Subject to contract negotiations, Lippitts Hill will be closed during the financial year 2016/17

The current plan is to run 2 helicopters 24/7 from Lippitts Hill until 2016/17 when they will be moved to Elstree.   The Engineering Section which maintains the helicopters has already been relocated from Lippitts Hill to Oxford

The National Police Air Service has confirmed plans to move to a 15-base model.  The announcement means 19 rotary aircraft (helicopters) and four fixed-wing aircraft will be in operation once all the plans are in place.  There are currently 23 aircraft in the NPAS fleet.

The underlying principle of NPAS is a national service, coordinated by a lead force in West Yorkshire for local delivery. The nearest available NPAS aircraft now attends requests from forces rather than under the old model where individual forces would own and operate their own helicopter in isolation.  NPAS also means that there are reserve aircraft on stand-by in case any aircraft have maintenance problems.  NPAS have already achieved overall savings of 23 per cent, amounting to £11 million

The Accountable Manager for the National Police Air Service, Chief Superintendent Ian Whitehouse, said:

"NPAS needs to find further substantial financial savings with a target of 14% of revenue cuts over the next three years. This is on top of the 23% savings already made.  "Local police forces facing similar savings are looking at how they rationalise their estate and ways of operating and NPAS is no different in this regard.  "There is no easy way of doing this and difficult decisions have to be made. On Thursday (19 February) the National Police Air Service Strategic Board therefore decided to move to the 15-base model.

"This move will help improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the service and mean that every base supports police forces 24hours a day. It is a move based on an analysis of potential threat, risk and harm to the public we serve.  "Part of the move will also see four fixed-wing aircraft form part of the fleet. These will be based out of the East Midlands Airport. Fixed-wing aircraft are cheaper to fly than rotary aircraft."

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Mark Burns-Williamson, the West Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner and the Chairman of the NPAS Strategic Board, said:

 "It has not been an easy decision to move to a 15-base model but these are the sort of difficult decisions that have to be taken with the economic climate we are all operating in.  The Board have been assured that the performance of NPAS will be maintained in line with the needs of the forces and PCCs we serve as we move to a truly borderless tasking of the national air service, the Board will be robustly monitoring this transition and performance to ensure an effective and efficient service is delivered through this unique national collaboration."

Epping Forest District Council set a nil-increase Council Tax precept for the fifth year in succession on 17 February 2015. The average band D charge for a property will remain at £148.77 a year. Council Leader Councillor Chris Whitbread commended the new budget and Council Tax for approval. The new budget comes into effect in April.

Zero increase in Council Tax

The zero increase in Council Tax has been achieved despite central government funding reduction of approximately 60% over the last 5 years. The books have been balanced and significant projects are going forward. The first new council houses to be built in decades are due to be completed this year. The new waste management and recycling contract commenced just before Christmas will provide an enhanced service and several hundred thousands of pounds savings to the budget each year. The council is moving forward with investment plans for a retail park at Langston Road to generate jobs for local people as well as income for council services.

Thanks in large part to a £1million bid for lottery funding, the council continues to invest in cultural services with the redevelopment of the Epping Forest District Museum in Waltham Abbey. The council is working hard to ensure it can meet the aspirations of local residents following consultation on the future of St John’s Road in Epping.

Resources will continue to be channelled into the production of a new Local Plan for Epping Forest. The plan is nearing the next public consultation stage with emphasis on balancing the need for jobs, housing and other development with protection and conservation of the local environment. The council will also continue to work hard on behalf of those residents in greatest need, maintaining resources to prevent homelessness before it occurs, providing benefits to people, and generating growth in the local economy for jobs.

Reduction in government funding

Finance Portfolio Holder Syd Stavrou reminded councillors of the long process leading to the completion of the budget. A 14.2% reduction in central government funding was welcomed by councillor Stavrou insofar as the cut was slightly less than expected, leading the council to a slightly better overall position of approximately £75,000. Councillor Stavrou also listed better than expected returns on Business Rates and the New Homes Bonus. Councillor Stavrou said that it was a sign of the strength of the Housing Revenue Account that the council could build new homes with a rent increase of only 2.2% next year. The council’s total gross revenue expenditure for 2015/16 will be £123 million.

Despite the strength of the council budgets, Councillor Stavrou said that the Council retained a responsibility to avoid complacency and continue to search for savings. To that end she also noted a small invest to save budget specifically to support new ideas for efficiency and future savings.

Epping Forest District Council has been a low-tax council for many years. Council Stavrou said that this was how she intended it to remain.

Councillors across the council chamber broadly supported the new budget. Councillor Chris Pond spoke for the Loughton Residents Association, identifying differences on points of detail while supporting the main features of the new budget. Councillor Jon Whitehouse, speaking for the Liberal Democrat Group was also in agreement with the broad principles of the budget while looking for detailed changes to items on car-parking tariffs and voluntary sector funding. An amendment to reflect his suggestions was defeated.

A good budget for local people

Council Leader Chris Whitbread strongly recommended the District Council budget. Speaking after the meeting, Council Leader Chris Whitbread said: “This is a good budget for local people, for the 5th year we have been able to freeze the council tax whilst finding savings and protecting the services we all care about.”

Safeguarding

Earlier in the meeting, councillors were wished a happy New Year by Council Chairman Tony Boyce as they gathered for the first meeting of the Full Council since Christmas. Moving swiftly from the tongue-in-cheek greeting, Councillor Boyce read the contents of a letter from Crisis at Christmas thanking him and the council for supporting its work over the festive season.

Councillor Gary Waller followed up the chairman’s comments with a statement about the importance of safeguarding at Christmas and throughout the year. He urged councillors to take advantage of the latest training available to help them where they might become aware of domestic abuse or other safeguarding issues through their official duties.

• Watch the webcast of the Council meeting on 17 February 2015
• Read the agenda of the Council meeting on 17 February 2015

A wonderful time was had by both young and old as Waltham Abbey celebrate Shrove Tuesday with pancake racing down Sun Street.
Now an established annual event in it's fifth year, record attendance saw 77 children enjoying the sunshine as they battled for glory
With local businesses represented as well, on and off the racecourse, the day was a resounding success.

Special thanks to Duncan Phillips for sponsoring & presenting pancake race winners cups and Michelle Moore, who represented Tescos as their community champion, for supplying the prizes

Pictures from all the races can be found here on Flickr

Epping Forest District Council has announced a revised strategy for Council car parks, to come into force on 1 July this year.  The strategy and new charging tariffs will be debated at a Cabinet meeting on 2 February.

• An initial charge of 20p for the first 30 minutes in all car parks is to apply - an increase on the present charge of 10p.
  

Cabinet member Cllr Gary Waller, who is Portfolio Holder, Safer, Greener & Transport, commented: "We are continuing with a low cost tariff for the first half hour of parking, deliberately intended to support the economic viability of town centre businesses.  While the amount is obviously higher than the present 10p, it still represents exceptional value, bearing in mind that in such neighbouring places as Bishop's Stortford, Ilford and Braintree, the initial charge is currently between 80p and £1.10 (for up to an hour)."

• Increased tariffs, applying in most car parks, will remain competitive with other nearby retail centres.  For example, it will cost £1.80 to park for up to 2 hours in a short-stay car park, compared with £1.60 at present.
  

Cllr Waller commented: " In return for these increases, we shall be offering better parking facilities, including more user-friendly pay-and-display machines and enhanced CCTV for improved security."

• A charge of £1.00 will be introduced to park all day on Saturdays, Sundays and bank holidays in in those car parks that are currently free, but one will still be able to park for up to 2 hours on those days without charge.  Parking will remain free all day at weekends in December.
  

Cllr Waller commented: "This is intended to benefit local retailers on prime shopping days, as local shopping trips may well take less than 2 hours.  On the other hand, those who park up to catch a train to do their shopping at Westfield or in central London will incur a modest charge."

• Apart from the 20p initial charge for 30 minutes, no tariff increases will take place in Waltham Abbey and Ongar car parks, bearing in mind that those places do not provide access to London Underground or national rail services and are localities where local shops need particular support.
  
• Before the new tariff regime comes into effect in July, new smart pay-and-display machines are to be installed.
  

Cllr Waller commented: "The existing machines are now obsolete and spare parts are becoming ever harder to source.  The new smart machines, costing £100,000 in total, will not only be cheaper to maintain but they will also provide better value, being linked to the Internet so that they can provide us with real time information about customer usage, for instance letting us know when the paper reels are about to run out, so that they can be replaced in good time."

A similar sum of around £100,000 is to be spent on new CCTV systems to provide all car  parks with full coverage and to make them safer to use.

Cllr Gary Waller commented: Although Epping Forest District Council is committed to protecting its residents, for instance with a nil rise in Council Tax, we are not immune to higher costs, which must be reflected in car park charges.  In return, we are determined to offer a better customer experience worthy of the national Park Safe accolade which has been awarded to all our Council car parks."

Essex County Council is consulting on a strategy that sets out how they want to grow and improve the bus network.
The council provides financial support for nearly 200 bus services including routes connecting Ongar, Epping and Waltham Abbey.
A spokesman said: “We want to get the views from as many people as possible so, however you get around in Essex, we want to hear what you have to say.”
You can take part in the consultation by completing the survey online or phoning 01376 572829.
The closing date is March 31.

Britain's highest earners pay more than a quarter of the country's entire income tax bill, more than when the Coalition came into power.
Nearly 300,000 taxpayers are forecast pay the equivalent of £45.9billion in income tax between them by the end of this year, equivalent to £150,000 each.
The amount they have paid has risen from 25 per cent ot the nation's tax bill when Labour came into power to 27.3 per cent this year.