So just a matter of weeks away from signing off a Local Plan for approval we learn Tendring council has told Government we have, somewhere in our district, a suitable site for a mega prison.

However a quick leaf through this nearly complete Local Plan and neither the policy document nor the site allocation document seems to acknowledge this claim.

In fact the cynical among us may come to the conclusion this site is tagged quite understatedly as an employment site.

Yet Dr David Scott, through a Freedom of Information request, has learnt Tendring “submitted plans” to the Ministry of Justice in 2016 citing suitable land to build a mega prison.

Odd then the Local Plan omits this information.

Surely the development allocations adjacent to such a facility would be effected by such a development and land owners, developers and above all residents have a right to know what has been proposed to government.

Or is it in the middle of nowhere in some rural ward in the hope no one minds.

So if it is an aspiration of the council to deliver a mega prison in Tendring at least have the courage of your convictions (excuse the pun) and tell us residents who you hope will live next door to it.

I’ve asked the big guns in administration and opposition via social media and, at the time of writing, the silence is deafening.

Peter Halliday Gorse Lane, Clacton Who is responsible for policing parking?

With regard to your article concerning the ongoing parking problem outside Fiveways Primary School.

Back in November 2016 I sent an email to Essex Police, informing them about the atrocious parking causing traffic to come to a standstill outside Fiveways School in Winstree Road.

I was told by a serving police officer it had nothing to do with them, but they would pass my message onto Colchester Parking Partnership, which is responsible for breaches relating to parking on double yellow lines and time restrictions.

I later received a reply from an enforcement team leader for Eastern Region, North Essex Parking Partnership, who, he tells me: “Are responsible for many areas in Essex including Stanway.”

However he said they can only enforce school zig zags and not double yellow lines, a restriction imposed by them by central government.

So who is responsible?

Do we have to wait until a child gets killed before someone sorts this out?

Brian Springett Grymes Dyke Way, Stanway

  • County council is anything but green

More vandalism by Essex County Council.

Despite assurances given at a presentation mature trees would be left in place the area where the new bus stop will be sited adjacent to Crouch Street, Colchester, the site has been completely cleared.

This is at least the third occasion where mature trees have been felled.

Five were removed in Osborne Street/Stanwell Street to make way for the so-called bus station which is reviled by so many people.

A number were felled in Crouch Street for no reason at all.

Councils pride themselves on being “green”. This is not evident with Essex County Council.

Thank goodness they were stopped from constructing a bus lane along the length of Lexden Road.

No guesses as to what the result would have been if they had taken this action.

Norman Bailey Cambridge Road, Colchester

  • Lack of morals and compassion shown

I WAS horrified to read that Frandon was refused a licence by Tendring Council to run as a hostel.

I have been there and was there briefly as part of my work with Citizens’ Advice Bureau.

Frandon does a good job for the weakest members of society those left homeless often through no fault of their own.

The people who live at Frandon have no voice in society and I believe they need to be protected.

Who is the council protecting? Holidaymakers here for the odd day or some of the most vulnerable members of society, Apart from the appalling lack of compassion and morals of the council in refusing the licence, could you ask what provision the council will be making for the 21 people who occupy beds at Frandon?

As I understand it, there is no alternate provision, yet the council has a statutory duty to provide housing.

My suspicion is Frandon represents a low cost provision. So not only is the decision mean spirited but will cost the council tax payers money.

Finally, if we accept the these people should be made homeless to make Clacton more attractive to holidaymakers, how will these holidaymakers react to 21 people sleeping on the streets?

Chris Bird Marine Parade East, Clacton

  • What sort of society litters so freely?

Driving from Clacton to Halstead, I was amazed by the amount of rubbish on both sides of the road on the grass verges.

I have never seen it looking so bad, and it is an absolute disgrace.

Many of the road signs are dirty and need a wash.

What sort of a society do we have who regularly throw their rubbish from the windows of their vehicles and think nothing of it?

Is Essex County Council so hard up it cannot spend money on cleaning up this disgusting mess?

J Smith Stanstead Road, Halstead

  • Oliver was great... more please!

I WOULD like to say what a wonderful time my daughter and I had on Saturday night at the West Cliff Theatre in Clacton watching the production of Oliver.

The show was simply fantastic such hard work must of gone into all the rehearsals.

Well done to the West Cliff Youth Theatre Group and everyone backstage.

It was a very enjoyable evening.

Mrs S Bramman Hampstead Avenue, Clacton

  • Costs should be published

After the Gazette reported Essex County Council had said it would cost £10,000 to introduce a 20mph speed limit on The Willows housing estate in Mersea Road, Colchester, I submitted a Freedom Of Information request asking for the break-down of how this figure was arrived at.

The county council has refused to do so, claiming this is “commercially sensitive information”. I find such a comment from a public body to be unacceptable.

I do not think anyone believes the cost of erecting two posts with 20mph signs on them, even allowing for the legal expenses which are required for Road Traffic Orders and other related matters, can possibly reach £10,000.

I therefore made a simple request, namely for a break-down of how the figure of £10,000 is reached. The County Council has refused to give this information, which immediately raises doubts in my mind as to what the true cost really is – and whether the public purse is getting value for money, which from what little I have gleaned suggests they are not.

Why can’t it publish the figures? What is there to hide?

Sir Bob Russell Magdalen Hall, Colchester

  • Tollgate's virtues neatly summed up

I ABSOLUTELY love it!

Counsel for the council states, presumably without smiling, that the Tollgate proposal must be denied because “it is far more nimble, cheaper in terms of rents, more convenient and more flexible in every way.”

How could any member of the public want it after such a condemnation? Cloud Cuckoo Land comes to mind.

J B Evans Valfreda Way, Wivenhoe