Harlow Council has submitted a £2 million funding bid for a major project in Staple Tye. If the money is forthcoming from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, the project's outcomes could include

• better pedestrian and cycle routes.
• improved health, library and leisure provision.
• additional housing to meet local needs.

Local councillors Lorna Spenceley and Su Lawton have met with staff from the council's Regeneration Unit, and pressed the point very hard that over the next few months the local community must be fully consulted about the proposals.

Two planning applications (reference numbers HW/PL/05/00328 and HW/PL/05/00329) have been approved by planning officers at Harlow Council. Both applications are for the construction of a new single storey extension.

I hear today that following my report of the refuse vans in Joyners Field mounting the kerbs and damaging the paving and grass (see the entry for 12 November below), the council's Cleansing department has raised the matter with Onyx. If it happens again, let us know.

I've written to the two residents in Longbanks who had raised the matter of the boarded garages (see the entry below for 13 November). The council has now proposed to demolish three garage blocks on the estate, including this one. The three blocks in question are

• garages 27-32 Longbanks (the block mentioned above)


• garages 66-69 Longbanks (near to the above)


• garages 82-84 Longbanks (opposite house no 415 Longbanks)

The reasons for the proposed demolition are predominantly health and safety - not surprising, given the state of the garages. The sites of the demolished garages will be used as general parking for the estate. Tenants renting garages in these blocks will be offered nearby alternatives. The demolition should be completed by the end of March, following a three week period for seeking quotes for the work, and a statutory six week notice period to utilities such as gas and water companies.

Meanwhile, the council will temporarily repair the boarding to the two garages that were causing the particular problem.

Today I meet with Derek Coles and Bill Noone from Moorfield Residents Association, and Julie Simmons from the council's community engagement team.

There's a lot of very evident frustration from Derek and Bill. They and the Association have done a huge amount of work on the estate, as their website shows. But the items on their list that were supposed to be 'quick wins' still haven't happened. The revised plans for the long hoped for one-way system still haven't seen the light of day from the County Council. And they're feeling that there's not much to show for all their efforts.

Julie agrees to chase up the 'shopping list' of work that was supposed to be done, and report back to us on what's happening. I'd already got a note on file to chase the County Council later this week about the plans. And I also suggest that the Council hosts a meeting for residents' associations and other interested groups to introduce the Contact Harlow team, demonstrate how the Contact Harlow system works, and show how residents can use it to ensure their complaints are properly logged and tracked.

We'll meet again in the New Year.

Well, those copies of FOCUS won't just deliver themselves. So - not before noon, because it's Remembrance Sunday - I pull on my boots and get myself over to Longbanks. At least the weather's fine, and as I walk round the estate I meet a lot of people out gardening or looking after the car.

I stop for a chat with one resident, who was at the last Ward Advisory Group meeting. She and her neighbour direct me to the boarded-up garages they wanted the council to sort out, as the boarding is all coming off and they're getting dangerous. I pop down to the corner of the estate to have a look. They're right - the garages certainly are a sight.

Today the Staple Tye Team has been out and about in Joyners Field, making courtesy calls on local residents. Parking is the subject most frequently raised, and it's obviously a problem; the corners of the pavements have been broken up, and the grass is a mass of mud and ruts. Residents say it's the refuse lorries slalom-ing round the parked cars.

I've just heard from Alan, who ran the Tai Chi event at the Latton Bush Centre on 29 October. By all accounts it was a great success.

His fund-raising afforts raised £228 for the Kashmir International Relief Fund - and also enough money for Climate Care to be able to neutralise the event's carbon dioxide emissions and help look after our planet.

Alan will now be leading regular Tai Chi classes on Thursday evenings at Trinity United Reformed Church on Harberts Road.

Our ward surgery takes place from 10:00 to 11:00 at the Staple Tye council office. A couple of residents call in to ask about the council's plans for a property in Barleycroft that's been empty for a long time, so we update them.

After our surgery I cycle round Longbanks with my camera, snapping some of the problems reported by the ward advisory group.

Our next ward surgery is on Saturday 3 December, again from 10:00 to 11:00 at Staple Tye.

Harlow Council is about to consult tenants of the Latton Bush Centre, along with 'frequent user' organisations, on proposals to start charging for car parking at the Centre. If the plans are agreed, a new pay and display system will be agreed by the middle of December and implemented from April. The proposals include provision of staff permits, and also plans (which would require planning permission) for more disabled car parking near Pirates. Disabled car parking would continue to be free.

Staple Tye ward advisory group met again this afternoon; eight local residents, two council officers and me. A lot of comments about problems raised months ago, that council departments still haven't sorted out; we make a list of outstanding complaints to chase up. Residents rightly comment that it's a bit discouraging to come along month after month, report the same problems and still see nothing happen.

We're rather surprised to hear from one resident that the council refuses to accept completed anti-social behaviour diaries filled in by local people if the information is more than a few weeks old. This seems a bit strange, so that's definitely one to ask the ASB team about.

Another resident reports back on the police meeting he attended; he was very impressed with the new Chief Constable, so let's hope that will mean real progress in getting more police away from their desks and back on our streets.

The chair of the advisory group reports back on the Harlow 2020 conference he attended, and that opens up a discussion about transport - everything from extension of the Central Line to kerb repairs and the traffic lights outside Homebase!

There's a lot of praise for one of the teams putting in new council windows, who the group thinks are doing a great job. And we hear that the townwide tenants' advisory group will be visiting the kitchen warehouse shortly, as part of being consulted about the council's kitchen replacement programme.

The next meeting of the group isn't until 3 January, so - although it feels a bit early - we wish each other a happy Christmas before we leave at 3:30.