Dr Martin Parsons, Colchester City Councillor for Mersea and Pyefleet
JULY 2025 SUCESSFULLY proposed a motion at July meeting of Colchester City Council to address the Colchester area’s imminent water shortage by asking the government to urge Anglian Water to urgently bring forward their plan for a new Water Recycling Plant for Colchester. This wasn’t in Anglian Water's current 2025-30 five year plan despite the Colchester area, including Mersea being predicted to lack sufficient water ‘to meet minimum supply standards’ by the end of the year. Despite some initial opposition from Labour councillors – the motion passed. IT IS VERY RARE FOR A MOTION FROM AN OPPOSITION COUNCILLOR TO SUCEED
JULY 2025 organised a councillor drop in surgery at Coastal Coffee – also attended by Councillor Robert Davidson and local MP Sir Bernard Jenkin (PHOTO)
JULY 2025 with my colleagues Councillors Robert Davidson and Carl Powling met with the new area new police commander Chief Inspector Michelle Sparks, showed her around the patch and helped her understand some of the rural and marine crime issues we face.
JULY 2025 along with Sir Bernard Jenkin MP and fellow councillors Robert Davidson and Carl Powling met with Anglian Water to discuss water and sewage issues on Mersea.
AUGUST 2025 – I sent senior planning officers a draft planning policy on ‘Islands’ which recognised the uniqueness of Mersea, including need to consider possible evacuation when considering new housing developments. I had been pushing for this on the local plan committee since February 2025.
SEPTEMBER 2025 spoke at an extraordinary meeting of Colchester City Council to discuss the government’s local government reorganisation proposals. I highlighted the serious failing of the Tendring-Colchester-Braintree proposal backed by the Labour and the Lib-Dems as unlike the Essex County Council proposal which had 3 separate neighbourhood delivery committees with devolved powers and funding for the two rural areas north and south of Colchester as well as one for Colchester itself, the Labour/Lib-Dem proposal had only a single committee for the whole of the current Colchester Council area– so yet again the rural areas would lose out.
OCTOBER 2025 – SUCCESS! – persuaded Colchester City Council’s environment panel to recommend to cabinet that the council’s plan to respond to the climate emergency should include taking action relating to the local impacts of climate change which are already affecting our area, such as increased flood risk, coastal erosion and increased risk of wildfires.
OCTOBER 2025 spoke on Colchester City Council debate calling for an inquiry into the Lib-Dem leader of the council’s secret submission to the government’s New Town’s Commission suggesting there could be a new town in the Marks Tey Stanway area.
OCTOBER 2025 I spoke at Colchester City Council’s cabinet meeting urging the Labour/Lib-Dem run council to focus on the local impacts of climate change such as increased flooding, sea level rise, coastal erosion and wildfires
I also spoke on a motion on Mental Health – emphasising that the NHS should be available equally to all at the point of need and should NOT seek to prioritise some groups on non-health grounds. I also spoke about the importance of mental health provision which addressed the specific needs of those who have served in the armed forces.
NOVEMBER 2025 I organised a meeting with the leadership of NHS North Essex and Suffolk Integrated Care Board to try to resolve GP situation on Mersea Island.
NOVEMBER 2025 – SUCCESS Anglian Water announced they were bring forward the building of the new Water Recycling Centre for Colchester, thereby ensuring the Colchester area would have sufficient drinkable water – This is exactly what I had called for in the motion I presented to the July meeting of Colchester City Council. THIS IS A MAJOR SUCCESS STORY
NOVEMBER 2025 I persuaded the head of planning of to put a planning restriction on the proposed housing development at Dawes Lane, West Mersea, - so that it should NOT be given planning permission until the GP situation on Mersea is resolved so that all new residents there can register with a local GP on Mersea. THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT – AS THE GOVERNMENT NOW REQUIRES LOCAL COUNCILS TO INFORM THE MINISTER IF THEY ARE LIKLEY TO REFUSE PLANNING PERMISSION TO ANY DEVELOPMENT OF 150+ HOUSES, SO THE MINISTER CAN GRANT PERMISSION THEMSELVES.
DECEMBER 2025 produced multiple articles and posts to help people understand how they could respond to the local plan consultation and especially what planners would count as ‘evidence’ (access to health care, environmental and transport issues) and what planners would disregard.
DECEMBER 2025 Spoke at December’s council meeting calling for the council to write to the government urging them NOT to cancel next May’s local elections. The previous day the Labour government had suspended Essex’s mayoral election for two years and with poor poll ratings for themselves were widely tipped to suspend all local elections. I pointed out that in 2019 the Chinese communist Party suspended local elections in Hong Kong as it was clear the opposition were about to win them – we really should do better than that!
FEBRUARY 2026 Spoke in the budget debate calling for £150,000 of the funds the Lib-Dem led council currently spends on tackling global climate issues to be spent tackling one of their most obvious local effects, by developing a sea defence strategy. This was a motion I had agreed with the shadow finance spokesman William Sunnucks and was the second year running we had presented this amendment to the council’s proposed budget.
FEBRUARY 2026 publicly called on Anglian Water to come up with a long term solution to problem of water mains near the Strood repeatedly bursting due to clay changing shape with the temperature.
MARCH 2026 Colchester City Council planning officers finally produced a draft Island policy – which I had been urging them to do for more than a year.
MARCH-MAY 2026 spent a lot of time knocking on doors and talking to residents.
APRIL 2026 Persuaded Colchester City Council’s planning officers to produce a map identifying villages which are at particular risk of wildfires because there is only a single access road in/out – so if the fire cuts the road people can only be evacuated across the field, which creates a huge risk for the elderly and disabled. The map currently includes East Mersea, Salcott and the eastern part of Fingringhoe. I have asked for West Mersea to also be included.
MAY 2026 Spoke in Annual council meeting when Lib-Dems attempted to cling onto the leadership of the council despite only having 12 of the 51 councillors (Conservatives have 18) by doing a deal Labour and the Greens. I pointed out it wasn’t just a matter of adding up the number of votes in the council chamber that mattered, they lacked any popular mandate to continue. The meeting was adjourned for a week when newly elected Reform councillors and a group who had split from Labour voted against BOTH candidates to be leader of the council meaning neither got a majority and the council was at risk of the government sending in commissioners to run it instead of elected councillors if it couldn’t who would lead it.
MAY 2026 I returned mid-way through a family holiday in North Norfolk for the resumed annual council meeting. When some Labour, Green and Progressive Independent Alliance (the split from the Labour group) suggested a grand coalition with a cabinet made up of all parties, I pointed out effective government requires two things 1. A competent leader and cabinet running the council 2. An effectives opposition holding it to account, questioning, challenging and scrutinising and suggesting alternative policies. Without that you get weak, unaccountable, flabby government. The council eventually agreed to a Conservative led coalition with the Lib-Dems running the council.
JUNE 2025 persuaded council officers to amend a proposed Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) for watercraft which Colchester City Council officers had copied from Southend which is part of the Port of London Authority area and included such things as making it an automatic criminal offence to tie up to buoy. The PSPO will now allow fixed penalty notices to be issued by police or council officers to jet skis who are speeding or behaving dangerously but NOT affect the legitimate activities of local sailing clubs.
JUNE 2026 One of my first acts on being elected chair of the local plan committee was to oversee the vote to approve the Island policy I had been pushing for for the previous 15 months.
-As well as regularly dealing with individual issues raised by residents and repeatedly speaking up for Mersea and Pyefleet on Colchester City Council.
-Regularly attending parish council meetings across the Mersea and Pyefleet area.
-Writing a monthly column for Mersea Community Life to keep residents informed what is happening on Colchester City Council.
-Attending civic events, which normally take place at weekends.
JULY 2025 SUCESSFULLY proposed a motion at July meeting of Colchester City Council to address the Colchester area’s imminent water shortage by asking the government to urge Anglian Water to urgently bring forward their plan for a new Water Recycling Plant for Colchester. This wasn’t in Anglian Water's current 2025-30 five year plan despite the Colchester area, including Mersea being predicted to lack sufficient water ‘to meet minimum supply standards’ by the end of the year. Despite some initial opposition from Labour councillors – the motion passed. IT IS VERY RARE FOR A MOTION FROM AN OPPOSITION COUNCILLOR TO SUCEED
JULY 2025 organised a councillor drop in surgery at Coastal Coffee – also attended by Councillor Robert Davidson and local MP Sir Bernard Jenkin (PHOTO)
JULY 2025 with my colleagues Councillors Robert Davidson and Carl Powling met with the new area new police commander Chief Inspector Michelle Sparks, showed her around the patch and helped her understand some of the rural and marine crime issues we face.
JULY 2025 along with Sir Bernard Jenkin MP and fellow councillors Robert Davidson and Carl Powling met with Anglian Water to discuss water and sewage issues on Mersea.
AUGUST 2025 – I sent senior planning officers a draft planning policy on ‘Islands’ which recognised the uniqueness of Mersea, including need to consider possible evacuation when considering new housing developments. I had been pushing for this on the local plan committee since February 2025.
SEPTEMBER 2025 spoke at an extraordinary meeting of Colchester City Council to discuss the government’s local government reorganisation proposals. I highlighted the serious failing of the Tendring-Colchester-Braintree proposal backed by the Labour and the Lib-Dems as unlike the Essex County Council proposal which had 3 separate neighbourhood delivery committees with devolved powers and funding for the two rural areas north and south of Colchester as well as one for Colchester itself, the Labour/Lib-Dem proposal had only a single committee for the whole of the current Colchester Council area– so yet again the rural areas would lose out.
OCTOBER 2025 – SUCCESS! – persuaded Colchester City Council’s environment panel to recommend to cabinet that the council’s plan to respond to the climate emergency should include taking action relating to the local impacts of climate change which are already affecting our area, such as increased flood risk, coastal erosion and increased risk of wildfires.
OCTOBER 2025 spoke on Colchester City Council debate calling for an inquiry into the Lib-Dem leader of the council’s secret submission to the government’s New Town’s Commission suggesting there could be a new town in the Marks Tey Stanway area.
OCTOBER 2025 I spoke at Colchester City Council’s cabinet meeting urging the Labour/Lib-Dem run council to focus on the local impacts of climate change such as increased flooding, sea level rise, coastal erosion and wildfires
I also spoke on a motion on Mental Health – emphasising that the NHS should be available equally to all at the point of need and should NOT seek to prioritise some groups on non-health grounds. I also spoke about the importance of mental health provision which addressed the specific needs of those who have served in the armed forces.
NOVEMBER 2025 I organised a meeting with the leadership of NHS North Essex and Suffolk Integrated Care Board to try to resolve GP situation on Mersea Island.
NOVEMBER 2025 – SUCCESS Anglian Water announced they were bring forward the building of the new Water Recycling Centre for Colchester, thereby ensuring the Colchester area would have sufficient drinkable water – This is exactly what I had called for in the motion I presented to the July meeting of Colchester City Council. THIS IS A MAJOR SUCCESS STORY
NOVEMBER 2025 I persuaded the head of planning of to put a planning restriction on the proposed housing development at Dawes Lane, West Mersea, - so that it should NOT be given planning permission until the GP situation on Mersea is resolved so that all new residents there can register with a local GP on Mersea. THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT – AS THE GOVERNMENT NOW REQUIRES LOCAL COUNCILS TO INFORM THE MINISTER IF THEY ARE LIKLEY TO REFUSE PLANNING PERMISSION TO ANY DEVELOPMENT OF 150+ HOUSES, SO THE MINISTER CAN GRANT PERMISSION THEMSELVES.
DECEMBER 2025 produced multiple articles and posts to help people understand how they could respond to the local plan consultation and especially what planners would count as ‘evidence’ (access to health care, environmental and transport issues) and what planners would disregard.
DECEMBER 2025 Spoke at December’s council meeting calling for the council to write to the government urging them NOT to cancel next May’s local elections. The previous day the Labour government had suspended Essex’s mayoral election for two years and with poor poll ratings for themselves were widely tipped to suspend all local elections. I pointed out that in 2019 the Chinese communist Party suspended local elections in Hong Kong as it was clear the opposition were about to win them – we really should do better than that!
FEBRUARY 2026 Spoke in the budget debate calling for £150,000 of the funds the Lib-Dem led council currently spends on tackling global climate issues to be spent tackling one of their most obvious local effects, by developing a sea defence strategy. This was a motion I had agreed with the shadow finance spokesman William Sunnucks and was the second year running we had presented this amendment to the council’s proposed budget.
FEBRUARY 2026 publicly called on Anglian Water to come up with a long term solution to problem of water mains near the Strood repeatedly bursting due to clay changing shape with the temperature.
MARCH 2026 Colchester City Council planning officers finally produced a draft Island policy – which I had been urging them to do for more than a year.
MARCH-MAY 2026 spent a lot of time knocking on doors and talking to residents.
APRIL 2026 Persuaded Colchester City Council’s planning officers to produce a map identifying villages which are at particular risk of wildfires because there is only a single access road in/out – so if the fire cuts the road people can only be evacuated across the field, which creates a huge risk for the elderly and disabled. The map currently includes East Mersea, Salcott and the eastern part of Fingringhoe. I have asked for West Mersea to also be included.
MAY 2026 Spoke in Annual council meeting when Lib-Dems attempted to cling onto the leadership of the council despite only having 12 of the 51 councillors (Conservatives have 18) by doing a deal Labour and the Greens. I pointed out it wasn’t just a matter of adding up the number of votes in the council chamber that mattered, they lacked any popular mandate to continue. The meeting was adjourned for a week when newly elected Reform councillors and a group who had split from Labour voted against BOTH candidates to be leader of the council meaning neither got a majority and the council was at risk of the government sending in commissioners to run it instead of elected councillors if it couldn’t who would lead it.
MAY 2026 I returned mid-way through a family holiday in North Norfolk for the resumed annual council meeting. When some Labour, Green and Progressive Independent Alliance (the split from the Labour group) suggested a grand coalition with a cabinet made up of all parties, I pointed out effective government requires two things 1. A competent leader and cabinet running the council 2. An effectives opposition holding it to account, questioning, challenging and scrutinising and suggesting alternative policies. Without that you get weak, unaccountable, flabby government. The council eventually agreed to a Conservative led coalition with the Lib-Dems running the council.
JUNE 2025 persuaded council officers to amend a proposed Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) for watercraft which Colchester City Council officers had copied from Southend which is part of the Port of London Authority area and included such things as making it an automatic criminal offence to tie up to buoy. The PSPO will now allow fixed penalty notices to be issued by police or council officers to jet skis who are speeding or behaving dangerously but NOT affect the legitimate activities of local sailing clubs.
JUNE 2026 One of my first acts on being elected chair of the local plan committee was to oversee the vote to approve the Island policy I had been pushing for for the previous 15 months.
-As well as regularly dealing with individual issues raised by residents and repeatedly speaking up for Mersea and Pyefleet on Colchester City Council.
-Regularly attending parish council meetings across the Mersea and Pyefleet area.
-Writing a monthly column for Mersea Community Life to keep residents informed what is happening on Colchester City Council.
-Attending civic events, which normally take place at weekends.
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