Concerned about rural crime? Then this meeting’s for you!
Tuesday 30 June 2020
Members of the rural community can put their questions and concerns about rural crime to a Facebook panel this evening (Tuesday, June 30). The event starts at 7pm and the panel includes Roger Hirst, Police and Crime Commissioner for Essex; Rachel Nolan, Assistant Chief Constable; and Chief Inspector Terry Balding. To join, click here Read more >
Our Lovely Essex: another winning treble from Ken McDonald
Tuesday 30 June 2020
Ken McDonald is another supporter whose photographs have helped make Our Lovely Essex such a success. Here are three more. As ever, thanks Ken! Read more >
Planning and democracy during the Covid-19 pandemic: letter to the county’s planners
Thursday 25 June 2020
Among so many issues we have all had to confront during the Covid-19 lockdown, the manner in which the planning process is conducted has been of particular concern to CPRE Essex. To ensure our local authorities are aware that we are as alert as ever, and hopefully to encourage them to engage in full, open […] Read more >
Our Lovely Essex: a productive stroll with the camera
Thursday 25 June 2020
Ken McDonald took this series of shots “while out recording some new walking routes that will be added to the Hundred Parishes website in due course”. Read more >
A12 widening scheme loses government funding after garden-communities plan crumbles
Wednesday 24 June 2020
The collapse of plans for a cluster of ‘garden communities’ in north Essex has claimed another victim… or success, depending on your viewpoint. Last month’s announcement that a planning inspector had found proposals for large housing developments at West Tey and West of Braintree ‘unsound’ has led to the government withdrawing £272 million previously earmarked […] Read more >
The quarry that would ‘destroy a landscape shaped by hundreds of years of history’
Tuesday 23 June 2020
A new quarry proposed for Coggeshall “would affect the lives of local residents for decades and destroy for ever a landscape shaped by hundreds of years of history”, according to a campaign group. CRAQ (Coggeshall Residents Against the Quarry) says that if the county council approves a planning application for the quarry, “it will cause […] Read more >
‘Decision on Ebbsfleet tunnels offers a sustainable future’
Tuesday 23 June 2020
The Thames estuary is being targeted for high levels of development and we can only hope that some of the proposals being mooted do not come to pass. One concept we should be promoting, however, is sustainable transport and here we feature a cross-county project that has found favour south of the river. The KenEx […] Read more >
Our Lovely Essex through a (smaller) lens
Monday 22 June 2020
Manuden Church has featured before in Our Lovely Essex, but this shot taken from the bridleway between Stansted and Manuden by Janet Harris proves you don’t need hugely expensive cameras with giant lenses to capture something rather special. “I used my Panasonic TZ70 for this shot,” says Janet. “I can’t take my Olympus camera – the […] Read more >
Our Lovely Essex: how things have changed in Saffron Walden!
Friday 19 June 2020
Gordon Ridgewell’s shot of Castle Street in Saffron Walden reminds us how much things can change. “In the early 1900s, 1,200 people lived in this street and it had five pubs, according to the 1911 census,” says Gordon. “When I was at school in the 1940s I was told not to walk here and policemen […] Read more >
Our Lovely Essex: of vigilance and vipers
Thursday 18 June 2020
The word ‘Essex’ is, for those lucky enough to live here, interchangeable with ‘Paradise’, but of course we must never be naïve or complacent… after all, even the Garden of Eden had its viper. Joanna Campora lives in the south of the county and sent us two images that show how quickly we can lose […] Read more >