Over the weekend we received the disappointing news from Essex County Council that they were unwilling to let the Burnham Library Orchard project go ahead, with some not very detailed reasons about ‘infrastructure’ which seem to pertain to the library building itself which would have been unaffected by the proposal.
Tuesday. The Dengie Hundred Bus Users Group (DHBUG) monthly meeting. Hints that the D1 bus might be under threat of being withdrawn now, another hit to Dengie services.
Wednesday – I signed some documents as part of the process of formally registering eMpower Maldon as a Community Benefit Society. John Philpot’s done most of the admin work getting us to this point. We should be registered before the Community Led Energy Planning meeting in Maldon town in March.
Friday. I represented DHBUG on a Teams meeting with a few parish councillors to discuss applications for the ‘Love Your Bus’ Grant funding. The scheme provides Parish and Town Councils with the opportunity to secure grants of up to ÂŁ50,000 for projects aimed at increasing bus patronage and enhancing local services. The initiative will support ‘innovative projects’ that: increase passenger numbers; improve service frequency and coverage; or attract new users through community engagement and marketing. Applications need to be in by February 21st so time is tight. Money has to be spent by 31st March 2026.
Is this in line with the national, regional, county and district ambitions of a modal shift from the private automobile? It seems a weird way of going about it and comes on the back of a few years of reduced timetables, cut services, threats of more cuts, the bankruptcy of a bus provider, and the recent 50% price hike in fares.
The DHBUG position on this funding is to focus on modest improvements of existing services with a good likelihood of proving commercial viability that will allow them to continue after the funding dries up. To this end, it proposes that First Bus add an additional service on the 31 in the morning peak between Burnham and Chelmsford and supports a proposal by Cllr Ayedole from Mayland for a twice-a-weekday route change of the 31 to allow Mayland/Maylandsea residents to connect with commuter rail services on the Crouch Valley line at Southminster. Mayland is the largest settlement on the Dengie without a rail service so it makes sense on that score (but a bus direct to Althorne station would be better in my opinion)
Once you get a bunch of people together from across the peninsula to discuss bus services it’s unavoidable that the conversation will be dominated by the disconnect between current provision and what a service sufficient to both serve the needs of the carless and produce a modal shift in the carried would look like. There was advocacy for a ‘Dengie loop bus’ connecting ‘all’ the villages but little attention to the financial model for, nor the sustainability of, such a venture without the backing of Essex County Council (ECC). ECC has just cut the subsidy and reduced the service on a bus route (the D4) that served some Dengie villages – and one year of ÂŁ50k is not going to produce anything better.
The meeting was also attended by two members of new kids on the block, Community 360 – a charity offering low-cost transport provision for people in the local community who have limited mobility or who would otherwise be socially excluded or geographically isolated. This mix of ‘social taxi’ and ‘social bus’ services is the transit of last resort stuff – and seems to be outside the criteria for Love Your Bus Grant funding in any case.
It was good to hear Cllrs Fittock and Ayedole proposing models of what a bus service fit for purpose would look like on the Dengie – but we need commitment and a funding model from ECC!
Later the same day I received a response to my FOI request to see the results of the Maldon District Future Transport Strategy consultation that ended in August 2023. They gave me what I asked for, ending a long quest for this data, including a report on the consultation that had been completed in December 2023! but remained unreleased until now.
There’s lots of good stuff in it that I’m still going through – it adds another piece to the evidence base for better active travel and public transport infrastructure in the District – but we have enough evidence now – we need action!
Saturday. Dengie Marshes Wind Farm proposal has been aired to the public. I wrote some about that already here. On Saturday members of their team were in Burnham for the second of their public events and were taking questions. I went with a bunch of mine and they were answered reasonably satisfactorily. I spoke again with Tim Hancock who I met last year when the proposal first emerged. Some details remain unavailable yet eg. the environmental surveys done by Logika, the exact proposed positions of the turbines and their size, the responses from the RSPB and Essex Wildlife Trust, the exact proposal for habitat creation and biodiversity net gain and its location. If it goes ahead, I think there could be a role for eMpower in securing a community equity stake.
At the event, I bumped into Les McDonald, the newly elected shy-Labour town councillor and spoke with him for a while about community ownership and improving PROW across the marshes.
Sunday – I responded to the Treasury call for input on what to prioritise in its multi-year Spending Review in June. I focused on transport and mobility spending. My representation summary:
‘Prioritize transportation investment in public transit and active travel infrastructure, rather than allocating funds to costly new road developments. This approach will benefit the economy, the environment and public health by reducing air, noise, and water pollution, addressing social inequalities, lowering carbon emissions, enhancing productivity, and stimulating economic growth.‘
Day Job
The Government whisperers are working on their submissions to the spending review. Who knows where the UK economy is going to be by June though
Everyday Life
Still hacking plaster and cement off the kitchen wall.
Continuing with my digital art of the Trumpocene – it’s a compulsion rather than a desire – I need these people out of my head
Thursday – the Burnham Town Council elections for South Ward. It’s been a shit show for several reasons – not least because a rumour came out that one of the two Reform UK candidates had pulled out leaving the two open roles with only two candidates and uncontested. The expense of the election had been incurred by then though and it was too late to cancel the election happening. Right up to the day before the election, both elected representatives and council officers were still sharing with the electorate that the election would be uncontested. As a result, many folk decided it wasn’t worth going to vote. But on the day, both Reform UK candidates made an appearance and as they both remained on the ballot they were available to vote for.
Friday. The election results. Only one of the Reform UK candidates got it – which was the best that could be hoped for by this point. Turnout was a measly 15.5 %. This takes the Reform UK presence in the council to 3 seats in total and it’s a dark premonition of elections ahead.
Media
TV
Severance S02E04 – I remain convinced that the ‘innies’ are not in a physical space but a virtual one. The way this episode ends I think we might get a reveal of that next week.
Books
Still reading Gareth Dennis’s How the Railways Will Fix the Future: Rediscovering the Essential Brilliance of the Iron Road
Music
Online
Dengie Bioregion 