A Meet With Metcalfe
Reported by Deeana Radley
AFTER the election where the coalition government was formed and Basildon swung from Labour to Conservative after thirteen years, what does it now mean for our businesses and the general public? The Houses of Parliament, a breathtakingly beautiful building and the ideal setting to have an interview with Basildon and Thurrock’s local MP, Stephen Metcalfe. The issues of the local community unload onto him and his political strengths to uphold the forever expanding and developing area.
Probably one of the largest developments affecting the area is that of Gloucester Park turning into an Olympic village. When finished, the design will hold a 50-metre swimming pool, a teaching pool, gymnastics centre, eight-court sports hall, fitness suite, exercise studios, meeting rooms, crèche and café, climbing wall, five-a-side football pitches and a new athletics grandstand that can withstand 750 people.
As passers-by will visually be aware, a strong outer shell of the building has suddenly appeared and beginning to take form, demonstrating how large it will be. When asked on how far the building has gone and how successful it has been currently, Metcalfe was very positive, “I am happy to say that it is on time and on budget” and he strongly believes that it will be a great facility for the town even after the London Olympics has passed. The infrastructure will be a huge asset to the community bringing the possibility of more tourism and enticing the people living locally to keep fit and active.
The Olympics coming to Basildon also means more jobs for the unemployed. When questioned about careers for people within the local area, Metcalfe believed in people with ideal skills and qualifications getting through the system and had a strong opinion believing that the courses the colleges offer need to have value, being rounded enough, for the people who finish their course and are looking to start their career. “Unemployment figures are beginning to fall”, Metcalfe said, and was rather excited to claim that 20 per cent of Essex’s wealth comes from Basildon alone. Not all is as encouraging; the economic state is still yet to come out of the black. Metcalfe commented, “We need to be tough on the money we spend. Five years before we pull ourselves out and we will start to see a difference in 2012.”
Metcalfe particularly focuses on bringing together the different sectors within Basildon and fixing them so they all work functionally. He claims that he views debt, the jobless, anti-social behaviour and development as key issues surrounding Basildon and Thurrock. He said there were many organisations that we need to look into when trying to remove anti-social behaviour from our streets. He also sees there simply is not enough things to do for the younger generation, “Younger people avoid organisations if they become too organised” he told us, suggesting that by creating something for the youth to do is too mechanical and becomes a zone to avoid, which unavoidably creates anti-social behaviour. Metcalfe will be looking into alternatives.
As our new representative, Stephen Metcalfe will be dealing with the broader issues. Whether or not a conservative outlook will make a good outcome is yet to be opinionated. A swing from left to right can put a few people in a daze; old social norms and values thrown aside for the Conservative, traditional way of thinking. Yet, maybe this is what our community desires after thirteen years under Labour’s decisions. Metcalfe appears to have strong ideas on how to tackle local issues, how effective they will be can only be a future topic.
Contact Stephen Metcalfe:
Pitsea office: 01268 200430
Westminster: 020 7219 7009
Address: House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA or
4 The Broadway, Pitsea, Essex, SS13 3AR
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