,
Wynn led the panel and the wider tenant voice on key policies that were being
developed by Epping Forest District Council, including significant health
and safety policies and the housing strategy. His enthusiasm for social
housing and his willingness to get involved are examples for us to follow
in building such strong relationships between Epping Forest District Council
and our tenants and leaseholders. Wynn will be sadly missed by his family and
friends so will you please join me in standing for a minute silence in his
honour.
Stay into the
seat.
I know there are some members that would like to say a few words.
Councillor Holly Whitbread.
Thank you, Chairman.
I was so sorry and sad to hear about the passing of Wynn.
Cllr Holly Whitbread - 1:15:36
Wynn was a great friend to this council.
I had the opportunity to work with him closely as the cabinet member for housing.
You are right to say his knowledge was second to none.
He really did have a brilliant understanding of council housing in Eppin Forest District.
He was also a voice of reason and balance.
For anyone who's ever attended a tenant and leaseholders meeting, they can sometimes be
a little bit fiery and we're challenged quite rightly as a council.
Wynn was always that balanced voice in the room and brought the meeting together.
I also worked with Wynn on the QALYST community grant funding allocations.
Again, he provided excellent balance.
He was a really lovely man, always very kind and thoughtful, and I will miss working with
him although I haven't had the opportunity over the past year and I know it was sudden,
so my best wishes to his family and friends. Thank you.
Thank you, Councillor Whitbread.
Councillor Murray.
Cllr Louise Mead - 1:16:39
Thank you, Chairman. I don't think there's much that I can add that Holly hasn't already
Cllr Stephen Murray - 1:16:43
said but I worked closely with Wynn as well. He had all those attributes. I would just mention
two other things. In terms of scrutiny on housing issues he was very much not only well informed
but knowledgeable of current trends and things that he had just read about and was aware about
what was happening across the country so that always impressed me. And just a louton comment,
He was also very involved in the Willingale Allotment Association.
And I know the member of staff on the town council who is involved in running or involved
in the Willingale Allotment Association will miss his input very much indeed.
Thank you.
Councillor Lee.
Thank you, Chairman.
I would first like to send my condolences to Wynn's family.
Cllr Jeane Lea - 1:17:35
Being on the communities, I've worked with Windra quite some time and he was a really
good guy.
What he gave to the meetings was invaluable, his contribution.
Not that we always agreed, but often I was probably wrong, but not that I like to admit
that.
But he'll be very hard to replace because he was just so passionate.
Thank you.
Thank you. Councillor Janet Whitehouse?
Cllr Louise Mead - 1:18:09
Thank you, Chairman. Yes, most of what I was going to say has already been said and I do
Cllr Janet Whitehouse - 1:18:11
agree with all that. I was on the Housing Scrutiny Committee and Communities with him
and he did bring this wide knowledge of housing from his work with the Arch, as you mentioned,
and it was really great to have his first -hand experience as a tenant when we discussed things.
and his comments were always helpful and constructive
and we shall miss him on the community scrutiny committee.
Thank you.
Not sure where that's coming from, but yeah, thanks.
Cllr Louise Mead - 1:18:41
If we can get it out of the chamber, that'd be great.
I can still sort of hear it.
Right, okay, thank you.
Thank you very much, Councillor Whitehouse.
Oh, Councillor Brooks, would you like to say something?
I won't repeat what my colleagues have said,
but I sat on housing scrutiny and then the committee.
Cllr Rose Brookes - 1:19:01
I think what stood out for me was his integrity
and as Councillor Murray and others have mentioned,
a wide knowledge of what was happening nationally
on social issues, particularly as post -Gremville.
Many, there have been many changes in housing,
social housing legislation.
I think also what stuck out to me is when we had
the last gathering when the housing department did an open afternoon, admittedly quite a
hot one, a few weeks ago. And at five o 'clock we were due to have the meeting of the tenants'
panel. Now, hardly any people had come up all afternoon. And I think we only had, Wynn,
because of ill health, wasn't able to attend that day. And I think there were only about
two other people there who had particular things they wanted to gripe to the offices
about but I think it was many people get on to us about wanting to live in
Epping Forest housing but when I ask them will you be willing to be involved
in something like the tenants panel many people don't think it's for them and
actually we're just looking for ordinary people who want to speak up to get
involved and and Wynn was willing to do that on behalf of other people and
that's what I'll value about him. Thank you. Thank you Councillor Brooks. We have
Cllr Jodie Lucas - 1:20:31
Jodie Lucas that would like to speak on teams. Thank you. Thank you. I would like to acknowledge and thank
Quinn for his input in the community scrutiny over the years. He was very
genuine passionate and knowledgeable and he'll be sadly missed on the committee.
I'd like to send my condolences to his family and friends.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Cllr Louise Mead - 1:20:56
So thank you for your kind words and memories.
I'm sure they will bring some comfort to his family and friends.
Before I speak about my first few months as chairman, I'd like to note, for you all to
note, that there will be an extraordinary full council meeting on Monday the 15th of
September 2025.
This will be a one -item meeting to discuss the local government reorganisation.
This is an extremely important meeting and I hope you will all be able to attend.
My first two months as chairman have been an amazing array of events.
Some more sombre, others celebrating many achievements, and I feel absolutely privileged
to have witnessed first -hand the strengths of our communities.
There are so many events I could talk about and so many inspirational people that I have
met.
Out of the 20 events that I have so far been to since May, I have only got time to talk
about a few.
My first event as chairman was the funeral of Kenneth Batt who served in the Second World
War and had lived in Loughton with his dear wife for over 50 years. He passed away aged
103. The funeral was attended by veterans from the Royal Wessex Yeomanry, the regiment
that Ken had served with. It was an absolute honour to attend the funeral on behalf of
residents of Epping Forest District Council. I very much enjoyed the event to open the
wonderful new community train space along with the Mayor of Waltham Abbey at Upshire
School named Mr Brown, which I know is going to be a fantastic community asset and definitely
something to see if you can. It's amazing. I attended the vigil for the Air India victims
at the Chigwell Mander where we stood as a community in silence and remembrance.
And I also attended the High Sheriff Garden Party at South Minster Hall in Essex with my daughter.
And we felt so uplifted by some of the storeys of courage
and determination of people all around Essex.
I must also mention the launch of the new Lime's Farm play area which I attended with the Vice
Chairman as well as the Oakwood Hill Community Safety Day. So wonderful to see
families enjoying themselves and our community wellbeing team there with the
play in the park. I had a few goes at the things that they had there and hearing
what fantastic work is being done by Epping Forest District Council community
wellbeing and safety teams along with other agencies in both these
neighbourhoods. I've built two bug hotels I never thought I'd say that because I'm
with children at two schools in Epping with the help of Pelican who are building the Epping,
new Epping Leisure Centre. They built the pallets up and then the children and I and I think the
leader came as well and Councillor Holly Whitbread and a few others to build this bug hotel which was
really good fun but the bugs weren't in there yet so I was okay with that just putting the leaves
in and stuff. I'm not sure I want to go back to them yet but I've also given out graduation
graduation certificates to four -year -olds at Tugwell Day Nursery. I
entertained nursery -aged children myself at Epping with the library manager at
Epping Library with puppets and singing and my daughter held a charity event in
Louton where children came for a fairy tale party and I was forced to dress up
as a princess. And I was also grateful to Thordenbois Golf Club who allowed me
to entertain children at their family event in return for paying into the
charities for Margaret's League of Friends and Epping Forest Food Bank.
So both of these events have raised 200 pounds already for my chosen charities.
Both of them I had to dress up as a princess. It was so good also to visit
Epping Forest Food Bank and one of my chosen charities at the start of my
chairmanship, seeing the great work that they do, especially advice around
benefits. And I also had a lovely morning at St Margaret's Hospital talking to the
medical and clerical staff as they queued for their once a year ice cream which is paid
for by League of Friends of St Margaret's, the charity I'm supporting. As a thanks for
all their hard work as well, they get this ice cream once a year and it's lovely, it's
a massive queue and it just gave me such a nice time to be able to talk to them all.
And I also attended their new, they've got three new day rooms and that's also been helped
to paid for by the League of Friends of St Margaret's. I must also mention the memory
train last week which was as always a delight, a train of smiles and reminiscing with the
Vice Chairman, from Northwil to Unger, a safe event for people with dementia and their carers
or families. I also cut my first ribbon at the new St Clair's Hospice charity shop in
Loughton High Road which is a wonderful nice bright shop and I definitely recommend you
visit. I've also attended St Clair's Hospice Lions on the Loose launch which I think you'll
hearing more about as the year goes on, but it's an amazing initiative of a lion trail
which comes to life next year.
And also something that meant a lot to me was attending a PACT for Autism parenting
session in Epping, which as a parent of an autistic child myself I found actually extremely
supportive and I'd never been to a session like that.
So I also learnt more about the wonderful work that PACT do in our district.
So that's the end of my two months. Hope you enjoyed that. Okay. So agenda item 7 is public

7 Public Questions (If Any)

questions. Do we have any public questions? No, Chairman, we do not.

8 Questions By Members Under Notice

Agenda item 8, questions by members under notice. So we do have two questions submitted
from Councillor Lisa Morgan which you will find on the supplementary committee agenda.
Councillor Morgan, would you like to ask your questions individually so that they can be
answered individually, if that's okay?
Cllr Lisa Morgan - 1:27:18
Sorry, I was just looking for it.
That's okay.
Sorry, I can't find it on my computer.
You can't find the questions?
No, I can't find the questions.
I couldn't get the internet so I can...
Is it okay if Mr Woodhill reads out the question one at a time?
If you don't mind. If not I'm quite happy just to do it from memory. Thank you.
Cllr Louise Mead - 1:27:49
The first part of the question was, previously BIFA had the contract for dealing with weeds
Gary Woodhall - 1:27:55
on the roadside. Since TVS has taken over, who now is contracted to control the weeds
and what is their schedule of works, please.
Councillor Balcombe, please.
Thank you, Chair.
Thank you, Councillor Morgan.
Cllr Raymond Balcombe - 1:28:12
Currently, there is no contract in place for weed spraying.
We are currently provided with funding from ECC
to carry out weed spraying.
However, this funding is insufficient to cover the costs.
We are in the process of drawing up a new contract
for the areas covered by the weed spraying requirements
of county and at that point we will be able to prove
the prices we have been quoted do not meet
the funding being provided.
We will then ask if county wishes to proceed
or take the function back into highways.
In the meantime we are removing weeds upon request
where resources allow with the street cleaning service.
Cllr Louise Mead - 1:28:58
Thank you Councillor Balcombe. Councillor Morgan would you like to ask anything else?
Thank you very much for that. I can go back to my residence now. Thank you.
Cllr Lisa Morgan - 1:29:04
Would you be able to read the second question Mr Weddle?
Gary Woodhall - 1:29:09
So the second part of the question was also with the tragic event in Chalkwell Park, South
End on C, can the Portfolio Holder assure us that the trees within the district remit
are regularly surveyed and that this is completed on a three -year rolling
programme. Obviously unless due to age and health of a particular tree it needs to
be monitored more frequently if so how many need to be monitored on a six -month
basis. Thank You chairman I can assure Councillor Morgan and in fact all
Cllr Paul Keska - 1:29:42
councillors that all council owned trees are inspected regularly on a risk -based
approach, and on a regular cycle that is determined by the individual assessment of each tree.
Any works deemed necessary are carried out immediately as appropriate.
Would you like to come back?
Thank you very much.
Thank you.

9 Reports from the Leader & Members of the Cabinet

Cllr Louise Mead - 1:30:08
Cllr Lisa Morgan - 1:30:09
Cllr Louise Mead - 1:30:13
So item 9, we have already had a report from the leader, so are there any members of the
at all. No? Thank you. Right, so we have agenda item number 10, questions by members without

10 Questions by Members Without Notice

notice. If you could give the Vice -Chairman just a chance to write names down of anyone
that wishes to speak. Just give us a moment. If you could keep your hands up so that I
that I've got everybody. Just while we're waiting, so I'll allow the usual 30 minutes
for this item. May I ask those wishing to speak to clearly indicate their intention
to speak by raising their hands? And can I ask that you're brief to the point when asking
your question? If you have more than one question, your second question may be asked after other
Councillors have spoken and that way everyone that wishes will have a chance
to speak. Thank you.
Councillor John Whitehouse please if you wish to speak. I was waiting to be told I could put my hand down.
Cllr Jon Whitehouse - 1:31:27
I don't know who told you to put your hand down but it wasn't me. Please feel free to speak.
It's a question for Councillor Williamson if I may. I mean he'll know well the
importance of infrastructure in the district when we get
any applications in, most notably health, highways,
travel, but right down to things like allotments and
decoration grounds and community halls.
I mean, I remember him saying at one of this year's cabinet
meetings that the infrastructure delivery plan
was pretty much a standing item on the conversations he had
with officers in the planning department.
And I just wondered what assurances or what update you could give us on how near the update
is to completion given the existing IDP dates from 2020.
Much different space is older.
And I'm well aware with things like the CIL report to last week's cabinet, the various
master plans, planning applications on the horizon, it's really important.
We've got an up -to -date knowledge and statement of infrastructure before those applications
are determined.
Cllr Ken Williamson - 1:32:39
Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Councillor Whitehouse, for your question. It is something I raise
at my weekly meeting and I will raise it again tomorrow. There is no actual timetable in
place at the moment, but I will let you know what I find out tomorrow.
Thank you very much. Councillor Nee, did you have a question?
Cllr Jeane Lea - 1:33:02
I wasn't nearly ready. I just want to ask about the blue bins as I've had a number
of people complaining that they're not big enough. Now I do understand that you can either
have another one or maybe a bigger one so if that could be put out to the public I'd
be very grateful. Thank you.
Councillor Valcombe.
Cllr Louise Mead - 1:33:23
Cllr Raymond Balcombe - 1:33:27
Thank you, Councillor Lee. Yes, we will be putting further information out on that. It
is also going out on the side of the bus cards, so you will see the information. Anybody confining
now can ask for a second view through the waste section.
Councillor McIvor, you had a question.
Cllr Louise Mead - 1:33:43
Cllr Jaymey McIvor - 1:33:48
Thank you, Madam Chairman. The Prime Minister recently said that there is plenty of social
housing and there's loads and loads available. This week also many local authorities have
been asked to accept all British citizens in Israel to be treated as automatically homeless
when they arrive to Britain, which I completely agree with. But there is also the request
that anybody in the Palestinian occupied territory can also be treated as homeless on day one.
that's an instruction from central government and anybody else that is
eligible. This definition is vague so it's obviously concerning for pressures
on housing stock. Can I therefore ask what is the council's position on this
and have we received instruction from the government to this nature yet?
Cllr Chris Whitbread - 1:34:41
Okay do you want to answer Councillor Whitbread's? Well I hope I'm correct but I've not actually seen any
Cllr Louise Mead - 1:34:43
Cllr Chris Whitbread - 1:34:44
any letters from government to express this view yet.
But this is exactly the type of thing where we have to act
with a real maturity and intelligence
when we're asking these questions,
that we actually have our facts correct first,
rather than just fake knee jerk questions like that.
Really don't think that's helpful,
especially bearing in mind what we've been discussing
this evening and the amount of sensitivity out there
at the present time.
Thank you.
Councillor,
Councillor Janet Whitehouse.
Cllr Louise Mead - 1:35:14
Thank you, Chairman. My question is also about the blue -lidded bins to Councillor Baulkham.
Cllr Janet Whitehouse - 1:35:18
In your report you say that supplies of clear sacks for the recycling are ended, which we
know about, but then you go on to say that properties that have been granted exemption
can still use clear sacks as they do for refuse. So where are the people expected to get the
clear sacks from? This also leads on to the ending of the provision is going to affect
people like me who live in flats. At present we use the clear sacks to go to the communal
recycling bin and because of my connexion with the council I know that you're going
to be providing us with blue hessian sacks. But how is this information being put out
to people in flats? I can see the sacks are suddenly end and they won't know what is supposed
to be coming instead. And finally I was able to collect a blue hessian sack. I thought
we're going to bring all three of them today.
So I didn't bring mine.
I was going to bring mine to show.
I will assume it's going to be the same size as a plastic sack.
It's considerably smaller in capacity,
which means more trips that come in your bin
and more times up and down the stairs.
Now, we've just heard that people in houses
are going to be offered different sizes of bins,
bigger ones than what you've got or smaller ones than what
they've got.
So are people in flats going to also
be offered a choice of size for our bag. After all you know there are couples or
families who live in flats just like they do in houses so you know I do think
more thought needs to be given to those of us in flats. Thank you.
Cllr Raymond Balcombe - 1:36:57
Councillor Balcombe. Thank you Chair. Firstly we will not be providing any sacks. It's
down to the, if they decide they want to use clear plastic bags it's down to them.
Obviously, we would have carried on with the old system.
You're quite right, we are now at the process of allowing people to have a second bin or
a larger bin.
Your third question was about management, wasn't it?
It was about two things.
Cllr Janet Whitehouse - 1:37:30
It was about how you're going to tell people in flats that, no, sacks are finishing and
what's going to happen next.
And are we going to have a choice of size as well?
The last point first.
Cllr Raymond Balcombe - 1:37:40
That size of sack is basically for health and safety reasons as well.
A larger sack carrying it downstairs for different people could be dangerous.
And actually it's not a lot smaller than the current clear sacks that we were using.
Does that answer your question?
What about communicating this to the people in France?
I have just mentioned that before for the last question.
Cllr Janet Whitehouse - 1:38:04
Cllr Raymond Balcombe - 1:38:07
If you look on the side of the freighters now that are picking up the blue bins, you
will see there's a new thing and there is an extra four -leaf coat hanger leaflet which
will be coming out.
But the answer to your question about the sacks and how you move them down is really
a question for the management of the blocks.
Thank you.
Cllr Louise Mead - 1:38:29
Cllr Chris Pond - 1:38:36
Councillor Pons. This is a question for Councillor Matthews. Councillor Matthews
told me at the March council meeting that the sterility in the middle of
Loughton High Road caused by an empty unit which has been labelled fable stores
would be remedied during the month of April. Madam Chairman he didn't specify
which year he meant the April. The site is still sterile, still empty, when is he
going to insist on the warranty that the renter gave the council as landlord that
trading would continue? Thank you to Councillor Pond I will ensure I always
Cllr Tim Matthews - 1:39:14
attach a year going forward. Our difficulty with it is I can confirm the
landlord is still paying their rent, the tenant is still paying their
rent. They're conforming with all parts of their contract. We have been in constant
dialogue and are trying to encourage the progression of this matter as we know
it's something that is deeply felt by the Loughton residents but at the moment
they are complying with their contracts and they are paying their rent. If that
changes you can be assured we will act swiftly. Thank you.
Thank you.
Councillor Murray.
Cllr Louise Mead - 1:39:53
Thank you, Chairman.
Cllr Stephen Murray - 1:40:00
My question is to the community's portfolio holder and it's a good news question.
I just wanted to know whether he would like to share with me and celebrate the work of
the Safer Communities team and the Community Development team in what they managed to achieve
on Oakwood Hill Recreation Ground on the 12th of July
when they ran an inaugural community fund
and safety extravaganza,
which attracted the best part of about 600 residents,
very largely from the Loudoun Road in Walled.
Thank you, Councillor Murray, for your question.
And it really reassures me that somebody has bothered
Cllr Kaz Rizvi - 1:40:42
to follow my portfolio.
first question that I've had I think in 13 years in the post so thank you very
much and equally delighted that you've brought up a good news storey and and I
would completely echo everything that you say we've been working very very
hard to plug resource in the Oakwood Hill Estate. A special tribute to our
community officer Claire I think she's done a phenomenal job in embedding
herself into the role she's a highly responsive and a very approachable
person on the Oakwood Hill Estate. So I totally echo the sentiments and thank you very much
Cllr Louise Mead - 1:41:20
for the question. Thank you. Councillor Cohen. Thank you, Chair.
Cllr Barbara Cohen - 1:41:24
Well, I have another rubbish question. That's a good question, not a rubbish question.
We are now in possession of another blue bin, thank you, and in it we put plastic, paper
and bottles. From the 1st of April our residents are going to have to pay £60 a year for fortnightly
collections of garden and food waste instead of weekly free collections of our green lidded bins,
a double blow. Would the portfolio holder of waste collection like to let us residents know
what is supposed to be put in black bins.
Because other than bubble wrap and cling film,
or disposable nappies of which 3 % of the population that would be applicable to,
we're a bit surprised to know,
and don't really understand what we are meant to be putting in these black bins.
Also, I believe that cardboard can be collected separately,
but it has to be dry. So in wet weather how would this be collected and how
would it be kept dry? Thank you.
Councillor Balcombe.
Thank you. Thank you Councillor Cohen.
Cllr Raymond Balcombe - 1:42:44
Where do we start?
The information as I just said earlier there's a whole new leaflet we're just
going through at the moment which will be coming out shortly once we finalise
That's what we're doing with the green bins, what will go in them, the food bin obviously,
and the blue and the black.
So that will all be on the leaflet that comes out.
Then it will tell you about contamination of the bins, so if you put the wrong thing
in they're then contaminated so they will not be collected, things like that.
Does that answer your question?
Cllr Barbara Cohen - 1:43:26
Do you want me to ask a supplementary from it?
Cllr Louise Mead - 1:43:28
Councillor Cohen. Can you stand up to do that please?
Cllr Barbara Cohen - 1:43:33
So the black bin could be empty or empty -ish because everything else would have to be recycled in the other bins?
Councillor Valker.
Cllr Raymond Balcombe - 1:43:45
like it if you if everything is recycled yes it goes in the recycling bin if it's
not it goes in the black bin but you cannot put garden waste and things in
Cllr Louise Mead - 1:43:58
the black bin okay Councillor Rackham thank you chair I think my question is
Cllr Sheree Rackham - 1:44:03
directed to Councillor Williamson I've noticed a significant increase in the
of vehicles parked on grass verges and pavements when I'm out and about. Very
inconsiderate parking and also in some cases dangerous parking. I've noticed
that people are parking on grass verges next to children's play areas, corners of
junctions and dangerously blocking sight lines and on double yellow lines and
nothing really appears to be done about it. I've raised this with Essex Parking
partnership and with council officers. Essex parking partnership very rarely
attend and I think because there is so little enforcement people think they can
get away with it. More worryingly council officers have told me that there's
nothing they can do about some of this because they don't have the legal power
to stop it. This despite there being official signs erected in some places
warning people not to park on certain verges. Could I get a definitive answer
to what powers we do have and also what enforcement measures can be taken where
we were and where we do this and also if we haven't got any powers what is
required for us to get them I might quickly add that this is a potential
source of revenue for us and I think that is something that we definitely
ought to be sort of doing more on thank you
Cllr Ken Williamson - 1:45:34
Councillor Williams. Thank you chair, thank you Councillor Rackham. Yeah grass
verges for years we were told we couldn't do anything. I attended an EPP
meetings as your representative and eventually we found something called the
Essex Act. It was put in the members but we the first pilot study was done in
Elton way a part of Elton way and was incredibly successful. Actually caught
one of our councillors, but that's another storey.
I wasn't very popular there.
It was put in the members bulletin that we can use this act
where the grass verges are maintained.
So if it's actually cut or anybody else looks after
the grass verge, we can use this act.
And I really strongly recommend members to put it forward
to the council officers and we will take action on that.
On the pavement parking, the officers are quite correct,
we have no legal powers, I think it needs an act
of government for us to get those legal powers
that London has and we've been lobbying for that for years.
Don't hold your breath.
NEPP are on the enforcement, if there are parking
restrictions in place and you don't think they are
actually being enforced.
They're on the website.
You can request enforcement or you can ask our officers
and we will make sure that they're added to NEPP's list
of places they visit.
But there is literally a place on their website that you can
ask for enforcement.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Councillor Imos.
Thank you, Madam Chairman.
Cllr Louise Mead - 1:47:23
The government consultation on possible revisions to the planning system closed yesterday.
Cllr Clive Amos - 1:47:28
I responded in a personal capacity, but I wondered whether this council responded to that consultation.
Councillor Williamson.
Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Councillor Ramos. Yes, we did.
Cllr Ken Williamson - 1:47:43
Councillor Bromwich.
Cllr Louise Mead - 1:47:48
Thank you and congratulations for two months in the role.
Cllr Tom Bromwich - 1:47:51
can I use this as an opportunity to welcome you to the Northfield Senior
Society's Ploughman's? I'll send you an invite after. It happens every Saturday from
12 o 'clock. It's wonderful fun as my colleagues also know. So my question is
to the cabinet member who after tonight will have the biggest glutes in the
chamber, Councillor Balcombe, because you're going to be standing up again. It
hasn't been a perfect roll out of the bins but I do want to put on record that
I think that your communication, your speed,
your willingness to answer questions
and get into the nitty gritty of it has been outstanding.
And I would like to put that on record with this question.
My question relates to fly tipping.
A few weeks ago,
I went with some Thornwood residents along Ryhill Road.
We also went to Foster Street,
Green Lane leading into Threshers Bush,
and also along Mill Street.
we reported almost 30 incidents of fly tipping
and the residents were saying, look, these are hot spots.
These areas of nature are always covered
and blighted by fly tipping.
What can we as a council do to increase surveillance
of the hot spots?
Is it a case of working with Essex County Council
to make sure that the highways have a camera
pointing on these common places
where fly tipping takes place?
But what can we as a council do to increase
surveillance and stop people fly tipping in the places where we all know it happens.
Thank you.
Councillor Balcombe, would that be?
Cllr Raymond Balcombe - 1:49:26
First of all, I agree with you on fly tipping.
It is a big problem and first of all I would say it's just as difficult to clear the fly tip afterwards as find the culprits who do it.
But yes, there are procedures that EFDC can put surveillance cameras in.
But again, it's got to be proof that they did dump the rubbish.
So yes, it can go forward on those spaces.
Okay, thank you. And Councillor Lisa Morgan.
Cllr Louise Mead - 1:50:00
Thank you.
Cllr Lisa Morgan - 1:50:05
You are not going to be very happy with this, I am afraid.
My concern really is with what Councillor Curran said about the black bins. When Councillor
Boulton then came back and said it is contamination if we put any green waste in it, Councillor
Lee highlighted that she gets bunches of flowers and she is going to have to pay £60 a year
to get rid of her bunch of flowers rather than put it in the black bin.
What can we do to help the likes of Councillor Lee?
She's not the only one that's out there that does get flowers occasionally,
and we don't want them dumped all over the area,
mainly in, as Councillor Rackham said, people parking on verges,
but we get skips on the verges as well.
So does Councillor Lee then go and flight it her bunches of flowers
in the skips that are on the green verges?
Thank you.
Councillor De Balco.
Cllr Raymond Balcombe - 1:51:05
First of all, I hope you're not contaminating your bins now you've cleaned them.
At the moment we're actually going through two or three procedures.
We are actually rewriting the contamination and what can go in each bin.
So that is going through at the moment.
Secondly, there's always composting.
We are encouraging people to do that.
There's also schemes where you can share a bin with your neighbour or whatever.
So we are working on systems at the moment.
Does that answer it?
It does for me.
I'm not sure it does for Councillor Lee that doesn't have a garden for composting.
Cllr Lisa Morgan - 1:51:43
Cllr Louise Mead - 1:51:49
That seems to be all the members that wanted to ask questions.
We can move forward to agenda item 11.

11 Overview and Scrutiny Committee

That's the report from the overview and scrutiny committee.
May I ask Councillor Baldwin to present his report, please?
Yes, indeed.
Thank you, Chairman.
Cllr Roger Baldwin - 1:52:07
There might be a little bit of repetition here, rather like the BBC, because I recently
gave a report to Cabinet on Monday, so apologies for that.
I'm delighted to continue my role as Chairman of the Inscrutiny Committee and held our first
meeting on 10 June when the Leader set out the Council's priorities for the year.
and we've agreed an interesting work programme, I hope,
both for place committees and for communities committees
and for the main O &S committee.
We've scrutinised the end -of -year organisational performance
and the main projects that we've got going on at the moment,
such as the one on the Broadway.
I think we've got four of these main projects going on at the moment.
We also had very detailed scrutiny of the garden, you know, transition to charging for
garden waste.
And I wanted to thank Councillor George for, Amanda George for asking some very detailed
questions.
And I think we provided valuable input for the decision that was taken on that by Cabinet
last Monday.
There is a little bit of good news for the diaries, which is that TFL will be attending
place scrutiny on the 27th of January.
So that is a date, I think, for the diaries that would come to place scrutiny on the 27th
of January.
And then, as I always really say, members are most welcome, especially your cabinet
members, and all members are most welcome to attend the scrutiny committee and certainly
to send an email to me if I want anything included in our work programme or anything
specific.
And I think that's about it.
The next ONS meeting will be on the 5th of August.
5th of August?
It is a week on Tuesday. Thank you, Chairman.
Cllr Louise Mead - 1:54:22
Thank you very much. I think we have Councillor Murray first that wanted to speak. Is this
in response to the report? Yes.
It is the first time I have picked that up. I do try and read everything. We are having
Cllr Stephen Murray - 1:54:33
TFL on the 27th of January. What steps, and this is a serious question because I thought
the last time was a complete and utter waste of time.
So what steps can we take to try and ensure two things that
didn't happen last time?
One, we get people of a serious standing in the organisation,
because the two lads we had were pleasant enough,
but that's what they were, lads that were sent out on a task
that they weren't equipped for.
It wasn't their fault. So how do we
reach serious people that can actually influence TfL and what guarantee have we
got that they're actually going to answer the questions that we've given
them in advance. We had two really nice work experience lads really to be blunt
who didn't even really seem to know the questions had been put in in advance so
it's going to be a complete and utter waste of time unless we can take steps
to try and ensure we get a response.
I remember, and I think I said this before,
I remember when we had a scrutiny meeting,
it was more of a smaller panel we met in Hemel Street,
and we had Tim O 'Toole at the meeting,
who was the American General Director of the Underground,
I think, at that time.
So we need serious people who know that they've had questions to answer
and come along here fully briefed.
Otherwise, it's a waste of time.
Cllr Roger Baldwin - 1:56:06
Thank you and Councillor John Whitehouse. Thanks Chairman and thanks the other
Cllr Jon Whitehouse - 1:56:11
Chairman for your report. We heard earlier from that Chairman that we've got
special council meeting on the 15th of September to discuss low government
reorganisation. I mean that of course is just 11 days before the deadline for
submissions so I imagine a lot of the content of the submission be fairly
locked down by then and the scope for significant change will be limited. Could I
I therefore ask that at the next scrutiny meeting there is an item on the agenda that
lets people have a little general discussion about the principles that should inform the
creation of that submission. There was some discussion at cabinet last week but that obviously
only includes some members and over the scrutiny session, a bit like the sessions on the budget,
would enable more members to have their input to those principles.
Okay, thank you. Councillor, can we speak to that?
Cllr Louise Mead - 1:57:01
Thank you, Chairman. Sorry to jump in, Councillor Baldwin, but I hope you don't mind.
Cllr Chris Whitbread - 1:57:03
At the Cabinet, what we agreed we would do is bring forward a report to all members,
or a meeting of all members, but obviously before we do that, we have to make sure that we're releasing
a documentation that's available to everybody. There's a number of reports that have already been carried out
that show the financial impact and the impact on adult social care and children's services,
and our intention is to bring some work, some either a full council workshop on
LGR so we can have a full discussion and of the emerging evidence that's there
and I should imagine scrutiny will want to look at it as well but there is an
awful lot of work that's ongoing and of course we're still waiting for some of the
information back that will inform the eventual choices that we have. What we do
know now pretty clearly is five is too many two is probably too few and freeze
Cllr Louise Mead - 1:58:01
to Goldilocks moment. Okay thank you so councillors if there are no more
questions can we note the report please. Thank you. Item 12 is the joint

12 Joint Arrangements & External Organisations

arrangements and external organisations. Do any members have any reports they
to present this evening.
Councillor Janet Whitehouse.
I don't have a report but I'd like to ask for a report.
We used to get regular reports from Councillor Kane on the Royal Gunpowder Mills.
Cllr Janet Whitehouse - 1:58:26
I'd really like to know what's happening there and I would urge people who are representing
this council on bodies to keep us informed.
Community transport is another one I'd like to hear about please.
Okay, thank you.
Cllr Louise Mead - 1:58:42
Do we have anyone that would like to speak about that or has any reason why we are not
getting those reports?
Councillor Lee.
They have had no meetings.
Cllr Jeane Lea - 1:58:52
I have had no information at all about any meetings to attend at all.
Is there anything we can do about that?
They are just not having any meetings?
Cllr Louise Mead - 1:58:59
They obviously do not want me there.
fine okay right so so there is your answer Councillor Whitehouse there aren't
any meetings so there's no reports Councillor Morris yeah yeah I just say
Cllr Martin Morris - 1:59:21
that they do attend the Waltham Abbey town partnership and I do give a report
at each meeting so it might be worth using that there's something to feed
Cllr Louise Mead - 1:59:35
back to you just a suggestion thank you very much Councillor Morris okay so item
number 13 on our agenda so as there's no more no items for consideration at the

13 Exclusion of Public and Press

exclusion of the public and press I'd like to take this opportunity to wish
you all a very safe journey home hold on a moment before we start packing up and
I declare the meeting is closed at 21 .04pm.
Laura Kirman - 2:00:25
Thank you.
Cllr Clive Amos
District councillor for Theydon Bois with Passingford ward
Liberal Democrats
View profile Cllr Clive Amos
Cllr Raymond Balcombe
District councillor for Rural East ward
Conservative Party
View profile Cllr Raymond Balcombe
Cllr Roger Baldwin
District councillor for Loughton Forest ward
Loughton Residents Association
View profile Cllr Roger Baldwin
Barbara Beardwell
Monitoring Officer & Strategic Legal Advisor
Epping Forest District Council
View profile Barbara Beardwell
Cllr Tom Bromwich
District councillor for North Weald Bassett ward
Independent
View profile Cllr Tom Bromwich
Cllr Rose Brookes
District councillor for Buckhurst Hill East and Whitebridge ward
Loughton Residents Association
View profile Cllr Rose Brookes
Cllr Barbara Cohen
District councillor for Buckhurst Hill East and Whitebridge ward
Loughton Residents Association
View profile Cllr Barbara Cohen
Cllr Paul Keska
District councillor for Ongar ward
Conservative Party
View profile Cllr Paul Keska
Laura Kirman
Democratic Services Officer
Epping Forest District Council
View profile Laura Kirman
Cllr Jeane Lea
District councillor for Waltham Abbey North ward
Conservative Party
View profile Cllr Jeane Lea
Cllr Jodie Lucas
District councillor for Waltham Abbey West ward
Conservative Party
View profile Cllr Jodie Lucas
Cllr Tim Matthews
District councillor for Waltham Abbey South and Rural ward
Conservative Party
View profile Cllr Tim Matthews
Cllr Craig McCann
District councillor for Chigwell with Lambourne ward
Conservative Party
View profile Cllr Craig McCann
Cllr Jaymey McIvor
District councillor for Ongar ward
Independent
View profile Cllr Jaymey McIvor
Cllr Louise Mead
District councillor for Loughton Fairmead ward
Loughton Residents Association
View profile Cllr Louise Mead
Cllr Lisa Morgan
District councillor for Grange Hill ward
Independent
View profile Cllr Lisa Morgan
Cllr Martin Morris
District councillor for Waltham Abbey North ward
Labour Party
View profile Cllr Martin Morris
Cllr Stephen Murray
District councillor for Loughton Roding ward
Independent
View profile Cllr Stephen Murray
Cllr Chidi Nweke
District councillor for Loughton Roding ward
Loughton Residents Association
View profile Cllr Chidi Nweke
Cllr Chris Pond
District councillor for Loughton St John's ward
Loughton Residents Association
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Cllr Sheree Rackham
District councillor for Loughton Roding ward
Loughton Residents Association
View profile Cllr Sheree Rackham
Cllr Kaz Rizvi
District councillor for Chigwell with Lambourne ward
Conservative Party
View profile Cllr Kaz Rizvi
Cllr Chris Whitbread
District councillor for Roydon and Lower Nazeing ward
Conservative Party
View profile Cllr Chris Whitbread
Cllr Holly Whitbread
District councillor for Epping West and Rural ward
Conservative Party
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Cllr Janet Whitehouse
District councillor for Epping East ward
Liberal Democrats
View profile Cllr Janet Whitehouse
Cllr Jon Whitehouse
District councillor for Epping East ward
Liberal Democrats
View profile Cllr Jon Whitehouse
Cllr Ken Williamson
District councillor for Buckhurst Hill West ward
Conservative Party
View profile Cllr Ken Williamson
Gary Woodhall
Team Manager - Democratic and Electoral Services
Epping Forest District Council
View profile Gary Woodhall
Cllr Shane Yerrell
District councillor for Waltham Abbey West ward
Conservative Party
View profile Cllr Shane Yerrell