On Thursday 7th May - Vote Independant
You can make a difference
Vote Neil Speight.
For more than two decades, I have called Stanford-le-Hope home.
During that time the demands and pressure on our communities in Stanford and Corringham have grown - but the support and infrastructure provided by Thurrock Council has not.
The demolition and debacle over Stanford rail station exemplifies how poorly this part of the borough has been treated. We have seen our community grow, but we know there is more work to be done.
My vision is rooted in your everyday needs — safer streets, stronger local businesses, better infrastructure and a future we can all be proud of.
I am running again because I believe we need more local focus not less.
Other candidates may focus on national issues that Thurrock's council chamber can't affect. They will be dragged into dogma and inaction.
I pledge to continue to stand up as your voice.
To challenge and demand more for you, your parents and your children.
We now have the added challenge of incorporation with Basildon. I will ensure that the voice of Stanford and Corringham is not lost.
Three things I will strive to achieve from day 1
Driving improvement through actionable, targeted policy and community-centered growth in Stanford South.
01
More local power
I will be pressing and working with Thurrock Association of Forums (TAF) to reboot a Stanford-le-Hope Forum with the ultimate aim of creating a Stanford & Corringham Parish Council which will fill the gap created by the merger with Basildon.
02
Ensuring our station is rebuilt properly
The debacle around Stanford rail station is disgraceful. The time for talking has to stop. The time for rebuilding is now. We don't want a world travel hub, we want a station with protection from the weather, safe access, a shop/cafe and a useable ticket office.
03
Improving our environment
It's time our towns got some TLC. We need a dedicated environmental team to clean up and maintain our paths, our alleys, our verges and our public spaces. Hardie Park and Corringham town parks must be maintained better. They are the green lungs of our community.
Neil 4 Stanford South is more than a campaign by one man seeking election. It's my belief our community has been let down and our voices have not been listened to. I have enjoyed success on a number of levels for both individuals and community organisation in the former Stanford West ward. The mandate of a second election success will be a clear marker that Stanford and Corringham has a voice - we are not nodding dogs to political dogma. I will continue to be a powerful voice for you.
I live here. I work here, I enjoy my leisure time here. I am 100 per cent committed to this community.
I pledge to be your strong voice. Challenging and standing up for residents in Stanford-le-Hope and Corringham, where I live and work.
Neil Speight is an independent councillor on Thurrock Council, an award-winning editor and investigative journalist, a stalwart supporter of the south Essex community in general and a keen activist and campaigner on behalf of a varied array of local organisations and charities.
He has lived and raised a family in Stanford-le-Hope, where he has lived for more than 22 years.
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Your Voice, Your Vote
harder for more safeguarding, more accountability and better environment for learning for our children.
Our healthcare service remains poor. Stanford and Corringham were promised a state-of-the-art integrated medical centre. Yes it’s been built but it has nowhere near the level of services promised.
And it was supposed to solve the GP crisis. That pledge is almost a joke - you could laugh at it but its so serious you just want to cry.Basildon Hospital lurches from crisis but I have been almost a lone voice in condemning its leadership.
There’s choice, things must improve and I will lead on that.
Our two town centres are devoid of investment and grow shabbier by the week, while traders struggle to make their businesses pay with little or no help from council or government.
I will be calling for more localised relief for businesses in Stanford and Corringham and more investment to improve King Street, High Street and Corringham Road in Stanford and St Johns Way and the precinct in Corringham.
Despite claims to the contrary, Thurrock is awash with money that can be invested in our towns and we need a coherent, cogent ongoing plan to cut business rates, to provide parking and to make Stanford and Corringham town centres a place where you want to shop and spend time.
Over recent weeks we’ve seen Thurrock Council sell its soul and cave in to developers in Corringham.
I’m proud to say I’ve led battles that have put developments on Fairview Avenue and Butts Lane on hold and I was pleased to be part of the campaign that
All of us who live work and pay council tax in Thurrock are suffering.
We are not getting our money’s worth. We’re paying in, politicians and fat cat officers are taking out. It’s time for Thurrock Council to refocus on local issues and stop playing national politics.
The council is about to sit down and start negotiating the merger with Basildon in 2028 and the arrival of a county mayor in the same year.
Yet we are sitting at the table with a busted flush and a broken borough. If I get your vote and continue to have input around that table, I will be concentrating on local policies.
Despite countless claims from the Police and Crime Commissioner and whichever district commander is in place via the rotating doors of Grays police station that our towns are safe, we continue to see disorder, occasional violent crime, thefts, vandalism and anti-social behaviour.
What we rarely see are police officers on the beat.
As a community we must demand better policing and I will be leading on that on your behalf.
There’s no escaping the fact that Thurrock Council’s leadership sat on its hands while Gable Hall, Hassenbrook and Corringham primary have been rebranded and reshaped.
Yes, standards needed to be improved and action to be taken - but not at the risk of damaging our children’s state of mind.
Education leaders at Thurrock Council have stood by and done little to hold the Mossbourne Federation to account. I look forward to a change of leadership at the council and if elected I will be pressing even
Neil Speight
saw the super quarry plan halted in its tracks.
Those fights will probably need to be fought again and at the same time we must check that what has been promised where permission has been granted is delivered.
I have little trust in the big developers and we need much better planning enforcement across this borough, not just to save our threatened green belt, but to ensure local services can meet the need. Thousands of new people without infrastructure doesn’t work.
Reform are, of course, the ‘silver bullet’ solution - but they come with a lack of experience of local politics and some candidates who have served under flags of convenience and who have failed us before.
I see the attraction and they do offer change.
I am ready to work with them on your behalf to ensure the experience, knowledge and successes of my past three years of service are not lost. But talk of dinghies and other extreme rhetoric is out of place in Thurrock.
A vote for me ensures Stanford and Corringham concerns remain to the fore.
Our priorities are local and I will make sure the focus is on matters that affect our daily lives here in Thurrock. As for the rest, we simply cannot trust Labour or the Conservatives.