Firstly, my thanks to all of you who have been in contact directly or indirectly during 2025. As you will know by now, I see my responsibilities running at three levels: a) addressing the issues of/meeting the needs of individual residents; b) promoting and defending the best interests of each of the communities across the Chelmer Division comprising Beaulieu Park, Boreham, Chelmer Village, Danbury and Little Baddow; c) achieving the best outcomes for the County of Essex, both collectively with colleagues and in my Cabinet roles across Children’s Services, Adult Social Care, Public Health and NHS Integration.

I will move on to a list of points in a moment, but must first note that when I wrote this report a year ago, I had expected to be standing for re-election last May. Devolution to a mayoral authority, and local government reorganisation merging 15 county/city/district councils into 3, 4 or 5 are government policies within which we are doing our best to achieve good solutions for the County. It was the government’s decision to postpone the May elections, and now to defer the mayoral elections to 2028. It will also be they who decide whether the postponed county elections happen in May 2026. What appears to be set in stone is that elections to unitary councils will happen in May 2027 and that they will operate on a shadow basis until 31 March 2028, when individual county, city and other councils cease to exist.

As you have trusted me to represent you, I can only tell you that the workload on this is immense; that it comes on top of unprecedented demand for our services (social care, health, special educational needs etc) in terms of volume and complexity; and that the government is compounding the issue with a long list of individual (sometimes individually laudable) strategies and initiatives. My motion expressing concern received support from across the Chamber at the Essex County Council (ECC) meeting in December and our representations are now being made to government. For those who remember The Generation Game, it is like being asked to keep 30 plates spinning at one time!

I list below some of the detailed points across 2025:

1. Highways and transport infrastructure always top the list. Beaulieu Park Station opened in October and this would not have happened without the financial, intellectual and leadership support of ECC.
2. This happened shortly after the government cancelled the A12 widening from Junction 19 to Junction 24. Since then, we have seen ever more A12 closures; the road is simply not big enough to cope with demand, even before tens of thousands of new homes are built along it.
3. This also had major impacts on the reconfiguration of Junction 19 and other highway developments in the Garden Community. ECC led joint working across Homes England, National Highways and Chelmsford City Council; a package was given planning consent in December, but works will take until 2028 to complete.
4. Meanwhile, the people of Boreham have no effective transport links to the new station. I continue to push for something to be provided for Paynes Lane Bridge and have met with the managing director of First Bus, trying to achieve improved bus services.
5. Bus services are actually an issue causing concerns across the division and I will aim to have continuing dialogue with this individual – First Bus have proved elusive in the past.
6. Turning to more local issues, my very long campaign for the transformation of the pedestrian crossing near The Bell on the A414 in Danbury achieved only partial victory. The crossing is to be upgraded, but not with the timed traffic lights for which I had pushed. I am being assured the improvements will be significant and the work is due in the 2026 school summer holidays.
7. More modest highways schemes have been approved, eg for The Heights in Danbury. Staying in that village, I continue to work with local residents concerned about speed limits on Danbury Common and managed to organise a meeting with the relevant Cabinet member late in 2025.
8. Traffic and other behavioural issues at Papermill Lock and along the Navigation in Little Baddow reached new levels of concern in 2025. With the help of the parish council and others, we had a summit meeting with Essex Police, following which some greater sense of order prevailed. A greater visible police presence helped address severe antisocial behaviour challenges, but it remains to be seen how 2026 will progress. The South Essex Parking Partnership (SEPP) have assured us they will repaint the double yellow lines; improved signage is still desirable but sufficient warden presence to place enough fines to be a deterrent will be as important as ever.
9. Antisocial behaviour also broke out in Boreham, albeit – as far as I’m aware – on a short-term basis. Again, I engaged with police and First Bus (whose vehicles were the target) and hope we see no repetition.
10. We will never eradicate all potholes and pavement defects. The Essex road system, comprising over 5,000 miles of highways, is among the busiest in the country and wear and tear will always happen. I have made full use of every scheme open to me and across the year must have ensured dozens of issues were addressed by the Members Highways Initiative. I would always ask residents to ensure a new defect they spot is registered; if you need to come back to me, providing the registration number and a photo will always aid the repair process. A regular issue is where tree roots are breaking up pavements; it is so frustrating that planning applications for major developments include such tree planting when there are adverse long-term consequences. In 2025, I have specifically helped with problems in Chancellor Ave, Boreham and Beaulieu Park.
11. Traffic speeds have been a concern in places like Chelmer Village and Little Baddow. I have arranged for speed surveys, eg in Beeleigh Link, and used funds available to me to cover the cost. Chelmer Village has also experienced major parking issues, particularly around Golding Thoroughfare; I was pleased to support the many residents involved in a petition and hope the proposed scheme will very soon complete the wearisome approval process.
12. The Local Highways Panel (LHP) is where each borough/city council area is supposed to provide funding for major highways works, such as signage. It is very frustrating that the scheme is totally overloaded with demands that will use all the funds for this year and next. As county councillors, we should all be looking from time to time to see if there are specific issues we have previously highlighted but that are no longer a priority.
13. Concerns about vegetation are a regular feature in my mailbox. ECC is firmly committed to no hedge/shrub/tree cutting in the nesting season, which is absolutely right – but it does have the consequence that there is then a lot of catching up to do

later in the summer. It is the responsibility of landowners to keep the vegetation within their boundaries under control, and the more that happens voluntarily the better – enforcement is a lengthy and expensive process. I also believe in self-help where that can be done safely; when I had a complaint about a right of way becoming overgrown, my wife Yvonne and I found we could fix it with a pair of secateurs.

14. Each year, each county councillor receives a £5,000 Locality Fund allocation, which supported the above. In 2025/6, I have so far been able to win approval for allocations to

Danbury Park School for fencing and gates

Chelmer Village Hall for various improvements

Lt Baddow History Centre for card reader and PC

Garden Communities for wildflower ‘Bee-Squared’ initiative

St Andrews Church, Boreham for bat boxes

Boreham school for supplies for Year 5 & 6 pupils

I know of more schemes and am also seeking to make full use of community funding by seeking flexibility around the usual criteria.

15. I have kept a close watch on the allocation of school places, particularly where demand has exceeded supply. One such school is Boreham and I was delighted to meet with the school council shortly before Christmas.
16. ECC does not have responsibility for planning, but I have taken a close interest in applications, particularly those where you have expressed concerns to me. While Hammonds Farm is by far the largest (and thanks to all the parish and other councillors who have been fighting this battle), other major applications have included the data centre close to Beaulieu Park Station and the housing application near Chelmer Village Way. Outside my division, the Pigeon project at Sandon will have impacts, and overall it is depressing that the pace of increasing and improving road capacity is simply not matching the pace of creating new demand.

That is enough! On top of these themes, there has of course been the usual rich cornucopia of individual points. I would just note that using the phone after an initial email is so often a great way to discuss problems and find solutions. Email ping-pong can be a frustration!

As I will always say, it is a great privilege to be entrusted with representing you. I don’t believe I have left any correspondence unanswered or unaddressed. I much enjoy working with our five parish councils; there and across the voluntary sector, I am continually inspired by just how much people are doing for their community. As I often say of those with whom I work in social care: ‘ordinary people doing extraordinary things to enable others to live ordinary lives’.