Southend Summer- It’s a great place to be…..

So at  last the sun is out and the children have broken up. The last few days have seen thousands flocking to our beaches and seafront. The new water fountains at City Beach have been a real hit with the children. Perhaps it was our win in the Tour de France but cycling on the seafront cycle track seems very popular too, for all ages.

For those that want to get active there is the Southend Marine Activity Centre where all sorts of watersports can be experienced and there is the Essex Boot Camp which trains in both Leigh and Southend on the cliffs, evenings and weekends.

If it’s a bit of culture that you fancy then take a look at visit southend where you will find a whole list of events, many on the pier too, over the summer.

 

 

 

Feeling hungry then  download a copy of Dine on Sea and choose yourself a place to eat.

The Pier Pavilion or Cultural Centre is at long last ready, so why not go down the pier and take a look and decide for self if you like it or not.

For a picnic by the sea try East Beach in Shoebury it has picnic benches and BBQ facilities ready for you to use your grills on, wide green grass expanses and no cars, so take a ball or two and have some fun by the seaside- or you could just watch the kite surfers whilst sunning yourself.

For something a little different why not go to Leigh, have yourself a morning coffee, browse the shops then wander down the old staircase beside the Church to Old Leigh, cross over the bridge and perhaps have a light lunch or just take the camera for some intersting shots of this working fishing port..

These are just a few of the many things on offer in Southend, so do a little digging and have a great day out in Southend, it’s a great place to be.

Advertisement

Benefit fraudster receives suspended sentence

A woman from Westcliff-on-Sea is now paying the price for working while dishonestly claiming benefit.

Joanna Needs, 28, of Fairview Drive, admitted seven counts of making dishonest statements to obtain Housing and Council Tax benefit between 2008 and 2011 when she appeared before magistrates in Southend on April 18.

She was given a six-month suspended sentence, ordered to wear an electronic tag to ensure she complies with a 6pm to 6am curfew order and told to pay £100 towards prosecution costs in addition to repaying the wrongly claimed cash.

The court heard that Mrs Needs began claiming Housing and Council Tax Benefit from Southend-on-Sea Borough Council in August 2008 after stating that she and her partner were not working and were in financial difficulties. During the time she was claiming for the benefits she continued to maintain that the couple’s financial situation was poor.

However, a data matching exercise later revealed that she was receiving an income from KPMG Ltd. Checks established that she had been employed by the company from 2001 to 2011 with a monthly salary paid straight into her bank account.

By failing to declare this extra income Mrs Needs received £11,786.01p of Housing Benefit and £1,345.53p of Council Tax Benefit she was not entitled to.

“If you have any suspicions over a person’s entitlement to benefit you can call the Corporate Fraud Investigation Team directly on 01702-215254 or e-mail counterfraud@southend.gov.uk.

“All information received is treated in the strictest confidence.”

Arson, Rape, Vandalism, ……

Its been a bad August so far, the Officer’s Mess goes up in flames, though I understand some of it may be salvageable, I have asked to be kept briefed and to have a look around once it is safe etc. Then we read that there have been two rapes in the town centre and now 6 real time info signs at bus stops have been deliberately targeted and damaged. Ok, so the last is not as bad as the first two but its all symptomatic of a society thats going wrong. There is a general disrespect of people and property and its not just the young .

Comments Closed

IMPROVEMENTS UNDERWAY ON EAST BEACH

 How do you know what an independent will do?  Firstly Cllr Assenheim agrees to the scheme, he told officers at his briefing on East Beach that the proposals would deal with the problems and he stated in an e-mail –

“If he  (he being a local resident) did, in fact, tell you that I was opposed to many items of the proposals, he got the wrong end of the stick. What I did say to him was, personally I am in favour of the scheme only if, as I said at the Meeting, we have 100% enforcement on everything, otherwise I don’t agree. “

Cllr Assenheim receieved full details of the new enforcement regime and was assurred all cars would have payment enforced, within the realms of common sense.

Then he decides he is opposed to scheme and he and his new found convert from Labour, Ann Chalk, start a concerted effort to thwart the improvements by constantly requesting more and more info and raising more and more queries all of which the officers have to deal with. They have wasted time and money as officers have spent hours responding to them.

 Comments closed

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

improvements underway- East Beach

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cars under a tree- East Beach

Independents have caused delay and expense but work commenced this week.