Cllrs Ault and Staines

31/08/2026

31/08/2026

This Thursday 3 Sept marks BBC Norman Day - but where can you see their presence nearby?

Some good examples include 👇
Castle Hedingham
Colchester Castle and St Botolphs Priory
St John the Baptist, Finchingfield
St Michael & All Angles Copford
Coggeshall Abbey, Coggeshall

28/08/2026

FINCHINGFIELD BRIDGE – ACTION AT LAST

Following our recent site meeting with Essex Highways, residents deserve to know both what has been spent and what is now being done to protect Finchingfield.

Figures provided by Essex Highways show that £891,836 of taxpayers’ money has been spent on Finchingfield Bridge since 2017. This comprises:

* £581,187 in subcontractor and professional fees
* £310,649 in staff costs

Essex Highways has explained that these figures include design work, maintenance and collision repairs, as well as work connected with previous bridge replacement and strengthening proposals.

Despite almost £900,000 being spent, the fundamental problem remains: large vehicles continue to strike and damage the bridge. Repairs carried out as recently as March were damaged again shortly afterwards.

Strengthening the bridge may address its structural capacity, but it will not prevent vehicles from hitting it. There is an old saying that doing the same thing repeatedly while expecting a different result is the definition of insanity. We now need practical measures that deal with the cause of the damage—not simply more repairs after another collision.

County Cllr Carl Johnson and I met Essex Highways on site to examine possible solutions. These included:

* Protective bollards or carefully designed barriers near the bridge
* A protective plate on the vulnerable southern parapet
* Measures to protect the Grade I listed Guildhall on Church Hill
* A possible build-out, island or other traffic-calming measures
* Better routing of large vehicles approaching the village
* Protecting other vulnerable buildings and infrastructure along the routes

Any proposal will need proper design, planning consideration and an independent road-safety assessment. Finchingfield is a historic village, so whatever is installed must protect people and property without damaging the character of the conservation area.

Essex Highways has now agreed to raise this work with Peter Massie, Head of Essex Highways Commissioning, so that the feasibility of measures to prevent further strikes at both the bridge and the Guildhall can be considered. Cllr Johnson is also taking the matter directly to the Cabinet Member for Highways.

It is genuinely encouraging to be working cross-party with Cllr Johnson and the Reform-led county administration. In a relatively short time, we have seen more practical engagement and momentum than we experienced during the previous three and a half years.

This is not about party politics for its own sake. It is about protecting our historic village, safeguarding taxpayers’ money and preventing the same damage from happening time and again.

Actions speak louder than words. We will continue pushing until practical protection is delivered—not merely discussed.

28/08/2026

A Massive shout out to Essex County Council Leadership, Reform, Thankyou

28 August 2026


Operation Vanguard announced

Essex County Council’s Leader has announced a plan to introduce security to three town and city centres to provide reassurance to residents, with the number of asylum seekers at the Home Office’s Wethersfield accommodation centre set to increase by more than 50%.

Operation Vanguard is being announced in response to community concerns regarding the gatherings of men who are resident at the base and are bussed into Braintree, Colchester and Chelmsford town centres on a daily basis.

Operation Vanguard will introduce security operatives into the three town and city centres, funded by the county council, as a visible presence to reassure residents and deter and prevent any anti-social behaviour. The county council is in the process of contracting a security company.

The county council will play a supportive role by informing Essex Police of any issues that may arise.

The move is intended as a trial with the contract running for an initial three-month period, allowing for adoption of the service. The council seeks urgent discussions with the Home Office and Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, regarding the level of resources public services receive to help mitigate the impacts of facilities like Wethersfield on nearby communities. There will be consultation on the initiative with partners including Essex Police, Braintree District Council and Colchester and Chelmsford City Councils.

Wethersfield is currently a short-term home to approximately 800 men awaiting the determination of asylum applications, but which the Home Office recently announced would be expanding to accommodate 1,245 migrants, and potentially 1,700.

The Leader of Essex County Council, Councillor Peter Harris, said: “This is a positive and proportionate response to the concerns residents have been raising for many months now regarding the daily bussing of asylum seekers from Wethersfield to Braintree, Colchester and Chelmsford.

“Concerns for community safety are clearly there, particularly among women and girls, because of the daily gatherings of asylum seekers – gatherings which will increase in number and size as the facility expands.

“I have voiced these concerns directly to the Home Office, which now runs a fleet of 17 minibuses to the three nearest towns and cities on a daily basis.

“The induction process which migrants undergo at the centre is in my view woefully inadequate, especially on their introduction to British culture and the expectations we have of acceptable behaviour toward to women and girls. But we are not prepared to sit on our hands and wait for the next incident. We are taking action.”

Councillor Harris said that at a visit last week to Wethersfield, he was struck by the levels of comfort and activities the facility provided.

He added: “You would have to question whether daily trips to the nearest town and cities are justified given the comprehensive nature of what is provided at Wethersfield. This is an issue I will be returning to with the Home Office as a matter of urgency.”

https://www.essex.gov.uk/news/2026/operation-vanguard-announced

28/08/2026

Dear residents

Michael and I want to update residents following a political change at Braintree District Council today.

A number of our Independent Colleagues have decided to join the Conservative Party.
Michael and I have decided not to join the Conservative Party or remain affiliated with the Greens.

We were elected as Independents to put our residents and communities first— not to provide support for any majority administrations at Essex County or Braintree District which have, in our view, repeatedly exposed Three Fields & Rayne communities to huge and ongoing threats which we feel will increase in future within the bigger Unitary Authority called North East Essex and "so called" regional devolution.

So, our straightforward position remains unchanged:

We will remain genuinely independent from any national party
We will put residents before party politics
We will continue working cross-party, cross-council and cross-community
We will support sensible proposals, regardless of who puts them forward
We will challenge decisions which disadvantage villages in the current ward and any future North East Essex election boundary which includes 3 Fields (i.e. combined 3 Fields & Rayne wards - May 2027)
We will continue fighting for more local decision making to get better roads, safer communities, protect our unique heritage, landscapes and rural economies and secure rural infrastructure and services that support all residents - ensuring a strong voice for all residents (however they vote nationally).
With communities and Parish Councils - we will continue to oppose top-down housing targets that exceed local need and other planning challenges e.g. extended asylum reception use / prisons at Wethersfield, acres of Solar on productive farmland, soulless datacentres and warehouses and ensure post mineral extraction planning conditions are upheld.

Working cross-party means working constructively with anyone prepared to help us secure positive results for you and this area.

Our commitment has not changed. We will continue to be visible, accessible and accountable— standing up for you and the communities we are elected to represent.

Residents first. Communities before parties. Local Action over political noise.

Cllr Mark Ault and Cllr Michael Staines

Independent Councillors for Three Fields Ward

28/08/2026

Braintree District Council Could you please pick up the bags of litter from the areas identified in what three words.

In today’s litter haul along Wethersfield Road we had the joy of picking up , soiled tracksuit trousers, underpants, T shirt, saucepan lid, hairdryer, 23 empty cans of Carlsberg lager, numerous other beer cans, vapes, sandwich wrappers and loads more rubbish !! There is a word for the people doing this ?

26/08/2026

🤔What do we know about Wethersfield's future?

The Local Planning Authority for Wethersfield is Braintree District Council (not Essex County Council). In correspondence with the Corporate Director for Planning at Braintree here is the latest 👇

✍️BDC has written to the Home Office asking how they will approach planning to extend use for Asylum reception accommodation beyond April 2027 when their emergency permission runs out. BDC has had NO reply from HO at the time of this email.

🤔BDC is also keeping planning enforcement options "under review" - so sending planning related complaints NOW to https://www.braintree.gov.uk/xfp/form/193 could be a good idea - these may include the impact of unwanted protests, volume and speed of traffic to and from the bases multiple gates, intrusive press and media attention of residents, anti-social behaviour locally (and not so locally) from Service Users* (*asylum seekers) and others, litter proliferation, dangerous walking on unlit rural national speed limit roads (especially as we near longer nights) and even fewer visitor numbers in 2026 season put off by the ongoing attention etc...

💪The amazing team in WASC Wethersfield Airbase Scrutiny Committee and SWAP - Stop Wethersfield Airfield Prison have done the heavy lift of establishing; the potential extent /risk of ground contamination at the site, a great case to conserve important historic buildings and extensive curtilage related to the sites former defence use and important landscape considerations too - which have lead to the development of the resident lead Finchingfield and Wethersfield Neighbourhood Plan for the ENTIRE SITE (not just the 10% currently occupied by the Home Office for asylum reception).

⚠️The Home Office is NOT responsible for Prisons (its the Ministry of Justice)

🤔So - when will the Finchingfield and Neighbourhood Plan be approved to inform and direct future use of the site?

🎯Latest update is that BDC is currently recruiting / appointing an Examiner with a target of complete review of the draft joint Neighbourhood Plan by the end of this year - so it can be issued for Local Referendum ahead of it being "made" and be inserted into the place holders already included in Braintree District Councils last LOCAL PLAN (before Braintree District Council is subsumed within the North East Essex Unitary Authority with Colchester and Tendring).

⚠️In our regular monthly sessions with representatives from the Home Office at Wethersfield, Local Parishes, Local Cllrs and Officers are all awaiting updates on the following topics raised (again in July)...

👕👟📱 Home Office review of "facilitated donations" [including but not limited to Care4calais to bring this activity INSIDE the Wethersfield site (reducing issues in Braintree Town centre].

🚌Lower frequency / bus movements to and from site - although this conflicts with the limited facilities available at the site (feeding / structured recreation - as asylum seekers cannot work) and highlights the sites unsuitability for performing this role in any capacity.

🎯Home Office plans to quit the site (in one action or phased) could enable a better Community, Economic and Ecological use for the entire site positively boosting the local area in line with the Finchingfield and Wethersfield Neighbourhood Plan. (We understand that the Home Office has hired a real estate consultant - but want to see their proposals and approach to assess viability and ensure full community engagement).

We think HO massively overpaid the MoD for the site - failing to undertake sufficient due diligence in their dash for asylum reception space and we hope the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) will now review its interest in this site for mega Prisons and formally remove it from ANY and ALL plans as quickly as possible.

Cllr Michael Staines

Report a breach of planning permission