Really good evening at the Community Centre last night, thank you to everyone who took time out of their lives to come along.
We had around 30-35 people there, which was really good, but what really stood out was just how passionate people are about the area. There was a really positive, constructive vibe in the room, and some genuinely useful ideas came out of the discussion.
I spoke a bit longer than planned, as we all knew I would 🤣, but the conversation that followed was exactly what I hoped it would be: open, honest, and focused on what actually needs sorting locally.
A big theme that came through was the need for a proper “carrot and stick” approach when it comes to Essex County Council.
Another was about ECC’s investment in the area. By “investment”, we aren’t talking about big shiny projects or anything unrealistic. We’re talking about the basics being done properly:
🛣️ Roads and potholes
🚶 Pavements
đź’ˇ Street lighting
đź“Ł Communication that actually reflects what people are experiencing
🤝 Making the council easier to deal with
These are all things that should just work, and too often, they just don’t.
Another really important point was around how we approach this going forward.
There was strong support for doing more sessions like this, bringing people together, sharing ideas, and turning those ideas into something practical and actionable.
One idea that came out of the discussion was setting up small advisory groups around key areas. The thinking behind that is simple:
If I’m elected, I don’t just want to go to County Hall with my own views, I want to go with properly thought-through input from people who actually understand the issues on the ground.
That gives us a much stronger position when it comes to getting things taken seriously and actually delivered.
There was also a really good conversation around accountability, particularly around contractors like Essex Highways. It’s clear that the next councillor needs to be able to engage properly with officers, understand the detail, and challenge things when they’re not good enough.
That’s something I’m very comfortable doing, both from my professional background and from the work I’ve done locally over the past few years.
The last few days have also been spent organising and getting leaflets out across the area. There are still a few roads left to cover in Brightlingsea, which I’ll be sorting over the coming days. So if you’ve been leafleting and have any spares please let me know and I can either pick them up or if you want to do some more, give you another road.
Today and tomorrow I’ll be focusing on getting posters into the right places. If you’ve said you’d like one, I’ll be in touch shortly. And if you’re a business or resident who would be happy to put one up in your window, just drop me a message and I’ll get one to you.
Overall, I really enjoyed the evening, and I hope those who came along did too.
It felt like a really good example of how things should work, people coming together, sharing ideas, and focusing on solutions rather than just problems.