Oracle on sea aug 2015 web1dsfds by Oracle Publications

August 2015

Oracle-on-Sea

ORACLE Leigh, Chalkwell & Southend Conservation Area Est. Oct 2006. Circulation 6,700

Oracle Competition

Photographic Competition WIN! 1-to-1 Mentoring & your photo in print!

Local Issues

LSA - Flying High

Oracle Travel

Menorca - Unspoilt & rich in history

Recipe Page

Prawns with chilli lime butter

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CEO Steve Kavanagh and Emma with the Play-off Cup

Publisher’s letter

Oracle will be holding another event in the autumn, and the date will be announced in next month’s edition along with details of its theme and the venue. This month’s competition is a first for Oracle and I am really pleased that Keith Hoskins (local award winning photographer) has agreed to get involved. It will involve any local amateur photographer so please see page 15 for details on how to enter the competition and get the chance to be Oracle’s 2015 photographer of the year. Lastly,please keep those recipes coming in for the Oracle, Cooking-on-Sea recipe book with all profits donated to HARP homeless charity for Southend.For details on how you can get involved with this appeal please see page 31. Thank you to all of those who have already sent in a recipe. Enjoy the rest of the summer!

01702 393838 Oracle House, 11 Clarence Road, Southend, Essex SS1 1AN

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t Oracle’s event earlier this month, Southend United’s CEO Steve Kavanagh was Oracle’s guest speaker. The evening took place at the Blues Lounge, Roots Hall where residents enjoyed an informal evening dinner chatting with Steve on the Club’s plans for next Season and the ongoing controversial subject of the stadium. I’d like to take this opportunity to say thank you to Steve and the rest of his team for all their help in making the evening a great success.

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by Tracy Jones

Photography Competition

by Oracle

UPTO

Turban Outfitters

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• Day and Night • Roman • Venetians • Roller Blinds

Hair & Beauty by Craig Smith

Development plans

Council News by Cllr Ron Woodley

Menorca - Unspoilt & rich in history

24/25

Oracle Travel by Charles Wynne-Morgan

Prawns with chilli lime butter

Judy's Recipe Page

Officer recalls Southend knife encounter

Police Watch by Essex Police

Sudoku Diary Dates Useful Numbers Advertisers Index

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Local Issues

LSA - Flying High L

ondon Southend Airport recently appointed Jon Horne as its interim Managing Director. The 57-year old first started working in the aviation industry in 1973 as an Air Traffic Control Assistant and has remained within the industry ever since. Rising through the ranks, Singaporeborn Horne was the Chief Executive of Cardiff International Airport prior to joining the Stobart Group’s London Southend operation. Oracle caught up with Jon to talk about the latest airport developments.

Oracle – Welcome to Southend Jon… Jon – Thanks, I’m both excited and delighted to be joining London Southend Airport. It is arguably THE success story of recent years within our industry and I’m honoured to be asked to carry that success forward. 2014 was a record year for London Southend as it broke the million passengers mark for the first time since its regeneration under the Stobart Group and also won the Which? magazine award for ‘Best Airport’ for the second-successive year – so it’s my job to try and build on all that.

Oracle – What initial plans have you got for the airport? Jon - My main focus is to continue growing the airport’s overall business, by building on the excellent foundations already in place. Key is introducing more airlines and destinations, giving travellers more choice. I want to make ‘simply easier’ London Southend the airport of choice for the town, the wider region and actually for London too.

Oracle – You seem to have a lot of new routes opening up recently?

Jon Horne - Interim Managing Director AUGUST 2015

Jon – Yes, it’s been a very busy time for us – for starters we now have 15 destinations that you can reach via easyJet from London Southend. We recently started flying to Mahon, the capital of Menorca and that is proving a real hit. Coming

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soon is a new route to Lanzarote that will operate twice weekly throughout this winter, starting on 6 November – the island is famed for its volcanic landscape, expansive beaches and guaranteed sunshine, making it a perfect choice for some last minute winter sun. Flights to the French city of Lyon – often called the ‘gastronomy capital of the world’ - start on 12th December. We have also recently started a new route to Maribor in Slovenia with Adria Airways and our departures to and from Caen, Rennes, Munster Osnabruck and Groningen (with Flybe, operated by Stobartair) and Bern (with SkyWork) all remain Commission, but acknowledged this is just popular. another step in the process - estimates have been Oracle – Any more developments planned? given of between 10 and 15 years before an Jon - The opening of our new Lakers Restaurant & additional runway will be in place and the much Bar in the terminal at Easter was the final piece in needed airport capacity this delivers for the South the terminal jigsaw. In both Which? surveys East. Between now and then the capacity created customers identified our catering offer as through the £140m investment in London something that we needed to develop and Southend Airport by Stobart Group will play its expand. Having listened we have made a part in helping to support London and the significant investment in creating the new facility, region’s economy and its growth. We were really which we hope will bring a whole new enjoyable pleased to see our development specifically experience to our passengers. It serves an welcomed in the Commission’s Report. extensive breakfast menu and wide selection of other hot meals and drinks, and has free Wi-Fi Our growing connections with European business throughout, plus a phone / laptop charging bar. and leisure destinations were acknowledged, as Importantly it has also created 25 new, local jobs. were the future opportunities presented for the airport’s development by Cross Rail. The Report Oracle – And what impact does the recent also references the recognition of the airports Davies Commission Report (that recom- future significant growth by Rail Track and mended a new runway at Heathrow) have measures to support this in its West Anglia Route on London Southend? Study Consultation. The current retendering of Jon - We welcomed the publication of the the Greater Anglia Rail Franchise in 2016 is also recommendations made by the Davies acknowledged as a means of supporting the development of London Southend airport through improved rolling stock and earlier and later trains. The focus of the Southend Joint Area Action Plan (JAAP) on local road improvement is also welcomed as supporting the airports development. For more information www.southendairport.com

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Oracle Competition

Oracle’s 2015 Photographic Competition

his month’s Oracle competition is a first and involves anyone who enjoys taking photographs. Oracle has teamed up with local award winning photographer Keith Hoskins who owns Picture Perfect photographic studio, based in Chalkwell. We are looking for Oracle’s 2015 local photographer of the year. There are two age group categories and prizes for each. The first category is for the ‘17’s and under’ age group and the winning photographer will spend four hours being mentored by Keith. Your photograph will also appear in both September’s Oracle magazines and lastly, they will be printed, mounted and put on display for two weeks in Picture Perfect’s studio window, on the Ridgeway, Chalkwell. For the ‘over 18’s’ age group the prize is the same but you will spend a full day enjoying a one-to-one mentoring session with Keith. In addition, the winners and runners up in each category will have their photos printed in Oracle’s recipe book – Cooking-on-Sea which is being launched pre Christmas. All profits from this book will go to HARP Homeless Charity for Southend.

Keeping it local

Photographs can be taken on any camera including smart phones and will be judged as long as the quality is good enough to reproduce in the magazines and Cooking-on-Sea recipe book i.e. no blurred images please. All photographs must be taken within the Southend-on-Sea area. Please also supply your contact details when sending in your image. To help you take that perfect picture, Keith has outlined a few hints and tips below to help you on your way: -

• Lighting is most dramatic in the early morning and late afternoon/early evening. Midday lighting is generally uniform and flat.

• Taking

a photograph into the sun can be dangerous for eyes unless it’s a sunset and can also cause flare in the lens where the light is bounced around the inside of the lens. Keeping the sun to one side or behind stops this.

• Wildlife often moves quickly so use the ’sport’ setting on your camera, a fast shutter speed setting. If your subject is moving across your vision then move your camera with it while you take the photo, this is called ‘panning’.

• In all compositions there is ‘the rule of thirds’ so, for instance, a shot looking across land out to sea mostly looks best if either the sea or the land take up two thirds of the photo.

• With smart phones in cases it is best to take the case off, give the lens a wipe and then take the shot.

See Keith’s award winning work above and visit his website to see more of his work. www.pictureperfect.pro

The two photographic subjects chosen for the Good luck everyone! competition will be local landscape and local wildlife. Please note that all entries submitted must have been taken this year. Please send in one photograph per person, on one of the chosen subjects to the following email address info@oraclepublications.co.uk no later than Thursday, 20 August 2015. AUGUST 2015

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Get sensational! One object of desire that will really make you look like a princess is Dolce and Gabbana’s divine gold-tone, Swarovski crystal crown. It looks sensational and so is the price. At £1,850 it isn’t for the faint of heart, or wallet, but once you’ve got it, you’ll want to wear it everywhere. In complete contrast, Claire’s Accessories sell Six-packs of Filigree Hair Spinner Clips for just £8.They come in a variety of styles and you simply weave them in and out of your tresses. They catch the light, so will sparkle in sunlight or later, in the club. Of course, one of the classic and most simple accessories is the headband. These add a chic, retro touch to your look and work just as well with blonde or brunette hair. You can pick them up in designer boutiques, or on the High Street. Topshop has an impressive range and with prices around £8 you can afford to experiment with different colours and fabrics.

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Holiday inspirations An often forgotten aspect of holidaying abroad, is bringing back a little of the local style. To recreate those balmy nights in Italy, try teaming up a boldly-patterned scarf with some supersized sunglasses. Your local vintage store will probably have a super collection of scarves, so it’s worth rummaging around to find ‘the one’. Bring out the animal in you with this season’s latest, super-cute accessory – ear-shaped Alice bands. Shaped like bear or cat ears, they’re a light-hearted, breezy addition to your summer wardrobe and the ones made from silk flowers look terrifically fun, fresh and funky. Making a big comeback this summer is the turban. Suitable for all ages, a turban lends a sophisticated air and can be accessorised with a brooch, feather or silk flowers. River Island has a dusky pink, ruched turban-style headband that will make you look like an old-school movie star, for just £7.

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fter years of neglect, two derelict buildings in Victoria Avenue, Heath House and Carby House, have been sold to a well-known, local private developer following the threat of compulsory purchase by the Council. To encourage the commencement of work, this threat has now been removed, providing the company make a start on the site within six months of the sale. This important gateway area into the town will now be regenerated, and these two buildings will provide much needed new housing, without the need for further council intervention or public money.

These will be made up of reduced maintenance costs of £6m, and energy savings of £18.9m. This is a prime example of invest to save rather than borrow to spend. This followed the rejection by the council and its residents to turn off street lights for part of the night, and will help by reducing costs, energy consumption (by 59%), and carbon emissions (by 2,109 tonnes), while improving the service. Where there are areas of poor visibility, lighting levels can be increased to reduce the risk of falls and traffic collisions, while enhancing the residents and visitors experience.

The picture (above) shows how the planned proposed buildings and surrounding area will look when completed. What a change when compared with the two eyesore buildings currently there! The developer is expected to give an update on his plans for the site in the coming weeks. This now makes a total of five empty office blocks that will be coming back into use.

In areas where crime is related to lighting, it will be possible to work with the Police and CCTV teams, giving greater control to tackle these zones via a central management system, improving security.

Improving Southend’s Security

Street lighting after LED installation in Eastern Avenue, Southend-on-Sea

Innovative solutions Once again it is good to see Southend-on-Sea is leading the way with innovative solutions, and a very positive move is the plan to replace all street lighting columns, where necessary, with 15,082 new LED lanterns, on fit for purpose columns, by March 2018. These LEDs have a working life of 20-25 years (compared to 3-6 years for conventional lighting) and following the council being awarded £5m by the Department for Transport Challenge Fund, this programme will be brought forward, and over 25 years will facilitate the delivery of £25m of savings.

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Oracle Travel

Menorca - Unspoilt & rich in history M

enorca is the eastern most of the Balearic Islands situated in the western Mediterranean, and the least commercialised of the three. easyJet have recently opened a new route connecting London Southend to Menorca which takes a little under 2 hours and has the quickest check in I have ever experienced. Being of a huge military and economic importance in the Mediterranean, due to its natural port being the 2nd largest in the world (after Pearl Harbour. Hawaii), it has been heavily contested over the centuries, changing hands between the Moors, French, British, Romans, Spanish and at one point being sacked by Turkish pirates.

site of a lengthy siege during the Seven Years War against the French, where a force sent by the Royal Navy to relieve the besieged garrison failed to achieve this objective and the Admiral in charge (Admiral John Byng) faced a court martial and was summarily executed for â&#x20AC;&#x153;failing to do his utmostâ&#x20AC;?, despite being undermanned, short of supplies and his squadron made up of ships in very poor condition. The fort on the northern shore was remade into a very costly fortress by the Spanish and is infamous for being a prison and torture/ interrogation centre during the Franco dictatorship.

Unique sites

The food is delicious and being an island, the fish is always fresh and served with local vegetables and delicacies, it is a perfect place to sit back by the harbour and drink in the atmosphere, especially during the summer fiestas such as the 'Festes de

This has left a massive pot of rich history and heritage converging to provide some very unique sites. However, it can be lost among the stunning beauty of the island, with turquoise waters and hundreds of mini beaches (itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rumoured that Menorca has more beaches than Ibiza and Majorca combined) but these remain unspoilt commercially and is refreshingly sparse of tourists.

Local delicacies

Mahon, the capital of the island, was once protected by large forts at the entrance to the port built by the British when they captured it in 1708 during the war of Spanish succession, to deter it being stormed by sea.You can walk around these forts and listen to an audio tour, great lengths have been made to restore and make them interesting to visitors, not to mention the view from the top.These were once the

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Hand made produce Recently a local salt producing farm has been restored, (www.reservalaconcepcio.com) producing salt exactly the way it has been made for thousands of years, by hand; not machinery, using the local weather and the Islandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s plentiful supply of heat and sun. Through this farm you can also organise horse trekking along the coast which offers a perfect holiday highlight, viewing the Island on horseback.

Sant Joan'. This is a 3 day celebration where there are spectacles such as bonfires, fireworks, music and locally bred black horses who are encouraged to rear up in the crowd which all adds to the tension and excitement of the fiesta. There are some surviving British influences that remain after the colonial period, such as the insatiable local appetite for gin. Gin is produced locally and is usually served with lemonade but theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be very eager to show you all the different flavours they have, such as mint and chocolate! What is very refreshing and despite tourism being a lucrative business, the locals are genuinely passionate about the products they make and are very eager for you to try and will patiently explain the process and history to you and why they think it is important to the culture of Menorca.

If you just want a relaxing holiday and get away by the beach, Menorca has plenty to offer, you can hire a catamaran to be taken to idyllic beaches and diving sports or just bathe on the deck, fed olives and cheese while you drink and take in the coastal scenery.The local beaches themselves are stunning with crystal clear shallow waters which are fantastic for children to go snorkelling without the worry of them going too deep. The more refined of you can venture in land to the wineries that boast wines that are rated within the top 5 in the country (www.binifadet.com) and offer crated deliveries to anywhere in Europe or to the local cheese producing farms that are placed on beautiful estates and provide cheese tasting sessions with wine to wash it down (www.santpatrici.com).

Convenient travel Regardless of what you look for in a holiday, Menorca is conveniently placed for a stress free transition from London Southend to Menorca via easyJet and the best of both worlds when it comes to relaxation and culture (http://www.easyjet.com). by Charles Wynne-Morgan AUGUST 2015

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recipe of the month

Ingredients cont... For the butter 1 large garlic clove 1 small bunch coriander, roughly chopped 1 red chilli, deseeded and chopped juice 1 lime, plus wedges to serve 200g butter, softened

In the Kitchen with Judy Barden

To make the butter, put the garlic, coriander, chilli and lime juice in a food processor and pulse until chopped but not sludgy. Remove 1 tbsp of the mix, toss with the prawns and set aside in the fridge. Add the butter and some seasoning to the food processor, and pulse again until everything is combined. Scrape out onto a sheet of foil, roll into a sausage and put in the freezer to harden.

Method 1: Fire up the barbecue. When the coals have just turned white, cook the prawns for 3-4 mins on each side until they turn pink. Lift them off the barbecue onto a platter and, while still sizzling hot, melt thin slices of about half the butter over the prawns. Melt the remaining butter and serve with the prawns to dip into, and lime wedges for squeezing over.

Method 2:

Prawns with chilli lime butter

his is a John Torode Recipe that was in a Good Food magazine a few years ago and I have used it a lot especially in the summer but also as a quick starter any time of the year. The butter is worth making and just putting in the freezer to use on salmon, sea bass or chicken if you need a quick tasy supper.

Either serve with leaves and warm crusty bread to dip into the melted butter or in a warm bowl as part of a barbecue.

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