TENDRING NEWS AND NOTES Your District Councillors Report
	* Everybody is fed up with the members of the community who seem to think that they can dump their rubbish anywhere leaving you, through your Council Tax, to pay for it to be cleared up.  We have now put into place a policy of issuing an on the spot fine of £50 for people caught dumping, with the alternative of going to court where a maximum fine of £20,000 could be imposed.  This campaign began on Saturday 20th April with a launch in the Brooklands and Grasslands area of Jaywick, and has been followed by a concerted effort from officers of both TDC (Waste Management and Pollution Team Officers) and the Environment Agency identifying and issuing fixed penalty notices against offenders who have illegally dumped waste.  The Environment Agency will also be undertaking checks of waste carriers in the district.  The civil offence fine is imposed under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and was £25, but from the 1st April the fine was raised to £50.  The campaign will be district wide and will apply to anybody leaving litter, but to be quite honest it will concentrate on Fly Tipping around the district and for obvious reasons will not be at the same level as that during the initial launch period.  This operation is being described as  “No tolerance on the fly-tipping problem” and “a zero-tolerance operation to purge environmental vandalism”.     * The Council is still trying to decide where to hold its ‘Main’ Council Meeting.  The Meeting room at Weeley is rather cramped for 80 or so Councillors and Officers who attend and other venues around the District have been looked at such as the Columbine Centre at Walton-on-the-Naze, the Venture Centre at Lawford, the Park Pavilion at Harwich and Brightlingsea Community Centre, locations suggested by members when this matter was considered earlier.  In the meantime the Council have met three times in the Princes Theatre, Clacton, which has the advantage that it can accommodate as many members of the public as may wish to attend, and this number could increase now that the public can ask direct questions of the Council and its members at meetings.  * The Tendring Coast Protection Strategy up to 2007 has been drawn up and circulated for comment before firm proposals are put before the Council.  We mention this in case any resident of St. Osyth chooses to comment, because the whole of our waterfront boundary is outside of the Tendring plan and dealt with under the umbrella of the Environment Agency.  The strong winds and high tides of March left a considerable amount of our unprotected beaches washed away, with rough estimates stating that about one foot has gone.  Your Councillors will keep this matter under consideration for report direct to the Environment Agency. Councillors John White & Michael Talbot.