Happy Christmas from CPRE Essex… together we will get through this
Thursday 24 December 2020
Happy Christmas from us all at CPRE Essex. We will be here in 2021 fighting for all that you – and we – love about this most glorious of counties. The sun will shine again… Read more >
How lockdown drove more people to the countryside… and produced more litter
Tuesday 22 December 2020
It can’t come as a surprise to anyone who loves the countryside that one of the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic has been a shocking increase in litter. More than a third of adults in England (38 per cent) have seen more litter near to where they live since the start of the pandemic and […] Read more >
Snap, snap, jab! Camera wizard Gordon takes the fight to Covid
Tuesday 22 December 2020
It’s clear photographer Gordon Ridgewell, of Our Lovely Essex fame, is intending on sticking around and entertaining us with his images for some considerable time yet! He informs us: “I had the jab at 1.30 on Saturday. It was like a military operation at Saffron Walden Leisure Centre. About 50 volunteers were helping, with six […] Read more >
We jingled, we didn’t mingle and we all had the most wonderful time!
Thursday 17 December 2020
David Knight, CPRE Essex chairman, joined some 500 others for the hugely successful Essex Farmers’ Drive-in Carol Service in Chelmsford Advertised as Jingling without the Mingling and held at Chelmsford City Racecourse on a chilly, grey and wet December afternoon, the brilliantly-organised Essex Farmers’ Drive-in Carol Service was an absolute pleasure. Led by Rev Canon Janet […] Read more >
Chance to take part in consultation on proposed solar farm
Thursday 10 December 2020
Another day, another consultation. This time for a solar farm near Chelmsford. Longfield Solar Farm is being put forward by EDF Renewables UK and Padero Solar for almost 940 acres north-east of Chelmsford and north of the A12 between Boreham and Hatfield Peverel. The developers say the scheme would generate electricity for up to 67,000 […] Read more >
Councillors revolt over government plans to dismantle planning system
Thursday 10 December 2020
CPRE, the countryside charity, and Friends of the Earth are joining more than 2,000 local councillors to call on the government to rethink its planning proposals and work with locally-elected representatives to create the places and homes communities so desperately needed. A total of 2,062 local councillors have called on the government to abandon the […] Read more >
Colourful memories from the summer to give us all some cheer amid the gloom
Thursday 10 December 2020
Gloomy, isn’t it! Grey seems to be the order of the day in so many ways. For some that is doubtless not an issue, but others will cherish just a memory of warmer, more colourful days. So here’s a picture from the redoubtable Gordon Ridgewell, who took this shot of two small tortoiseshells back in […] Read more >
Uttlesford council is keen to involve the community in its Local Plan… so let’s take the opportunity
Thursday 10 December 2020
The Uttlesford Local Plan will (theoretically, at least) guide the development of the district over the next 15 years and residents are asked to take part in its formation. The first of nine themes or ‘mini-consultations’ was held last month (November), starting what the district council describes as “the start of a six-month conversation about […] Read more >
Jingle but don’t mingle at drive-in carol service
Friday 4 December 2020
Goodness, have we ever been more in need of a good carol service! It has of course been one of the toughest years our country has endured in recent times – and for too many there has been tragedy. There is the hope of brighter times ahead, but we have, at the very least, a […] Read more >