Meanwhile, it's been revealed that our neighbouring ....

... Southend-On-Sea Borough Council spent more than £1,700,000 last year on consultants fees, which seems excessive, to say the least.
The story is covered in depth in the Southend Evening Echo. It's good to see their political reporter Geoff Percival being given adequate space for once. I was also pleased that opposition Lib Dem councillors Peter Wexham and Graham Longley got good coverage.
The implications for the council where I live is that if we had been absorbed by Southend a few years ago , local services in Rayleigh and Rochford might have been cut to pay for stuff like this.