Hawkwell Parish Council Community Engagement

01/06/2026

It is with great sadness that Council learned of the passing of Councillor Myra Weir BEM. Myra was a greatly respected Parish Councillor, serving as Council’s longest-standing member, since 1991. During those 35 years Myra was Chair of Council’s Parks Committee as well as the Chair of the Planning Committee for over twenty years. She was the driving force behind Council’s ‘Christmas Parcels for the Elderly’ initiative which continues today, and she represented Council on numerous working groups and at outside meetings. Her attendance at Council meetings was exemplary, which was always very important to her.

Myra worked tirelessly and selflessly in undertaking regular litter picks in Council’s parks, as well as around Hawkwell; often going out and about at 5am, before her working day began. She did this with a deep sense of dedication to her role as a parish councillor; not only in Hawkwell but also in Rochford parish, where she also served as a long-standing councillor. Myra was also a District Councillor for many years in the 1990s and 2000s.

Myra and her husband ran the Co-op store at Hawkwell shopping parade for around 20 years and were well known to many residents. Before and after her retirement, Myra dedicated her time to running the Rochford Day Centre, not only serving as Chair of the Old People’s Welfare Committee but perhaps more importantly, cooking the midday meals for residents in the area. She undertook this important role for over 30 years and only recently took a step back from cooking duties, remaining in charge of the day-to-day running of the Day Centre.

Her sense of public service was second to none and for all the reasons above, in 2013 she was awarded the British Empire Medal in recognition of her many years of service to the local community.

Myra will be remembered with much fondness and with great respect for her unwavering commitment to others. Thank you Myra for your lifetime of dedication, hard work and service to our community; you will be greatly missed by members, officers and the wider community.
Myra she leaves behind a large family and our sincere condolences are with her whole family and friends at this sad time.

21/05/2026

Hawkwell Parish Council encourages all its residents to please respond to this consultation.

Do you support the future changes being proposed for Parish and Town Councils in the Rochford District?

The Community Governance Review (CGR) is now in its second stage, and we're inviting responses from residents, voluntary groups, parish councils, businesses and local organisations.

Click the link in our comments to take part.

The consultation runs until 5 July.

11/05/2026

Please note, Hawkwell Parish Council is in the process of a claim of Adverse Possession for the strip of land behind St. Mary’s Churchyard in Hawkwell.
Hawkwell Parish Council is possessing this land exclusively in an attempt to protect it against any future housing development. Enclosing it in this way is a legal requirement under Adverse Possession. The soon to be enclosed land, will formally be called ‘Church Strip’.
The intention is to re-open the land to the public as a public amenity space should Adverse Possession be granted. In the meantime, Council will start to maintain the land as a wildlife haven.
Council apologises for any inconvenience this action may cause. If you have any queries, please contact the Parish Council.
Contact: [email protected]
Tel: 01702 207710

21/04/2026

**UPDATE: 24-04-26 Please be advised, the office phones are now fixed. Sincere apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Please be aware the office is currently experiencing issues with its phone lines and we are working to get these fixed as a matter of urgency.
In the meantime, should anyone be unable to get through to us on the phone and need to contact us, please email: [email protected] or visit us at our offices, rear of Village Hall, Main Road, Hawkwell SS5 4EH. (Opening times to the public are Tues-Thurs 10:00am to 2:00pm.)
Many thanks and apologies for any inconvenience this may cause.

15/04/2026

Please note, the office is currently experiencing problems with its phone line. We are working hard to get this fixed and are awaiting an emergency BT engineer. If you are unable to get through to us, please drop us an email [email protected]
We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.

26/03/2026

Today, the Government announced the configuration of new unitary councils across Greater Essex.

The Government has decided that Greater Essex will be made up of 5 councils from April 2028. Services that are currently provided by Essex County Council will be delivered by each of the new councils.

The new unitary authorities will be:

➡️ Rochford, Castle Point, Southend-on-Sea
➡️ Brentwood, Chelmsford, Maldon
➡️ Epping Forest, Harlow, Uttlesford
➡️ Braintree, Colchester, Tendring
➡️ Basildon, Thurrock

The new local authorities will officially take over on 1 April 2028.

For now, the 15 existing Essex councils will continue to operate as usual.

ℹ️ For more information, visit the Essex Local Government Reorganisation hub (in the comments) 👇

20/03/2026

Essex County Council Fostering service need your help:

Foster carers offer safety and stability to children when they need it most. Make a lifelong difference by joining our fostering community in Essex.

💜 becoming a foster carer is more flexible than you may think
💜 receive award winning training in your role
💜 receive a competitive financial package and exceptional support
💜 your local authority are not for profit, there are more resources to help more local children

Find out more here 👉 essex.gov.uk/fostering

15/03/2026

Magnolia Nature Reserve – Bridlepath works

From Monday 16th March, users of the bridlepath in Magnolia Nature Reserve may see some ground works going ahead. These works will be carried out by Essex County Council (ECC) Highways and they will re-route part of the existing bridlepath through the Reserve. These works are necessary due to heightened badger activity along this stretch of the bridlepath, where now some of the path is no longer fit for use. (The badgers have been extremely busy digging away in their setts!) As many are aware, badgers are protected by law and so ECC and HPC are working to both protect the badgers’ home and allow a better, more secure route for all users of the bridlepath.
Especially during these works, please can users remember to keep their dogs on leads in the Nature Reserve.
HPC and ECC apologise for any inconvenience caused.
If anybody would like any more information, or has any questions during works, please do get in touch with the office and/or ECC Highways Officer, Roy Read on 07545 756009 or [email protected]

13/03/2026

Magnolia Park Playground - more fun comes to the play space!
Council has added some playground games to Magnolia Park, hoping to add extra fun to the play space. Thanks go to Reliant Leisure for their amazing work. Children can now enjoy a range of drawn games, allowing them to both play and use their imaginations. Council hopes the games bring joy to all!

26/02/2026

Please note the drop-in sessions for the Rochford District Local Plan consultation. The next one is on the 3rd March at the Freight House, Rochford. It's really important residents get to have their say on this. These sessions will help explain the plan and how to respond.

Dont forget today at the Community Centre 3pm-7pm the drop in sessions for the consultation on Rochford District Councils draft Local Plan.