Welcome to the January 2008 issue of Great Baddow Online Newsletter

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Introduction

For newcomers to the site, this newsletter is circulated monthly to registered site members and friends, to supplement information on the site itself. Please forward to colleagues and other interested individuals in order to publicise the site. If you are a recent newcomer to the site, welcome - your readership is appreciated.

Happy New Year

We wish all friends and users of the site a happy and peaceful 2008 and hope that you will enjoy success in both work and pleasure activities.

Developments

We think that  publication of more detailed news features on the main page has been of benefit and has enabled more extensive comment on local issues. Of particular importance to Great Baddow residents are the proposals from Chelmsford Council concerning the Army and Development, and some additional comment is made later in this newsletter.

The only other minor change is to move the former "monthly diary of events" further up the left hand navigation column and rename it "What's on when!" to improve visibility and content description. We hope this encourages readers to check dates and times of regular meetings in the village; for details of specific meetings, please review the events section of the site in the right hand column.  

Rail services

Once again, commuters in Chelmsford which include quite a number from Baddow, have been subjected to significant increases in season ticket prices without any visible improvement in service quality. In addition to the closure of Liverpool Street over the Christmas period, over running of the engineering work resulted in ongoing closure this morning (2 January 2008) and I encourage people to complain to both 'one' and other rail authorities.

Chelmsford Borough Council - Proposals for an AQMA

The website already records comments concerning the Chelmsford Borough Council proposals for establishment of an Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) in the vicinity of the Army and Navy roundabout.

A consultation document has been published with proposals which for some options will impact on the road layout and use of the junction of Baddow Road and the roundabout.  Some of the options considered are summarised below.

• Changes to the Army and Navy junction itself including provision of a 2 way flyover, filter lanes from Van Diemans Road into Parkway and from Parkway into Chelmer Road
• Changes to town bound bus routes along Baddow Road and Meadgate Avenue including:
• Bus diversion via a new access route from Baddow Road to the bypass (probably impractical)
• Diversion back along Meadgate and Longmead Avenue to the fire station and then via the bypass
• Restriction of  the town bound section of Baddow Road between meadgate Avenue junction and the Army and Navy to buses only.
• Improvements to pedestrian and cycling access across the Army and Navy roundabout.

Some of these options are explored in detail in the consultation document but it is the proposals concerning the bottom part of Baddow Road itself which will have greatest impact on local residents.

Any diversion of bus services is likely to impact on travel times; particularly the possibility of rerouting back along Meadgate Avenue. This would necessitate a complete review of Baddow services because there would be no logic in sending inward buses along Baddow Road only to divert them back again along a parallel route.

At present the only concluding recommendation for implementation which impacts on road layout is the creation of a left hand filter lane from Van Diemans Road into Parkway; this in itself would not result in changes to bus services or traffic access to the bottom of Baddow Road. In the event that this did not result in improvements, then the creation of a town bound section of Baddow Road would be considered along with possible replacement of the flyover.

To be fair to the Council, this is a major issue to resolve, and there are detailed assessments of the impact of the various options provided in the consultation document. I recommend that if you likely to be affected by any of the proposals that you study them and take opportunity to comment.

Southend bus

A change to operator has resulted in a reduced frequency, Monday - Fridays only bus service on the Southend service. It is now operated by Regal Busways as service 3 at approximately 2 hourly intervals but will only operate until 2 February 2008. Continuation will depend on the operator receiving subsidies to cover the cost of carrying senior citizens with bus passes at no charge.

As I believe this could herald the start of other service reductions either locally or to other nearby towns I suggest individuals raise the issue with local councillors and request ongoing support for a Southend service.

Vineyards "Tiffany's cafe bar to open"

Visitors to the Vineyards will have noticed the changes taking place in the former restaurant. The theme is attractive and the pictures and film stills of Audrey Hepburn and other celebrities from the big screen, together with comfortable new seating provide an attractive place to sit, have a coffee and watch Baddow go by! 

The change to a cafe bar should make it  more appealing to a day time clientele and we wish the new owners every success in their new venture. I spoke to the proprietor a few days ago and it is planned to open on Saturday, 5 January 2008.

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