Chelmsford City Council has planted 30,000 trees across the district over the last two years, as part of the Lib Dem pledge to deliver a greener Chelmsford.

The Council is also investing in its parks and green spaces

Memorial garden for Hanbury family re-opens in Chelmsford's Hylands Park.

A memorial garden has been restored in Chelmsford's Hylands Park giving residents of all ages a place for quiet reflection. The reinstated garden was originally created by the Hanbury family, the last private owners of the estate. The City Council worked with the Friends of Hylands House to restore the Hanbury Memorial Garden, and also refurbished the One World Garden in Hylands Park.

A plan has been announced that will deliver additional units of genuinely-affordable homes in Chelmsford, by the Lib Dem-led City Council. A draft Housing Strategy is now out for consultation, as part of the Liberal Democrat ambition to deliver a fairer Chelmsford.

The draft Housing Strategy 2021-2026 seeks to address the gaps, where the "Chelmsford Local Plan 2020-2036" will not deliver enough, genuinely-affordable homes, to address the housing crisis in Chelmsford. This Housing Strategy is about what the City Council will deliver working with partners. In particular,

A call for real action in Essex (especially in schools) to combat violence against women and girls has been rejected. Essex Lib Dems tabled a motion at the County Council meeting on 13 July. The Conservatives pushed through an amendment that patted themselves on the back for (limited) actions to date, added vague generalities and removed all the action points that would affect education.

We all remember seeing the horrific scenes of the burning tower at Grenfell on the news over four years ago.

The tragic loss of 72 lives was a dark moment for our country and the cladding scandal that emerged emboldened me to stand up for the rights of all those living in unsafe buildings.

That event also was a lightning rod for the wider public and put a sharp focus on the quality of housing that many people live in - particularly in more densely populated urban areas.

Being involved in politics should be fun and rewarding. But it can be stressful and at times any of us may need to turn to others for help or support.

Often that support can best come from colleagues in your local party or a party body you are active in. But sometimes help is needed elsewhere, and this piece sets out the main places to turn.

Conservative MPs - including Children's Minister and Chelmsford MP Vicky Ford - have broken their 2019 manifesto pledge by voting to cut overseas aid from 0.7% to 0.5% of national income. Former Conservative Prime Minister John Major criticised the decision, saying, "The Government has blatantly broken its word, and should be ashamed of its decision."

Federal Conference Committee met via Zoom call on Saturday, 10 July for the agenda selection for our Autumn Conference 2021. The meeting was a lengthy one, which was in part due to the large selection of motions received.

A few announcements before the report; as you may be aware Geoff Payne, departed the FCC in early May, and I am delighted to have been elected the new Chair of FCC. All of us wish Geoff the very best for the future. A recount was held for the vacant place on the Committee, and I am delighted that Keith Melton has joined as our new member of the Federal Conference Committee. Chris Adams has also been elected in the vacant Vice-Chair position and will take responsibility for the General Purposes Sub Committee.

Our political opportunity

Sarah Green's brilliant victory in Chesham and Amersham shows the huge political opportunity for us - as long as we can continue to apply the lessons from our 2019 election post-mortem.

As part of this, a trio of motions have been submitted for our autumn federal conference. One is from the Federal Board (FB) on the party's strategy. The other two are from the Federal Policy Committee (FPC), on the party's values and our policy platform. Hopefully all three can be debated in sequence, so we agree values, strategy and platform in a joined-up way.

As you may have noticed, this Conservative Government doesn't like to be challenged.

Just look at how angry and red-faced Boris Johnson gets at Prime Minister's Questions every week. Just listen to how often Ministers rail against lawyers and the courts, because judges sometimes rule against them. Just remember how they refused to do interviews with journalists who might dare to ask difficult questions.